Chapter 84 of 100
Chapter 84: Harvesting Peanuts
8 min read1,952 words
Chapter 84: Harvesting Peanuts
67th Floor of the Tower.
"Let's load it quickly!"
"Okay!"
At Borori's command, the wolves and cat interns responded briskly and began loading the Red Locust corpses into the bags. They were now moving as a cohesive group.
The wolves neither ignored nor ruthlessly used the cat interns. They worked together and even shared a portion of the hard-earned rewards that Sejun gave to the wolves with the cat interns.
Moved by the wolves' attitude, the interns worked diligently without any tricks.
Then,
"Huh?"
Intern Larry, who was loading the Red Locust corpses, felt something strange as he looked at one of the corpses. The blue color that was starting to appear on the Red Locust corpses was completely absent. The signs of degeneration had disappeared.
"Sir Borori, something is strange."
Larry called out to Borori.
"Intern Larry, what's the matter?"
"This Red Locust corpse doesn't show any blue color at all. It might be a sign that the number of Red Locusts is about to increase again."
"Is that so? Hmm... I need to report this to Sejun. Intern Larry, that was a good report. I'll suggest reducing your contract period by 5 days to Sejun."
"Thank you!"
Larry was deeply moved by Borori's words and thought that it might be nice to continue working here and be recognized.
***
"Ah! The black rabbit is actually..."
As Sejun was about to turn around to explain the black rabbit's fabricated identity while heading to the farm,
Quack!
Quack suddenly started running, holding a beehive under one arm and grabbing Sejun with the other hand to prevent him from looking behind.
"Huh? Quack, what are you doing?"
Quack!
[I want to go back and eat honey!]
"Wait a moment! I was going to tell the black rabbit about the secret of its birth to help with its love life."
Sejun's intention was to give the black rabbit a sense of mystery.
But,
Quack!
[Just staying still is helping!]
Sejun was cut off by Quack.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Quack!
[You're so clueless!]
Sejun arrived at the farm, being treated as clueless by Quack.
And then,
"Here's the honey."
Sejun filled Quack's snack bag with two glass bottles full of honey.
While looking for any remaining tasks on the farm,
"Chirp chirp chirp. Sir Sejun, there's a fragrant smell here. What is it?"
Iona pointed excitedly at the peanut field.
"Oh. This is a peanut field. We should dig up some peanuts since it's time to harvest them."
Thud.
As Sejun pulled a peanut plant,
[36 well-ripened peanut pods harvested simultaneously.]
[Job experience significantly increased.]
[Harvesting skill level 4 proficiency significantly increased.]
[1080 experience points gained.]
Yellow peanut pods with a net-like pattern came up one after another along the stem.
"Wow!"
"Chirp chirp chirp. Sir Sejun, can I have just one peanut?"
Iona, forgetting her dignity as the head of the Mage Association, clung to Sejun's leg and begged for a peanut.
"Just a moment."
Snap.
Sejun detached a peanut pod from the stem and took out two raw peanuts from inside.
[Magic Peanut]
A peanut grown inside the tower, rich in nutrients and delicious.
Cultivated by a skilled tower farmer, it has improved taste and efficiency.
When consumed, it decomposes 15g of fat in the body and increases magic power by 0.25 for 10 minutes.
The effect can be stacked up to 20 times within an hour.
For non-awakened individuals, it decomposes 15g of fat and enhances brain activity.
Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
Expiry Date: 90 days
Grade: C
Each pod contains one peanut, and the effect is half, but it can be stacked up to 20 times.
"That's a shame. If I had this in college, I would have gotten better grades."
Sejun felt a bit regretful as he looked at the brain-boosting effect of the peanuts.
"Here you go."
"Chirp chirp chirp. Thank you!"
Sejun gave Iona one peanut.
Crunch.
Iona peeled the peanut shell and started gnawing on the peanut enthusiastically.
'She's eating it so deliciously.'
Seeing Iona enjoy the peanut, Sejun also felt like eating one. He put the remaining peanut in his mouth.
As he chewed, the raw peanut had a soft and crunchy texture, unlike the hard texture of roasted peanuts.
The taste was fresh, with a hint of bean flavor, but the unique nuttiness of peanuts remained.
"Delicious."
Surprised by how good it tasted, Sejun peeled five peanut pods and put ten peanuts in his mouth at once.
Chew chew.
While chewing, Sejun started harvesting peanuts more seriously.
Thud.
[40 well-ripened peanuts harvested simultaneously.]
...
..
.
After harvesting about half of the peanuts,
Sizzle.
"Huh?"
Sejun felt a hot gaze on him.
"What is it?"
Sejun turned to see Iona staring intently at him, clearly wanting more peanuts.
"Do you want more peanuts?"
"Yes! Can I really have more?!"
Iona, who had been waiting for the right moment to ask Sejun, quickly responded.
"Sure."
Sejun took two peanuts from a pod and gave them to Iona.
"Chirp chirp chirp. Thank you!"
Crunch.
Iona hummed a tune and started gnawing on the peanuts again.
Then,
Quack?
Smelling the delicious scent from a distance, Quack started nosing around the peanut field.
"Should I give Quack some peanuts too?"
Quack!
Quack nodded vigorously in response to Sejun's question.
Snap. Snap.
Sejun peeled a peanut pod and placed 100 peanuts in Quack's hand.
"Chew them well. This isn't to fill your stomach. Got it?"
Quack!
Quack nodded, put the peanuts in her mouth, and started chewing.
Chew chew.
Quack!
Feeling good from the nutty and sweet taste, Quack started shaking her body and dancing joyfully.
"Cute..."
Sejun watched Quack's dance and continued harvesting peanuts.
