Chapter 113. Oh No(2)

Boink! Boink!

'Was I really...'

Was I a farming genius?

Was farming my true nature?

Feeling the soft, glutinous rice cake-like jelly palms of Tbong pressing against her back in real time, while receiving a series of slightly toasty-smelling praise stickers, Artanis thought.

And she realized.

'.......'

Is this what they call happiness?

Honestly, she wasn't sure yet.

But there was one thing she could be certain of.

That she wasn't feeling bad right now. No, that throughout her long life, there had been few times she laughed so thoughtlessly like this.

So maybe, she was a little bit happy. Maybe that's why she kept surprising herself.

However, her surprise did not end there.

"Tbong!"

After finishing his storm-like bombardment of praise stickers, Tbong pulled something else out. A long green leaf. It was a corn leaf.

"Tbobong! Tbong!"

-...You're giving me this as a gift?

"Tbong!"

Tbong nodded firmly, then began smoothing the corn leaf with his glutinous rice cake palms and rice-grain-like fingers. Doing his best.

Folding it this way.

Folding it that way.

Flipping it over energetically.

Folding again, folding again, folding some more.

Until finally, he completed 'something.'

"Tbooong!"

-......

Tbong proudly held out his completed work (?) as a gift, his face beaming as he shouted.

"Tbobong! Ppong!"

-...You're calling this a ribbon?

This?

Really?

"Tbong! Bong!"

-......

No.

The ribbons I know don't look like this. At the very least, if you're going to call something a ribbon, it should meet the minimum qualifications to be considered a ribbon.

So this is...

It's very pretty.

"Bobong! Tbong!"

Was he waiting for praise?

Tbong, looking delighted, jumped into her arms, wagging his plump butt and tail like a propeller.

Thanks to that, a motherly smile formed at the corners of Artanis's mouth.

'.......'

Yeah.

What does it matter if the ribbon looks a little weird? Honestly, to be blunt, um, it kind of looks like a mess of something like a dog poop you'd find rolling around on the street.

But in terms of creativity of form, you could certainly give it a decent score.

Still.

'Because it's a gift for me.'

What mattered was the feeling behind it.

Thinking so, Artanis hung the dog poop-looking, no, ribbon-shaped corn leaf around her neck like a brooch.

Maybe because of that.

"What... is that?"

Kim Jangcheol, who had briefly looked around the field, squinted his eyes the moment he saw the corn leaf ribbon.

Artanis's expression hardened automatically.

It's a gift I received.

She quickly moved her fingers, not wanting Kim Jangcheol to say something strange and hurt Tbong's feelings.

Tbong folded it himself and gave it to me. Isn't it pretty?

"Uh, yes? Uh, mm, it is pretty, but it's a bit..."

-...A bit?

"May I, uh, take a closer look?"

-...

In that instant, she felt something was off.

She thought he would just mock the random shape of the ribbon or belittle it.

But he didn't.

Instead, Credos was examining the ribbon with surprisingly serious eyes.

-...

What is it?

Why is he like this?

While she was feeling puzzled.

Kim Jangcheol was examining the poop-shaped ribbon — no, to be precise, the material of the ribbon, the corn leaf — with slightly tense eyes.

And then he saw it.

"......"

The green corn leaf.

The tiny, dotted yellow spots scattered across it.

'This, looks like that disease I know.'

...Gulp.

He swallowed dryly without meaning to.

A vague, creeping bad feeling began to stir.

He thought it would be necessary to confirm it.

Pop!

He opened his eyes wide.

He glared at the corn leaf brooch.

Without blinking once.

Until the blood vessels burst visibly.

Because of that.

-Isn't that too much?

"....."

-Tbong made that gift with all his heart. Yet you're just obsessing over its appearance and glaring at it like that, I think that's very wrong.

"......."

-I'd like to tell you that such an attitude could hurt Tbong.

"........"

Yes, I know.

I know, okay.

But my behavior right now isn't about what you think. I'm being serious here, really.

Artanis was bombarding him with scolding looks from the side, but he endured silently. He even suppressed the instinctual urge to blink.

And when the 200 seconds were up.

Ding dong!

There was a reaction.

[Bloodshot Eyes (Lv.1) skill has been activated.]

