Guided by Frey, we headed to the cultivation site of the Meluca flowers.
The site was located just outside the forest, not too far away.
“Is this the place…?”
-It looks like there’s nothing here, but the seeds are planted.
It was an empty clearing.
Though it appeared someone had made an effort to remove the weeds, nothing was visible except for the soil.
Before long, the area was bustling with fairies who had come out to watch us.
I had thought they were timid creatures, but now that they were familiar with us, they were quite chatty.
“Hmm, Mark2! What do you think?”
Squeak?
Mark2, who was called out, tilted its head.
It seemed to be wondering what it was supposed to do with this.
“Can we cultivate Meluca flowers here?”
Squeak…?
It looked uncertain.
Then it started moving around, trying to express something.
“Ara, what’s it saying?”
“It says we need to see the seeds!”
“Really?”
I looked at Frey as if to ask if she had heard, and she soon nodded and headed somewhere.
It was a place near the cultivation site where dried flowers were gathered.
Nearby, fairies who seemed to have been working there bowed their heads respectfully.
“Are there any live flowers?”
-There aren’t any live ones, but we have dried flowers left to harvest seeds from.
“That’s a shame.”
I examined the seeds of the flowers.
As expected, there were no item labels, so I couldn’t gather any specific information.
“Are they edible?”
-Well, that would be… uh, yes, of course.
Leaving Frey and Ara’s playful banter behind, I handed the seeds to Mark2.
While Ara watched me nibble on the dried flowers, I observed Mark2 to see if it had figured something out.
Spit!
It repeatedly ate and spat out the seeds.
‘Is it some kind of analysis…?’
I couldn’t understand its actions, but I remembered it doing the same thing in our fields before.
I hadn’t paid much attention to how Mark2 farmed, assuming it knew what it was doing.
Gulp!
“Did you find out something?”
Mark2 nodded and approached us.
Is this going to be easier than I thought?
“Ara, translate what Mark2 says.”
“Sure thing!”
Ara, who had been playfully teasing Frey, quickly ran over.
Gulp! Squeak!
“It’s a unique plant!”
Squeak- Squeak- Gulp!
“It needs to be planted in a place with no light!”
As expected from Mark2!
It didn’t let us down.
Gulp!
“But once it sprouts, it needs light!”
No wonder it’s a rare plant—the growth conditions are quite tricky.
When it’s a seed, it shouldn’t be exposed to light, but once it sprouts, it needs light.
It seemed difficult to find such an environment in the wild.
Squeeeeak!
“And that’s not all!”
“What else does it need?”
Squirm squirm gulp-
“In order for the flower to bloom, it needs strong poison and intense light!”
“What?!”
Alright, I can concede that intense light might make sense. But why on earth does it need poison?
“Poispois, is it your time to shine?!”
Squirm?
Poispois, suddenly called, tilted its purple body. But isn’t Poispois’s poison not particularly strong?
Anyway, we had discovered all the conditions for the Meluca flower to bloom. Frey, who was listening to the conversation, was astonished.
-As expected of the Great Slime Lord! You have solved a problem that our Alfheim has been researching for 200 years in an instant!
-(｡˃́⌔˂̀｡)!!
-\( ˙▿˙ )/!!
The fairies watching also cheered in delight at Frey’s words. But isn’t it too early to celebrate?
“We’re not done yet. Can you meet all the conditions we just mentioned?”
-Oh, well….
First, let’s assume we plant it in a place with no light.
Once it sprouts, we can transplant it to a place with light.
But the strong poison and intense light are the problems.
What qualifies as “strong” and what does “intense light” mean?
“This is difficult, very difficult.”
-Oh, Great Lord. I don’t know about the poison, but I have an answer for the intense light.
“Really? What is it?”
-The tree we are so grateful for, the Shiny Tree, emits intense light.
“Ah! The Shiny Tree!”
It felt like the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.
The Meluca flower must have bloomed somewhere, which is why the Alfheim hasn’t starved to death until now. This means this place had an environment that could provide strong light and poison.
“Then what about the poison?”
-Um, have you ever seen a Star Bear?
“Star Bear? No, I haven’t.”
-It’s a bear that lives in the realm of this Shiny Tree.
“A bear?”
There are bears here too?
That’s a bit scary….
-The Star Bear is not poisonous while alive, but after it dies, its carcass emits strong toxicity. Could it be that the Meluca flower bloomed around the carcass of a Star Bear?
“Oh, that sounds plausible.”
All the pieces of the puzzle were complete.
The environment necessary for the Meluca flower to bloom was all present here.
“Now that we know how to do it, we just need to try cultivating it.”
Gulp!
“What now?”
Mark2 gulped and stepped forward.
It seemed to be indicating that it would take care of the cultivation.
“Hmm, we should start heading back soon….”
-Ah, are you returning?
“I have a home base and family to take care of.”
It was uncertain how long it would take to cultivate the Meluca flower. Even the great Mark2 couldn’t predict the harvest time, so it was a bit ambiguous.
‘It takes four days for a round trip. I initially planned to stay for about a week….’
!!
Suddenly, an idea struck me like lightning.
Why not do this?
“Wait a moment.”
I used a skill I had momentarily forgotten about while exploring the dungeon. A slime appeared with a pop.
Squirm?
At the same time, I used the ingredients I brought to reset the cooldown of Liquid Synthesis to make some fruit juice.
“Phew. I managed to avoid a major loss, just barely.”
I confirmed that it had been exactly 25 hours since I entered the dungeon. I lost about an hour, but that’s manageable.
-As expected of the Great Slime Lord! Creating something from nothing!
-(ू˃ o˂ू )!
-⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝
As the slime was created, I handed the slime recruit to the excited fairies.
-What, what is this?
