#096
‘First, I need to thoroughly prepare equipment…’
In water, solving the breathing problem above all else is the top priority. Just thinking that I can’t breathe would immediately throw me into panic. Items would be priority, but it would be good to have simple emergency medicine on hand just in case.
‘Should I ask Eira if she can make special diving potions or something?’
I suddenly remembered when we went to the desert dungeon and Carlisle fed me a pill that let me breathe in the lake. While I was panicking and couldn’t get my bearings, Carlisle put it in with his mouth… The sensation of his tongue pushing the medicine deep inside was still vivid. If he’d just given me the medicine and ended it there, I wasn’t in my right mind either so I would have forgotten quickly, but he kissed me once more for no reason, which made it stick vividly in my memory.
‘Mm…’
Heat rose to my face at the pointless thought and my throat felt ticklish. I scratched my throat lightly and thought I should leave before the Mayor thought I was acting strange.
“Well then, Mayor-nim. If you’re finished talking, I’ll be going…”
But the Mayor brought up an unexpected topic and held me back.
“Ah, Raon-gun. There’s one more thing to discuss. We’re planning to prepare a modest festival this time.”
“…?”
I doubted my ears for a moment.
A festival? Did you just say festival?
Of course, it did seem like spring had come. Spring is the season for festivals. But the village is still in a nearly ruined state. Do we have the resources for something like a festival?
As if understanding my reaction, the Mayor nodded his head.
“Ah, I understand my words must sound absurd. But I’ve discussed this with Committee Member Lightinger and he agreed with my idea for now. This has been under discussion since we successfully completed the last expedition.”
“Uh… festivals are good, but… do we have the resources or budget for that?”
“Of course it would be difficult to do it with the same atmosphere as before where people made noise, drank and played. I was thinking we could add to the farming and tree-planting events we used to do in spring, and modestly prepare and share some food. During the day we’d sow seeds and plant trees, then gather in the square late afternoon to share the prepared food.”
“Wasn’t the land and water… contaminated so we couldn’t grow crops?”
At my question, the Mayor showed a bright expression.
“Recently, some areas have been showing signs of recovery in water and soil quality. It’s not a very wide area, but after hearing about it, Committee Member Lightinger also agreed to lend some of his private land and greenhouses that are in good condition for free. The idea is to use them as communal farmland for the village until the economy recovers somewhat.”
“Ah…”
“We’ve also secured people willing to participate in food preparation. There’s meaning in expressing gratitude and encouragement to the expedition members who are working hard, starting with you, and the purpose is to kindle even a small spark of hope in the village’s depressed atmosphere.”
“I… see.”
Since that’s what he said, I didn’t have much to say. I was fine with having a festival too. Since coming to this ruined world, I hadn’t had anything to enjoy. The initial absurdity I felt when first hearing about it faded and anticipation slowly began building inside me.
“When is the festival date set for?”
“Two weeks from now. We set it before you all leave for your next expedition.”
“I see. I’ll look forward to it.”
I tried to wrap up the conversation and leave. But the Mayor held me back again.
“So, Raon-gun, there’s something I’d especially like to ask of you.”
“Of… me?”
I thought he was just telling me to come and enjoy. I hid my slightly reluctant feeling and asked back. The Mayor nodded.
“Since farming is your specialty, I thought we could get help from you. You also participated as a planning and execution committee member at previous festivals, so you’d have expertise in operations too. I’d like you to lend a hand. Since the scale is small and time is tight, there won’t be that much work.”
Wouldn’t there be more work if time is tight? And earlier you said it was being held to express gratitude and encouragement to expedition members. Why should I, who also worked as an expedition member, have to do this work too?
I felt slightly wronged, but the reason the Mayor was specifically requesting this of me was probably because I’m a player. If that’s the case.
Ding.
As expected, a new quest window appeared.
[Quest: Spring Festival Begins!]
[Plant trees on the bare mountains and cultivate the barren land to sow seeds!
Participate actively to earn praise from the residents.
Nature’s blessing will be with you!]
[Reward: Reputation increase]
[Penalty: Reputation decrease]
It was ridiculous. The reward was just a reputation increase. It didn’t seem like a proper reward, and there was even a penalty for failure. Wasn’t this clearly player exploitation?
