"What's going on with you all of a sudden, teaching me how to grow demons?　Jack

Kyou's brother, who naturally questions back at my abrupt request.

"I know you have a lot of questions, but could you at least tell me how to do it? Please, tell me, brother, just tell me how to do it.

I'm scratching my head at the sincerity of my request, but my brother starts to talk to me like there's no way around it. That's what I'm talking about.

I don't really know how to do it, either. I just till the ground and plant seeds, and then apply fertilizer and compost, and then water.

"Well, does that mean we should start plowing the ground first?

Well, at first, I suppose. It would be better to dig up the soil and mix in some compost or something.

Where can I find that compost?

No, compost is not that rare and you don't have to buy it, there are plenty of alternatives. For example, food scraps and dead leaves. Especially with food scraps, you can plant them in the ground and let them decompose as a nutrient rather than throwing them out as garbage, which is doubly beneficial as a fertilizer and for garbage disposal.

"I see.

Thanks to my brother's easy-to-understand cultivation class, I now have a general idea of the basics.
I immediately put a hoe in my mouth and worked hard to cultivate the soil.
This is not easy. It's hard to get the right amount of pressure in, and if you're not careful, the hoe may come out of your mouth.
As you were tilling the soil, I noticed that Dora-chan was sitting on the ground and looking at you.

Jack, what are you doing?

You see, I'm just tilling the soil. I'm just plowing the soil.

"Are you helping your master?

No, I wanted to do something for a little girl.

My snarky narrative put a question mark in Dora's head. It's a grown-up world that children don't understand.
I was tilling the soil, tilling the dirt and rolling it in the back of the house and watering the ground with a bucket of water afterwards.
Hmm, not bad for a first time.
Even my brother, who was standing behind me, is impressed.

"Way to go, Jack. This is a day's work by yourself, and you pulled it off.

Then he grabbed the soil in his hand as if to check it's condition and removed it from the ground.

"The most important thing in cultivation is to make the soil. I've been making all kinds of monsters lately, but the most important thing is the soil that makes up the ground. The soil is important enough to grow good ones. Give it another week or so to soak up the soil, and then you can plant it.

I thanked my brother for his advice.





Then, after the soil had acclimated, I planted the seeds given to me by Miss Esto and watered them diligently every day.
But it was still not so easy for them to sprout.
Every day, I sat in front of the soil and watched it closely, but still no success.
My brother gently put his hand on my head and said, "Don't be in a hurry.

The next day, as usual, I went to the corner where I had planted the seeds, and there was an unfamiliar little sprout.
There was no mistaking it. That Miss Esto's seed that I planted had sprouted.
I was so happy that I spent the rest of the day rummaging around the garden.

After that, the sprouts grew steadily until I noticed they were nearly two meters tall and I finally figured out what they were.
It was a type of demon called the soybean type, and at the tip of the branch was a skinny sack containing three strands of beans called edamame, which had small limbs and was creeping around.
This demon is characterized by the fact that the branch beans act as a willing demon and move away from the tree.
In short, they are similar to our jack-o-lanterns.
Moreover, they are far less dangerous and easier to harvest than me.
This could be moved to Miss Esto's garden to provide her with food for her days.

Just as I was thinking that.
The next day, somehow the monster began to wilt.
I was so upset by the sudden change that I couldn't help but rummage around the garden.
I saw that the edamame beans, which were beginning to ripen, were exhausted and limp.
I tried desperately to water, compost, and fertilize them with every conceivable method, but to no avail.
Eventually, I thought, "I'll become a fertilizer myself! I tried to bury myself in the dirt, but my brother and Dora stopped me and it was not done after all.

Then, a short time later, the soybeans that Mistress Est gave me withered away.





What should I say, master, Jack is dead. ......

"Well, come on, honestly, I'd rather hear it than you. ......

Now I'm lying upside down as if I were dead in a corner of the raggedy house.
No, in fact, I'd rather be dead.
After all, the soybeans never sprouted from the seeds Miss Esto gave me, and that was the first and last time they ever sprouted.
It did, but it was just an edamame that had grown.
Moreover, its color, which would normally be a healthy green, was yellow like a dead leaf.
You can see that there are about three berries inside, but even through the skin bag, you can see that they are quite hard and not suitable for eating.
How am I going to apologize to her? I'll have to make amends by being her dinner table.
Just as you are about to return to your system and offer your life as a survivor to her table, someone opens the door and appears.

It's a good thing that you're not going to be able to find out what's going on with the ...... and this gloomy atmosphere.

Oh, Lily. Nice of you to show up. Can you cheer up Jack for a minute?

"What?　What are you talking about all of a sudden, why do I have to go to ...... and get off my back!

The two of them come closer to me, pushing Miss Lily's reluctance.
It's nice to hear your concern, but I've already made up my mind.
It's definitely a pumpkin casserole.


Just as I was about to move, Miss Lily saw the withered edamame in my mouth and made a startled noise.

What?　Where did you get that?

"Hmm, Lily. Do you know what it is?

"You know what? That's not gold beans!　It's a fantastic golden soybean that rivals S-rated in value alone!

...... golden soybeans?





--Konk.

Yes, please.

When I heard her voice, I quietly opened the door.

"Hey, good to see you. Mistress Est.

That voice is ...... Jack?　It's been a while. How has the seed grown since then?

She asked fearfully and I rolled three seeds on the table.
That's all I could harvest from the seeds she gave me.
Taking them, Miss Esto smiled somewhat puffed up.

"Was that so. No, it would have been enough to harvest just three. The seeds alone weren't worth anything to begin with, and just three would be enough for a meal.

"No, that's not a bean for you to eat. Mistress Est.

Mistress Est shakes her head at my comment.
She touches the bean in her hand again, testing its texture.
It's too cold and hard to be a bean, almost like a piece of metal.
Yes, it is--

"No way, this is ...... gold?

Yes, she had a seed. It was a golden-fruiting demon called gold beans.
But they are even more difficult to cultivate than the mandragora, and where they live is a complete mystery.
Above all, they produce "only one edamame".
If it bears fruit, the tree will wither and die right away.
If the edamame produced during this short period of time is not harvested, the gold inside will die with it, a valuable monster with an S-class harvesting difficulty level.
The seeds that her parents had desperately obtained at the last minute were literally worth enough to cure her illness.

Mistress Est. Sell it and use the money to cure your eyes. That should bring you plenty of change.

I turn my back on her and go out the door again, just as I did then.
You can see her back, and she screams out in a jumble of emotions that can be taken as excitement, joy, and gratitude.

Um!　Thank you!　This favor will never go unnoticed by ......!　If my eyes are healed, you'll be the first to see your face!

She choked back tears and I said to her, "You'd better not be doing that.

"I don't think that's a good idea.

"Huh?

I quietly close the door behind her as she is stunned.
She didn't find out my identity until the end.
But I thought that was okay. It was a monster that had taken her parents away.
She didn't need to know that the person who saved her life was a monster like that.

This is just one of those ubiquitous stories of a meddlesome pumpkin giving charity to a strange woman.
But still, as he left--

One day, when my eyes are healed, I will definitely come back to thank you!　Mr. Jack!

Her voice left a warmth in my pumpkin heart.