Chapter 230 Urgent Mission! Even the harvest is not stable!
The days of moving into a new home had not brought any changes to Arthur's fragmented adventure life.
At this moment, in front of the adventurer's guild notice board, his group of silly teammates were arguing fiercely.
Darkness pointed to a request form in the upper right corner, breathing rapidly, her cheeks flushed with an abnormal redness.
"The Needle King Bees are in their nectar season, let's go collect honey! Just imagine, being stung by countless poisoned bee stingers..."
"Absolutely not!" Kazuma refused without a second thought. "Needle King Bees are fast and highly venomous. Do you want to be chased to the ends of the earth if we poke their nest?!"
"Then how about this? A One-Hit Bear that roams the mountain forests!"
Megumin held up a parchment with a bear's head drawn on it, her eyes gleaming with fanaticism.
"It's a perfect chance to see whose one-hit is stronger, mine or its Explosion Magic!"
Arthur raised a hand to his forehead, feeling his temples throb.
"Setting a mountain on fire means sitting in jail for a long time! The reward for subjugating a One-Hit Bear isn't even enough to cover the fine for burning down the forest, don't even think about it!"
Aqua raised her hand high: "Then let's do this one! The mobile fortress destroyer is approaching, recruiting scouts who can predict its movement path!"
Yunyun carefully read the request description and smiled a little sheepishly.
"Aqua, this request requires a ranger-type profession. Our team doesn't seem to meet the requirements."
Just as these people were discussing their 'conditions' and no one could convince anyone else, a piercing broadcast sound echoed throughout the entire town.
"Emergency quest! Emergency quest! All adventurers in town, please gather at the main gate immediately!"
"Repeating! All adventurers in town, please gather at the main gate immediately!"
The sudden broadcast was like an air raid siren, and the townspeople immediately changed their expressions, scrambling to run back to their homes, tightly closing their doors and windows.
In stark contrast were the adventurers.
Not only were they not panicked, but they all showed expressions of ecstasy, quickly donned their equipment, and rushed to the main gate, vying for the lead.
Arthur and his group followed the flow of people towards the city gate, and Kazuma, feeling the grim atmosphere, nervously swallowed his saliva.
"What exactly is this emergency quest about? Is a powerful monster coming to attack the city?"
Darkness and Megumin shook their heads in unison.
Aqua, who had somehow acquired a large basket, explained in an excited tone like someone scrambling for a promotion at a supermarket.
"No, it's the season for harvesting cabbages."
Kazuma blinked, his brain momentarily frozen, and asked in confusion.
"What? Cabbages? Is 'cabbage' a code name for some kind of monster?"
Hearing his naive question, Darkness and Megumin gave him a look of pity, as if he were a rare animal.
Yunyun, who was at the end of the team, kindly whispered to him.
"Kazuma, cabbage is a green, round vegetable, with a crisp texture and very nutritious."
"Ah?" Kazuma was completely bewildered. "This is an emergency quest? To have adventurers help farmers harvest vegetables?"
At this moment, Arthur, who had been silently rushing to the forefront, stopped, raised his hand to point at the hazy sky outside the city gate, and spoke in a drawn-out tone.
"Because the cabbages in this world are also monsters."
"They are unwilling to be eaten by humans, so they will migrate across the continent with the wind until they rot in the ground."
After hearing this surreal explanation, Kazuma was too exhausted to complain.
He followed the direction Arthur was pointing, subconsciously activating his [Clairvoyance] skill.
He saw a torrent of emerald green sweeping across the distant horizon, as if to completely engulf the gray sky!
A green tide of countless cabbages, carried by the strong winds, roared in!
At the same time, a guild staff member stood on the city wall, using a magic megaphone to loudly explain the situation to the adventurers gathered at the gate.
"Sorry for the sudden summons everyone! I think some of you have already guessed, that's right! It's time for the great cabbage migration again!"
"Please be sure to pay attention to your own safety, and do not be hit by the high-speed flying cabbages!"
Kazuma, who had been as if facing a formidable enemy before knowing the truth, was now completely deflated.
He looked like a lazy worm with his bones removed, looking listlessly at Arthur, who was leaning against the city gate.
"Big brother, can I go home and sleep?"
"Well..."
