“A farm…?”
“Look, I’ll draw the line at farming. An inn I was fine with — I could take it easy and sl— rest there. But agriculture on top of that is asking too much.”
He was definitely about to say “slack off.”
Then again, asking Rigma’s instance to handle both the inn and farming really would be unreasonable.
Though I couldn’t help noticing — maybe because I’ve been choosing menus of this type, but the options being added lately are skewing less toward repelling intruders and more toward making the place comfortable.
“We don’t have the hands for it right now. That one can wait.”
Building it now and letting it sit untended would just mean watching it wither. Spending the mana would have some value regardless, but wasting it like that still felt wrong.
“Perhaps once your liege’s retainers have returned.”
Lady Fiona’s suggestion made sense — put it off until then.
We really are short-staffed.
Though — could I task monsters with it? Something with high enough Technique might actually manage it.
“What if we recruited someone the way we did with Tokitou?”
Lady Fiona responded to Primila’s suggestion with an expression of unambiguous distaste.
Not a face befitting the Demon Lord. More like a disapproving mascot character at this point.
“Unlike Tokitou, most people don’t voluntarily work for demons.”
“In that case, couldn’t Rigma-sama’s instance give them direction?”
“Hey — Primila? I don’t like where this is going. The old man doesn’t like where this is going~”
Rigma passes perfectly as human — the way the beast-kin use the inn makes that clear.
So if Rigma positioned himself as the group’s leader and gave instructions, might people actually follow through?
“And anyway — a human willingly working for demons? That makes me suspicious by default. End of story.”
“You would simply need to play the role of a human who hasn’t given up hope of eventual release.”
“…Are my duties not getting a little demanding here?”
So forced labor, and Rigma playing the long-suffering veteran who believes in eventual freedom.
Promise them actual release eventually and you might even get genuine effort.
“That could work.”
“It absolutely shouldn’t work!!”
Primila’s face was impassive, but there was something quietly satisfied about her posture.
Rigma was objecting, but he hadn’t said it was impossible — probably just that it sounded exhausting.
“We’ll hold that idea for when we build another facility that deals with outside visitors.”
For a farm, we weren’t dealing with other races anyway. No need to draft humans for that.
That said, we’ll probably keep adding facilities that do interface with outsiders, so Primila’s idea was worth keeping in mind.
“I’m somehow feeling like the danger hasn’t actually passed for me…”
“You’ll be needed eventually — do your best.”
“Oh noooo…”
“…So we’re tabling the farm for now?”
“No — I’m thinking of creating a large number of dexterous monsters and putting them to work.”
Primila’s question had a slightly disappointed edge to it, so I explained my actual plan.
The problem was that I had zero knowledge of agriculture.
And we’d need seeds or seedlings to begin with — purchasing those would be necessary.
“I see… using monsters. That’s an interesting idea, Rei.”
Lady Fiona seemed genuinely enthusiastic.
“For something that would actually grow underground — perhaps starting with Mana Fruit?”
“Not vegetables?”
“There’s no sunlight down here. Ordinary crops might struggle.”
Fair. Without the right nutrients and light, ordinary plants probably wouldn’t take.
Mana Fruit, though. Very game-world terminology.
“Does eating it restore mana?”
“Restore rather than increase, yes. It doesn’t match a proper mana recovery potion, but refining the fruit makes a better product — the raw fruit is mainly useful as a crafting ingredient.”
A crafting material, then.
Still — if it provided mana recovery options, both Lady Fiona and I could do more of what we wanted.
…Though for Lady Fiona’s pool it’d be like a raindrop, and overdoing it would draw Primila’s disapproval.
“I like that idea. Can we get seeds or seedlings?”
“The heroes destroyed much, but things like seeds were left untouched.”
“Then I’ll get back everything that was taken from you, Lady Fiona.”
“…Thank you, Rei.”
I wanted to get ahead of the mood before Lady Fiona could sink into it.
It worked — she smiled, a little self-conscious but genuinely pleased.
“In that case, I’ll oversee the monster farming instruction.”
“You can do that too?”
“Water is my area of expertise.”
Soil management seemed more directly relevant than water, but if Primila said she was suited for it, she probably was.
Which reminded me — Primila is water, Pilukaya is fire.
The remaining two Heavenly Kings would conventionally be earth and wind. Was Rigma technically earth?
“Rigma, are you earth-aligned?”
“Bit out of nowhere. I suppose — mercury-based slime, broadly speaking, could be categorized as earth. Sure.”
“Rigma-sama does have a strong aptitude for earth-attribute magic, after all.”
So Rigma was earth. That made the last Heavenly King almost certainly wind.
Though if Rigma was earth-aligned, he seemed like the natural choice for farm work.
“I can see where this is going from the look on your face. Just because I’m earth-aligned doesn’t mean I get stuck in a field. I’m already working harder than I have in years. I’m at my limit.”
“I just thought you’d be well-suited for it.”
“I am suited for it. Which is why I should be the one.”
Primila was unusually insistent.
…Was gardening actually a hobby of hers?
“Exactly. Primila loves growing things. I’d be getting in her way.”
“I am suited for it, and I enjoy it.”
Primila straightened up slightly.
She didn’t often assert herself so plainly. She must genuinely love it — farming, gardening, something in that direction.
In that case, unlocking this menu might have been a good thing for more than one reason. Materials for crafting and something Primila actually wanted to do — two birds with one stone.
“Then let’s settle on a location.”
“We still don’t have enough dexterous monsters to help.”
The highest Technique among our monsters right now was the Gargoyle at 47.
But redirecting the Gargoyle to farmwork was out of the question — I’d need to create separate monsters with high Technique for this purpose. More gacha runs, with Lady Fiona beside me this time.
“That’s fine. Until the right monsters are ready, Rigma-sama’s instance can help in the meantime.”
“That is not fine!!”
“Water and earth attributes tending a farm together — that’s actually rather luxurious. Should produce something excellent~”
“Hey! You! Pilukaya! You can make instances too!”
“Nope, not happening. I’d just burn everything.”
That was absolutely not true. If Pilukaya couldn’t control his own flames, the dungeon would be a lava tube by now.
Rigma clearly knew this and tried to push back, but Primila had already seized his arm with unusual determination, and he gave up.
“Alright — location is up to you, Primila.”
“Understood. Leave it to me. I will grow something worth having.”
“Rei~… please hurry with those monster creations. The old man is going to collapse from overwork~”
“Yeah, I’ll get on it. Hang in there, Rigma.”
His situation really was becoming a genuine burden.
Getting those monsters created as quickly as possible — that was the priority.
“…”
“Lady Fiona? Is something the matter?”
Something about her expression looked distant, and I asked without thinking.
“N-no. It’s nothing.”
She came back to herself and answered quickly.
Was she all right? Maybe the chest had missed again.
Probably something like that, I figured — and then Primila turned wordlessly and held out her hand for the map.
Right — I’d gotten distracted in the middle of a conversation. I hurriedly passed it over and let Primila sort out the farm location.
Behind me, Lady Fiona seemed to murmur something. I couldn’t make it out, so I let it go.
“…Primila enjoys gardening. I didn’t know that.”