The Strongest Farmer in Another World ~I'm a "Farmer", Not a Demon King! ~ - Chapter 560

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

Chapter 560   I’ll give you a pat on the back (physics)

Upon receiving the report from my subordinate that Lilia had been found, I finally let out a sigh of relief, thinking, “Finally, she’s been found,” and feeling a sense of ease wash over me. At least for now, I can breathe a little easier.

But, was I really enjoying myself that much during the “enjoyment” time? This was supposed to be part of the plan, fighting as a means to buy time. Well, it wouldn’t be entirely untrue to say it wasn’t enjoyable, and it actually was enjoyable, but was it evident enough for others to see?

Seeking my own enjoyment at the expense of neglecting the mission… Is that what it was?

There are things that must be done, things that must not be forgotten, and yet I keep making the same kind of mistakes over and over again. I think about it every time…

“I truly am just an ordinary person.”

Even in such a crucial moment, I forgot my role and prioritized my own enjoyment. It would be fatal for me to continue like this as a king in the future. Not possessing the qualities of a king, but instead, just an ordinary person who prioritizes my own desires at the moment, without looking ahead. That’s me.

Maybe everyone is okay with that, but I still think it’s a problem.

“What?”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing. Anyway, how did it go?”

“We found her, but the curse’s influence is strong, so we can’t get close. We’re currently gathering those who can purify and trying to clear a path, but it’s not going smoothly because there are guards.”

“A curse… Well, if we’re going to contain the curse, it would be more efficient to be closer to where the curse is thick.”

Given everything about the barrier, no matter how you use it, it would be easier to use it near the barrier.

“In that case, shall we wrap things up and head over there?”

With this, crushing the Pope and retrieving Lilia. These two tasks are completed. Well, regarding Lilia, it’s not entirely done yet, but now that we know her location, we can handle the rest.

If that’s the case, the only thing left to do is to find the source of the curse.

And if we can purify it completely, then the purpose of this whole commotion will be fulfilled.

However, if we continue like this, we’ll have to leave the Pope alone, and that’s not acceptable.

Even though he can’t move anymore, we still need to secure the Pope ourselves.

The current Pope has been taken over by a parasitic tree, but it’s possible to remove it. However, whether to remove the parasitic tree and return him to a normal state, or to control him using the parasitic tree and skills, it all depends on whether the main body is present or not. Our response will change depending on the situation at that time.

So, we have to somehow protect the Pope here.

“Listen carefully, Hero. You’re not a resident of this world. You could say you were abducted. So, I’ll let it slide this once, considering you got involved in the affairs of this world. But there won’t be a second time.”

Saying that, while being guarded by former Pope’s subordinates on the sidelines, he gradually approached the Pope, who was being protected by them…

“What? Still planning to fight? We’re in a bit of a hurry here, so could you please move aside?”

Rather than directly attacking me, Darado, who had positioned himself between the Pope and me, raised his shield to obstruct and interfere.

“Don’t be ridiculous! His Holiness shall not fall into the hands of the likes of you!”

“I see… Well, unlike the Hero, you’ll only be a hindrance alive, so it can’t be helped.”

In such a situation, even the Hero wouldn’t complain if I killed Darado. …Well, he might complain, but he should understand to some extent. There was no choice in that situation.

“Urgh…! Gugh, gaaaaahhhhh!?”

Thinking about how to kill him, but within a few seconds, Darado suddenly screamed.

“Darado…?”

The Hero called Darado’s name with concern, but Darado only responded by clutching his own body and screaming.

“What’s wrong!?”

The Hero called out to Darado again… squelch. Such an eerie sound as if slimy tentacles were sprouting from Darado’s body.

“What? Wha… what the…! What’s happening!?”

Caught off guard by Darado’s sudden transformation, the Hero tried to articulate his words in confusion but failed. He could only let out incomprehensible sounds.

“What… did you do!”

“Why me…”

Finally, he yelled at me. Why does he think I did something to him in this situation?

Or is it because of this situation? Darado clearly obstructed, so it’s not unreasonable for him to think I did something to him to kill him, right?

Those tentacles… they do look like slightly black and eerie tendrils. Well, it’s the blackness and eeriness that’s the issue.

“A curse? But he didn’t consume anything. And it’s different from before…?”

Yes. This is the manifestation of a curse. Like the bandits we encountered before, or the mutants that appeared when we were having dinner. Darado has become one of them.

But he hadn’t consumed anything until just before. I didn’t splash him with water or make him drink any potions.

I didn’t leave him alone to take a sip while I went to the Pope’s place. After all, even if I was not looking at them, I was getting information from the plants.

In other words, he suddenly mutated without any warning.

