This Heroine's Friend Has the Power of Botany

Chapter 281

Taking Responsibility

“So, the Demon Frog Warrior is nearby? Since the water isn’t rising anymore, does this mean we just need to wait for it to evaporate or be absorbed, and we might survive?”

“Heh, heh, but by then...won’t we be exhausted first?” Professor Medik shook his head in disagreement, but Professor Regan had a better idea.

“To make the poisonous stream disappear as quickly as possible, let’s fend off the attacks and let the water flow out as much as possible. I believe that soon the magical equipment will be dealt with.” Professor Regan was hopeful. If the Demon Frog Warrior indeed used poison to feed his Demon Frog, he would surely act. Perhaps he could handle the magical equipment before the water evaporated completely.

And it turned out to be true. When the Demon Frog, their hope, saw the poisonous acid in front of it, it quickly sucked all the high-level poisonous acid up into its stomach. If it wasn’t for its master’s order to deal with all the poisonous acid...it would have sucked up the water and let it flow again to allow the magical equipment to create the stream and it could absorb more poison after that, repeating the process until it was full!

But its master intended to keep the magical equipment, so if it managed to deal with it, it would have an endless supply of food!

The poisonous acid water gradually decreased. Both professors felt a glimmer of hope. However, the level 6 magical equipment, sensing its fate, became irritated. It had been dormant for thousands of years, created by its original owner to destroy the weak village below. For the first few years, it had hope. After ten, twenty years, it still had hope. But then, the original villagers fled, and no one thought to expand the waterways as the original owner had planned. Eventually, it was buried underground until today.

It never thought it would be awakened one day, only about to be made worthless before it could fully stretch and wreak havoc again???

“No, you stupid giant frog!! Are you insane? What are you trying to do? Does this have something to do with you? If it doesn’t, then get out of the way!!”

“Hey, you dumb frog! Can you hear me? The water is running out of me! You’re going to put me back into dormancy again. Why are you doing this? Who do you serve?”

“Aargh!! You foolish demon frog! Why are you doing this to me? From now on, we will be eternal enemies. Whenever I find your descendants, I will turn them into scraps in my sea of poison.”

“S-Stop!! That’s enough!!” Initially, the magical equipment was full of confidence and arrogance. However, when it saw the giant frog was not stopping its water suction, it started to wonder what the frog’s stomach was made of. Even beasts should get full, right? But this frog was drinking all the water!

Seeing that the giant frog was indeed capable, it began to lose hope. Although it was a high-level spiritual equipment, it wasn’t as useful as other spiritual equipment. Its creator had imbued it with a spirit to enjoy the suffering of the descendants of his enemies as they were gradually destroyed by it. In other words...it was just a defective level 6 spiritual equipment.

Created for revenge and then abandoned, given a spirit with feelings but left uncared for, the life of this old man was truly tragic...

The two professors heard the continuous shouting and cursing. Now that the magical equipment was preoccupied with its own survival, it was no longer harassing others. It only wanted to negotiate with the giant Demon Frog. Professor Regan signaled Professor Medik and Ellie to take the children and elderly, who were still in the middle of the encirclement, to a safe place.

The magical equipment realized people were escaping its attacks. However, at this moment, its priority was not rampaging but preserving as much water around it as possible. Yet...it was a futile struggle. The little Apple moved forward steadily, with the water pushing against it, creating a loud splashing sound. Since Ellie couldn’t handle the magical equipment herself, she had to rely on the little Apple to take care of everything.

“Let’s go. The Village of the Windy Chasm is without proper oversight, and I fear problems might arise,”

Medik said. Regan agreed. He didn’t care if the Demon Frog Warrior wanted the magical equipment or what he planned to do with it. The warrior must have his way of dealing, and judging by the Demon Frog’s prowess, he would not be at a disadvantage.

Ellie hesitated for a moment but ultimately left, leaving the little Apple to manage the situation. If it couldn’t subdue the magical equipment, she could check on it herself later that night. The little Apple could block the water flow from reaching the stratagem all night. Even if it couldn’t, there were no more victims to save.

Their decision to return quickly proved wise. The remaining conflict in the Village of the Windy Chasm, fueled by the anger of the newly arrived villagers, had already erupted into chaos.

The previously helped villagers dared not intervene much. The village’s destruction due to the students’ interference was a serious matter. If they were in the same situation, they wouldn’t accept it either. They might even challenge the students to a life-or-death duel.

Their livelihoods, homes, and possessions—all lost in an instant, destroyed by the poison. How could they continue living like this?

“You demons, you scumbags! Look at what you’ve done!! You’re rich and don’t understand the suffering of others. When you arrived...we told you not to meddle. We asked for help clearing the forest so at least we could gain more farmland. The water problem happens every year. Removing the rocks was enough. But what happened? Why couldn’t you stop causing trouble for us, huh?!!”

“Damn it!! Everything is ruined. Everything’s destroyed. Even the houses we built with our own hands are gone. How will you compensate us, huh?!! How can you make this right?!”

“Instead of sending capable people to help, the kingdom sent problematic students. If the kingdom couldn’t help, it would’ve been better to let us manage on our own!!”

“Waah, waah. Everything’s gone. All gone! How will we survive winter without homes?”

“What did we do to deserve this? Why do we have to deal with these rotten students? Go die, you scoundrels!!” The villagers continued to hurl insults. Despite the students’ attempts to explain and calm them, it was to no avail.

Naturally, all these students were from noble families. Initially, they knew they had to be patient to complete the mission. However, being unjustly scolded made them angry!!

