The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 532

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

Chapter 532   Reasons for the occurrence of mutants

“…No… Ah, I see.”

“Granny?”

As I pondered various things based on what I heard, Granny suddenly seemed lost in thought and let out a few words.

“It might be related to the monsters rampaging around there.”

“By ‘there,’ do you mean?”

“I mean the talk about the evil god. To be more precise, it might be better to say the curse that was haunting the Sacred Tree.”

The monsters rampaging in this town refer to the grotesque black masses that caused havoc. Yes, let’s call them ‘mutants’ for simplicity’s sake.

What does it mean that the reason for these mutants’ rampage lies in the curse afflicting the Sacred Tree?

“Until now, even if it was harmful to humans, it was a stable situation for the evil god. But suddenly, that balance was disrupted.”

“Because we purified the Sacred Tree?”

“Yeah. Whether it’s because the balance was disrupted or because of the influx of purification power, causing a sense of crisis and rampage, we don’t know. But it’s quite conceivable that the changes in that regard may have caused the monsters to rampage. Temporally, it coincides perfectly.”

Granny mentioned it was about a week ago. Our purification of the Sacred Tree was roughly around that time. Thinking about it, Granny’s reasoning seems plausible.

However, even if the balance was disrupted, would such an excessive change occur? Even those bandits needed to use a potion to become mutants.

So, just because a little bit of purification power flowed from the Sacred Tree, would that lead to mutation? That seems quite precarious, doesn’t it?

“So, in other words, the power of the evil god has permeated the people in this town to the extent that they go berserk from a little shock?”

“Or, there’s also the possibility it’s not just this town but the entire country. But from what we’ve heard about the barrier, this town seems to be the worst affected, and the rest might just be collateral damage.”

“…So, the alchemist’s potion is just a little push to disrupt the current balance, with the potential for everyone to become monsters?”

The alchemist’s potion doesn’t turn people into monsters. It merely makes the absorption of curses into the body slightly easier.

If that’s the case, this country is in quite a dire situation.

I thought about whether it’s possible for all citizens to have a curse on them, but this place is right next to the source of the curse. If you live here, you can’t say that such a thing is impossible.

“Well, even if that’s the case, the fact that only a few people have turned into monsters means that not everyone has reached their limit, right?”

Granny said so and let out a sigh, unlike her usual demeanor.

“However, things have become troublesome, haven’t they?”

“Yeah…”

Granny said it’s not everyone reaching their limit, but that doesn’t mean no one is affected by the curse at all.

If there are a few people who have mutated, then it’s likely that others are in a similar situation, and the fact that only a few have mutated isn’t exactly reassuring.

In the first place, those affected by the evil god’s influence betrayed the guardians of the time and created a country centered around the church.

But then, is the current church normal? Without the curse of the evil god, are they simply acting out of their own desires for the sake of power?

…I don’t think that’s the case.

Because this is like a territorial game.

Even if the evil god was consumed by human malice, it’s believed that some consciousness remains since they didn’t harm their fellow gods. So, wouldn’t there still be a consciousness of playing a territorial game?

If that’s the case, they wouldn’t just leave the Pope, who can be considered to be in their territory, consumed by the curse, untouched.

And humans always want to create followers who obey them. But if those followers die, the next ones in line rise to power. In other words, cursed individuals could rise to power again.

However, even if they’re cursed, would they willingly accept such dangerous power? Well, maybe the term ‘power of the evil god’ wasn’t used, but if everyone in the town or even all the citizens were affected by the curse, I wonder how that happened. Did they force it on them? But that would likely cause resentment and resistance.

“Hey, Granny. How do you think people get cursed here?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe you get cursed just by being near the curse, or maybe the curse’s components are mixed into the water or food… but if that were the case, it would have some effect on us too. Elves are affected, but it’s probably best to consider that as a special case. If that’s the case…”

Granny paused there and looked around the room with a sudden realization.

