Chapter 14: The Garden Has Grown

The apothecary lady—Merlin—was examining the Aim Grass I had brought in.

“W-what… I’ve never seen one this large before…! It’s so fresh… and the magical energy… it’s overflowing…! At this quality, you might even be able to make high-level potions…!”

It seemed that there had been no mistake—the herb was indeed Aim Grass.

Feeling a wave of relief, I let out a breath. Merlin looked at me and said,

“At this quality… a bundle like this is worth at least one gold coin…”

A gold coin per bundle? My eyes widened. That could easily be more profitable than selling meat or vegetables.

“Just tell me how many you want. I can bring more,” I offered.

“Really…?”

“Yes. Though… I do have a small favor to ask in return.”

“…? What kind of favor?”

“My little sister is an adventurer. Her name’s Sena. She often buys potions from this shop.”

“I know her… the new girl who joined Shifa’s party…”

“Yes. So… I’d like to sell this Aim Grass at a lower price, and when they come to buy potions, could you give them priority?”

“Of course, that’s no problem… I can even give them a discount…”

Perfect. Negotiation successful.

If they could get lots of affordable healing potions, their adventures would go smoother. Smoother adventures meant more magic stones, and more magic stones meant the garden could level up. Everything would come full circle—benefiting me in the end.

And I was sure Shifa would be pleased too.

‘Geo, that really helps. Thank you.’

Heh heh…

“You’re… laughing to yourself again…”

“Denis… people… everyone enjoys a little daydreaming now and then…”

I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of it, only to see Denis recoil slightly. Being empathized with by Merlin herself—it was oddly embarrassing.

By the way, for trades like this, bypassing Lilcarlia entirely, I had already confirmed during the recent business discussion:

‘Of course that’s fine. Like with the Lulukas-tei, there’s no need for unnecessary middlemen.’

I had already been delivering wheat directly to the nearby bakery, and they were baking delicious bread for us. The bread sold out almost instantly, but they always reserved some for us, so there was never any worry about missing out.

“I’ll come by to sell more tomorrow, then.”

“Please do…”

“Thank you very much!”

Waved off by Denis, I left the shop.

Stay strong, I silently cheered him on.

“Huh, Lilcarlia?”

“Geo, perfect timing!”

Back at home, Lilcarlia was there. Normally, she came by in the morning to collect the harvest, and I had thought I’d already delivered today.

“What brings you here?” I asked.

“Well, you see… I purchased the plot of land next door.”

“Eh? Next door… you mean this house?”

“Yes!”

It was a single-family house just behind mine. Old and worn, it had long been abandoned.

“I negotiated with the owner and had them sell it to me.”

“I see… But… why?”

“Of course, it’s for you, Geo!”

“Eh!?”

I blinked, stunned.

“You see, I thought you might want to increase your harvest yield. And the best way to do that is to expand your garden.”

“B-but… even with the current space, I think I could manage more harvests if I tried?”

“No, no! That would be too much work for you, wouldn’t it? Given the nature of your Gift, if we expand the garden, you can increase your yield much more efficiently.”

“True… but…”

Honestly, the work only involved giving commands once an hour according to the mysterious voice. Adding a few more instances wasn’t a big deal.

Still, I did want to grow more herbs, so… it was truly a generous offer.

“Since you still have the opportunity to expand your garden, it’s better to take it while you can.”

Thanks to leveling up, my garden could now expand to 25,000 plots. I couldn’t even picture just how huge that would be.

“All right. Thank you… but buying land… that’s a bit much…”

“No, no! I’ll give it to you for free.”

“Eh? Th-that’s… really too much!”

“Don’t worry. Thanks to you, Geo, I’ve also made a profit. Consider it a kind of investment.”

Lilcarlia smiled warmly.

“R-really… that’s okay?”

“Of course!”

At that moment, the familiar voice echoed in my mind:

〈New land acquired. Designate as garden?〉

Yes.

The next moment, the house behind us vanished.

“Now, I’ll make arrangements to demolish the house—huh?”

Lilcarlia let out a strange noise, then hurried toward the wall, probably trying to see what had happened.

Unfortunately, she was too short. She bounced up and down, but surely she couldn’t see over the wall.

〈Rebuild the fence?〉

Please.

Part of the fence around the garden vanished, connecting it to the newly acquired plot. A new fence then appeared, enclosing the neighboring land.

“The… the house is gone!?”

The abandoned lot had transformed into well-tilled fields.

“Sorry… it seems that designating it as a garden automatically does this.”

“Still, what an incredible Gift!”

Now, I could grow so many more crops than before.