Moreover, honestly, from what I’d seen so far, I couldn’t understand the utility of “Reputation” at all. My mood did improve when reputation increased, but if you asked whether it helped me return to reality, I had no idea. They talked about collecting points and such, but weren’t things going well with Eira and Seiz’s help even without points?
I thought it would be better to just ignore this crap and rest until the next expedition instead, but there wasn’t even a yes/no choice to begin with. Even if there were choices, realistically there was no room to choose “no”… but still, to blatantly remove choices like this. There had been signs since the snowy mountain quest, but honestly I’d hoped it wouldn’t be the case.
‘Sigh…’
The target area was decided to be the sea, and I wouldn’t even have time to rest until the next expedition. I left city hall with drooping shoulders. I’d planned to go to Eira first, but other work had come up.
I was newly grateful that Taro was with me. I’d be running around busily to various parts of the village, but fortunately I could travel comfortably in the car Taro was driving. Surely Carlisle hadn’t assigned Taro to me foreseeing even this.
“…”
Could it really be? According to the Mayor, Carlisle knew about the festival talk, so maybe…
“Wow, there were rumors going around but it was real! I’m excited. How long has it been since we had a festival!”
Unlike me whose head was complicated with various thoughts, Taro seemed excited about the festival talk. Well, he does seem like the type of character who would love festivals most. But unable to immediately sympathize, I kept my mouth shut and just told him where to go first as he gripped the steering wheel.
Though I’d be thrown into festival work in earnest starting tomorrow, I first needed to check out where to sow seeds and plant trees before meeting Eira or Seiz. I needed to confirm the soil condition and cultivation level to decide what kind of help to ask from those two.
The locations the Mayor told me about were parts of mountains on the village outskirts and vacant lots scattered here and there. About half were private lands Carlisle had lent for free, and the other half were village communal lands. The Mayor said contamination had been quite purified and only usable land had been selected and cultivated. But.
“Uh… they’re going to plant stuff here?”
It wasn’t me but Taro who spoke with a dumbfounded expression.
“Even you think it’s no good?”
I replied hopelessly. What the hell was this supposed to be?
Fortunately, weeds, rocks, dead tree roots and such seemed to have been all removed. But only Carlisle’s land was somewhat usable – the village communal land still wasn’t in a state where seeds could be sown. The problem was contamination. It definitely looked better than other places, but it wasn’t purified enough for plants to take root and grow.
Planting precious saplings and seeds in places like this would likely result in most of them failing to grow and dying. Even if they barely survived, they wouldn’t bear fruit.
The poor condition of the land wasn’t my responsibility, but anyway, since I’d been given the quest as the expert, if problems arose, reputation would likely decline. I sighed involuntarily.
‘Wait. In this state, what should I ask Eira or Seiz for?’
In the game when growing crops, I’d have Seiz upgrade farming tools and buy fertilizer potions from Eira that increased production or promoted growth.
Both of those were necessary, but right now purifying the land took priority over fertilizer or farming tools. Since food and water were already being purified and used in small amounts, soil purification itself shouldn’t be entirely impossible. It was just that purifying large amounts of soil would be difficult. Just like how even if you purified drinking water and household water for use, you couldn’t purify rivers or seas.
‘Soil purification potions…’
There would be limits to the purification range, but if it’s Eira, wouldn’t she be able to manage to some extent?
I definitely remembered Eira saying she’d made and used purification potions. I’m not sure whether she meant purifying ingredients or purifying a kitchen garden since I didn’t ask, but anyway she’d said she couldn’t make them anymore because she was out of materials. I’d already brought considerable amounts of materials obtained from the plains and desert, and would soon bring what we’d gathered from the snowy mountains too, so wouldn’t the situation be somewhat different now?
I pondered briefly then revised my schedule. I’d postpone visiting Eira until tomorrow and first stop by Seiz to commission farming tools, then visit the Priest again.
Honestly, someone at the Priest’s level seems like a character who would have some hidden power, but despite bringing three Fragments of the Sacred Tree so far, they haven’t given me any practical help. Don’t just say thanks with words – contribute something! I planned to go immediately and extract something that could help with soil purification.
Anyway, Seiz first.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
