SML Ch 27

Chapter 27

“Volant, what on earth did you grow in this field?!”

“At most, it was wheat or something like that! Do you think I was cultivating some rare, incredible crop?”

Then someone screamed, “What the hell is that?” And honestly, even though Reynald hadn’t screamed, he was feeling exactly the same way. He had thought it would be quick since it was a small field managed by just one person, but it clearly wasn’t going to be that easy.

In reality, the field itself wasn’t very large. The problem was the plants growing there—despite the limited space, they had grown so thick and massive it looked like the field was about to burst.

“Volant, seeing how things are… why don’t you just abandon this field and move to the castle?”

Lyndon, his face pale, made the suggestion. They had cleaned out several fields already, but none had been in as horrifying a state as Volant’s. The plants growing in his field were abnormally large and suspiciously healthy compared to those in the other fields. 

Exaggerating only slightly, the vines soared nearly ten meters into the air, and their grotesque size wasn’t just disturbing—it was overwhelming. Scarlet flower buds were densely packed between the towering, tentacle-like vines, and the writhing plants didn’t seem like a group of individual organisms but rather a single monstrous lifeform. Volant, who had been silently staring up at the plants in speechless awe, finally opened his mouth with effort.

“I mean, come on… I can’t just abandon a perfectly good field, can I?”

“That’s the problem—it’s not perfectly good.”

“I-If we just get rid of the plants, it’ll be fine, right? Of course, doing it alone would be tough, but it’s not that out of control!”

That’s what he said, but Volant’s pupils were visibly shaking. Even he didn’t seem to fully believe what he was saying.

Honestly, Lyndon had a point. Charging in to clean up those plants could result in someone from the village getting seriously hurt. The ones they had dealt with so far had been manageable, but the ones in this field were far from ordinary. Risking injury to the villagers for the sake of saving one small field just didn’t add up.

However, if it wasn’t a matter of profit and loss but rather a question of principle, the story changed.

“Still… wouldn’t it be kind of wrong to leave only Volant’s field untouched? He’s helped out a ton with the others.”

A few of the village youths exchanged uncertain looks as they murmured. In situations like this, the give-and-take of helping each other wasn’t something you could judge purely by profit.

It would mean, “We only cleaned the safer fields and left the dangerous one behind,” and that would invalidate all the effort Volant had put in helping clear the other fields. After working so hard on everyone else’s, not helping him with his own would just be unfair.

Reynald fell into thought. Should he use this chance to convince Volant to move into the castle, or should they push themselves a bit and help clean the field anyway? Which option would be better? As Reynald and the other young men stood there, looking awkwardly at each other, Alex—who had been watching from behind—suddenly spoke up.

“If we leave it alone, won’t it spread?”

“Spread? What do you mean?”

“To monsters, that stuff’s a feast. A whole horde could rush in to eat the fruit, then take a dump somewhere else, and before you know it, those plants will be growing all over the place during the busy farming season. That would turn into a huge problem.”

The youths all turned toward Alex in surprise. Reynald, too, thought it made sense. Sure, the plants weren’t bearing fruit yet, so they probably wouldn’t start spreading during the current farming season—but if monsters gathered near the field to eat them, that would cause plenty of problems on its own.

Was it even possible to clear those plants without casualties? After a brief moment of thought, Reynald concluded that with enough preparation, it should be doable. Besides, they needed to figure out why the plants in this particular field had grown to such monstrous proportions in the first place. There had to be some underlying cause.

“Then let’s go with this—make thorough preparations and come back later. Everyone’s exhausted from handling all the other fields, so we should rest up first, then tackle that one at full strength.”

“Y-You’re really going to help me?”

“After everything you’ve done, how could we not? Don’t worry—if the others won’t help, I’ll help you myself.”

“What are you talking about? Of course we’re going to help. I’m a bit worried, sure, but…”

Even Lyndon, who had initially been hesitant, nodded in agreement. He might be worried, but it was clear he had no intention of refusing to help outright.

