The Normal Farmer - Completed

Chapter 31 - Atacking the Nest

Ronald gulped at that idea. When everyone was with their brand-new shield, Shigure led the way in complete silence. Everyone followed her, with the Baby Spiders at their backs, the ‘Giant Spiders’ on their right, and the Tiger and Rats on their left.

Woof was tied to the rope that Duza was holding because Ronald ordered him to protect her from the monsters, and he concentrated on every smell or sound around him. He knew that for him to kill, he had to bite on the neck, and that was what he would do if one of those bad-smelling monsters approached the woman that was always giving him food during their breaks for eating. Woof liked her; she smelled nice.

Almost ten metres away from the barn, Shigure stopped and ordered everyone to crouch. She signalled Ronald and pointed at two Harpies that were standing guard on the rooftop. He took a look behind him because he knew that if he did what she was asking, it would be too difficult to explain to the others. But he still threw a Spell Card toward the rooftop.

The ‘End Life’ Spell Card killed the two Harpies, turning them into Mana Orbs that fell to the ground and stopped, hovering at a few centimetres. Shigure started to move while crouched, with the others imitating her. Then she pointed at two other Harpies near the south entrance and signalled Ini. He was closer, so he shot two arrows directly at the Harpies’ heads, killing them. Two new red Mana Orbs appeared in their place.

Shigure pointed Duza to the North entrance and made a hand signal to everyone to start surrounding the barn while she, Sonja, Conan, and Ronald were going to enter. They entered through a breach in one wall and looked around, baffled by the number of scattered Harpies sleeping.

There was an enormous group at the centre and some solitary ones in the corners. Shigure pointed to those, and she started to get near one of them, with Sonja, Ronald, and Conan choosing their targets as well.

The ceiling of the barn had huge holes, and from them came the afternoon sun. With that, Ronald could see his surroundings and the Harpies.

When he was near two Harpies that were sleeping while hugging each other, he almost felt pity for them. But then he remembered that below those beautiful faces and perfectly round breasts, there was a hawk’s body with dangerous claws. Putting that together with the information that those two used to be some very bad souls that had two chances to get better but wasted them and turned into monsters was enough to make him increase the grip on his sword.

He got close to one Harpy and raised his sword while pointing at the junction between the wings and the back, and he looked at Shigure, waiting for her signal. She, in turn, was looking at him, then at Conan, and finally at Sonja.

When she confirmed that everyone was near a target, she raised her sword and aimed. She made a nod with her head and sliced the wings and the Harpy’s neck in swift succession. As soon as the others saw her nodding, they did the same.

Ronald aimed at the next Harpy and made one quick movement to the wings and another to the neck. Two red Mana Orbs and four big wings stood in the place that was once occupied by the Harpies. He looked at Shigure and saw her pointing at another Harpy next to him. He slowly and silently approached her.

For the next ten minutes, they took care of every Harpy they could find in the corners or that was leaning against a wall. Then Shigure pointed at two groups of five Harpies. One near Conan and another near Sonja. They approached their targets and waited for Shigure’s orders. She was approaching the sizeable group in the middle of the barn and signalled for Ronald to approach as well, from another side.

When Ronald was finally in position, Shigure pointed at his shield and signalled for him to protect himself. Ronald understood that it was going to be a mess from that point on. He put his sword on the other hand, behind the shield, and laid the tip of the shield on the ground. With his now free hand, he was holding three Cards, waiting for Shigure’s signal.

As soon as she nodded, she jumped to the nearest Harpy and pierced her heart. She did it a little too strongly because the sword hit the floor and made a loud ‘banggg’ on a rock underneath the pierced Harpy.

Ronald reacted immediately to her head nod. He threw the ‘Rock Ball’ to his front, the ‘Sonic Blast’ to one side, and the ‘Lightning Strike’ to the other. The ‘Rock Ball’ squashed most of the Harpies and rolled in front, killing some more that were near the back wall. It went through the wall, and one of Ari’s spiders had to jump to the side to avoid it. Ari jumped to the other side, avoiding the ball in the last second.

Inside the barn, it was a mess. Most of the group in the middle was killed, with many others screaming from the loss of an arm, a leg, or a broken wing.

Shigure was running in the middle of them, cutting every wing she saw and the owner’s neck in quick succession. Ronald was doing the same while protecting himself behind his shield every time a Harpy threw a ‘Magic Shout’ against him.

Conan was shouting near a wall, defying the Harpies to come at him, while holding the top half of a Harpy by her hair and the sliced lower half at his feet.

