CH 208.1

Aaaah…… Another shitty day.

The scorching sun was shining and burning the land. The men working outside tilted their tanned faces and grudgingly stared at the cloudless sky while wearing white cloaks to protect their skin.

Most of Toizant’s land, the Land of Sand, is a barren desert. It used to be a land of constant strife. The massive influx of Treasure Hunters looking for the Treasure Shrine has united the people, but the fact remains that most of the territory consists of useless land.

Rain falls only a few times a year, and the temperature varies widely between day and night. Sandstorms bewilder travelers, and most of the land is infested with powerful Monsters that adapted to the climate, making it impossible to even build a road.

The only place that is reasonably prosperous is the capital, which is centered around one of the few large oases in Toizant, while the rest of the city still lacks food for their daily life.

There are many Treasures Shrines in Toizant, but their average level is high, so there are no Treasure Shrines where commoners can dive like there is in the great Empire of Zebrudia. This is one of the reasons why Toizant had not developed for a long time, and even now, although things have improved, most of the people remain poor.

“Damn, it’s not good, this one’s not growing either.” (Man)

The organization where those men belong to has the goal to save the country.

In a small village built a few dozen kilometers away from the capital. Their activity was taking place in a village that was built exactly over an earth vein.

It was tree plantations.

On endless sand and gravel. There were long, brittle trees planted at even intervals. The scrawny villagers were desperately sprinkling them with water, but the leaves were brown and dying, and the branches are as thin as a man’s pinky finger, and they didn’t look like they were growing properly at all.

Even though they knew what was coming, the villagers’ faces were dark.

No plants can grow in Toizant’s climate. Water is precious, the soil contains little nutrition, and the only plant-like existence that can survive in such a harsh environment is the man-eating monster cactus.

Even for a powerful Magi, it is difficult to create rain in this land. It is because of the existence of Mana Material that the country of Toizant is planting trees in such a desolate land as part of their national policy.

Mana Material strengthens vitality. It does not only work for humans and Monsters.

By planting trees on top of the earth’s veins, the pathways for Mana Material, it will strengthen the plants’ vitality in order to efficiently turn the desert green. This has been Toizant’s long-cherished dream since it was established as a country.

This is a ridiculous dream on the part of the people who are doing it. We have planted many seedlings of all kinds of trees, imported from other countries, but they have all died. There were many reasons for this. Sometimes it was a lack of water, sometimes it was the heat, sometimes it was the Monsters, and sometimes it was sandstorms.

In the first place, Toizant does not check all the conditions required. It lacked water, resources, and even technology. We had tried inviting excellent Magi, but even if they were successful for a while, it wouldn’t last long. It was not the kind of business where you could succeed half-heartedly.

But still, our activities continued. Planting trees is hard work, but it is also an activity that is respected in Toizant.

Even if it was all in vain, even if the people involved didn’t even believe that they would succeed one day, greenery was what the people of the Sand longed for.

A few dozen kilometers away in the capital city, there was a lot of excitement about a conference, but that didn’t matter to the men.

Today is yet another day to fight against the scorching heat of nature.

――That was when that man arrived.

He was a man wearing a fancy shirt with his arms sticking out. His skin was white, a sign that he was not someone from the desert. He didn’t have any weapons on him, so it was hard to believe that he was equipped to walk in such a harsh desert.

His aura was very thin, not even mentioning a Hunter, it was much less than that of villagers who breathed in Mana Material day and night, so he was very out of place.

The village was originally built for planting trees, so it is a boring place that hardly attracted tourists.

However, when the man who had come with a child and a beautiful woman in tow, went in front of our leader, he introduced himself as a Level 8 Hunter, and said with a self-satisfied smile on his face, as if he had somehow given up on everything.

“Set up a small 『Shrine』. I will lend you a god.” (Cry)

“Wha-What, are you talking about, young man……” (Men)

“I am sure it will enrich this land. Maybe it won’t work, but it will stay the same as before, no? Just give it a try.” (Cry)

It was such a ridiculous story. Originally, what he said would have been laughed out loud.

However, the Treasure Hunter certificate that the man presented was real. The title of Level 8 carried weight. The Certification Level of the strongest Hunter in Toizant was 8. The man in front of us did not look that strong, but his title was too great to ignore.

When the villager was stunned, the Hunter―――Cry Andrich said.

“Once a day, offer a piece of Aburaage to her. If you do then I am sure it will work.” (Cry)

""

“…… Three piece” (Imouto Kitsune)

The fox-masked child beside him tugged at the hem of his cloth and said that. Cry quickly rephrased.

“………… You will offer three pieces. Aaaah, also…… I want you to bury this. I want you to bury it deep in the ground. Okay?” (Cry)

“Aaaah, Cry-san…… No way, such a waste.” (Sytry)

The pink-blonde woman widens her eyes and lets out a small scream. It was such a tenseless exchange, but our leader’s eyes were glued to the divine white tail that the Level 8 Hunter―――The hero offered him.

§ § §

TL notes:

Thanks for reading!

Too bad Cry didn’t take the Imouto Kitsune to the Clan! It would have been so funny to watch everyone in the Clan’s reaction.

Now, how much time do we have to wait before what Cry did will come and bite him in the ass (In the good and the bad sense)! XD

Tchao à plus!