The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 537

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

Chapter 537   Start cooking

“However, if they had foreseen it, why haven’t they passed that knowledge down to future generations? There’s a possibility that the information was somehow interrupted. But it’s strange to think that both the country and the church would keep silent. Long ago, the church was merely borrowing space from the country, so if the church knew such secrets, they should have informed the country. Therefore, it can be inferred that they didn’t foresee events like this happening.”

Until the church, which had been cooperating with Roroel, betrayed us, this country was still intact. In that case, the king’s power would have been paramount, and information regarding the country’s crisis would have reached his ears even if it was merely prophetic or speculative.

“As a conclusion, it’s believed that the church possesses the device at the core of this barrier and powers it through some form of utilization of elves. Furthermore, it’s a given that if you, who are moving to save the elves, were not attacking the country but rather destroying the barrier, the answer is predetermined.”

“…Well, that’s correct.”

It’s a bit unsettling that the decisive factor is my words, but well, in reality, I had almost guessed as much even though I lacked certainty, and the king must have acted believing in such thoughts of his own.

So, without denying it now, I decided to nod. It’s a little boastful, which bothers me, but well, it’s common for people to want to boast about secrets they’ve uncovered.

However, if I understand this much, then perhaps I should delve deeper into discussing the relief efforts? That would likely make him more cooperative. He’s already cooperating, but he might be even more helpful. That’s the level of trust I want to establish, where betrayal is never even considered.

“So, about the relief efforts I mentioned earlier… there’s actually another reason.”

“Oh? Besides elevating Karakas’ reputation while undermining the authority of the church?”

“It’s about the recent appearance of monsters.”

As soon as I uttered those words, the atmosphere around the king changed.

Until then, there had been a seriousness mixed with a sort of playfulness or looseness, but now, that was all gone. It was as if a sharp, intent to kill air had suddenly filled the room.

“Tell me more.”

“What I’m about to say is purely speculative. There’s no certainty… but we are convinced it’s the case. It’s about—”

I then explained the relationship between the mutants and curses, and the connection between curses and the primordial evil god, as well as the church’s involvement. I may have skipped over some details along the way, but he should understand the situation now.

With this, the king will cooperate. All that’s left is to move against the church to bring it down.

——◆◇◆◇——

The next day, before the church could intervene, we started the relief distribution.

Well, if we took several days, people would starve to death in the meantime, so it’s better to start the relief distribution as soon as possible.

“Everyone, please line up! There’s plenty of food for everyone! Please remain calm, don’t rush, and form a queue!”

“No fighting, please! There’s enough for everyone!”

“The king has provided plenty of food, so don’t worry!”

“Huh? Isn’t this box over here?”

While the reason for boosting Karakas’ reputation is mentioned, more importantly, we need to raise the king’s supporters now. So, with the king’s permission, we publicized that the king was providing the food and that this event was arranged.

By the way, all the workers are Karakas’ people, and some elves are also involved. We hope that by doing this, we can reduce the persecution of elves, even if only slightly.

However, I anticipated that some might resort to rough behavior, thinking they could order around the elves, whom they consider ‘inferior,’ if they were distributing supplies.

Oh, look, there’s one idiot doing just that now.

“Hey! Hurry up and give—”

“I told you to calm down, didn’t I? Huh? You wanna get—beat up? I won’t kill—ya, but wanna get punched?”

I don’t think resorting to violence before speaking is the right approach, but well, that’s how it went down. The idiot was quickly subdued by Karakas guards.

After the punch, there was a brief silence among those nearby, but it lasted only a moment. Before anyone could cause a commotion or run away, our guys raised their voices to warn and maintain order.

“All right, everyone, if you don’t want to end up like that, please behave and line up properly!”

“Hey, hey. What about this? Oh. Over there? A-alright!”

The man who was punched and silenced was taken away somewhere, and those who gathered around seemed to judge that it was better to quietly line up without causing a fuss, as they continued the distribution as if nothing had happened.

