It was already dinner time. Like always, Rose prepared the food. She then sat beside Eren. Their seats had changed ever since that new couple had been in a relationship. The atmosphere was awkward when they started to feed each other.
Now I understood Eren’s feeling when I went to a girl.
Rose held Eren’s hand and looked at Don. “Father, I want to marry Eren.”
Don and the twins spouted their drinks. Allen who was sitting beside the child covered her body from the ale.
Eren coughed. “The truth is we have been in a relationship.”
Don blinked. “No, we already knew that. But, this is too fast.”
“Father, I have done it with Eren.”
“What!” Sandino Family freaked out.
Allen scooped the porridge beside his food and fed the kid. The kid giggled and lifted her hands cheerfully. He patted her. They enjoyed each other’s company, while the Sandino family had a conversation.
“Just approve us, Uncle. I mean we love each other. I have talent in growing plants. I sing well unlike my friend there.” Eren pointed his thumb to Allen.
Allen’s eye twitched. He wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and stood. “I will go to my room.”
“Hey, don’t be upset, Len. It is just a joke.”
Allen smiled coldly. “I am not upset.”
In his room, he summoned a soul from the undead tower. He let it inside his soul cage.
Allen closed his eyes, guiding the soul to his spirit. He made it crashed with each other.
He had repeated it for days to wake the second. This time, his spirit emitted weak waves.
“Evening?” The Morning let out a weak voice. “Just hear me. I think you can’t wake me up again before you reach higher realms in cultivation. This universe’s law is different than that of earth. Do you have souls? If yes, let it out as many as possible. I will help you with something.”
Allen opened his eyes. The undead tower before him summoned many souls that floated around the room.
“Good,” Morning whispered. “Sinister Condition! Cleanses all impurity inside Evening’s spiritual roots. The sacrifice is all souls that float in this room.”
A black vortex formed in his stomach. It sucked all souls that floated inside the room. After a while, condensed black substance came out of it.
“That’s your impurity. Your spiritual roots should be a top grade by now. I can’t hold it again. Too sleepy. Don’t die until you reach a higher realm.”
Allen wrapped the impurity ball and put it in the corner of the room. He sat on the straw bed again and absorbed souls from the undead tower.
Too much of his surprise, his spiritual sea could absorb all refined mana. Back then, it would throw away some parts he had refined. In his calculation, he could reach level 13 the next day.
As Allen opened his eyes, sunlight entered through the window. He stood and sniffed his body. “No impurity. My spiritual sea absorbs all mana. With the help of my Lifesteal Aura, I have reached level 13.”
Someone knocked on the door. Allen got out and saw Eren standing in front of his room.
“Hey, I am sorry about the joke last night. Father assigns us to harvest the potatoes together.”
Allen grinned. “So, you have changed the way you address your father-in-law, huh. When do you plan to hold your marriage ceremony?”
“We did it last night.”
“Huh?”
“Marriage ceremonial in our village is simple. We have to swear each other in front of people. Then, we kiss. We go to our room to make love after that.”
“That’s so simple. Huh, you didn’t tell me to stay last night.”
Eren scratched his nape. “Well, the ritual itself isn’t that important. Ah, don’t mind the small detail. Let’s go.”
Rose got out of her room. She carried her daughter.
Eren smiled widely when he saw his daughter giggling. “Oh, it is daddy’s daughter. Comes here.”
Rose put her daughter slowly. The toddler lifted her hands. As Eren thought she would come to him, she walked to Allen and hugged his leg.
“Daddy.”
Allen was dumbfounded. “What?”
……
After dealing with Eren’s foster daughter, they went to the field. Eren was singing the spell, while Allen harvesting the potatoes.
Allen turned his back against Eren. The undead tower appeared in front of him and absorbed a few potatoes. This way he could get a sample. He would plant it in the future. “The rest is to get the recipe to concoct strength potion.”
Allen wiped his sweat and approached Eren. “Good work.”
“You too, Len. Planting is a lot of fun, isn’t it?”
Allen nodded. “If only my hometown learned to do this.”
When they entered the house, Rose sat in the dining room. Her face was pale.
“Did something happen, Rose?” Eren asked.
Rose ran to Eren and hugged him. “Husband, Night Cricket is looking for trouble again. Now, father and brothers are engaging in combat with them.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
Eren was about to rush out, but Allen gripped his wrist. “Wait, even if we are there, we can’t do anything.” He looked at Rose. “Have anyone reported this to other groups?”
“Yes.”
“Then, we don’t have to worry. Let’s observe the situation for now.”
When they were about to go out, Rose’s daughter was crying. Eren asked Allen to carry her. With a sigh, he lifted and hugged her tightly.
On the street, they arrived with other bandit group leaders at the same time. As soon as they saw the Ground Dragon’s leader, they ceased to fight.