"Do you think we wanted to come help you?!! Digging waterways, removing rocks, healing you or whatever?!! You’re citizens of the kingdom, living well within the kingdom; it’s your duty to help defend it. This is probably the first time your men have had to fight enemies and beasts. But us?...Our families have lost countless members, and we never demanded help like this."

"Yeah, aren’t you weak yourselves!? It’s everyone’s duty to protect the kingdom. We came to help and instead of gratitude, we got treated like thieves every single day. Why ask for help if you’re so capable? Do it yourselves!"

"We already said the accident wasn’t intentional. Don’t you understand what unintentional means? You never told us about dangerous things around your village. If you keep talking, I’ll report to my family so that my father will punish you all for deceiving us into this mission. In truth, it’s you who planned to kill us all."

"Yeah, I think so too. Wasn’t it you who lured us into this huge problem? Was it a conspiracy to assassinate us? Did the whole village plan this? Otherwise, why didn’t you warn us about such dangers?"

"Exactly. We just came here for a mission. How could we know there was something dangerous hiding near the village? Actually, it seems more likely that you did this on purpose. I’ll have my family deal with you all. I believe even the death penalty isn’t enough."

The students retorted reasonably. Indeed, they weren’t at fault. They had no idea such dangers were hidden, but the villagers wouldn’t admit their own fault either. If it weren’t for the students’ interference, those dangers might have remained hidden and not caused any problems.

Both sides argued back and forth. What made the situation even worse was the intermediary who was trying to mediate, but no one knew why she was doing this.

“Everyone, please calm down and talk this through. I believe no one intended this to happen. No one knew this would occur.”

“Shut up. You’re a student too, no wonder you’re siding with them! Suddenly claiming it was unintentional. If it was, why did they dig after we told them not to?!!”

“Auntie, I may be a student, but I’m not like them. I don’t think you did anything wrong. I just ask for your patience. Let’s calm down first, and then decide on punishment.”

“Hmph!! This girl speaks well. Yes! Since you caused this, you must compensate us!!”

“Yes, yes, you must compensate. Compensate us. Give us your houses!! And money. We need money!! No! There’s much more you owe us.”

Hearing that the nobles should compensate for their mistakes, many impoverished villagers joined in. They didn’t even care about their homes anymore. If they could get a gold coin, it would be enough.

The students felt a sense of injustice. Sure, giving money to help was doable; it wasn’t a lot for them, just the cost of a single meal. However, having to compensate for something they didn’t cause meant admitting fault, didn’t it? If this ended with a donation, they could still manage, but if it concluded this way, they’d carry the stigma forever. How could that be possible?!

“Hah!! Keep dreaming. Now I see why you’re making such a fuss. Did you plan for us to activate that magical device? You just want to extort us.”

“Exactly. We did nothing wrong, so why should we compensate? If my magic power burned down your house, I’d give you 10 gold coins without a problem, but I did nothing. Why should I be punished?!!”

“Whoever wants to give, go ahead. I won’t. I don’t like being taken advantage of! Besides, this mission was given to us by the kingdom. If you want money, demand it from the Emperor!”

“If you dare, tell the Emperor he gave the wrong orders. I want to see if you get compensation or get beheaded!!”

The students and villagers argued relentlessly. Time passed, and the conflict only intensified. Nara tried to become the intermediary, understanding that a few gold coins weren’t a big deal for the students, which is why she suggested it. She didn’t expect them to refuse so vehemently.

Furthermore, the villagers didn’t see her as an ally. The new arrivals opposed all students and made loud complaints. Fortunately, the two professors arrived just in time, along with the remaining villagers.

Many were relieved that the chaos ended without any loss of life.

“What is going on here?!!”

Professor Regan had heard about the problem from the start, and it wasn’t surprised to use his booming voice to stop the fighting. Medik, as usual, preferred not to interfere in student decisions, so he found a seat on a nearby rock to recover his spent energy, leaving the matter to Professor Regan.

“Professor, they’re demanding compensation, saying we destroyed their village. If we hadn’t dug the stream, this wouldn’t have happened. But how is this our fault? A few gold coins are not an issue, but should we be labeled as those who once destroyed a village? That’s not fair at all.”

“Professor, you have to handle this. How can the villagers accuse us like this? If people talk about me like this back in the family, what will happen to me?”

The students quickly expressed their opinions, and the villagers didn’t back down either. They voiced their thoughts, which were just what Professor Regan had already heard.

“Enough!! Is this a trivial matter? Can we just throw blame around? The sudden appearance of a magical device in the kingdom needs thorough investigation. This is a level 6 magical equipment! It’s not just any ordinary device.”

“Everyone knows who is at fault here. Compensation can only be demanded from the palace. They are the owners of the land. When there is hidden danger that destroys kingdom members, they must compensate appropriately.”

“Don’t worry. I will take your representatives to meet with the authorities. Start gathering details of each family. In the end, the compensation will match what you had before. If anyone tries to deceive...they will face the consequences for deceiving the authorities!”

“As for the students, this is not the time for arguing with the villagers. Why haven’t you set up tents for them? Why haven’t you prepared food? Even though the village’s destruction isn’t your fault, the fault of not taking care of the villagers still stands. So, tonight you will be punished by training with me for 5 hours after dinner!”

At Professor Medik’s words, both the students and the villagers were stunned. The initial arguing fell silent, but Professor Regan wasn’t done. He glanced at the troublesome student, determined to address the issue today!

“And you...Scholarship Student Nara.”

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