Chapter 86: When the Lord Was Exasperated

I led the lord over to the Second Family Garden with a blink of our shared magic.

The scenery before us changed in an instant, as if a stage curtain had been yanked aside to reveal an entirely new world.

“…Huh?”

From the lord’s lips came an unexpectedly delicate, almost cute voice.

“…What did you just do?”

“We’ve moved from one family garden to another. If it’s between gardens, the transfer happens instantly,” I explained.

“Is that… possible? So this is the place that used to be the swamp…”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“It takes thirty minutes to walk here from the city gate, yet it only took a moment….”

Then, as if suddenly lost in thought, the lord fell silent. Her eyes fixed intently on one particular section of the garden.

“…Have my eyes gone mad? It looks like meat is hanging from the trees…”

“Oh, yes. We can cultivate meat as well. Those over there are beef. Further back, we’re growing pork and chicken too.”

“I see… so the problem isn’t with my eyes, it’s with yours, is it…?”

Wait—did she just… insult me a little?

“Anyway, Lilcarlia. The crops grown here—are these the ones you always sell to me?”

“Yes, that’s right—”

“Huh?”

Lilcarlia actually sold these to the lord… I hadn’t realized.

“Indeed, they’re always delicious. I never would have guessed that you were the one cultivating them. But with a garden this size, how on earth do you harvest everything? Surely you don’t have any workers?”

“Oh, that’s nothing to worry about,” I said, stepping forward.

I demonstrated the harvesting right before her eyes. The crops began moving of their own accord, gathering neatly into baskets as if aware of their purpose.

“…C-could it be that my eyes truly are failing me?”

The lord blinked repeatedly, utterly astonished. I had been startled the first time I saw it too, but now it was just everyday business for me.

“No, no—your eyes are perfectly normal, my lord,” I assured her.

“Ah… so it’s still your own eyes that are the problem, huh…?”

There it was again. That tone made it sound like I myself was strange. It’s not me that’s weird—it’s the gift that makes all this possible.

For reasons I couldn’t quite guess, the lord then began scanning the garden, her gaze darting as if searching for something.

“Where is the golem?”

“…You knew about that too?”

I summoned a two-meter-tall golem.

“No, no—there was a larger one, wasn’t there?”

At her prompt, I created a massive five-meter “mega-golem.”

“Ah, yes… that one.”

Apparently, without my realizing it, the lord had scaled the garden’s defenses and entered the Second Family Garden. Even with the garden hidden from view, once someone crosses the barrier, the illusion can no longer conceal it. Huh… I wonder if there’s a way to prevent that.

“I apologize for entering unbidden. If there’s something suspicious within my domain, I cannot ignore it as your lord,” she said.

“Well… yes, but was it really alright? The golems are programmed to attack intruders…”

“U-uh… just barely,” she admitted.

So she had actually been attacked. Thank goodness she was safe. The thought of my golems harming her even accidentally sent a chill down my spine.

Usually, I only have the mega-golems patrolling the garden. The giga-golems are far too enormous to use regularly.

If I had been using the giga-golems, the stampede incident might have been exposed. Thank goodness that didn’t happen.

Then the lord’s gaze shifted, sharp and curious.

“Was that enormous golem that defeated Atlas also created by you?”

Well, of course! Of course she would connect the dots—golems, garden, everything.

“W-what do you mean…? I can create golems, yes, but something that big is impossible for me… haha…”

“Strange, then? Did you not take cover? To have seen a golem that size, you must have been watching somewhere, hmm?”

…Yeah, no way to deny it.

Looking at the barriers surrounding this garden, it was immediately obvious it was the same structure as that day.

“So it was you… the one who saved the city from the stampede that day.”

“Huh? L-Lord…?”

Suddenly, the lord bowed her head, and I panicked slightly, my heart skipping a beat.

“Thank you,” she said.

“N-no, please, lift your head!” I stammered.

“This is the city where I was born and raised. I simply did what I could for it. If the result helped even a little, then I am glad,” I explained hurriedly.

“Not just a little. Without you, the city would have been overrun by monsters. You were truly a savior.”

“But it wasn’t just my strength alone. The city guards held back the monsters too, or I probably wouldn’t have made it in time…”

They had indeed thinned the number of monsters considerably.

“True, it was not your strength alone. The guards fought desperately, but maintaining the line as they did was also thanks to their weapons. In that sense, Lilcarlia, I must also thank you again,” she said.

“The massive quantities of mithril used for those weapons… do you know where it came from?”

Lilcarlia’s roundabout way of speaking was due to her oath not to disclose anything about the gift. But the lord seemed to understand immediately.

“Could it be…?”

“…Ah, yes. I cultivated it in my garden,” I admitted.

“And Merlin’s healing potions—amazing quality, aren’t they? Apparently it’s because the Aim grass used was top-notch.”

“You grew that in your garden too!?”

“Y-yes.”

The lord’s expression was a mix of shock and disbelief.

“…Forget what I said before. Almost everything comes from your efforts, doesn’t it…?”