I Grow Crops with a System

While Ethan and Pearl looked around, Zharok read the space with a practiced eye.

"Hmm. Places like this usually hold some miraculous record or item. Let me think..."

He found a hidden mechanism beside a pillar. At his touch, a passageway opened, leading down.

"Let’s go take a look."

Underground or not, the passage wasn’t dark. Moonstones embedded in the walls gave off a soft, gentle glow.

’Not bad. I’ll take a few of these back for lighting at night.’

The passage opened into a spacious chamber. At its center sat a massive iron pot.

"Huh? What is this?"

"Who knows... some kind of holy relic?"

[Cauldron of Blessing]

[An iron pot blessed by the Goddess Gaia. When cooking with this pot, the grade of the dish will increase and gain special effects.]

"This pot is called the Cauldron of Blessing?"

"A pot, hm. Gaia is the goddess of the earth — and the fruits of a harvest naturally include cooked food. This temple must have been dedicated to cooks."

"Are you looking for something, meow? It’s really rare for beastmen to seek out human temples, meow."

Ethan had sensed it too — Zharok was searching for something specific.

"Ah? Yeah. I want to find out why humans disappeared from the Great Forest."

"Why do you want to know that, meow?"

"Haha... a friend of mine used to be very interested in it."

At the mention of that friend, a trace of bitterness crossed Zharok’s face. There was a story there. Ethan didn’t press; he simply shrugged.

"Aren’t you going to ask me about it?"

"Everyone has their own past. There’s no need to dig to the bottom of it."

"Hahaha, it’s nothing major anyway. That guy was a stubborn elf who kept searching for traces of humans right up until the day he died."

...

"Hahaha! Looks like I’ll have to go pay his grave a visit!"

"Since we’re here, let’s go."

"What about the pot, meow?"

Leaving it here served no one. He might as well take it — though since Zharok had found this ruin, his judgment came first. Ethan looked at him.

"Hm? Just take it, there’s no problem. I’d say the Goddess Gaia would be quite happy about it too. You’re her believer, aren’t you?"

"Not really..."

"You care for her statue every day and pray to her. That makes you a believer."

Put that way, he couldn’t argue. In truth, Ethan was like most of his countrymen back on Earth — he respected the gods without necessarily believing in them. An atheist who, in the end, believed only in himself.

He accepted the Cauldron of Blessing from the temple of the Goddess Gaia.

"Cooking with this will make even better food. I’m looking forward to it."

"What kind of dishes can you make with a pot, meow?"

"Even the cleverest cook can’t make a meal without ingredients."

And ingredients were exactly what he lacked — seasonings most of all. Salt was all he had. If only he could find other spices.

"Zharok, you said elves live outside the Great Forest, right? Can we trade with them?"

"Hm? What do you need?"

"Spices. Seasonings. Cooking without them is a real inconvenience."

Zharok crossed his arms, considered, and nodded. "I’ll ask for you next time I go. Of course, there’s no free lunch in this world — they’ll probably want your Honey Sweet Potatoes and Sweet Beets."

"Then we’ll trade once my crops mature."

With that settled, they left the temple.

Not far away stood a simple, crude grave.

"Is this the place?"

"Yeah. My friend John is buried here."

Zharok’s voice had gone bitter. Reminiscing clearly wasn’t a pleasant exercise for him. He pulled the weeds from the grave, tidied the ground around it, then sat down and began to speak, slowly.

"He was a devout priest. After coming here, he prayed every single day."

"A priest..."

"By elf standards, he was quite strong. We used to hunt undead together — there are plenty of ruins over that way."

"Undead are monsters that don’t die, meow. Vampires, zombies, ghouls. Incredibly troublesome to deal with, meow!"

So the undead of the Ascendant Tower existed here too. Remembering the horrors he’d faced back then, Ethan felt a chill that hadn’t fully faded even now.

"Where are these undead?"

"They almost never leave the cursed lands. Of course — if you ever want to leave the Great Forest, that’s another story. The path out passes right by the cursed lands."

So leaving wouldn’t be easy either. Seeing the gloom settle over Ethan’s face, Zharok patted his shoulder.

"Don’t worry. With this, walking through the cursed lands won’t be a problem at all."

And with that, Zharok started digging into the grave. From the dirt, he pulled out a small box.

’Your way of missing your good friend... is digging up his grave?’

"What is this?" Ethan asked, bewildered.

"A Holy Nail."

Inside the box lay a seemingly ordinary nail. Zharok held it out, and Ethan took it with care.

[Nail that Pierced a Saint’s Hand]

[A nail that pierced through the palm of a great saint. Stained with the blood of a great one, it can ward off approaching evil.]

[When using the Holy Nail for production, the "Holy" attribute will be attached.]

"This is..."

"John and I found it while exploring a ruin. It seems to be a treasure of the Gaia Order — hidden in a secret space, just like that pot. With this, low-level undead won’t attack you."

"I see."

"High-level undead aren’t affected by it, and they’re very hard to deal with. But they never leave their own territory, so there’s no need to worry too much."

"But... this thing is precious, isn’t it?"

"It’s of no use to me. Low-level undead were never anything for me to fear anyway. And furthermore..."

Zharok smiled slyly and patted Ethan’s shoulder.

"It’s better for human items to be kept by a human."

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