The Academy is Doomed

Chapter 65

“Phew…”

The owner of King of Mango Farm let out a sigh of astonishment.

Having dedicated his entire life to farming, it was no exaggeration to say that the large-scale magic unfolding before him was nothing short of miraculous.

‘Moreover, to restore the land using such a clever method…Magic is truly remarkable. And the young man who came up with such an idea is extraordinary as well.’

The farm looked at Amon with a face full of admiration.

Amon was secretly impressed as well.

‘This really works.’

After all, theoretically, there was nothing impossible about it.

The amount of time it would take to make the land, which had turned into a muddy swamp due to the flood, farmable again was unknown.

But Amon believed that with magic, he could shorten that period as much as possible.

‘That’s why, the headmaster will have to put in a bit of effort.’

‘…Yes, I will burn myself for the future of the academy.’

‘That’s a truly admirable mindset.’

‘It is only natural as the headmaster. So, what should I do?’

‘Do you see that land over there? The area turned into mud?’

‘Yes? Oh, yes. I see it.’

‘Then you need to dig the soil up and down, while drying it out.’

At those words, Anar’el tilted her head.

‘What did you say?’

‘There’s a digging spell called Dig, right? You’ll use that to turn the earth over, then use Fly magic to make the soil float, and Dry magic to gently dry out the wet soil. Just repeat that. But don’t dry it too much, it should still be slightly moist.’

It was a method that, in theory, shouldn’t fail.

However, after muttering to herself, Anar’el subtly surveyed the vast land.

The land stretched so wide that only the horizon was visible.

‘A place that big? All I can see is the horizon.’

‘Didn’t you say you would burn yourself for this?’

‘It’s not burning, it’s drying up and dying.’

‘Whether you burn up or dry up, it’s the same result, isn’t it?’

Amon said with a warm smile, gently patting Anar’el’s shoulder.

‘So, I’m counting on you.’

‘…Sniff!’

And now Anar’el was desperately squeezing out her mana and repeating the tasks.

“Kiiiii!”

It was only a few low-level spells combined, but because the area was so vast, even someone like Anar’el, who was skilled in warp magic, was struggling to manage it.

Meanwhile, Amon was sitting nearby, chopping up the King of Mango fruits that the farm owner had saved.

“You’re doing well! Ah, wait, you dried that area too much!”

“Kii-kii-ki-ki!”

“Oh no! Look! All the worms are dead!”

“Hek, hek!”

As Anar’el panted weakly, Amon gave her another piece of King of Mango fruit and touched the soil where the work had been completed.

‘Hmm, this turned out well. The soil quality is excellent.’

The land chosen by the farm owner, who had dedicated his life to farming, was living up to expectations.

‘It was already good land, but after the flood, the soil was well-mixed. It must have improved, not worsened.’

Amon smiled in satisfaction and glanced at Anar’el.

She was lying on the ground, sobbing with tears streaming down her face.

“Headmaster, now it’s not the time to rest.”

“Sniff…Please save me.”

“You’re asking to be saved, so it seems you haven’t died yet.”

“Ahhh…”

As Anar’el wept, Amon gave her another piece of King of Mango fruit.

At that, Anar’el stopped crying and sniffled.

“Alright, then take a short break and continue.”

“Sniff! Yes…mumble, mumble.”

Turning away from the still-resting Anar’el, Amon walked over to the farm owner, who had been watching the work.

“Looking at the progress, if we focus for about a week, it should be mostly finished. I’ll start planting the saplings in the land where the work is done.”

“Oh, I see. Then I’ll need to hire workers immediately.”

“You won’t need any workers.”

“Huh?”

The farm owner glanced behind him.

There were dozens of saplings already loaded onto a cart.

‘Even though they are saplings, the King of Mango trees are bigger than most, so the saplings must weigh quite a bit…?’