Until now, they had looked down on the elves. Yet here, if they did, they would be punched. That must be dissatisfying for those living in the Holy Kingdom. Why us, they might think.

But even if they had such dissatisfactions, dealing with hunger was more important than expressing them. So they lined up without complaining.

Well, that’s obvious. Emotions only make you a bit grumpy at the moment, but hunger is a matter of life and death.

Besides, probably in such dire circumstances, things like being an elf or whatever become irrelevant, don’t they?

If this were only mildly tough, anger might arise, but now it’s a situation where there’s hardly any energy left to begin with.

However, even understanding that, normally, one wouldn’t resort to violence to silence someone. Especially those engaged in charity work like relief distribution.

But still, we did it. Or rather, we’ve done it. Because, hitting him doesn’t change anything anyway.

“It’s convenient when people have a low opinion of you from the start at times like this. There’s no big issue even if you resort to violence.”

“I wouldn’t say there’s no issue, but it’s certainly more efficient than spending time trying to persuade them.”

“And besides, it’s difficult to disrupt the relief distribution by causing a commotion, since it might backfire.”

“Yeah. If you make a fuss over nothing, you’ll just get punched.”

If this were a restaurant, you could complain about finding bugs or something, but this is a relief distribution. If you don’t like it, don’t eat it, end of story. Well, given the current state of this country, there’s no way they’d fuss over something as trivial as bugs. After all, these people are even eating bugs to stave off hunger.

Considering the aim to boost Karakas reputation, resorting to violence like this might seem like a negative. But since it’s already starting from a negative evaluation, this level of reaction would likely end with a thought like, “Well, they’re more docile than I expected.” Besides, situationally, the man was in the wrong to begin with.

“But what about the church? Even if we’ve got permission, isn’t the church more powerful than the king? If the church refuses to approve and says we can’t do this, wouldn’t we have to withdraw?”

As Kyle mentioned, while we’re running the relief distribution, it’s not an official arrangement even though the king has given his permission. Because if we decided on something like this without consulting the church, it would put the king in a bad position.

Still, we went ahead with it because it was necessary, regardless of whether the church had more power than the king or not.

It’s not like there won’t be any issues arising from this, but I suppose it’ll probably be okay.

“Yeah, there’s permission. Well, it’s not a pre-planned formal arrangement, but more of a spontaneous thing.”

While we have the king’s permission and cooperation, this initiative is still unofficial. We didn’t arrange it formally in advance… at least, that’s how it’s being portrayed.

So, the church probably can’t strongly object to the king. At least, they shouldn’t be able to openly voice any objections. That’s why the king doesn’t think there will be any repercussions from this. Well, he might get a talking to, but that would likely be the extent of it.

“Hmm? Looks like you’re injured? Oh well. Heal up!”

Now, leaving aside the king, the problem lies with us.

If we cause such a commotion without formal permission, we’ll definitely be criticized, and in the worst-case scenario, we might even have our freedom restricted for acting on our own and causing a disturbance. It might get a bit forceful, and they might even demand compensation.

But even without official permission, there’s still a way to run the relief distribution. Or rather, a way to handle it ambiguously.

I’m basically told to stay at the church, but even when I’ve stayed there before, I’ve had escorts (basically church-appointed supervisors) with me, yet I’ve been able to walk around the town. Apparently, they couldn’t just keep a foreign king locked up in his room. Well, when I say walking around the town, it was limited to places where the church’s surveillance could reach.

But even in such places, I could spot homeless people. So, this time too, I could just casually come across such individuals, pretend it’s a chance encounter, and generously offer them food out of goodwill. And not just a piece or two of bread, but a more noticeable and generous amount.

By doing so, even in this extreme hunger, regardless of my status, people would come flocking for food, and soon enough, rumors would spread. ‘You can get food over there.’

“Oh! Hey, everyone, wait a moment! Um… hey, is it okay if I use this box?”

If the number of people grew to tens or hundreds, and I found myself unable to move, it would be perfectly reasonable to say, ‘It couldn’t be helped.’ I only distributed it because I was surrounded and couldn’t move, that sort of thing.