Bribed by the Demon Lord Right Before the Ending

■ Human Thresher Partarth □

The next day.

After spending the night at the village chief’s house, we were guided by Violet, the village chief’s daughter-in-law, to a 30,000 pyeong (approximately 99,173.5537 square meters) farmland near the village.

“Agricultural water is drawn from the river in front of the village by building a dam. When the water level rises due to rain, it automatically flows into the long irrigation channels dug beside the fields.”

She briefly explained the structure of the fields for Barnett and Camilla, who were unfamiliar with farming, and also told us about the main crops grown there.

“Our village is home to various races, so our food culture is quite diverse. Besides barley and wheat, which are staple foods, we also grow a lot of rice, beans, and potatoes.”

“That must require a lot of labor.”

“Well, if you want to eat what you like, there’s no other way, right?”

I nodded in agreement with her words and looked out at the golden wheat fields spread before us.

“I heard there was a shortage of labor, but fortunately, this year’s harvest seems to be bountiful.”

The wheat ears were so full that they were all bowing their heads towards the ground.

“Yes. Everyone who sees it says the same thing. It’s all thanks to the goddess watching over us.”

Violet smiled proudly as she said this, then hopped over a small stream on the way and pointed out the area we needed to harvest.

“First, the area you’ll be harvesting today starts here and goes all the way to where you can see the trees. It’s a little less than 10,000 pyeong. Is that okay?”

I nodded at her words.

“It’s my first time using my magic for something like this, but it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Honestly, using the magic I’ve honed through sleepless nights for harvesting crops is something I could never have imagined in the past.

Originally, mages were such high-level professionals that they wouldn’t be called for something like this.

But there’s a clear difference between “not doing” and “not being able to do.”

“Deep breath—”

I took a deep breath with my arms spread wide.

Generally, in this world, mages use magic by absorbing the mana flowing in the atmosphere into their bodies, converting it into natural elements within a virtual magic circuit called a “core,” and then combining or layering these elements to maximize their effects.

Of course, the power of the same magic varies greatly depending on the caster’s level.

And the magic I’m about to use now is detection magic.

One of the most commonly used magics in daily life, it allows you to view a fairly wide area of land from above in a third-person perspective, making it quite useful.

It’s also a magic that military mages must learn, as it’s very useful for commanders planning large-scale military operations.

I stroked my stubbly chin and pondered.

‘First, I shouldn’t use magic that’s too powerful.’

Even if I didn’t intend to, if I misjudged the strength, the harvested crops could spoil and become inedible.

To avoid such accidents, it’s better to plan thoroughly from the start.

‘30,000 pyeong is 99,173.5537 square meters, so I can divide it into sections based on that.’

Using detection magic, I calculated the land area and roughly estimated how much mana I would need to use to complete the day’s work.

“Hmm. This should do it.”

The calculation process didn’t take as long as I thought.

I took out a piece of paper and quickly drew a diagram to share the results with the others.

Violet, who was watching from the side, tilted her head and asked,

“What are you doing now?”

I shook the fountain pen, which wasn’t working well after not being used for a long time, and said,

“Ah, I just calculated how to harvest the crops more efficiently.”

I showed her the diagram and formulas I had drawn on the paper.

Since I had simplified the 30,000 pyeong of land into straight and curved lines, even someone seeing it for the first time could easily understand.

But whether she couldn’t understand the contents of the paper or not, Violet, holding the paper, kept tilting her head.

“Uh… just a moment.”

Frustrated, I took the paper and showed it to Barnett and Camilla, but they had the same reaction.

…They can’t even understand this simple formula?

‘Sigh, what can I do?’

I gave up on explaining it to them and decided to show them in practice.

“Then let’s go prove whether my calculations are correct.”

[[#]]In the magic towers scattered across the continent, the academic achievements of magic are expressed in a total of ten levels.

The higher the number before the rank, the higher the level of the mage. Only 17 people in the entire continent have reached the 6th rank, which allows the use of Hexa Spells.

Historically, the highest level achieved by a mage is the 8th rank, so ranks 9 and 10 are purely theoretical realms of imagination.

As mentioned earlier, all magic originates from the mana present in nature.

Among humans, only a very few chosen ones can see or feel the mana floating in the atmosphere. They must successfully complete a secondary processing step, converting it into elements necessary for magic composition within their virtual magic circuits, to even qualify to stand at the starting line.

The basic elements existing in nature are defined differently by each school of thought, but they are usually categorized into either four or five major elements.

Those who advocate for the four elements are typically conservative elders who only recognize earth, water, fire, and wind as true elements. On the other hand, younger mages, who are more open to new ideas, often include the relatively recent element of aether, making it five major elements.

The magic system I use follows the latter.

It’s not because I’m young, but because mixing aether, which inherently opposes the traditional four elements, can maximize the destructive power of magic.

Tradition be damned, when your life depends on a single spell, the higher the lethality, the better.

Of course, the old mages criticized me for not respecting tradition, and I always retorted with, “So what’s your rank?”

Ultimately, since the absolute measure of magical achievement is the number before the rank, such childish arguments were easily settled, and since most mages in the tower were of a lower rank than me, they had to shut up when I pulled rank.

Anyway—

Although the explanation got a bit long, there was no particular reason for me to boast about my greatness.

It’s just that I, who was considered a candidate for the next tower master of the Emerald Tower, one of the four great towers of the continent, and an authority in the academic world, had become the center of attention for the entire village.

I had merely asked the village chief to gather people to pick up the fallen grains, but somehow, everyone from the elderly to the young girls and children had gathered, all eagerly waiting to see me use magic.

Honestly, it’s incredibly burdensome.

I’ve always been met with fear, jealousy, and awe, but this is the first time I’ve received such expectant looks.

‘This is usually the hero’s specialty.’

I felt grateful for the mask I had made for disguise.

If I hadn’t, Barnett or Camilla beside me would have noticed that I was flustered by the unexpected crowd.

‘Get a grip.’

What I need to do hasn’t changed.

Just prove that the calculations I made earlier are correct.

That’s all I need to focus on.

“Please step back, as I’m about to use magic.”

After warning Violet, who had taken on the role of guide in place of Barnett, I spread my palms to the sides.

The magic I’m about to use is one rank higher than the Gale Blade I used yesterday—a 5th rank magic.

“Deep breath—”

Whoooosh—

The virtual magic circuit spun fiercely, greedily sucking in the surrounding mana.

The mana, flowing down through my blood vessels with a faint breath, transformed into elements of entirely different properties within the virtual magic circuit, and I continued to hold them within my body, layering the elements.

Wind × Wind × Wind × Wind × Wind

A Penta Spell layering pure wind elements five times.

Once the preparation was complete, I stretched my arms forward, forming a triangle with my palms.

“Gale Blade (一陣狂風)”

At that moment,

A sharply honed blade of wind silently raced through the air.