Sonja was smiling while squeezing one Harpy’s neck with one hand, slicing the wings of another one, and stomping hard on the head of an injured Harpy that was at her feet. She was covered in the red blood of the dying Harpies, but she was still smiling.

Shigure saw some Harpies appear from behind some wood planks and try to flee. “Lookout! Some are trying to escape! Miss Duza, get them!”

Duza heard the shout, and she looked around, trying to find the Harpies that were trying to escape. Then, a baby Spider next to her shot a thread into the sky. Another baby Spider did the same. Two Harpies wrapped in web fell on top of Duza. She had to use all her strength to avoid the Harpies’ free claws, and Woof came to her rescue.

While Duza was defending one claw with her shield and hitting the head of the other Harpy with the hilt of her sword, Woof sliced the throats of each Harpy. Two Red Mana Orbs appeared in front of him, and he immediately touched them with one paw, absorbing them.

Duza cleaned the web from her body, and she was looking a little dumbfounded at Woof. “Thanks, but you shouldn’t touch the Mana Orbs; they are of no use to you.”

Woof tilted his head sideways and made a low bark as if he were asking her what she meant by that. Duza shrugged her shoulders. “Well, what is done, is done. Let’s keep looking for more, okay?”

The Spiders threw some web at their front, and Duza saw two Harpies coming through the breaches in the wall and getting tangled in the webs.

Duza rushed to get them and sliced the wings, cutting their heads next. Two red Mana Orbs appeared, and Woof was looking at Duza, waiting for her. She touched each Mana Orb and went to Woof’s side, getting ready for the next attack.

On one side of the barn, Ovaidel was striking his second Harpy, after removing the wings. One ‘Giant Spider’ was next to him, helping with the capture of the Harpies.

At the south entrance, Ini was pining the wings of a Harpy against the wooden wall of the barn, and one of Ronald’s ‘Big Rat’ was holding against the ground another, waiting for Ini to cut the wings, as he told him to do.

On the other side of the barn, Ari was next to Taly. He was looking bored at one Harpy that was between the ‘Sabertooth Tiger’ teeth. “This is no good… I could be inside and having some fun…”

Ari punched his left shoulder. “And I would be here all alone? Shame on you!”

“You could come with me. This Tiger and the Spiders would be more than enough to catch any Harpy that tries to escape.”

“No, I will not blow up my cover. I am just a young woman Mage, with enough Mana for these Magical Beings and a little more. We already have one Summoned person over there who, instead of pretending to be harmless, jumps to danger at any chance he gets.”

Tally smiled. “Yeah, we were lucky to find him so quickly. I wonder from which World he came. He is too strong for a Human from Earth.”

Ari shrugged her shoulders. “He didn’t come from Ariansyl; I would know. He could be from one of the several colonized small Worlds but even if he looks Human, he can be a Half-Breed. I just don’t know which kind. Fortunately for us, he is friendly, and he joined our voyage very easily. I hope that with his help, things will become easier. I was getting fed up with all the hassle since I got here! But who Summoned him and why?”

“I know, but I am not telling. Hey, don’t look at me like that! You want me to tell you everything and spoil the surprise? Now, shut up and stay alert; we must be sure that not even one Harpy escapes this cleansing. If we can’t join them in there, at least we take care of this side.”

Inside the barn, Ronald was popping every Mana Orb he could find. He lost count of how many Harpies they killed, but judging from the pile of wings, they were a lot. Conan was bringing another set of wings, and he pointed to one side: “There are three orbs over there. I think there aren’t any more. How many did you absorb?”

Ronald popped the last orb and shook his head. “I have no idea. Even Riattus lost track, and he was counting them. I will see how much Mana I have when we return to the Inn, after having a bath. I am all covered in blood. It is sticky and smelly. Sonja doesn’t seem to mind; just look at her, smiling while carrying those wings.”

Conan confirmed: “Yeah, she really likes killing Monsters. And Humans, and Dwarfs, and Elfians… she likes the killing part. I don’t mind fighting, but I prefer to enjoy the sun and the peace when a battle ends. Shigure is different; she likes peace, but if she has to kill, she does it as quickly as possible so that she can return to her peaceful way. So, since we are done here, let’s grab these wings and return. I need a bath; I am covered in red.”

When they came out of the barn, Duza shouted, horrified by their appearance. They were all dripping red, smelly blood. “You guys can’t get near the little girl, looking like that! You will scare her!”

Ari was next to Duza, and she threw to one side her Card, the ‘Small Pond’ Spell Card.

“Get inside; at least you can clean up the blood. As for the smell, you need a proper, hot bath with a lot of soap. Miss Duza, you should go in too and take Woof with you; the fur around his mouth is full of blood. He will scare everyone in the City!”