“By the power of Harvest King, what happened again?”
Don pointed at the scarred man. “This bastard refused to pay me. We haven’t charged them yet, but they deliberately came looking for trouble.”
The scarred man waved his hands. “He is lying. I—”
“What’s your reason this time?” The tanned man bellowed.
“This is a trap. Last month, we have good relationships with each other. Everything is changing this month. It is like someone who wants to break our relationship.”
Don, the tanned man, and the blue-robbed man looked at each other. The tanned man confronted him. “We don’t have reason to do that. It is not like we find a special event that will force us to do that. But, we know you are scared of Green Crops Squad. I believe in Don.”
“That’s favoritism! I see. So, this is your game, huh. Fine, I will play along for now.” The scarred man turned his back and walked away.
“Don’t forget you have to pay us!” Don shouted.
…….
In the Night Cricket’s base, the scarred man ordered his subordinates to harvest all ripe potatoes. He planned to raid others’ base and retreated into the woods.
He harrumphed. “If we can’t coexist with each other, we will turn into true bandits once again. I will steal their potatoes and sell them in secret to the Vinesmoores.”
It was already midnight. His subordinates had harvested all ripe potatoes in the field. He stood before them and orated, “Those bastards have slandered us! We will raid their fields! Without further ado, let’s open the gates!”
The wooden gates opened. They marched out. The scarred man led them to the border of his district. He stopped them before passing the intersection.
“Y—you! How!”
The scarred man’s eyes widened. Before they were the combined force of, Green Crops, Ground Dragon, and Blue Wind.
The blue-robbed man pointed at him. “See, I am right! He plans to raid us! My scouts have found traces that lead to them.”
“This is a trap!” The scarred man panicked.
“Attack!” Don shouted and lifted his war hammer.
……
On a certain house’s rooftop, Allen and Eren were looking down at the battle scene. With the combined force of three groups, Night Cricket could be easily defeated.
The scarred man planned to escape, but he crashed Don’s huge body. When he turned back, the blue robbed man and the tanned man intercepted him. He clenched his fist and roared in despair.
Allen looked at his friend. “See, Eren, we need willpower too to achieve what we want. Power isn’t everything. You know what you need to do after this, right?”
Eren sighed. “The apple has been peeled. It will turn yellow if we don’t eat it.”
Don delivered the last blow against the scarred man. He sledded his leg and the man fell. He swung down his war hammer to his head. Blood splattered. The headless body shook and stopped moving.
The tanned man looked at Night Cricket’s base in greed. The blue robbed man licked his lips.
The other two groups rushed forward. Eren immediately jumped down and approached Don.
“Father, listen to me. You can’t go to Night Cricket’s base.”
Don chuckled. “We don’t plan to. Even if they raid Night Cricket’s base, we will still split the income.”
Eren shook his head. “I plan to do something to those two groups. We will annihilate them too.” He whispered something to Don’s ear.
At this time, Allen came with his full undead army from behind. Don immediately shouted, “Relax, they are our ally. Don’t attack them!”
Two ghosts led the minions as they entered Night Cricket’s gate. Don ordered some of his subordinates to wait outside of the gate. He and the remaining men ran to the field, so they couldn’t escape from the back.
Allen grinned as he heard the scream from the inside. “I have learned their fighting specialty. Only Night Cricket who was excel in soul-based technique. My ghosts can easily take them down. Congrats, Eren, your revenge is fulfilled.”
As the sun rose, Don and his subordinates burnt Night Cricket’s base along with piles of corpses inside. Allen had asked to keep their corpses, but Don asked him to let their corpses go in peace. He didn't understand the man's sentiment, but he agreed because they offered to help him in the future.
Allen approached Don and clasped. “Greetings new leader.”
Don frowned at him. “What do you want, lad? You helped us to get our revenge when we didn’t ask you.”
Allen smirked. “I felt sad when I heard Eren’s backstory. I was helping my best friend. Well, I do want a few things, though.”
“I will hear you out.”
“You have to divide your income from the potatoes. I just want thirty percent. Secondly, I hope you won’t snitch my existence to outsiders. You handle it. Thirdly, I want territory inside the woods.”
Don nodded. “I can agree with all. But, you have to protect us when we face difficulty.”
“Sure, then this is a deal.”
Allen and Don sealed their deals with a handshake. Don worked hard to make up a story about this incident. After hearing with the detail, Allen could relax. His plan worked well.
On a certain morning, Allen said goodbye to Sandino Family. They were busy for the Vinesmoore’s visit today. Rose’s daughter was crying.
Allen waved his hand and left the village. He headed to the wood beside it.
On the way to the wood, he met a carriage. Inside it was a man with a jellyfish tattoo on his right cheek and a man with purple hair. He somehow felt familiar.
“Someone that I know?” Allen shrugged. How could he know them? He suffered amnesia after all.