Additionally, there were a few trees that had been preserved with preservation magic, ready to be transplanted.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“You’ll need to dig quite deep, and you’ll need a lot of hands to transplant all of those. Why do you say you won’t need workers?”

At the farm owner’s question, Amon silently grabbed a shovel and walked toward the land where Anar’el had finished her work.

“Hey, wait!”

“Just unload the saplings from the cart so they’re easier to move.”

Amon said and began to dig.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

The farm owner sighed as he watched Amon digging energetically.

‘Hah, I knew he’d do that. No technique, just digging with brute strength.’

He shook his head as if there was no helping it and, intending to offer advice, started heading towards Amon with his own shovel.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

“…Huh?”

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

“…!”

Despite digging for a while, Amon’s digging speed didn’t slow down at all.

No, it was actually getting faster.

‘Did he really just dig five holes for saplings in such a short amount of time?’

Amon had spent so many days digging land to plant potatoes in the harsh lands of the Drake Territory!

While not the brightest in terms of knowledge, he was far superior to the farm owner when it came to simple physical labor.

In other words, there was no need for technique!

And after some time passed.

“Phew, I’ve mostly finished. There are 15 saplings to plant, right?”

“Y-Yes.”

“The trees I’m transplanting are two, so…I should have made the holes for those a bit bigger.”

Once again, the sound of thwack, thwack echoed, and two large holes were made.

Before the farm owner could react, Amon appeared and started moving the large saplings back and forth.

‘Those saplings must weigh several dozen kilograms each, but he’s carrying them with one sapling in each hand and planting them like that…?’

Amon planted all 15 heavy King of Mango saplings, covered them with soil, and nodded in satisfaction.

“Hmm, I think this is good for now…”

Amon turned to look at Anar’el.

She had curled up on the ground like a shrimp, taking a quick nap. He hurried over to her and gently shook her awake.

“Huh?!”

“You can’t sleep. You have to keep working.”

“Sniff, huh-huh-huh…”

Delmons, the branch manager of Gold Road’s Amur branch, was smiling broadly.

However, it was only on the surface, as he was complaining inwardly.

‘Damn, I’m so busy, and now this…’

Had it been about a week since Amon left the gold ingot with him?

Suddenly, Amon came back and wanted to show the progress of his business.

Though he was trying to pay back the money he borrowed, Delmons was skeptical about the speed of progress.

‘What could possibly have been achieved in just a week?’

While grumbling internally, Delmons followed Amon to the headmaster’s office at Amonis Academy.

“…Are you doing business within the academy?”

“Oh, not really. For now…”

Amon, who was rummaging through the desk in the headmaster’s office, pulled out a scroll.

It was a scroll imbued with the space-moving magic created by Anar’el herself.

“Then let’s go.”

“Yes? W-Where are we going?”

“To the business site, of course… ”

“Wait, just a moment…”

Delmons urgently tried to stop Amon, but Amon didn’t listen and tore the scroll in half.

At that moment, a blue light burst forth, and Delmons, who had covered his face with his arm, looked around with a stiff expression.

‘Damn it! How rude…What is this…?’

Delmons, who had planned to sternly admonish Amon, immediately forgot all about it as he looked around in shock.

“What…What is this…?”

“Let me introduce it again.”

Amon, with a cheerful smile, pointed at the vast farm.

“This is the newly rebuilt King of Mango farm.”

“The King of Mango farm!”

Delmons’ mouth fell open.

He couldn’t help but be familiar with the King of Mangoes. It was one of the high-end luxury crops that the Gold Road Association actively distributed.

‘But the largest King of Mango farm on the continent went bankrupt after being hit by the flood. Then…this farm…eh!?’

Delmons ran toward the farm owner, who was visible in the distance.

“Are you the owner of Farmors farm!?”

“Huh? Who are you?”

“Ah, sorry for the late introduction. I am Delmons from the Gold Road Association’s Amur branch. I’ve seen the owner of Farmors farm a few times from a distance.”

“Ah, Gold Road Association.”