I don’t know why Darado turned into a mutant, but for now, I need to deal with it. I was going to kill him anyway, so it’s convenient that he mutated like this. At least I won’t have to hear complaints from the Hero later.

Well, with this Hero, even in this state, he might complain if I kill his comrade.

“Report! The church members have turned into mutants.”

Just as I was about to attack, another subordinate arrived, separate from the one who came with the report of Lilia’s discovery, and delivered this news.

I didn’t expect that it wasn’t just him.

His mutation wasn’t something he did, but something happened elsewhere, and he was affected by it.

This is getting quite troublesome, isn’t it?

“At a time like this. Why does this have to happen… No, dealing with this takes precedence now.”

I hurl coconuts at Darado. Not just one, but several in rapid succession.

“It hardened…”

It’s like rapid fire from a cannon, but they’re all deflected by the shield absorbed into his swollen arm.

Technically, that was my maximum firepower attack just now… Sure, the overall firepower is there, but it’s not like each individual shot packs a punch. It’s unavoidable, but still…

“—Roaring Heavens!”

Just as I finish hurling coconuts, Kyle approaches from behind Darado and activates his skill.

With a thunderous roar, Darado is blown away.

However, although he was blown away, it seems he defended against the attack with his shield at the last moment, and there doesn’t appear to be any damage.

And to make matters worse…

“Tch. More of them!”

Several more mutants begin to gather towards us.

I want to hurry up and go to Lilia, but I can’t just leave this alone… Wait a minute. Can’t they handle this without me? Specifically, since the Hero is here, we can just leave it to him. It’s a matter for comrades, and he’ll surely do his best.

“Hey, Hero. Your comrade turned into a monster, but are you still going to be mad if we kill it? Are you still going to insist that it’s still your comrade?”

“Of course! There must be… there must be some way…”

Must be, huh… I don’t think things work out that conveniently in this world. There are countless situations where there’s no solution.

Well, if you believe that, then so be it.

“Then, you handle him. Stop him by cutting off his limbs or something.”

“There’s no way I could do that!? He’s my comrade!”

“Exactly because he’s your comrade. First, you need to stop him from moving. Can you capture him without any harm? Even if he lose his limbs, you can grow them back. Right now, stopping him should be the priority, don’t you think?”

I personally believe he’ll probably never return to normal, but it’s undeniable that first, we need to stop his movements.

Understanding that, the Hero, with his sword drawn, rushes towards Darado, and calls out to Canon and Lina behind him.

“Canon, Lina! We’re going to stop Darado!”

“Y-Yes, understood…!”

“I wonder if there’s a way to restore him…”

With the support of the two, the Hero charges towards Darado and begins the battle.

“Now, that’s settled. We just need to deal with the small fries. But…”

While I was surveying the surroundings to deal with the small fries that had gathered around, Kyle and Bell were already launching attacks. Originally, they weren’t fighters, and they seemed much weaker than the mutants we encountered before, so Kyle and the others were able to defeat them without much difficulty.

But I can’t just stand there and watch, so I decided to join the fight.

Within a few minutes, all the mutants except Darado were wiped out… or so I thought, but reinforcements arrived from elsewhere.

“Master! Are you alright!?”

However, at the same time, our allies arrived as reinforcements. Their numbers were around a hundred, but that should be sufficient to handle enemies of this level.

With that in mind, I decided to leave the disposal of the small fries to our allies and turned my attention to the Hero and Darado.

“Darado, please, come back to your senses!”

“Y-You… betrayer…!”

Darado and the Hero were clashing swords, but unlike the previous mutants, Darado seemed to retain some consciousness as he accused the Hero of being a “betrayer.” Whether he was referring to the current situation or if he had always harbored such feelings towards the Hero was unclear.

Either way, it seemed that Darado didn’t truly consider the Hero as a comrade in the real sense.

“This isn’t betrayal. I’m doing this to help you!”

Saying so, the Hero activated his skill, wielding a shining sword and swung it downward from above.

It was an attack with a glaring opening, but seeing that Darado was only making monotonous movements, the Hero must have judged that brute force was necessary more than technique.

However, even with such a straightforward attack, Darado could still defend himself.

Darado raised his arm, now assimilated with a shield, to block the Hero’s attack.

At that moment, I unleashed a barrage of seeds (a version of the Coconut Machine Gun) from behind Darado.

“Darado…?”

“Nice one, Hero. Well done.”

Although it was just a little “push from behind” (literally), the impact or rather, the consequence, was significant.

Darado staggered while attempting to block the Hero’s attack, failing to defend properly. As a result, he was cleanly split in two, and victory went to the Hero.