Then, with a smirk as if mocking someone, she spoke up.

“Ah, baptism, huh?”

“Baptism? …Ah, you mean, that thing? When religious people gather at the church to receive the blessing of God… Ah, ‘God’s blessing,’ huh.”

So, they gather people by promising the blessing of God and then curse them.

Well, even if it’s called a curse, it’s still the power of a god. Even if that god is an ‘evil god.’

When Granny looked around the room earlier, she wasn’t looking at the room itself but at the church as a place.

“In kingdoms, when a child turns ten, they confirm their calling at the church, but it’s not absolute, and if you’re going to use them as pawns, ten is a bit late. To naturally instill faith in religion, you have to educate them from a much younger age. And if a child realizes something after receiving the ‘blessing of God’ as they grow up, it might be too late. So, it’s better to acclimate them from as young an age as possible. That way, receiving the ‘blessing of God’ would seem natural.”

“So, it’s like all children are required to go to the church for baptism from birth. It might even be okay to provide subsidies or preferential treatment. Then, all children would go to the church as soon as they’re born. After all, they benefit just by going to the church when a child is born.”

“Yeah, that’s true. In that case, most of the citizens would be cursed, so it’s better to consider the possibility of everyone becoming enemies.”

Since being cursed from childhood is considered normal, adults wouldn’t question it, and since they actually receive power, they wouldn’t doubt that it’s the divine protection of God.

But the reality is that they’re pawns of the evil god.

However, even though they’re pawns, they won’t be asked to do anything concrete. They only send power to the evil god as those cursed individuals grow. So, they’ve been able to live without any problems until now.

But now, the situation has changed.

“That’s quite troublesome. What should we do…”

I think we can probably handle it if all the church people release the curse and turn into mutants and attack. But if it’s not just the church people but everyone in this town, this country, then I don’t know.

Well, I’ll probably survive, but others might get injured, and there might even be deaths.

Ideally, it would be good if we could prevent those cursed from becoming mutants, but is there really a way to do that?

I felt like purification might work, but then I reconsidered.

There must have been those who used purification magic before. After all, healers and light magic users belong to the church. Even servants, there must be at least one in a noble’s house, so there shouldn’t be a complete absence of purification.

But if the curse is being lifted with just a moderate application of purification, they probably wouldn’t consider implanting curses anymore.

There’s also the possibility that they’re not aware of the curse at all, so it’s best not to get too hopeful.

So, using purification to lift the curse doesn’t seem very effective.

Moreover, I’m not affiliated with the church, and being called a “Demon King,” if I were to say “I’ll purify everyone,” I’d definitely be suspected.

“Why not just let them drink your water? From what I’ve heard, it seems to have some purifying effect, right? You were even giving it to the elves while on the way here.”

“Yeah, well… But, you know, I’m not quite sure about its effectiveness… I mean, it’s not like it has any purifying effect on ‘farmers’ by nature, right? I can understand if it works on plants, but do you think it would work on humans?”

While I understand its effectiveness on elves, I’m not sure if it extends to humans. If it doesn’t work, I’d just be someone handing out water.

“I don’t know about that. Isn’t it because you’re receiving the power of the sacred tree, which is countering the curse? The sacred tree must possess a power similar to that of the divine tree, right?”

“The sacred tree, huh… Well, that seems to be the most plausible explanation.”

The evil god and the sacred tree are in opposition.

And I’m being granted power from the sacred tree, which is of the same lineage as the divine tree. Therefore, indirectly wielding the power of the divine tree, I’ve been able to dispel the curse of the evil god. That explanation seems the most convincing.

As for why the elves come to me every morning… or rather, why they actually come to me every morning, that’s probably the reason. This place is close to the curse, and the elves are susceptible to its influence, so if you consider that they come to get rid of it… No, they seem to just want water like normal.

But well, I feel like my <Irrigation> could have some potential as a method to lift the curse.