And so, Reynald and the villagers decided to head back to the castle to rest and return the next day. With proper preparations, they would face the enormous plants head-on.

The next morning, the young men arrived at Volant’s field, fully equipped and ready for battle.

The plant monsters, unsurprisingly, were still there. While they had looked like some horrifying massive creature the day before, now—after getting proper rest and regaining their strength—they didn’t seem quite as terrible.

They had simply grown big and healthy from being well-nourished and undisturbed. From a human perspective, they looked grotesque only because they were too healthy. The towering, tentacle-like vines stretching to the sky were certainly unsettling and left room for unwanted mental imagery, but that was just a matter of perspective.

“If only all our crops grew this well.”

Volant muttered with a deadpan expression. Someone joked that this must be a sign Volant’s field would be incredibly fruitful this year, prompting laughter from the rest of the youths. They clearly felt more at ease than the day before.

Partly because they had rested well and were refreshed, and partly because they had come much better prepared. There were more of them than the previous day, and they wore gear made from wyvern hide to protect against injury. They had brought every weapon the territory had, and even the sturdy shields used during the wyvern subjugation. All this to guard against potential ambushes. With this much preparation, the chance of someone getting seriously hurt was low.

“Judging by the way the vine tops are swelling, the main body must be up there. It’s too high to climb, so… let’s try to hold down the tentacles with weapons on the ground while shooting the buds and the main body with crossbows from the rear.”

Even though the size was massive, the strategy for taking it down wasn’t all that different. The front lines would engage the tentacles while the rear aimed for the main body. A simple plan, really. But with something this huge, there was no guarantee things would go smoothly. If luck turned sour, it could easily lead to disaster.

This time, instead of just Volant, several of the youths were handling crossbows. Previously, Volant had been the only one shooting because of the risk of accidents in close combat. But now, since they’d be aiming several meters into the air, the risk was much lower, and using multiple crossbows was more efficient.

“Be careful, everyone!”

Reynald took his place at the very front with sword in hand, ready to deal with the tentacles. To ensure none of the other young men got hurt, it made sense for him to take the most dangerous position. He was well aware of the risk, but Reynald was never the type to avoid danger—and more importantly, he was confident in his skills.

Still, if he’d known what kind of accident was waiting for him in the middle of this hunt, he might have hesitated just a little.

“T-These things are way harder to deal with than we thought!”

What on earth happened to this field?! Reynald clenched his teeth and kicked at the tentacles bursting from the ground. The sensation of something rupturing beneath the steel-reinforced soles of his boots was followed by sticky sap splattering everywhere.

Following Reynald’s lead, the other youths also tried kicking the tentacles, but their boots were just regular leather and couldn’t burst them. Still, it was at least somewhat effective in stopping their advance.

“Healthy plants have strong roots,” or so farmers liked to say with a chuckle. Reynald never thought he’d get to confirm that firsthand like this. The tentacles in the other fields hadn’t erupted from underground like this, but these ones had roots that were not only strong, but hyperactive—snake-like tentacles kept shooting up from beneath the soil to attack. Unlike the surface tentacles, these had bulging vein-like structures that made them even more grotesque to look at.

Still, thanks to their good armor, no one had been injured yet. The shields with metal edges were effective at blocking the tentacle stalks and also quite useful in chopping off the ones rising from the ground. But after over an hour of struggling against the plants with little progress, the group began to grow visibly frustrated.

“Aren’t we just wasting arrows at this point?”

“Why the hell are their leaves so tough?!”

It wasn’t just the frontliners who were exasperated. Volant and the other youths firing crossbows from the back were trying to destroy the flower buds, but the shield-like leaves kept deflecting the bolts, making every shot a failure. They hadn’t seen anything like this from the plants they’d faced over the past few days.

Why the hell are these plants moving so aggressively?

Reynald kept an eye on their movements as he slashed through tentacles. He’d seen worse during his days in the subjugation unit, so this wasn’t enough to shock him—but still…

There had to be a reason for this grotesque level of overgrowth. That was what bothered Reynald most.