Karon walked along the farmland, diligently fulfilling his role as a living pesticide.
‘Is it really okay to treat him like this?’
Well, he had insisted that he wanted to be useful and work by my side, so this was a good outco, wasn’t it?
Even if this wasn’t the kind of usefulness he had in mind...
‘Hmm, no. The healer inside says this is actually a great solution.’
No matter how strong he seed, he was still technically a patient. Expecting him to do fieldwork was ridiculous.
At least now he only had to walk.
It doubled as a casual stroll, reducing the burden on his body while even improving his health.
Yes, this was definitely a good outco.
"Take pride in your work!"
"..."
"Not just anyone can do this, you know."
Elodie waved her hand to send Karon off with encouragent.
Then, while Sera worked on lifting today’s harvest mice curses, she went to find Edmund, who had been dragged off by the old nurse.
‘I can’t miss out on watching this.’
After asking around, she finally found them.
The old nurse had dug up a seven-year-old black fur coat and was hastily repurposing it to make cat ears.
"Beastfolk in Animallia don’t always bother to hide their ears, you see."
"..."
"If you wear a hood on top, it’ll look completely natural."
"..."
Edmund looked at the fake ears being presented to him with the sa expression as a child staring at a plate of food they didn’t want to eat.
"If I’m covering them with a hood anyway, why attach the ears in the first place?"
"If you just wear cloth, your head will look smooth. But if you wear it over the ears, they’ll stick out naturally. Details are important if you want to be convincing."
"..."
Edmund’s frown deepened at the old nurse’s rciless logic.
This was the first ti Elodie had seen him so openly express dislike for sothing.
He had always handled every hardship with quiet determination, never changing his composed expression.
Which made her want to tease him even more.
"I didn’t take you for a cat discriminator, Edmund."
At that, he looked utterly wronged and muttered under his breath,
"It’s not because it’s a cat..."
But he didn’t finish his sentence.
In the anti, the old nurse quickly attached the fluffy ears to his head.
"Hmm? If you’re not a cat discriminator, why can’t you say it?"
"...Elodie."
Maybe it was the cat ears, but he looked even sulkier than usual.
His naturally sharp eyes narrowed further as he sighed, covering his face with both hands.
"...Cats are cute, aren’t they?"
He seed to want to say that he, a distinctly not-cute person, had no idea why he had to imitate such an adorable creature.
But Elodie put on a solemn face and countered,
"You’re cute too, Ed."
"...I suddenly want to return to Valkyrisen."
For a mont, he tensed as if he was about to bolt.
Sensing danger, Elodie laughed and grabbed his sleeve.
"Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing."
"..."
At that, he relaxed his legs and let out a deep sigh, as if resigning himself to his fate.
"I’ll leave at sundown. The darkness will make my face harder to recognize. Besides, cats are nocturnal."
"Ooh, now that’s commitnt~"
"..."
"Fine, I won’t say anything."
Elodie raised her hands in surrender and slowly backed away.
If the cat got too fed up and ran off, it would be a huge loss.
‘With Edmund handling the shopping, that’s settled. The real problem is farming.’
Their strongest workers had been exiled from the fields. Sohow, they had to make do with the remaining manpower.
‘We can’t bring in other beastfolk.’
Even those living in Valkyrisen couldn’t be summoned.
If she was doubting even the emperor who had supported the Ratson family, then she couldn’t make exceptions.
That ant the only reinforcent they could call was a direct Valkyrisen bloodline...
‘Geno?’
Oh.
Farming was dood.
Elodie calmly accepted reality.
Summoning Geno would only increase the number of overly powerful but useless people in the fields.
Of course, they were desperate enough to welco even a borrowed cat’s paw, so he would technically be useful.
But maybe it was better to just focus on curing the amnesia as soon as possible.
She seriously debated whether it was worth throwing the poor farr harvest mouse into further despair.
"Then we’ll call Zenovia."
But Edmund beat her to the suggestion.
"Wait, are you sure?"
"Yes. She’ll be a reliable worker. She’s delicate."
"Delicate...?"
Elodie ntally reviewed the definition of "delicate."
Graceful and slender. ticulous and refined.
‘Ed is definitely a doting older brother.’
