The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 544

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

Chapter 544   Abnormal occurrence

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“The food distribution is going smoothly. Did the church also pitch in with manpower and supplies?”

Five days after the initial food distribution. Finally, it seems the church realized they couldn’t just stand by. They started releasing the food they had been hoarding.

Well, the amount of food they released is nothing to write home about. After all, we still haven’t signed any contracts regarding food with them.

Still, I suppose the fact that they “distributed food to the citizens” is what matters to them.

As a side note, they even sent operatives to interfere with us. It seems they were trying to cause trouble by poisoning the food, but unfortunately for them, we anticipated that.

You see, we’ve already cast purification magic on these dishes, so even if poison is added, it will be neutralized immediately.

So, they probably panicked when the poison didn’t work. They even sent in additional personnel.

Well, in the end, we caught them all. I mean, this is the holy capital, you know? Well, it’s not like being in the holy capital matters, but in this city, they can’t fool me.

After all, this place is different from the area where all the plants withered due to the curse. Plants grow within this barrier, so naturally, my skills are effective here.

Trying to sneak in poison, mix poison among the people, incite useless brawls, or even start a small fire in the food storage—all of it would be uncovered.

The small fire incident was the most dangerous, but the treants (potted ones) planted for surveillance and defense moved quickly to extinguish the fire. They say those things won’t burn easily even with just a fire, but it’s impressive that they went to such lengths. I didn’t expect plants to autonomously start extinguishing fires.

Treants are too versatile and it’s scary. But they’re useful, so it’s fine.

So, since all of their interference failed, they’ve decided to send in properly trained personnel for surveillance this time. Their aim is probably to be able to immediately halt the food distribution forcibly if there are any shortcomings or issues, but…

“But, I never thought they’d send a cardinal, a position of authority, as part of the food distribution personnel. And a royal at that?”

“Why didn’t they just send regular personnel here? Well, I guess it’s part of their strategy.”

It was expected that people would be dispatched from the church, but the person they sent is a bit of a problem. As Kyle just mentioned, it’s not just a priest or an assistant priest, but someone higher up than even a high priest—a cardinal.

I’ve heard this story before, but apparently, royals have been sending their eldest sons to the church since ancient times. They say it’s out of respect for the church, or because they want to maintain good relations, but in reality, it’s as a hostage. And also to educate the next generation of kings to be convenient pawns for them.

As for why they sent a royal now, one reason could be to make it clear that the royal family belongs to the church, in order to establish the hierarchical relationship between the royal family and the church.

And if something happens, they can just blame the royal family, not the church, for it—that’s one reason.

Also, it’s like saying, ‘Can’t bother with the food distribution for the poor people, so you deal with it,’ and pushing it onto them. So, I roughly think there are three main purposes.

Of course, there might be other motives as well, or there might not be.

“It must have been a miscalculation on their part. I mean, who would have thought that a royal pawn would act with self-awareness?”

The crown prince, now a cardinal, underwent indoctrination education, but even so, he’s truly a royal through and through. To counter the brainwashing education of the church, there are magical tools that manipulate the mind. With these, it’s possible to implant specific thoughts or ideas, albeit simple ones.

So, what was implanted in the crown prince sent to the church so far was the thought of ‘not trusting the church.’

It seems it needs to be reinforced periodically, but they couldn’t keep the royal away from the castle forever. Also, he was occasionally returned to the castle for information gathering purposes, so they had to re-indoctrinate him each time.

It’s quite awe-inspiring to go to such lengths for his own son.

But maybe the royal family of this country was pushed to do that because they’ve been cornered to that extent. After all, they’ve practically had their governing power stripped away.

However, while there were no issues with the church, that doesn’t mean there haven’t been any issues during this time.

The day after the food distribution began, an anomaly appeared. Well, it didn’t so much appear as it mutated right there on the spot.

One of the citizens who participated in the food distribution finished eating and then began to suffer, transforming into an mutant.

Fortunately, we, who had prepared for the possibility of the church intervening, immediately took action and managed to suppress the situation before any harm occurred.

It was unexpected, but not completely so. They probably think it was because they ate from the food distribution.

Of course, there were no poisons or curses involved. Instead, we embedded the ‘blessing of the gods.’ And by ‘gods,’ I don’t mean the gods of the church, but our gods—specifically, the power of the divine tree and the sacred tree.

Specifically, I infused water. It seems that using it can purify curses, so I thought if the curses invading the citizens were cleansed, everything would be fine.

Additionally, Lilia and the elves performed purification on the ingredients and utensils. They meticulously cleaned everything, as if going above and beyond.

But apparently, that wasn’t a good idea.

The balance was disrupted when the sacred tree was purified. Just like how there were mutations here, it’s likely that those who consumed our food distribution, the ‘Blessing of the Gods Set with the Prayers of the Saint Elf and Demon King (bread, irrigated soup, fruits, soy meat),’ had their internal curse balance disrupted and mutated.

So, if mutation were to occur, wouldn’t everyone in the city mutate? But apparently, that’s not the case.

The mutated man had recently become violent and his personality had changed. This was probably the cause.

Considering the curse—being invaded by the power of the evil god—there’s a possibility that the power of that evil god acted strangely, causing emotions to become uncontrollable. It’s likely that the curse has been affecting him so deeply that it’s influencing his psyche to the point of affecting his mental state.

That was the events of the second day, and since then, there have been occurrences of individuals transforming into mutants every day.

However, it’s only a handful of cases each day. Nowadays, it’s said that those who don’t partake in the food distribution are possessed by demons, or that they can discern who is possessed by demons. So, even people living in this city who have food or not come to the food distribution, drink just a cup of soup, and then leave.

But today, something feels different.

“Again?”

“Are there more cases this time?”

It’s been less than an hour since the food distribution started today, and already three people have transformed into mutants.

Although these were dealt with by the people from Karakas without any casualties, it still feels like too many.

“By the way, where’s Lilia?”

“Probably treating the injured?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

I don’t know why there are suddenly so many cases today, but it feels like something is going on.

If this is caused by the actions of the Pope or the Church faction, it won’t just end with mutants.

We don’t know what they’re aiming for or what they intend to do, but it’s better to stay vigilant. Especially for Lilia. Despite being targeted, she keeps attracting attention by doing things like idol activities and medical treatments. From the enemy’s perspective, she’d be an easy target.

“Bell, I hate to always ask, but can you guard Lilia?”

“Yes, understood.”

I’m not sure if Bell alone can handle protecting Lilia, but there are other elves around her and Karakas guards as well.

So, Bell’s role is primarily to serve as a messenger to alert me if something unusual happens. Bell can assess my condition and know my whereabouts, so she can quickly locate me if needed, making her ideal as a messenger.

With that in mind, I planned to go to the Granny’s place for further arrangements…

“Vesnar-sama! L-Lilia is missing!”

“What…?”

Upon hearing Bell’s words, who returned in just a few minutes, I understood that the situation was escalating.