[Observing Target: Diseased Corn Leaf]

[You have observed the 'Diseased Corn Leaf' for 200 seconds and have detected its current condition and forecasted changes for the next 6 hours.]

"..."

Diseased corn leaf?

So my hunch was right after all.

His heart sank slightly.

He quickly read the next message.

[The 'Diseased Corn Leaf' you have observed is infected with Southern Corn Leaf Blight. The causal agent is the fungus Cochliobolus heterostrophus, and due to this fungus, the mitochondria tissue of the corn leaf is being destroyed by a lethal specific toxin (T-Toxin).]

[In the next 6 hours, the corn leaf will attempt to resist the fungus with its own immunity. However, this resistance will largely fail, and ultimately, the entire leaf will wither yellow and die.]

"......."

It was certain.

Southern Corn Leaf Blight.

'Damn.'

He had hoped it wouldn't be.

But now that it was confirmed, he had to respond immediately.

After confirming, Kim Jangcheol asked Artanis.

"This corn leaf ribbon, you said Tbong gave it to you as a gift, right?"

-That's right.

"Then, do you know where Tbong is right now?"

"Tbooong!"

The moment he asked, Tbong peeked his head out from Artanis's dress. Always cheerful, Tbong was there.

"Hey, Tbong?"

"Tbong?"

"This, the corn leaf you made into a ribbon."

"Tbobong?"

"Yeah, this one. Do you remember where you picked it?"

"Tbong!"

"...Well, I know it was in the cornfield."

"Tbooong!"

"Where exactly in the cornfield?"

"Tbobong! T! Bong! Bong, Bong! Tbongbong! Tbong!"

".....Uh, so, under the ugly cloud that looks like Uncle Asurat and the sun were fighting?"

"Tbong!"

"Nothing else? Like any landmarks that would make it easier to find?"

"Tbobong!"

"....Yeah, guess not."

Kim Jangcheol hung his head low.

Under a cloud as ugly as Asurat, he said.

Which meant — he had no way of knowing exactly where.

'Looks like I'll have to search the whole field.'

It's just a single leaf.

But if his suspicion was right, things could get very serious.

"Zephyros, gather the farming corps. Right now. Everyone without exception. Emergency assembly."

He gave the order.

The execution was immediate.

In barely over ten minutes, the direct farming corps and all the demon race members from each legion gathered.

To them, Kim Jangcheol showed the corn leaf brooch shaped like dog poop.

"Everyone! From now on, we're entering the fields and inspecting every single corn leaf without missing one! What you're looking for is simple—whether there's a yellowish speckled pattern like this!"

That was when it began.

The farming corps started moving.

They meticulously inspected every leaf of the cornfields.

Meanwhile, Kim Jangcheol stood with arms crossed, lost in thought. And he was worried. About the corn leaf blight, likely already spreading throughout the fields, which he had managed to detect thanks to Tbong. How he was going to overcome it.

-Your face is heavy. Is it something really bad?

"...Mm, yeah. Probably."

Kim Jangcheol smiled bitterly.

"In the worst case, it's serious enough that we might have to abandon the entire corn crop."

It was true.

Despite its silly name, Southern Corn Leaf Blight was a deadly grim reaper-like disease for corn.

'As soon as it's found, you have to uproot the infected corn completely and burn it. If you don't, the fungal spores will spread across the entire field.'

He recalled cases from back in Korea.

There were farms that used to suffer terribly from this blight.

And back then... how did they handle it?

'At the early stage, they'd spray designated control pesticides. Stuff like difenoconazole wettable powder, propiconazole emulsifiable concentrate, or maybe benomyl wettable powder or azoxystrobin liquid suspension.'

But those were only to prevent the spread of spores. Already infected corn?

You couldn't save it. There was no cure. The only solution was to burn it quickly and block further infection.

So if the infection had already spread extensively across the cornfield?

'There's no saving it.'

The entire field would have to be burned.

If you didn't?

All the infected corn would rot away.

It would be a complete disaster.

But... and yet...

'Why am I not particularly worried?'

It was strange.

Given the current situation, it was a moment where the ambitious Three Sisters farming technique could utterly collapse, even meet complete ruin.

And yet, strangely, he wasn't really worried. He wasn't scared or anxious.

For one simple reason.

"Lady Artanis? May I ask a favor?"