How could anyone look at Geno—the embodint of brute force—and call him delicate?
Well, technically, compared to Edmund, he was more delicate...
But by that logic, the entire world could be considered delicate.
‘Fine... we’ll call him.’
There were no other options.
Elodie solemnly summoned him.
And then—
"You called just for this?"
Geno, unexpectedly, had a talent for farming.
At first, he fumbled awkwardly with the plow, but within monts, he had mastered it and was plowing the field effortlessly.
Before anyone knew it, he had strapped a horse’s yoke to his back and was running across the field, tilling it evenly.
Delicate? She still wasn’t sure about that.
But he definitely had a knack for farming.
Though, rather than a farr, he now looked more like a draft horse.
As Geno sprinted tirelessly across the field, ensuring the soil was perfectly tilled, the farr harvest mouse gave a thumbs-up.
Well, good results were good results...
"Elodie! I lifted the butler harvest mouse’s curse today—wait, what the hell is that?"
Sera arrived with a bright smile, waving excitedly—only to freeze at the bizarre sight before her.
"Uh, don’t worry about it."
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
It looked strange, sure, but he was a single worker doing the job of a hundred n.
"Sera, let’s just go research curses instead."
"Sounds good!"
Elodie grabbed Sera’s hand and looked up at the grand cathedral.
Then she made a slightly queasy expression.
‘It’s practically halfway rged with nature by now.’
Honestly, she had been too afraid to go near it.
A holy temple left abandoned for seven years without a single human touch.
Serenity Palace, where Karon had stayed, had been in a similar state—but at least there, nothing could live because of the poison.
This place, on the other hand...
Just imagining what might be inside was terrifying.
"We’re going in," the old nurse said firmly, handing them cloths to cover their noses and mouths.
"Alright!"
Elodie tied the cloth securely around her face and bravely pushed open the door—
Only to freeze at the sight of dozens, maybe hundreds, of things crawling along the floor.
She let out an ear-splitting scream.
"Karon—!!!!"
***
Fortunately, Karon took care of the problem imdiately.
Wherever he stepped, it was as if a divine miracle was unfolding—they split apart in a desperate attempt to escape.
But they didn’t make it far before convulsing violently and disintegrating into dust.
‘If the God of Death ever descended upon this land, wouldn’t it look exactly like this?’
Watching the rciless slaughter, Elodie clapped enthusiastically.
Phew, if Karon hadn’t been here, the Grand Cathedral would’ve fallen before the Basilisk even arrived.
Dear gods, are you aware? The next High Priest could have been them.
Karon stared down at his palm and muttered,
"I told you to call whenever you needed , but I didn’t expect this to be my task."
"What are you talking about? You’re amazing."
"..."
"Seriously, seriously... Is there anything you want in return?"
She especially wanted to reward him for the fact that their corpses vanished without a trace, aning she wouldn’t have to clean them up herself.
He once said that if she wished, he could erase anything without leaving a single mark.
Back then, she had feared what he might destroy, but now she felt foolish for worrying.
There really were creatures in this world that couldn’t coexist with humans under any circumstances.
Just like she had compensated the farr Holy Knight, Karon deserved a reward for his efforts as well.
With talent like this...!
"Hmm."
Karon absentmindedly gripped a thick vine crawling up the wall and yanked it down.
The mont his fingers brushed against the leaves, they crumbled into nothing.
"Again?"
"I’ll collect later."
"..."
"I don’t think it’ll an much if I ask now."
Just how grand of a wish was he planning to make?
It felt like he was letting them pile up more and more. Would it eventually turn into a mountain of favors?
It wasn’t a debt or anything...
‘So far, he has two pending wishes, right?’
Well, that much was manageable...
Elodie dismissed the thought and got to the real reason she had called him.
"Karon, you know..."
"You want to go around exterminating pests?"
He already knew.
Karon had reached the point where he could predict what she would ask.
Elodie ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) added a small andnt to her request.
"Yes, but don’t kill all of them. Just the ones that multiply too fast and cause harm—the ones that can’t coexist with us."
"That kind of precise control will be difficult."
Karon lowered his gaze, deep in thought. Then, he extended his hand toward Elodie.
"Eh?"
"Hold my hand."
"..."
"Then I think I’ll be able to control it."
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