Chapter 41: Effortless Leveling
My home garden had now become two.
To avoid confusion, I decided to name the first one the First Home Garden, and the newly created one the Second Home Garden. From now on, that’s how I’ll refer to them.
Now then— At the far edge of the Second Home Garden, which had originally been a marshland, the corpses of the monsters that once inhabited that swamp were piled high, forming a grotesque little mountain.
When I presented the flower field as a gift, I’d hastily conjured a short defensive wall to hide that unsightly heap from view—it would have been terribly improper to let anyone see it. But even so, I couldn’t leave it that way forever. Something had to be done.
“…What should I do with this?”
There were about thirty of them in total.
Some monsters could fetch a good price when dismantled for materials, but according to Lilcarlia-san, “Swamp monsters don’t have much value as materials, you know~.”
Apparently, the labor required to dismantle them would cost far more than what I’d earn.
I stood there, pondering what to do next—when suddenly:
〈Would you like to absorb the monsters?〉
“…Huh?”
〈Would you like to absorb the monsters?〉
“Absorb the monsters…?” I blinked. “I don’t really understand, but if you can do it—go ahead and try.”
In the next instant, the mountain of corpses vanished as if wiped from existence.
“Wha—!? They’re gone!?”
〈Monsters absorbed〉
―――――――――――
Geo’s Home Garden
Level 26 14／130
Garden Area: 201,000／1,680,000,000
Skills: Wall Creation Barrier Creation Guardian Creation Mega Guardian Creation Garden Concealment Inter-Garden Transfer Garden Movement
―――――――――――
〈Level Up〉
〈New crops available for cultivation〉
“Wait—it leveled up!?”
The same phenomenon as when I used a magic stone was happening again.
“Now that I think about it… monsters have magic stones inside them, don’t they?”
It must have detected and utilized those. Still, I hadn’t expected it to conveniently dispose of all the bulky corpses as well.
“Hmm? Hold on… does that mean if I defeat monsters, the garden levels up?”
A grin spread across my face. Alright, I’ve got a brilliant idea.
“Wait, you’re asking for monster-attracting incense?”
“Yeah. Could you give me as much as possible? And I’d like the strongest kind you’ve got.”
I was standing in Merlin’s apothecary shop. As always, the maid-clad Denis greeted me politely.
“I can, but… it’s dangerous, you know?”
“It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine.”
Probably.
“By the way, where’s Merlin-san today?”
Normally, she would appear with her usual gloomy aura and long bangs covering half her face—but today, she was nowhere to be seen.
“Ah, um… actually, she’s been bedridden for a while now…”
“What!? Is she okay?”
“Y-Yes, she’s recovering little by little.”
“What happened?”
“Well… she went outside for the first time in years, to the lord’s castle…”
“Ah…”
Right. For a reclusive woman like her, even meeting a stranger would be taxing—but being summoned to the lord’s castle? That must have been pure torment.
And since it was the lord himself, she couldn’t exactly refuse.
“Yooouuu… it’s… all… your… fault…”
“Uwah!?”
A chilling voice slithered from the back room.
From the shadows emerged Merlin herself, wrapped in a darkness so dense it was almost visible to the naked eye. Through the strands of her long bangs, she fixed a glare on me that could freeze blood.
“Because of you… I was dragged… to the lord’s castle… and nearly died…”
Okay, sure, the invitation was because the potion made from my herbs had impressed the lord—but that’s not my fault, right?
“Uh… sorry about that?”
I apologized anyway, just in case.
“I won’t forgive you… I’ll curse your bloodline… to the very last descendant…”
“P-Please don’t!”
Her tone was so eerily convincing I could practically feel the curse taking form already.
“…But… if Denis-chan’s… freshly worn panties… are offered… I might forgive you…”
“Why would you even—!?”
“Denis-kun.”
“Wh-Why are you looking at me like that, Geo!? N-No way! Absolutely not!”
“You’d just have to take them off. That’s all.”
“I said no!”
“Someone’s salvation depends on those panties.”
“I’m the one who won’t be saved!!”
“I’ll buy you new ones.”
“That’s not the issue!!”
In the end, I didn’t get Denis’s underwear—but I did obtain the monster-attracting incense.
Standing in the center of the Second Home Garden, I lit one of the sticks.
“Cough! Cough! Maybe I used a bit too much…”
Choking on the thick, pungent smoke rising in heavy curls, I retreated a safe distance away to observe.
Only a few minutes later, a monster appeared at the garden’s perimeter—exactly where I’d intentionally left a gap in the defensive wall.
“Grrrrrraaaaahhh!!”
A massive bear-like monster barreled toward the incense in a frenzy—only to meet something far larger.
From the ground rose a towering golem—one of my Mega Golems.
“――――”
“Gyaaaah!?”
The creature’s roar was cut short as the golem’s colossal fist struck, sending the bear flying.
And it wasn’t alone—several more golems emerged, encircling the monster, beating it mercilessly until the thing finally stopped moving.
〈Would you like to absorb the monster?〉
I nodded. “Yes.”
The corpse vanished instantly, and the numbers changed—14／130 became 16／130.
“Perfect. It worked.”
Satisfied, I watched as another monster appeared… only to be pulverized by the golems and promptly absorbed into the garden.
Yes— I had just discovered a way to make the garden level up automatically.
The incense’s effect lasted about an hour, so I’d have to relight it periodically, but otherwise, I could simply leave it running. Monsters would come on their own, be destroyed by the golems, and then absorbed into the system.
I returned briefly to the First Home Garden via inter-garden transfer, and when I came back an hour later—
“Whoa… what a haul!”
The area around the incense was littered with over twenty monster corpses.
〈Would you like to absorb the monsters?〉