Chapter 326 : Chapter 326
Chapter 326. The Abandoned Collection Area (2)
Radel picked up a hoe that had been lying near the vegetable garden and swiftly moved between the rows.
THUNK!
SWISH!
There was no hesitation in Radel’s movements.
The weed-pulling skills he had honed during alchemy class at the academy, in Professor Kailyn’s herb garden, were displayed to their fullest even here on the lowest level of the Mage Tower.
With minimal motion, he cleanly uprooted the tough weeds clogging the beds. Shaking the dirt loose and piling them neatly to one side, every step of the process flowed as naturally as running water.
Hissss!
Around him, beastified plants writhed and emitted grotesque sounds, but Radel paid them no mind. His thoughts were completely occupied by the garden in front of him.
‘The crops are in great condition, and the weeds are sturdy too. This is the effect of high-quality fertilizer.’
His curiosity about the old man’s farming methods only deepened.
Just as Radel was becoming fully immersed in the simple satisfaction of labor, a familiar notification sound rang in his ears.
Ding.
[The target’s Favorability has surpassed 10.]
‘Huh?’
Radel swallowed his surprise.
His Favorability increased just from pulling weeds?
‘Well… the Abandoned Collection Area is enormous, after all.’
He nodded slightly, convincing himself.
This vast and perilous place must have been managed by the old man alone.
To keep the beastified plants from running completely wild, even giving them minimal attention would have taken all his effort. There would have been little room left to carefully tend a private vegetable garden.
In that situation, a stranger appearing out of nowhere and quietly tidying the garden must have felt like rain in a drought—help welcome even if it came from a cat’s paw.
Having reached that reasonable conclusion, Radel was about to refocus on his work when—
Ding.
[A quest has been generated!]
[The Gardener of the Abandoned Collection Area]
You have encountered an unnamed gardener in the Abandoned Collection Area.
He is a master of herbology, a skilled farmer, and, having worked in the Mage Tower for a long time, possesses extensive knowledge.
Open the gardener’s heart and uncover the secret he is hiding.
Condition: Open the gardener’s closed heart (Progress: 20%)
Success: Entry to the Mage Tower Master’s chamber
Failure: Death
‘…Death?’
A chill ran down Radel’s spine.
He reread the final word in the System Window several times.
‘Failure: Death.’
Quests with such extreme penalties were rare.
This meant that the information held by the old man who managed the Abandoned Collection Area was important—and dangerous—enough to determine Radel’s life or death.
‘As expected, he is no ordinary elder.’
At the very least, he was certainly not a normal laborer.
There was a strong chance that he was the only person who knew the secret linking the Abandoned Collection Area and the Mage Tower Master’s chamber.
Either way, earning the old man’s favor was beneficial to Radel in every sense.
‘More importantly… I can learn about the fertilizer.’
Even while risking his life infiltrating the Mage Tower, Radel did not forget his duty as the lord of Raviedel.
As he pulled weeds after accepting the quest, one corner of his mind was already seriously contemplating how to improve the barren soil of his territory.
After working in silence for some time, the old man’s low voice sounded from behind him.
“You. Come here for a moment.”
At the same time, the Spirit of the Library, disguised as a book, whispered urgently in Radel’s mind.
- Be careful. He is suspicious no matter how you look at him.
Radel stopped pulling weeds, brushed the dirt from his hands, and stood up as if nothing were amiss.
“Very well, sir.”
- I said be careful! Even if Mage Tower laborers generally have little magic power, that one has almost no trace of mana at all. And someone managing a place this dangerous alone cannot possibly be an ordinary old man!
Ignoring the spirit’s warning, Radel walked calmly toward the old man.
The old man, seated on his worn chair, examined Radel’s face closely before speaking.
“You look fine on the outside, but the inside is a complete mess. How are you even walking around like this?”
- S-see that?! He figured out your condition just by looking! A suspicious old man with no mana reading you this accurately—he must be connected to heretics! Back away at once!
Despite the spirit’s panicked cries, Radel remained composed.
The old man was correct.
The internal injuries Radel had suffered in his battle with the dragon had not fully healed. The Troll’s Heart had restored his outward appearance, but the aftereffects of twisted and damaged organs still lingered.
However, Radel did not agree with the spirit’s suspicion that the old man was a heretic.
He sensed no vile demonic energy from him at all. Instead, there was a calm aura scented faintly with earth and grass. According to the quest description, he was a “master of herbology.” In that case, reading someone’s condition from their complexion and bearing was not all that strange.
“Is that so?” Radel asked evenly, as if discussing someone else.
“Do you not work in the Magical Beast Dissection Area? That must be grueling labor.”
Radel was inwardly surprised.
‘So he even knows where I work.’
This old man was no simple gardener. At the very least, he clearly had a thorough grasp of personnel assignments in the Mage Tower’s lower levels.
