Earth Dungeon 40.2

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Chapter 40.2. Land Development

"Yeah, that's right. It should grow normally even without thinning."

"If it fails, it fails, right, boss?"

Shingen and Katsuyori agreed as well. Nobody knows so they agree. Those with farming experience are tending to other fields, after all. It would have been better if they had come with us.

I think it'll probably be fine just by planting it. It's summer, so it should easily yield a bountiful harvest. I believe in it.

And then, I realized something troublesome.

[Hey, Shizuku-san, you haven't given any advice?]

Shizuku-san, who often jokes around, always gives precise advice. From the composition of skills to the content itself.

However, she's unusually quiet, too quiet.

I gaze towards Shizuku, who is floating in front of me as usual with a sleepy face and her hands behind her as if lying down.

[Hmm? Oh, my memory is about combat. You know, talent for battle. I don't forget memories related to combat and jokes. But things like cultivation have nothing to do with combat, so I have no idea.]

Shizuku tilts her head and answers with a genuinely curious expression as if wondering what I'm talking about. I thought maybe she also had useless memories, but it makes sense. It must be because of talent. Memory ability in combat also becomes a talent, huh?

[If you plant it haphazardly, it should grow. That's how it's designed, I think. But more importantly, I've noticed something difficult. I'll talk about it later. It's something quite important that will change our future.]

Shizuku-san, who seems indifferent to things that don't concern her, says. Thank you very much. She's reliable.

[Will it settle down just by planting it... Well, whatever. And what's this important matter?]

[It's still speculation, so it's okay for us to talk about it later. I don't have any confirmation either.]

As Shizuku says this with a serious expression, I think it must be something really difficult. But if that's the case, I'll focus on what's in front of me and deal with it later.

"Well then, let's plant them. I changed all the stored E Cores, so let's have high expectations."

I had accumulated E Cores during the hunting tours, so I converted all of them into corn seeds. We had nearly 2,000 of them in, and I had received all of them since I wasn't including E-rank Cores in the tour rewards. I used around 600 bags, including the nearly 1,000 I already had. With 50 seeds per bag, that's a total of 3,000.

It's just about enough to plant in the newly cleared fields.

Everyone follows my cue and starts planting the seeds regularly in the rows, albeit bewildered. I watch them absentmindedly and wipe the sweat under the scorching summer sun. It's hot.

"Hey, you know, corn can be used for various things, right?"

"Huh? Yeah, I think I've heard something like that. You can grind it into flour, right? I remember hearing about making cornbread or something like that."

Shingen looks at the corn seeds planted in the field and asks about it. Yeah, I've been wondering about it too.

The reason I chose corn this time is because of that. The reason for adding it to the lineup is that. I think we can ground it into flour and use it to make tortillas or cornbread. The "I think" part is uncertain and a bit scary.

I don't want to deal with wheat yet. There's a possibility that the people in the inner city will intervene. The same goes for rice. There's a mysterious sense of obligation that comes with rice cultivation, like having to make rice paddies.

It's not something I randomly thought about because once we turned the harvested crop into seeds. It grows at the same rate as an ordinary crop. Considering the future, I want to grow them normally and have rice paddies prepared as well.

I don't want the staple crops we can cultivate to attract attention. But I still want to secure staple crops. After much deliberation, I settled on corn. Once it's dried in the sun, all that's left is grinding it with a mill.

Having preserved food is essential. Choosing corn as a crop that the people in the inner city wouldn't be too interested in was a last resort.

Little by little, I need to expand our influence without attracting too much attention. Small businesses are a pitiful existence.

"It seems we can also use it as animal feed, but that's for later, right?"

"Not just animal feed. But we're still struggling with today's meals. ...It's good that we can have conversations like this, though."

Yeah, I agree with Shingen's answer. It means we have some breathing room if we can discuss things like animal feed. It's a matter of mindset, I suppose.

"In any case, it will take time for them to grow. We'll clear this area in the next few days. Let's grow potatoes there."

"Potatoes and corn. It's good to have more vegetables we can store for a long time."

"Yeah. We can regularly purchase wheat flour and vegetables from the inner town now, so let's observe the situation for a while with this."

We'll accumulate more cores, increase our funds, and expand the market.

With those preparations completed, it's time for our next move.

[Let's conquer the Bug Dungeon and obtain dungeon cores. The dungeon that spawns Lesser Mandragoras and Worms is at the same level as the Goblin King's dungeon. I've gained some skills that I want.]

[I see... Understood. With our current strength, it shouldn't be too difficult. We have fighting spirit and assault rifles, after all]

We won't let our guard down, but we'll be fine.

Well then, shall we conquer the Bug Dungeon?