While harvesting peanuts, Sejun encountered an obstacle.
"Ugh!"
No matter how hard Sejun pulled, the peanut plant wouldn't budge.
"Ugh! Come on!"
No matter how much he strained, the peanut plant wouldn't move.
Quack!
Seeing Sejun's struggle, Quack, who had been watching from the side, grabbed the peanut plant and pulled with him.
"Pull!"
Quack!
With Quack's help, they pulled the peanut plant,
Crack.
Swoosh.
A 3-meter-long giant peanut pod emerged from the ground.
[Giant peanut pod harvested.]
[Job experience slightly increased.]
[Harvesting skill level 4 proficiency slightly increased.]
[30 experience points gained.]
"Giant peanut pod?"
Sejun cut the giant peanut pod with his dagger, revealing two giant peanuts inside.
[Giant Peanut]
A peanut grown inside the tower, rich in nutrients and delicious, but all the nutrients were used for growth.
No effect when consumed.
Does not sprout when planted.
Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
Expiry Date: 45 days
Grade: C
While it had no effect as an item, it was the best in terms of quantity.
"Quack, take this to your mother."
This size would be enough for Quack's mother, the Crimson Giant Bear, to taste.
Quack!
Quack enlarged herself and carried the two giant peanuts to her mother.
Sejun continued harvesting peanuts,
"Phew. Done."
Sejun harvested 3,481 peanut pods. He leveled up during the process and reached level 32.
"Quack, can you hold this?"
Quack!
Sejun gathered 200 peanut plants and had Quack, who had returned from delivering the giant peanuts to her mother, carry them.
And then,
"Iona, can you move these?"
Sejun pointed to the remaining 500 peanut plants and asked Iona.
"Yes. Levitate!"
Iona, who had been eating the peanuts and the crumbs that fell on her fur, stood up and cast the levitation spell.
Float.
The harvested peanut plants floated into the air.
"Wow."
Quack!
Sejun and Quack were mesmerized by the floating peanut plants. The sight of the peanuts floating in the sky was quite impressive, a true display of a great destroyer mage's skill.
"Chirp chirp chirp. Where should I move them?"
Iona, seeing Sejun and Quack's reaction, smiled and asked.
"Shake off the dirt and lay them out without overlapping over there."
Sejun pointed to a piece of land where the field hadn't been prepared yet. He planned to spread the peanuts out to dry and mature.
"Yes."
While Iona moved the peanut plants to the spot Sejun indicated, Sejun instructed Quack to place half of the peanut plants in front of the house and move the rest to the storage.
And then,
Splash.
Quack took the peanut plants placed in front of the house to the faucet to wash off the dirt from the peanut pods.
The faucet was a facility installed with a thin wooden pipe running vertically from the fountain tower, with a lid that could be opened and closed.
Rinse. Rinse.
Sejun washed the peanut pods clean and detached them from the stems, placing them in three pots. He then started boiling them. Fresh peanuts are delicious when boiled or steamed.
"This is best eaten in the fall."
Sejun felt a bit regretful that there were no seasons here. After boiling for over 10 minutes, Sejun checked the peanuts periodically. If they were undercooked, they would have a fresh taste, and if overcooked, they would become soft.
"Good. They're done."
Once the peanuts were well-boiled, Sejun lifted the pots from the fire.
And then,
"Everyone! Let's have a snack!"
Sejun called the rabbits on the farm.
"Aileen, try this."
Sejun sent a pot full of boiled peanuts to Aileen, who could now eat crops that boost her magic power as her talent grew.
As a middle manager, Sejun could now send items without a quest.
[The tower manager thanks you.]
[The tower manager says to wait a little.]
[The tower manager is excited that you can meet in about 250 years.]
"Okay."
Sejun barely held back the words, "By then, I'll already be dead," as he had asked Anton and Kaiser to avoid making Aileen anxious.
Still, he was told that the waiting time had been reduced from 300 years to 250 years, which was a good sign.
'Maybe I'll be alive when I meet Aileen?'
Honestly, he didn't have high hopes. The other party was a dragon. What could he do even if they met?
'Ask her to give me a ride on her back?'
While Sejun was thinking about what he would do when he met Aileen,
Munch. Munch.
Squeak!
Squeak!
The rabbits came and started eating the boiled peanuts. Kwik, the princess of the Red Ribbon Kingdom, quickly befriended the other rabbits and was getting along well.
And then,
Squeak!
Seeing the black rabbit sitting on his lap and eating the boiled peanuts deliciously, Sejun felt a pang of concern.
"Black rabbit, eat a lot."
Squeak!
Sejun, unaware that feelings were developing between them, continued to worry about the black rabbit.
***
"Chirp... This isn't it...”
Iona, who had made herself comfortable on Sejun's lap while he slept, fell into deep thought.
Iona, who had suffered from insomnia for hundreds of years, fell asleep immediately on Sejun's lap at the Zenka Lake on the 75th floor of the tower.
She thought the cause of her good sleep was Sejun's lap, but something was missing. She fell asleep quickly but couldn't sleep deeply.
'The bottom is perfect, but the top isn't. I need something to cover it...'
She tried covering herself with Sejun's blanket and even with the expensive bedding she brought, but she still couldn't sleep deeply.
While thinking about how she slept well at Zenka Lake,
And then she remembered that she had covered herself with Theo's tail.
'Ah! I need Theo's tail blanket to have a perfect good sleep!'
But,
"Chirp... I can't have a good sleep today."
Theo still needed time to arrive.
"There's nothing I can do."
Iona alternated between sleeping and waking.
"Chirp chirp chirp."
Still, on Sejun's lap, Iona didn't have nightmares.