Arthur smiled noncommittally, motioning for Kazuma to continue listening.
"By the way, this year's cabbages are growing exceptionally well! For every one harvested, you can exchange it for ten thousand eris at the guild!"
As soon as the words fell, Kazuma's eyes instantly lit up!
The breathing of all the adventurers at the city gate became heavy, and a deafening cheer erupted!
"Oh oh oh oh oh!"
Darkness took the lead, raising her longsword, and charged with great force towards the vast green tide!
Sword light crisscrossed! Her momentum was like a rainbow!
What a pity!
Every swing of her sword precisely struck nothing, not even grazing the edge of a cabbage!
This kind of scene, where she was practically a "human outline artist," was something Arthur and the others had long grown accustomed to.
Seeing that her attacks were ineffective, Darkness immediately changed her strategy and ran towards the densely packed adventurers!
She spread her arms, using her body to withstand the high-speed crashing cabbages.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Her resilient yet utterly miserable appearance earned grateful glances from many new adventurers who didn't know the truth, but from beneath her armor came her own pleasant hum.
Arthur didn't bother with the masochistic knight who had entered her state; he strolled outside the city, and with quick eyes and hands, he snatched a basketball-sized cabbage from mid-air.
It was emerald green, smelled fresh, and contained considerable magical power. Eating it would probably grant a lot of experience.
"Smashing them with weapons is indeed too wasteful; it seems I still have to catch them by hand."
Just as Arthur was efficiently harvesting cabbages and contemplating whether to stir-fry them with vinegar or simply stir-fry them for dinner, his unsupervised silly teammates started acting up again!
Megumin had somehow positioned herself at the very edge of the crowd.
Her crimson eyes were fixed on the cabbages flying everywhere, and the tip of her staff, held high above her head, was shimmering with a destructive glow!
"Darker than black, deeper than night's Darkness, I entrust my crimson golden light here!"
"The time of awakening has come, the fallen doctrine of the erroneous church, manifest as an invisible distortion!"
"Dance! Dance! Dance! The collapse desired by the source of my power! A collapse unmatched by any!"
Kazuma, who was silently making a fortune on the sidelines, heard this familiar chant and was scared out of his wits, letting out a heart-wrenching wail!
"Stop it! You problematic Crimson Demons member! Cabbages blown to ashes are not worth a single coin!"
"Incinerate all creation, descend from the abyss—Explosion!"
Megumin completely ignored Kazuma's wails, shouting the final incantation with an incredibly fervent and obsessive voice!
In an instant, the surrounding atmosphere swirled like a vortex, becoming unusually heavy!
Rings of crimson magic circles rapidly expanded at the city gate, and dazzling beams of light descended from the sky, violently tearing open the hazy sky!
Boom—!
Amidst a deafening roar, a perfectly formed mushroom cloud rose from the ground!
The earth shook violently, and a destructive storm, carrying orange-red heat waves, instantly engulfed all the cabbage groups within sight!
As the smoke and dust from the explosion slowly dissipated, all that remained was a giant, steaming crater, and—
The smell of burnt cabbage lingering in the air.
Megumin, who had unleashed this world-destroying strike, collapsed to the ground, her magic power depleted.
She actually still had a satisfied smile on her face, happily closing her eyes.
"Hehehe... Explosion Magic... is the best..."
Ultimately, with the combined efforts of the adventurers and the "help" of Megumin's "Little Boy," this year's cabbage harvest battle concluded ahead of schedule.
At the celebration banquet that evening, the adventurers, who had made a fortune, raised their glasses in jubilation.
Aqua, in particular, held onto several bottles of high-grade sparkling wine, refusing to let go, seemingly determined to drink until she dropped.
In the chaotic adventurer's guild, Arthur took all the cabbages from his storage bag and handed them to Princess Luna at the counter for counting.
He had just turned to leave when Princess Luna called out to him.
Her voice was very low, and her expression, unlike her usual gentleness, carried a hint of solemnity.
"Mr. Arthur, please wait a moment."
"It's like this, an adventurer just escaped back from outside the city, claiming to have seen the Headless Knight leading an undead army, stationed in the old castle outside of town."
Princess Luna took a deep breath and solemnly handed him an emergency request.
"As a strong individual who defeated the Demon Sword User, may I ask your team to accept this request?"