“It would be a lie to say it is not hard. But it is not enough to make me collapse.”
Radel spoke sincerely. Compared to hunting living magical beasts, dissecting already-dead ones was light labor to him. He did not even need to force his Magic Power, so there was little strain on his body.
It was tiring, but not beyond his ability.
Having crossed the line between life and death multiple times thanks to the Troll’s Heart, Radel’s standards had long since drifted beyond common sense.
Seeing Radel’s eyes, the old man’s expression subtly changed.
He seemed to realize that Radel’s words were genuine.
“Judging by your eyes, you do not look like someone who knows how to rest.”
The old man quietly surveyed the now-neat garden.
“You have worked hard. Stay for dinner.”
“…Is that all right?”
“As you can see, the tomatoes and cabbages grow far too quickly. I would appreciate someone helping me eat them.”
At that, the Spirit of the Library screamed once again inside Radel’s head.
- D-DINNER?! You do not even know what he put in it! You plan to eat food offered by a suspicious man in this nest of lunatics?!
But Radel’s face was already full of curiosity.
Crops personally grown by a farmer who managed such an enormous garden—and controlled beastified plants with ease. It was an offer far too tempting to refuse.
This was a perfect opportunity to taste truly fresh produce.
“Thank you, sir.”
Blithely ignoring the spirit’s protests, Radel bowed deeply.
***
The next day, the laborers’ cafeteria was lively from early morning.
The food served in the cafeteria on the lowest level was decent, and for rookie laborers, coming here had long become one of the few pleasures in their grueling lives.
However, one particular group wore expressions darkened by fatigue and humiliation.
They were the rookie laborers assigned to the Magical Beast Dissection Area with Radel.
They had obtained a day off, but their pride had been ground into the dirt.
The memory of being seized by beastified plants in the “Abandoned Collection Area,” and the humiliation of screaming and begging Radel to save them, refused to fade from their minds.
Worse still, while they had been snoring away, that shameless bastard had gone alone to eat breakfast.
For someone sharing the same dormitory, he had shown not a shred of camaraderie.
“Just you wait. Let us get him good today.”
“Right. We will trip him and spill his soup.”
“That is a great idea. I want to see that look on his face.”
Grinding their teeth, they devised their petty revenge.
At last, Radel entered the cafeteria.
Holding their trays, they fixed sharp gazes on him as he stepped inside. This was their chance.
They deliberately rose from their seats, aligning themselves with his path and slowly approached him.
But their plan collapsed before it even began.
Radel did not even glance toward the rookies’ seating area. Instead, he headed straight for the massive table at the very back of the cafeteria.
The seat of honor, reserved exclusively for senior laborers of supervisor rank from each section.
The rookies’ mouths fell open.
“H-he is insane! Why is he going over there?”
“Should we stop him? No matter how clueless he is, a rookie cannot sit there!”
“If he gets on their bad side, we are the ones who will suffer!”
The rookies stomped their feet in panic.
It was obvious what kind of humiliation awaited Radel among those terrifying senior laborers. Worse, they feared the backlash might extend to them as well.
But what unfolded was completely different from their expectations.
Rather than being displeased by the intruder, the senior laborers greeted Radel first, as if this were perfectly natural.
“Hey there, ace of the dissection area. Enjoy your day off?”
“You did not just hole up in the dormitory, did you?”
The rookies’ eyes widened.
Senior laborers—no, supervisors—speaking to him so familiarly?
They could not believe their eyes.
Radel, however, did not look awkward in the slightest. As if it had always been his place, he casually sat down in an empty chair and replied.
“I worked hard to earn that day off. I did not spend it cooped up in the dormitory.”
“I did not see you around dinner time yesterday, so I thought you slept all day.”
“Ah… at that time, I was helping out with some work. There was a place short on manpower.”
Helping with work instead of resting during a day off?
It was an absurd answer.
Not only the rookies, but even the senior laborers he was speaking with looked at him in surprise.
“It was not the dissection area, was it? Did you help out at the breeding facility?”
“Hector. You did not give him a day off and then drag him back to the breeding facility, did you?”
When Vargas, the supervisor of the Magical Beast Dissection Area, cast a suspicious look at Hector, Hector scowled deeply and shouted indignantly.
“Do you take me for trash?!”
He snapped irritably at Radel.
“I was busy yesterday catching new feed for the Cavrins! Rookie, tell them properly that it was not me.”
“That is correct. I was not at the breeding facility. I was in the Abandoned Collection Area.”
The moment Radel finished speaking, the noisy cafeteria fell deathly silent.
The smiles vanished from the senior laborers’ faces.
“What?”
“The Abandoned Collection Area?”
“You mean the place overrun by carnivorous plants?”
When Radel nodded calmly, everyone stared at him in shock.
It was Vargas who broke the silence.
He looked at Radel for a long moment, then asked in a quiet voice,
“Do not tell me… you met ‘him’ there?”