The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 489

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

Chapter 489   The state of the Holy city…

“What’s up? Did you figure something out?”

I thought she might have understood something about the anomaly from her behavior, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. She showed a bewildered expression, then shook her head.

“Huh? No, not that. It’s not about that. Didn’t I do well earlier? I taught you various things, right?”

“Yeah, you were a big help. Thanks.”

“Hehe! You’re welcome! I’m amazing, aren’t I? You must have realized how grateful you are to me, right?”

“Yeah, you’re amazing. Truly impressive.”

While it’s true that she did something remarkable, being praised in such a condescending manner makes the gratitude fade away. It’s not that I don’t appreciate it at all, but the casual way of expressing gratitude just made it seem insincere.

“Mmm. I won’t be deceived by such half-hearted gratitude!”

However, Lilia seemed dissatisfied with my lackluster response and pouted, expressing her complaints.

“…I never expected you to notice that. You’ve really grown, haven’t you?”

“Are you making fun of me!?”

“What are you talking about? There’s no way I’d do that. You’ve grown. It’s amazing. Seriously, I really think it’s impressive.”

“Of course! I’m not the same person I used to be. Look forward to my future progress!”

With just that, she seemed satisfied and lay down again.

“Wait, that’s not it!”

Just when I thought she was done, she abruptly sat up again and shouted.

“I did something amazing! Give me a reward!”

“Well…”

“Why are you hesitating!?”

“Well, a reward would be water, right?”

“Yes, but? Oh, but you can give me lots of snacks too, you know?”

“You can have snacks when we get back to the mansion. Anyway, what happened to the water bottle I prepared before we left this morning? How about that?”

Having the water bottle filled was essential. If it was already full, adding more was impossible. While there were alternatives, such as preparing a new water bottle or letting her drink directly from a water source…

“That disappeared within an hour!”

While grinning confidently, Lilia proudly declared… one hour. I thought I had given her several water bottles, including spares. Did they all disappear?

Moreover, if we consider each water bottle to be 500 milliliters, and I gave her three, that would be 1.5 liters. Did she really drink all of that in just an hour? How much water is she drinking?

“…I see.”

“That’s right. So, here you go.”

With a genuine smile, she offered me a water bottle, and unable to say anything more, I decided to fill it with water.

“Yay!”

“Drink it carefully, okay?”

“I got it!”

“…You’re not drinking it carefully at all.”

While sighing, I watched Lilia open the lid and immediately bring it to her mouth.

“Vesnar-sama, we will be arriving at the Holy Capital shortly, so please prepare yourself.”

“Finally.”

Several days had passed since the Elves, including Flora and Lilia, experienced abnormalities. We had finally arrived at the Holy Capital, Alfreya.

While there was still some distance to cover, we would likely arrive in another hour or two. During this time, I needed to prepare like a Demon King. I was woken up by Sofia.

I would have preferred to be woken up after arriving, but that couldn’t be helped…. What a hassle.

“But there is one problem.”

“A problem?”

What could be the problem at this point? It’s not like an enemy is lying in wait… Looking at Sofia’s face, it didn’t seem to be something tense or threatening. Her expression conveyed more of a sense of perplexity.

Though it wasn’t a hostile situation, it was hard to figure out what exactly was going on.

“Yes. I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to call it a ‘problem,’ but there’s something abnormal, and I thought I should report it.”

“…Your words are not very clear.”

Despite the confused expression, Sofia doesn’t usually struggle with her words like this. If she’s showing this kind of behavior, there must be something significant.

“For now, if you could just look outside the carriage, I think you’ll understand more quickly than I can explain.”

“Huh? Well, if that’s the case, I’ll take a look, but…!”

Still not understanding, I stuck my head out of the window to observe the surroundings, but nothing seemed different.

…Until, as soon as I looked toward the front—toward the Holy Capital, my eyes widened.

What Sofia had mentioned became apparent. I quickly understood.

Something abnormal. Indeed, that was an accurate description. Anyone familiar with the current state of the country would undoubtedly agree that this was abnormal.

“Green… Not the color of the buildings, right?”

Exactly. Before me, I could see a green landscape. Previously, there were hardly any plants, and if there were, they were barely surviving trees, and the like.

However, now, around the Holy Capital, vibrant greenery appeared to be thriving.

Though it wasn’t clear from this distance, it could be considered that they were not actual plants, and perhaps it was just the color of paint. However, that seemed unlikely.

“I tried enhancing my senses, but those are indeed plants… But, didn’t you say you couldn’t hear the voices of plants in the Holy Kingdom?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Unlike me, Kyle, with his high physical abilities, had already used his skill to confirm that those green things were indeed plants.

However, I couldn’t hear the voices of those plants as Kyle had said.

“No good. I still can’t hear them.”

Until now, I had just passively accepted the voices, so I thought maybe I couldn’t hear them because I wasn’t actively trying. This time, I attempted to reach out to them directly, but still, I couldn’t hear the voices of the plants over there.

“But those over there are real plants, right?”

Bell must have seen them too. Tilting her head, she voiced her curiosity about why I couldn’t hear the voices of the plants there.

“Well, judging from what I saw, it seems like it. We won’t know for sure until we get closer, but preparing artificial plants just for this doesn’t make sense. So, I assume they are real. Still, it’s strange that I can’t hear their voices…”

“As a possible reason, could it be due to an anomaly in the Sacred Tree? The ability might not work since they are cut off from the Sacred Tree.”

“Yeah… that seems plausible. Is that the most likely reason?”

As Sofia suggested, my communication with plants is usually facilitated through the Sacred Tree. If the Sacred Tree is experiencing an anomaly, the connection could be disrupted, and that might be why I can’t hear the voices of the plants over there.

However, what to do about this situation? The fact that only plants are growing there is clearly abnormal.

Although it doesn’t seem dangerous at first glance, the lush greenery in that area, surrounded by a wilderness, gives off a somewhat ominous feeling.

“Flora, Lilia. Can you guys make sense of this?”

Even if I don’t understand, I thought they might have some insight into this anomaly, so I woke up the two who were still sleeping.

“Ugh… yawn… What’s up?”

When I called out, Lilia slowly sat up, but her response seemed rather listless.

“Hey, are you okay? You look really unwell… Is it something like what happened last time?”

“Hmm… This is kind of… different from that feeling…”

Thinking that some anomaly might be affecting her body again, I asked Lilia, but she claimed that it felt different from the previous incident.

Although I couldn’t quite grasp the difference, there seemed to be a subtle change compared to last time.

“It’s not that I feel unwell because the power is strange. It’s more like the power is overflowing, and I feel… full?”

Full… Does that mean she’s getting too close to the Sacred Tree again? Maybe the excessive power from approaching the Sacred Tree is causing the anomaly?

The fact that there is no issue when getting closer to Flora might be due to her being young and having less power in the Sacred Tree.

However, since the Sacred Tree here has been cut down, it’s hard to determine if its power surpasses that of Flora.

“Flora, are you experiencing the same thing?”

“… ”

I don’t know the reason, but just to make sure, I called out to Flora to check on her. However, for some reason, I couldn’t hear a response from Flora.

“Flora?”

Wondering what happened, I turned around, and there was Flora with a stern expression.

I have spent a considerable amount of time with Flora. Yet, I have never seen this expression on her before. What could be wrong? Why does she have such an expression?

“…Naa. Flora doesn’t like this place.”

When I tried to ask Flora what happened, she slowly opened her mouth and said those words. However, her words were as rigid as her expression, lacking the usual warmth and softness that characterized her.