Ronald’s group put the Harpies’ wings on a pile and jumped into the pond. They all took a while to remove the blood, but when they got out, everyone looked a lot better.

While they were in the pond, Woof was sniffing the first two Mana Orbs that appeared from the Harpies that were on the rooftop. Without anyone seeing it, he touched them, and they disappeared. He continued with the sniffing, trying to find more Mana Orbs. He was starting to like the tingling those things made in his front paw.

Ronald was the first to get out and started to tremble. It was already the end of the afternoon, and with the wind blowing, it was getting chilly. He looked at the barn and asked Duza, “Can we get rid of this barn? It has a very bad smell inside, and it’s spreading with the wind blowing.”

“I think so; we can torch it. Let me just start some fire and…”

Before she could finish, Ronald threw his Card, the one that he used in the Goblin Village, the ‘Fire Rain’ Spell Card. The Magic fire came down in flush, completely burning the barn. Ronald went near to dry up with the warmth from the burning barn.

The others did the same, even Woof and Duza, feeling a little dumbfounded by that extremely rare Spell Card. One card like so many others that Ronald had that she never heard about.

When the barn disappeared along with the Magic flames from the Spell Card, Ronald went to get his Card again. When he was placing the Card inside his Card Box, he saw Ari shaking her head. “What? I was cold, so I made a fire. What’s the problem with that?”

She covered her face in frustration and shouted, “Argh! You are impossible! A Farmer would never do that, not only because what you did was too crazy, but also because a Farmer would never have Mana for that after summoning so many Spiders, and a Rat, and killing two Harpies on the rooftop… Am I forgetting something? Can someone explain to this guy that if he wants to be considered a Farmer by everyone, he can’t do things such as this? At least only we saw it, because if someone else noticed this, we would never have peace during the rest of our journey! Do you want to attract some people that want to kill you to absorb your Mana and steal your Cards? You are a Carrier and a Cook, you can’t do things like this! Argh! Can someone punch him?”

Sonja made a fist and approached him. But she then stopped and asked Ari: “I don’t think I can put enough strength into my punch to hurt him. Can I strike him with my sword?”

Ari kicked one stone on the floor. “No, let’s go; the girl is waiting for us. But one of these days, you and I are going to have a very serious talk regarding your actions, Mister Ronald!”

Ari turned away and went to retrieve her ‘Small Pond’ Spell Card, ordered the Spiders and the Tiger to disappear, and went in the direction of the carriage, mumbling in a low voice and kicking every stone she saw on the floor. Taly held his laughter and slapped Ronald’s back. “If I were you, I would be more careful about not annoying her. If she gets fed up with what you do, and you make her more envious than she already is, I can’t help if she goes after you.”

Taly ran to get near Ari and held her arm to accompany her. Shigure went to Ronald and made a deep bow. “Thank you for your help in there and also for letting me dry my clothes. Is everyone okay? No one got hurt? Did anyone absorb Mana Orbs?”

They all confirmed they were alright, and the ones that were outside the barn told her that they absorbed two Mana Orbs each, including Woof.

Duza tried to explain that she didn’t have time to stop him, but if it weren’t for his actions, the Harpies that fell over her would have killed her.

Ronald was scratching Woof’s head and whispering at him, “Thanks for saving her. You deserved those Mana Orbs; don’t worry. We will take care of your points at the Inn, okay?”

He then got up and pointed to the trees where the carriage and the horses were. “Shall we go? Because we have one anxious girl in there and a bunch of wings to sell.”

They all helped carry the wings to the carriage, and while some of them were helping Ronald secure the wings on top of it, Duza was telling the girl what happened. She hugged Duza and started to cry: “Thank you… I saw the fire… I was worried… You took so long to return… That means… it’s safe now?”

Duza hugged her back. “Yes, all is okay now. They are all dead; not even a single one escaped. Wipe your tears; we need to get back, and if someone sees you crying, they might think we hurt you!”

The girl smiled and wiped away her tears. Ronald finished covering the two piles of wings with some clothes, while Ini and Ovaidel did the same over the mules’ backs. Like that, no one would guess what they did.

Ronald went to his seat on the carriage, and they returned to the City. During their travel, they were in silence, still remembering the events, with one or two of them trembling from time to time because of the memories of the Harpies’ screams.

It was the end of the afternoon, and the sun was setting when they crossed the City Gates. The Guards made a small bow while they were entering. One of them pointed to the two piles on top of the carriage and asked Ronald, “You didn’t have it when you left. What’s that?”

“The proof for the completion of our Quest. We must present it to the Adventurer’s Guild to collect our payment.”