I decided to take care of the field.
Whenever weeds sprouted, I would pull them out. Evilham, a large ogre, wasn’t fond of such meticulous work, but there was no choice.
“This is a weed… I have to be careful not to pull up the wheat…”
I kept pulling out the weeds and discarding them. It was quite hard work, and I started sweating.
“Evilham-sama, what are you doing?”
A small green goblin, a monster, spoke to me.
“Oh, I’m doing some farm work. If we do this, we’ll get delicious wheat.”
“Evilham-sama…? Wouldn’t it be easier to just take food from the humans instead of doing this?”
Hmm. It seemed like this way of thinking was not unique to Evilham but perhaps a common trait among monsters as a whole.
“No, that’s not okay. Humans are suffering from famine right now. If we take from them, they’ll starve to death.”
“Why should we care if humans starve?”
What to do… Maybe I should persuade the goblins like I did with Littleham.
“Listen. If humans starve to death, their numbers will decrease. Fewer humans means fewer people to produce food.”
“Huh? Isn’t food something that just grows on its own?”
Before discussing ethics, it seems they need some basic education…
“Listen up, goblins. Humans work hard to produce food. Growing wheat requires proper care, like pulling weeds and watering—just like I’m doing now. It’s tough work.”
By emphasizing the hard work involved, I aimed to educate the goblins. If they could understand that, they might be less reckless.
“I see, that’s how it is.”
“Exactly. That’s why we shouldn’t just take food from humans.”
Even if I don’t steal food, it would be meaningless if my subordinates did. I need to properly educate all the monsters about this.
But how should I go about educating them…? I suppose the best way is to have them experience farming themselves.
“Alright, gather all the monsters. Goblin, go and call every monster in the dungeon.”
“Understood!”
In the meantime, I’ll expand the farmland in the dungeon. I headed to the control room and placed my hand on the crystal, burning through DP (Dungeon Points).
[Remaining DP: 200]
“Wow, I had 5000 DP at first, but it’s gone down a lot. There’s not much more I can do now.”
But it’s all for the sake of educating the dungeon monsters, so it can’t be helped. As I headed back to my quarters from the control room, I ran into the goblin.
“Evilham-sama, I’ve gathered the monsters.”
The goblin reported to me.
“Ah, thank you.”
I headed towards the gathered monsters. There were slimes, goblins, giant insects called Killer Beetles, and plant-type monsters like the man-eating flower.
These were the low-level monsters that usually appear in the early stages. Naturally, they were all weaker than Evilham, the boss monster.
They weren’t much in terms of combat power, but they might be well-suited for farming.
“Today, I have something important to tell you. I’ve decided that we will no longer steal food from the nearby villages!”
The monsters started murmuring among themselves, especially the goblins and Killer Beetles.
The slimes, who could survive with just water, and the man-eating flower, which could absorb nutrients from the soil, didn’t seem too concerned.
“Evilham-sama, are you serious? Without food, we’ll starve.”
One of the Killer Beetles voiced their concerns. Well, that reaction was understandable.
“Yes, but the same goes for humans. If we steal from them, they’ll starve too. That’s why we need to start producing our own food from now on.”
My words caused more murmuring among the monsters.
“I’ve already created a lot of farmland in this dungeon. From now on, all of you will work together to tend to the fields. We’ll grow wheat and secure our own food supply.”
The monsters buzzed again.
“Can we really secure food like that? Can we even do it?”
“Why not just leave that to the humans?”
“Yeah, yeah. Humans are weak creatures. What’s wrong with taking from them?”
“Survival of the fittest, right?”
Hmm. These guys definitely need some education. I’ll have to teach them through farming.
“Listen up! Farming is hard work. Humans go through a lot of effort to get their food.”
At least, the monsters were listening to me since I was their boss.
“You should try to understand the struggles that humans go through. So, from now on, you’ll be doing farm work yourselves.”
“Ugh.”
“Seriously?”
“Attacking humans is way easier…”
These guys… but maybe it’s because they’re under Evilham that they’ve adopted this way of thinking.
“Anyway, everyone, focus on farm work to secure our food! That’s an order from me.”
“Okay…”
The monsters reluctantly agreed to start farming. They plowed the fields, planted seeds, watered them, and waited for the right time.
Of course, I didn’t just leave it all to my subordinates—I made sure to join in the farm work myself.
“Evilham-sama… I’m tired…”
“Farm work is exhausting, but hang in there. If you really can’t do it anymore, you can take a break.”
I encouraged a weary goblin.
“Evilham-sama… I’m thirsty…”
“Make sure to stay hydrated. There’s a spring in this dungeon, and you can drink freely from it.”
I offered water to a thirsty Killer Beetle.
Since a large part of the dungeon had been turned into farmland, the amount of work was overwhelming.
I continued the farm work while making sure the monsters didn’t overexert themselves.
“Alright, that’s it for today. You can all rest now.”
I couldn’t keep them working forever. They needed to rest when it was time.
“Phew… I’m exhausted.”
“Do humans really go through all this hard work? Really?”
The monsters were starting to understand how difficult farming was. Yes, this is what education is all about.
By understanding the struggles of labor, I aimed to help them empathize with others’ pain.
“Somehow, it feels wrong to take food that others worked so hard to produce.”
One of the goblins started to say that. Yes, this is a good sign.
“Really? I’d rather let others do the hard work and just take it myself.”
Another goblin spoke up. Sigh, there’s always at least one bad apple.
It’s true everywhere—monsters are just as varied as humans in their personalities.
Well, you can’t avoid having a few bad apples. Even in human society, there are always some.
But even those types need to be kept in line when it comes to not attacking humans.
That means… I’ll probably have to create some rules and enforce punishments.
It’s almost impossible to control others’ actions through goodwill alone. Rules are necessary to maintain social order.
“Everyone, listen up. From now on, anyone who goes to human villages and attacks humans to steal food will go without meals for ten days.”
“Ugh!”
The monsters naturally protested. But such punishments are necessary as a deterrent.
“Evilham-sama, why are you siding with humans so much? Everyone is dissatisfied, you know?”
Littleham spoke up, criticizing me. Well, it made sense from a monster’s point of view.
“Listen, Littleham. Humans are living beings too. If we recklessly steal from them, they won’t take it lying down. If they fight back, it could lead to war.”
“War… couldn’t we just defeat the humans if it came to that?”
Ugh, this way of thinking… it’s dangerous.
“If war breaks out, we’ll suffer losses too. It’s not just about winning. I don’t want to lose any of you.”
I pleaded with tears in my eyes. Hopefully, this would get through to them.
“Well, if I die, then I die. I’ve made my peace with that.”
These guys… seriously…!