The farm owner’s expression was cold.

It was understandable. The moment the farm was hit by the flood and went bankrupt, the Gold Road Association turned its back without a second thought.

Of course, considering the Association’s objectives, it wasn’t necessarily a bad decision, but it had left a wound on the innocent farmer, Farmors.

“When my business was thriving, you visited frequently. So what brings you here now?”

“Hahaha…Well, how should I put it…”

Having no words, Delmons quickly changed the topic.

“By the way, what happened here?”

“What do you mean?”

At the farm owner’s question, Delmons pointed to the surroundings.

“Isn’t this a magnificent farm, comparable to before? The barn, the warehouse, the fences…The buildings are great, and it seems you’ve properly restored the orchard too!”

“Hmph!”

“Where did you manage to get the funds…Could it be!?”

Delmons quickly turned to Amon.

‘Could he have gotten the funds from the Amonis Academy?’

No, that wasn’t it. He had done it by his own effort.

Amon had personally built the barn, the warehouse, and the fences.

But Delmons, who didn’t know that, shuddered.

‘How much money did he secretly have hidden away?’

Delmons, grumbling inwardly, glanced at Farmors and spoke.

“Heh, heh heh. Isn’t it a great thing? The King of Mangoes that Farmors farm owner personally improved is surely the best in the continent.”

“….”

“So I’m saying, when you harvest them, please make sure to do business with our Association…”

Delmons spoke bluntly.

“The full harvest will have to wait until the saplings all grow. Well, they’re growing very quickly, so it won’t be long, though.”

Thanks to Anar’el’s harvest dance.

Moreover, this time, she had promised to dance ‘just once,’ so there wouldn’t be another flood.

Probably.

“Anyway, for now, everything we have is coming from a few mature trees that we replanted, so it’s still not enough to do business with the Association.”

“Heh, heh heh. Time will solve everything, won’t it?”

“…Hmph.”

Farmors was clearly still upset with the Gold Road Association!

As Delmons watched Farmors, he stomped his feet.

‘Damn, who would have thought this farm would be restored so well in such a short time? If I had known, I would have suggested holding off on trading with other farms…’

But back then, due to the King of Mango craze spreading across the continent, the Association had to start trading with other farms as quickly as possible to recover losses.

‘…Sigh, well, I’ll have to keep trying to persuade him for a while.’

Though, considering how his mouth was almost turned down to his chin, it wouldn’t be easy.

Just as Delmons sighed inwardly, Amon suddenly tapped him on the shoulder.

“Huh? What’s the matter?”

“Just a moment, follow me…”

Delmons was led by Amon to a somewhat quiet location.

“Well, as you might have guessed, the ones who helped with the farm restoration are us, Amonis Academy.”

“…Well, that makes sense.”

“So here’s the thing…”

Amon, smiling broadly, spoke.

“Farmors farm owner promised to give us a 20% share of the farm once it’s restored.”

Delmons’ mouth dropped open.

20% of the King of Mango farm?

20% of this vast farm that stretched to the horizon?

Seeing Delmons frozen in shock, Amon spoke.

“I will transfer 10% to you, so please pay off the debt the Academy owes.”

“…!”

“What will you do?”

Of course, in the long run, steadily paying off the loan with a 20% share would be profitable.

‘But the farm could go bankrupt overnight! And the Academy’s funds are involved, so it’s not even my own money.’

For this reason, he intended to clear the debt at once, ignoring repayment terms, in exchange for just 10% of the share.

Furthermore, from the Gold Road Association’s perspective, this was a very attractive offer.

With a 10% share, they would be able to acquire King of Mangoes at cost price!

‘Anyway, if things go well, I’ll clear the debt with that 10% share and secure a steady income for the Academy with the remaining 10%.’

Having calculated this, Amon made the offer.

A shrewd businessman, Delmons, immediately understood the terms and took Amon’s hand politely.

“I look forward to working with you, Mr. Amon.”