Missing Villagers

"So, you're the mages from Fairy Tail?" Mr. Pushmon climbed down from the tree, glancing at the job request in Wendy's hand. "Yeah, this is the one I posted. But…"

Wendy tilted her head. "Is there a problem?"

"No, nothing at all."

Truthfully, Pushmon had been about to ask why they sent a bunch of kids. Even though the young man seemed capable, it was the girl who had done all the talking. He had a vague idea of the situation, the main labor was probably expected to come from this little girl.

He was a bit disappointed. Still, considering the reward he'd offered wasn't exactly generous, he couldn't really complain.

Besides, these were Fairy Tail mages. Judging them by ordinary standards might be a mistake.

Wendy sensed she was being underestimated, but she kept her cool and asked politely, "Can you explain what you need us to do?"

"Alright," Pushmon nodded. "First is the pruning work, like what I was just doing up there. After that, you'll need to sweep up all the fallen leaves in the orchard. I'm planning to compost them."

He pointed toward the section they had just walked through. "I've already done part of it. I'll be working alongside you, and if you're ready, I'll teach you how to handle the pruning next."

Wendy looked over at Rhodes. Seeing no objections, she nodded and prepared to begin.

Rhodes asked, "Do you usually manage this entire orchard by yourself?"

"No. I hired a few workers from the village south of here. After the persimmon harvest a while ago, I gave them a short vacation. They were supposed to come back two days ago to help finish the post-harvest cleanup…"

He paused, his expression darkening.

"But they never came back. I heard rumors something strange happened in that village, apparently, all the workers have vanished."

"Vanished?" Rhodes asked, his tone sharpening. "What exactly happened?"

"No one knows," Pushmon said with a grim shake of his head. "Just that something weird is going on, and I'm not about to go poking around to find out. I'm leaving town soon, won't be back till next year. If I don't get this orchard sorted before then, it'll be in bad shape."

Pushmon sighed, clearly troubled. "If I had my regular crew, I wouldn't have bothered hiring mages. Even with the lower pay, it's still pricier than getting local help."

Rhodes frowned slightly. A whole village's workers disappearing without a trace wasn't something to brush off. His first thought was dark guild activity, or worse, some kind of black magic cult.

But speculation wouldn't help now. He made a mental note to check for any related jobs or reports when they got back to the guild.

After going over the last few details and confirming the reward, Pushmon led them to the shed to hand out the tools.

Aprons, sleeves, pruning shears, small handsaws, and stepladders, each of them received a full set of tools, just like the ones Pushmon used.

To Pushmon's surprise, even the white cat in a jacket asked for tools. Not only could she talk, she could fly too.

As expected from a mage's companion.

Wendy carefully tied her long blue hair behind her back, then frowned. It still felt messy. So she gathered it into a bun on top of her head and put on a sun hat.

Once she'd pulled on her sleeves and apron, and picked up the pruning shears, she looked like a perfect little orchard worker.

Pushmon couldn't help but smile at the sight. Whoever raised this girl must be proud, having such a lovely and diligent daughter.

But for her to be out here working at such a young age… Pushmon resisted the urge to think too much about it.

"Alright," he said, patting one of the nearby trees. "This one has already been pruned. That one over there still needs work. Can you tell the difference?"

He made it sound easy. But aside from noticing the trimmed branches and slightly more open shape of the pruned tree, the three mages couldn't really tell much else.

Surely pruning wasn't just based on a vague feeling?

Seeing their uncertain expressions, Pushmon sighed and explained further. "In summer, this tree will be packed with leaves. The sun rises from the east, travels through the southern sky, and sets in the west. If branches are too dense, some areas will be completely shaded out. That affects how much fruit it bears. The trimmed tree gets better sunlight."

"Ohhh…" The two humans and the cat all nodded with half-understanding expressions.

Rhodes silently questioned whether it was really a good idea to entrust next year's harvest to three complete amateurs.

"Anyway, I'll show you how it's done." Pushmon propped up a stepladder beside one of the untrimmed trees, climbed a few steps, and pointed to several areas.

"See here? These overlapping branches should be removed. They crowd each other, and that blocks airflow and sunlight."

With swift, practiced motions, he clipped through the thinner branches with his pruning shears..snip, snip,,,and used a handsaw on the thicker ones.

Then he pointed out the differences between old wood and new shoots, showed them how to identify diseased limbs, and even explained concepts like bud eyes, back buds, and the rules for trimming above a healthy bud.

Wendy and Carla listened carefully, their eyes wide with focus. Even Rhodes was quietly impressed, as bits of middle school biology, things like apical dominance and growth direction, floated back into his memory.

After finishing the demonstration on one tree, Pushmon handed things over to them. "Alright. Give it a try. I'll supervise and guide you until you get the hang of it."

So one by one, they each practiced trimming three to five trees under his watchful eye. Pushmon corrected their grip, their cuts, and the angles they used.

Eventually, he stepped back and gave a small nod. "That'll do. You've got the basics down. Work on your own from here. Just take your time."

Pushmon kept busy with his own pruning work, occasionally walking over to check the trees Rhodes and Wendy had trimmed.

Every now and then, he would sigh with a small smile. "Young people really do learn fast."

Rhodes worked like a seasoned orchard hand, climbing up and down trees, pruning branches with increasing precision. After a while, he was confident he'd fully grasped the technique. And that's when he began thinking, was there a monster he could summon to do this for him?

Unfortunately, the answer was: no.

If only he could give precise instructions to the Void geubs. With time, he could summon more worms than there were trees in the entire orchard. Forget this field—he could clear an entire mountain if needed.

But the problem was, those worms weren't very smart.

If he released them here, they'd chew through everything—the branches, the leaves, the fruit, even the soil.

"Ah!" Wendy suddenly let out a startled cry. 

Rhodes reacted instantly. The ground beneath the tree bulged, and a soft, fuzzy creature shot up like a trampoline.

Wendy landed safely on Warm's back, bouncing gently before lying still.

Carla flew over in concern. "Wendy, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Wendy said cheerfully, lying on the plush surface of Warm's back. She gently patted its fur. "Thank you, Warm… and thank you too, Brother Rhodes."

"Puurrrrr~" Warm purred contentedly. Just a moment ago, it had been lounging in the guild hall, nibbling on snacks and acting cute, and now it had suddenly appeared in an orchard.

Pushmon jogged over to check on the commotion. His eyes widened at the sight of the creature but, seeing Wendy unharmed, he simply said, "Be careful when climbing. Don't overdo it."

So, with Pushmon's approval, she started working again. Whenever she spotted the occasional stubborn persimmon still clinging to a branch, she picked it and tossed it to Warm. They were second-rate fruits, underripe and astringent, but Warm didn't mind one bit.

Humans might get stomachaches or kidney stones from eating too many. Warm, on the other hand, would just grumble that he was still hungry.

Sometimes he even chomped on the thin branches Wendy had trimmed, only to spit them out once he realized they weren't edible. Bark, however, wasn't spared, he slurped it right off.

With Warm around, the slow orchard work felt more like a picnic.

Wendy climbed and trimmed, then climbed down and fed Warm.

Carla hovered from tree to tree, occasionally picking a persimmon and offering it to the gluttonous creature like a flying waitress.

...

Bonus @20000

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