“This is my employee who will work here. From now on, this guy will manage the Meluca cultivation site.”
All slimes were basically farmers. Mark2 was particularly skilled, but the others had basic farming abilities too.
I figured I could have it learn the Meluca flower cultivation methods from Mark2 and then start working.
‘I should set a schedule and rotate them periodically.’
Once the fairies could self-sustain, there would be no need for that.
-Is it really okay with you?
“Yes, but there’s a condition.”
-Please tell me.
Frey’s eyes were full of determination. She looked ready to agree to any condition, no matter how unreasonable.
‘How much honey should I ask for?’
After thinking for a moment, I asked Frey.
“In return for helping with the Meluca cultivation, I want honey. But I don’t know how much you produce, so I’m not sure how much to ask for.”
-Do you want Meluca honey?
“No, no. Just the honey you can’t consume.”
-If it’s that!
Frey, delighted, called the fairies together to discuss. After a brief conversation, they approached me.
-Will you be visiting often?
“Well, maybe once a month? I’m not sure.”
Given the distance, frequent visits would be tough. But once a month seemed feasible.
-Do you have any empty jars?
“Hmm, I don’t have jars, but I have empty containers.”
They were Ara’s snack containers. I had a few empty ones since I carried various crops in them.
When I asked Bokkeum, he produced a container large enough for about three fairies to lie down in. It was a bit large, but considering Ara’s appetite, it made sense.
-We can produce about two of these containers in a month.
“Isn’t that too much?”
-No, it’s just the surplus. If we pushed ourselves, we could make more than five… oops.
Frey quickly closed her mouth, worried that I might ask for five containers.
“Oh?”
-Well, um…
“I’m just kidding. Two will be fine.”
-Are you sure just two containers will be enough?
“Yes.”
Two containers this size every month?
It might seem like a small amount, but I wasn’t planning to sell the honey, so it was fine.
-Oh, thank you so much.
“Why are you crying?”
-I am moved by your generosity, Great Lord. Thank you so much, Great Lord.
“…”
I wondered if they were putting on an act again, but then I understood. They had been facing a crisis due to food shortages, and now they had a solution. It was natural for them to be emotional.
Fairies gathered around the crying Frey, also shedding tears. Then they all expressed their gratitude to me.
“Since nothing is resolved yet, save your thanks for later.”
“Hehehe! This is truly amazing. Now that you understand the greatness of the Great Lord, everyone, kneel before him!”
Ara, where do you come up with those villainous lines?
After the wave of tears passed, we started the actual cultivation of the Meluca flowers.
We might not see them sprout before we leave, but we can at least plant the seeds, right?
“We just need to create a dark space and plant them inside it.”
-Hmm, in that case, should we grow them inside the tree?
“I’ve been thinking, how about creating a sealed space with soil?”
-A sealed space?
“Yeah. We can create a space outside with soil that blocks out the light, and later, when the seeds sprout, we can break the soil.”
-Oh! That way, we wouldn’t need to transplant the seedlings.
“There might be better methods in the future, but for now, this is the best idea I’ve got.”
-It sounds good! Let’s give it a try!
I didn’t help directly but just offered my suggestions. After all, the ones who had to do the actual work were the fairies and the slime rookie, so I only supervised.
“Oh, you made it quite nicely.”
-Hehe.
We created a half-sphere shape with soil over the seeded ground, leaving an empty space inside. Each seed required one half-sphere, but it didn’t take as long as I thought to make them all.
‘The slime had pre-moistened the ground, which should help too.’
I still didn’t know why slime fluid helped plant growth, but since it worked, I accepted it.
“It’s a shame we don’t have more seeds.”
-Indeed.
We did have many seeds initially. However, after Mark2 inspected them, we ended up with just under 100 viable seeds. The rest had already received too much light and couldn’t germinate.
-But if it weren’t for you and Mark2, we would have lost all the seeds. It could have been disastrous.
“We were lucky.”
We watched over the seed planting until it was done and then decided to rest inside the tree.
On the second day of exploring the Dungeon of Gluttony, we encountered the herd of deer and the fairies called Alfheim.
Considering the time spent walking in the forest, it was understandable to be tired.
“Uuugh.”
“Why aren’t you sleeping?”
But Ara, despite looking sleepy, stubbornly stayed awake. When I asked why…
“I’ll sleep after watching the sparkles.”
“You said it’s soon, right?”
“That’s right.”
Even though we had already spent over a day in the dungeon, we had not yet seen the light of the Shiny Tree. Ara referred to it as day and night, but the day and night here felt much longer than on Earth.
– Great Lord! Lady Ara! The Shiny Tree is about to shine!
“Oh! Let’s go see it, Kyu-seong Kyu-seong !”
Ara’s face, filled with sleepiness, brightened up as she grabbed my hand and pulled me outside. When we stepped out of the tree…
“…Wow.”
The whole world was bright.
Yet, we were enveloped in pitch-black darkness.
The sun had disappeared, and the stars were gone.
Only the black night sky existed, surrounding us as if the sky had descended to the ground.
However, the darkness felt warm.
It was a curious sensation. Warm darkness? I had only ever felt that under a blanket, never outdoors.
Soon, I understood why.
A warm light!
Vibrant and colorful lights shimmered. They weren’t blinding, but paradoxically, they illuminated the world brightly.
“This is the Shiny Tree…”
“It’s beautiful!”
I understood why Ara had stayed awake.
The tree was unchanged, but all its leaves glowed in different colors. Fairies danced and fluttered among them.
– Whenever the Shiny Tree shines, we hold a small festival. What do you think? Isn’t it beautiful?
“It’s beautiful. Definitely something to be proud of.”
It was an unforgettable sight.
Something that would likely stay in my memory forever…
Cliche Novel 