I Grow Crops with a System

Ethan turned toward the voice.

A beastman he had never seen before stood there, sporting a massive dog’s head. The creature was staring with intense interest at the patch of Sweet Beets they had just discovered.

"Of course, I won’t just take them from you for nothing! You found them first, after all!"

The kobold clearly had no intention of taking the harvest by force.

In truth, this area was not a No-Combat Zone. Snatching the beets would have complied perfectly with the harsh rules of the forest. Yet he had chosen trade over violence.

In that case, Ethan had no reason to refuse.

Sweet Beets were excellent food, but trading a portion for more valuable resources was the better deal. His transaction with Draugor had been pleasant and profitable, after all.

"We can’t eat this much anyway, so trading is fine. What do you have to offer?" Ethan asked with a smile.

The kobold grinned confidently. "A type of powder that makes plants grow rapidly."

"Fertilizer?"

If this world had fertilizer, that was fantastic news.

The Sweet Beets here came with seeds. If he could cultivate his own crop and supplement it with fertilizer, the yield would skyrocket — and combined with his own abilities, he could push the effect to the absolute limit.

"Then it’s a deal. We’ll dig up the Sweet Beets. How much of this powder do you have?"

"Five bags."

"That much? Where did you get it?"

"We make it ourselves! The other races speak very highly of our fertilizer! Five bags for five Sweet Beets — how about it?"

"Other races? Are there humans around?"

If he could find other humans, he might finally get some real information about this world. But the kobold shook his head.

"No! Other beastmen! As far as I know, there are no humans left in the Great Forest! You’re the first one I’ve ever seen!"

"Then how did you know I was human?"

"Our village has ancient books passed down from our ancestors!"

So that was it.

Just as disappointment set in, the kobold snapped his fingers. "Oh, right! If you want to find humans, try asking the Great Forest Merchants! They might know whether there are humans outside the forest!"

"Great Forest Merchants?"

"Occasionally, there are Great Forest Merchants who travel back and forth between the inside and outside of the Great Forest, meow!" Pearl chimed in.

"Exactly! They sell things you can’t find inside the forest. They might be able to help!"

"Then where do I find one of these merchants?"

"Well... I don’t know that part!"

The kobold looked a little embarrassed. Ethan let out a helpless sigh.

"I heard that as long as a Great Forest Merchant smells a profit, they’ll come knocking on your door all on their own, meow!" Pearl truly lived up to being the know-it-all of the Great Forest.

"A profit?"

"As long as you have what they want, they’ll come running the moment they catch wind of it, meow."

"Do they buy crops?"

"The plants, beasts, and monsters of the Great Forest are all very peculiar, meow! Collect enough unique things, and they’ll definitely be interested, meow!"

Plants. Beasts. Monsters.

Ethan stroked his chin, sinking into thought.

"Hey, are we trading or not? If we are, I’ll go grab the fertilizer right now!" the kobold urged.

"Alright. I’ll finish digging up the Sweet Beets, then wait for you at my shelter. We can trade there — sound good?"

"Shelter? You mean that crude little tent by the river?"

"How did you know about that?"

"A few of my companions mentioned seeing you there. So that’s yours!"

"When did they see it?" Ethan was startled. He clearly remembered there hadn’t been a soul near his camp yesterday.

The kobold wagged his tail proudly. "We beastmen are experts at hiding our presence. It’s perfectly normal that you didn’t notice us."

"Then let’s trade there."

"It’s a deal! Oh, right — I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Vargan!"

"I’m Ethan. Pleasure to meet you."

They shook hands, and Ethan watched the swift kobold dash off before turning back to the beets.

In total, they harvested twenty-five Sweet Beets — more than enough to keep the two of them fed for a long while.

"Five set aside for the trade. As for the rest... how should we prepare them?"

He had just returned to the shelter and started pondering their next meal when Vargan came running back, panting hard — five large sacks on his back and an extra leather bag slung over one shoulder.

"I’m here! I also brought some other things, in case you want to trade for them too!"

Vargan opened the leather bag, and Ethan and Pearl leaned in curiously.

"What is this?"

"It’s salt stone, meow."

"So it’s rock salt."

Ethan picked up a lump roughly the size of a human head, chipped a small piece off with his hammer, and touched it to his tongue. Intensely salty.

’Fantastic!’

From now on, roasted meat or grilled fish, he finally had seasoning.

Besides the rock salt, the bag held several unfamiliar animal bones, a thick ball of thread, and a pouch full of iron nails.

"Where did you get these nails?" Ethan asked.

"You mean these? They’re Iron Hedgehog quills! Catch an Iron Hedgehog, skin it, and you can harvest these!"

"Oh... so that’s how it is."

Then the nails Draugor had given him were probably harvested the same way. Ethan gladly accepted everything Vargan had brought.

"Can I keep this leather bag too?"

"Of course! We have plenty of leather bags back home!"

"Wonderful. By the way — that spear of yours doesn’t look very sturdy. How about I make you a new one?"

"Really? Thank you so much! What material will you use?"

"Glass stone. It’s sharper, and much handier in a fight."

Ethan took up the Hammer of Gaia and searched out a suitable piece of glass stone. Under the iron hammer, he expertly chipped it down into a lethal, razor-sharp spearhead, then fastened it securely to Vargan’s wooden shaft.

[Well-crafted Sharp Glass Stone Spear]

[A spear made from meticulously polished glass stone. It is far sharper than an average stone spear and can easily pierce enemy leather armor.]

[Well-crafted: Durability increased.]

[Well-crafted: Attack power increased.]

[Crafting Difficulty: ★★]

[You have acquired the skill: Handiwork.]

[Handiwork (Lv. 1) — Increases completion rate during production.]

"Wow...! This spear is absolutely amazing! I’ll be the only one in the whole tribe with a weapon this good!"

Vargan was beside himself. He grasped Ethan’s hand and shook it hard, looking like he couldn’t wait to run off and test his new weapon.

Ethan smiled and waved. Vargan waved back vigorously and then — true to his name — vanished into the forest like a gust of wind.

"What are we going to do now, meow?" Pearl asked.

Ethan looked at the sacks of fertilizer and the pile of Sweet Beets in front of him, thinking back over everything Pearl and Vargan had said.

"Great Forest Merchants come knocking on their own, as long as they smell a profit... in other words..."

"What should we do then, meow?" Pearl asked with a miserable face.

Ethan was completely penniless. Even if a merchant showed up at his door right now, he didn’t have a single coin to buy anything with.

Which left only one option: become the seller.

"There’s only one way forward. Time to go back to my old profession!"

Farming!

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