The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 459

The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I’m a “Farmer”, Not a Demon King! ~

Chapter 459   Sacred tree faith

“I don’t really care about the surrounding countries, and if I wanted to defeat them, I would use a completely different method…”

“However, if the goal is to artificially cause events that weaken the power of enemy nations, I think it’s a good strategy. Whether it’s diseases or monsters, if it’s a widespread natural phenomenon rather than a targeted occurrence, it’s less likely to be attributed to human intervention, especially if it’s just a simple crop failure occurring every few years in some country. Even if there are suspicions, it’s unlikely to lead to accusations.”

Well, that makes sense. If a powerful monster like the ‘Demon King’ appears, defeating it would solve everything, but with a natural disaster, there’s nothing one can do. It would indeed be a clever strategy to weaken a nation you’re in conflict with.

However, if I were suspected of targeting the Holy Kingdom, it would truly be regrettable. I have no reason to do such a thing. If there were a need to do it, it would be more discreetly, without obvious anomalies like this time.

Come to think of it, I once gifted those foolish invaders who attacked here with flowers that would almost certainly induce hay fever. I heard stories of hay fever sufferers appearing in the Holy Kingdom for a while, with unstoppable tears and runny noses… I wonder what happened to those flowers? Did they wither away? That’s a bit disappointing.

“In reality, you could do it too, right?”

“Well, if I wanted to. But… it’s too much trouble, so I won’t do it.”

Using the fertilizer generation skill, I could turn the ground in the granary zone into something rotten, which was a byproduct of the process. Alternatively, I could spread poisonous weeds or attract harmful insects that would absorb nutrients from the surroundings. If the goal is to weaken them causing ‘starvation,’ then such methods would be enough to achieve that.

“Lilia is… Ah, there she is.”

I listened to the plants and came to the entrance of the Sacred Tree’s garden to look for Lilia…

“Hey! You guys should work harder!”

Lilia was standing on a platform, yelling something.

“What’s she doing?”

Although dozens of people were bustling around us, it seemed like Lilia was giving them instructions.

“I don’t know. But if they are building something here, you did give permission, right?”

As Kyle mentioned, this place is a bit special. Since it’s in front of the entrance to the Sacred Tree’s garden, only those for whom I’ve given permission can get a construction permit, and they can’t even own it. Passage is allowed, though.

Given that they are building something here, it’s certain that I gave permission. In fact, I remember the details.

“Oh, right. Apparently, among the elves, there was talk of changing the small shrine or temple dedicated to worshiping the Sacred Tree, from the current small one to something proper. I granted permission for that.”

So far, there was a small hut-like shrine or temple inside the Sacred Tree’s garden, but only elves could enter. After all, people other than those for whom I’ve granted permission can’t enter.

However, even among those without such permission, there are some peculiar folks who believe in the Sacred Tree. They are the ones who moved from Karakas to the Garden. Those who came willingly to Karakas in the first place tend to be mild-mannered individuals. Moreover, many of them originally believed in a god, and some continue to offer prayers. It’s just that the target of those prayers has changed…

In this city, there’s a temple, too. Just because we’re criminals doesn’t mean we don’t believe in gods. In this world, there are skills, and having a temple is beneficial even externally. After all, this city exists to welcome ‘guests.’ For the sake of those guests, it’s better to have a temple than not, even if it’s not that large.

However, it’s a temple for worshiping ‘gods.’

For those who believe that the Sacred Tree, which currently protects them, is more worthy of worship than gods who didn’t protect them, they decided to build a temple for the Sacred Tree outside the Sacred Tree’s garden.

Well, in their case, it feels more like they’re worshiping me, the one who created this city, than the Sacred Tree. But I don’t care about that. It’s probably just a misunderstanding, and they are surely worshiping the Sacred Tree properly.

But, because of that, I granted permission to build a temple outside the Sacred Tree’s garden… Why is she acting like a site supervisor? Well, there’s probably someone else actually supervising the site…

“Lilia.”

“What! Oh, it’s you guys. What do you want? Did that damn boring game finally end?”

Boring game… I wasn’t playing any game. Well, for her, it might have been a game of tailing the hero. In fact, that was undoubtedly the case. That’s why she called it boring and disappeared somewhere.

“We came here because we have something to ask… But before that, what are you giving orders for?”

“Hehe! Well, I’m overseeing the construction of a building to worship the Sacred Tree. That means it’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s a building to worship me, the child of the Sacred Tree!”

“It’s an exaggeration, and Flora isn’t your Sacred Tree.”

Besides, you probably didn’t even know about the construction. If you did, you wouldn’t have joined us midway; you would have been here from the beginning.

“Well, fine. You can play around as long as you don’t interfere with the construction.”

“As if I’d interfere! I’m not doing anything to bother them!”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I came because I have something to ask.”

“Something to ask~? What could it be~?”

Lilia tilted her head and started swinging her legs as she sat on the platform. However, I wasn’t ready to talk yet. I still needed one more person.

“Before we start, do you know where Flora went?”

“Yesss! Here she is~!”

I inquired about Flora’s whereabouts from Lilia, and she must have understood that she was being called by mentioning her name. Flora appeared, floating in the air… naked.

Well, she’s a spirit, so it makes sense that she doesn’t wear clothes?

It’s also appreciated that she hurriedly came after I called her. But since I took the trouble to create a body for her, maybe she could take better care of it. She doesn’t have to discard her body every time she appears.

…Speaking of which, I wonder what happens to the vessel Flora leaves behind? Does it just stay there on the roadside?