-A favor? What kind?

"I would like to request a healing performance from the three loyal vassals who follow you."

-A healing... performance?

"Yes."

Kim Jangcheol nodded.

And then, a memory surfaced.

The memory of a challenge battle against Artanis from the game.

'The shimmering space within the sealed ruins. When fighting the sealed Artanis and moving into Phase 2... 'they' appeared.'

Three silhouettes appeared beyond the shimmering background, playing intense music. Every time they played, random buffs were given to Artanis. Sometimes even restoring her health.

Back then, it was because of that buff performance that he struggled so badly. During the first playthrough, he had failed countless times when he was just one hit away from victory.

'Just one more hit and I would've won, but then the performance buff healed her up and I couldn't finish her. Then I panicked, got comboed, and died.'

...Even now, it was a memory that pissed him off.

But for him now?

That buff performance would be an incredible help.

'Those shadows beyond the shimmering space — they were the three loyal vassals who followed Artanis.'

The three vassals could buff allies with their performance. They could even heal.

So if he let the corn listen to the healing song?

Even the corn suffering from Southern Corn Leaf Blight could be healed!

"...That's the idea behind the favor I'd like to ask."

"You mean, our healing performance?"

"Yes."

Kim Jangcheol nodded.

And he spoke to Largo, the eldest of the three loyal vassals, who wore a grim expression.

"And if you're going to perform anyway, it would be better if you could play a marathon performance for several days, just like using pesticides for quarantine."

The more healing the corn received, the more likely they could overcome the disease.

"Several days, huh. Hm."

Largo frowned slightly.

Then asked him.

"Can you really... withstand it?"

"Mm?"

Withstand?

What withstand?

Just as he was about to feel puzzled, Largo continued.

"The truth is, our performances are divided into two main categories. One is a performance for attack, and the other is for ally support."

"Mm, and?"

"The attack performance is gentle and seductive, like the Marionette Song you've heard. But... the support performance is a little different. It's rough, and sometimes even violent."

"The attack performance is gentle, and the support performance is rough?"

"Indeed."

"Uh, mm... isn't it usually the other way around?"

"I don't know about other cases, but that's how our music is."

"....."

Hearing "that's just how ours is" left him with nothing to say.

Well, it probably wouldn't be a big deal.

"Anyway, the important thing is that you can perform it, right?"

"Of course."

"Then good. Please do it."

No matter how rough it was, a performance was still a performance.

'If a little noise can save the crop... it's a 100% win!'

He nodded readily.

And with a desperate heart, he looked over the cornfields. Red flags planted here and there. These were the spots found during the exhaustive inspection with the farming corps, marking where infected corn had been discovered.

And the number of those flags was... over seventy.

Meaning — the spores causing the blight had already spread throughout all the fields.

'If the music therapy fails, we might seriously have to burn the entire field.'

If that happened, it would be over.

Everyone would starve.

So, even if it got a little noisy, that was fine.

No matter how loud it got, he could listen to it sweetly.

...Or so Kim Jangcheol had hoped and steeled himself — only to have his resolution start to waver exactly three seconds later.

The three loyal vassals preparing for the healing performance.

From the moment they started 'transforming' their instruments.

...Clack!

It began with Veloce, the blue-eyed second.

A harsh metallic sound came from the violin he raised. The instrument began to transform.

It grew bigger.

It grew longer.

It transformed.

Into an electric guitar, bearing a blazing flame pattern, with six strings.

"......"

What the hell.

Unfortunately (?) he wasn't even given time to be surprised.

Following Veloce, Largo transformed his trombone into a bass guitar, and Andante turned his harp into a synthesizer.

And if that wasn't enough, Artanis added her own twist.

Clang, clank, clack!

Chains extending from her dress pounded the ground, creating a dazzling drumbeat of nature.

Tududududu! Dung dung tung! Dung dung tung!

And then it began.

Jiaaaa! Kyaaaang! Chwaaang! Dung dung tung! Wooyeahneeeh!

Across the entire Demon King's Castle, an unforgiving 180-decibel metal spirit began to roar, more than enough to completely destroy the eardrums of anyone listening.

[T/L: I am not getting any support from webnovel platform, so please support me and read ahead chapters on my ko-fi page "RevengerScans" : https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]