The Harvest Mouse Exits the Fairytale Together with Cinderella-Chapter 122

Heh, they must be surprised.

This is the power of the allowance given to the heir of the Ratson family.

"Anyone who signs up for farm work right now will receive extraordinary pay and benefits according to their abilities."

After all, in the beginning, you have to invest generously.

Elodie flashed a confident smile and subtly tried to appeal to the Holy Knights.

But, as expected, not a single harvest mouse stepped forward.

Ugh, such cowards!

'Well, if everything I worked for my whole life vanished in an instant, I'd probably hesitate too...'

For example, if Elodie suddenly lost all the Ratson family's abilities she had painstakingly learned, along with her memories...

Yeah, that would be truly horrifying.

She couldn't help but feel a little guilty about the Holy Knight who had been turned into a farmer.

'I only did it because I was sure I could help him get his memories back one day.'

Memory loss.

One of the Ratson ancestors had actually written a book about it.

She hadn't been able to open that book yet, nor had she made any effort to do so since she hadn't urgently needed a cure.

'But if I want to break the Holy Knights' curse, I’ll need to study that book as soon as possible.'

The fact that they even made it here in the carriage meant that, as long as the side effects weren’t severe, they wanted the curse lifted as soon as possible.

Elodie scurried over to Sera and said,

"You said that when dealing with more complicated curses, my power is needed, right?"

"Yeah, that’s right. If even Elodie’s power can’t break it, then no power in the world can."

And honestly, such a curse probably doesn’t even exist.

Sera added that thought casually.

'That’s true.'

Elodie agreed.

Even with the power of the Supreme God, a curse couldn't be broken?

That would mean that something stronger than an absolute being had appeared.

If the world ever reached that point, it might just be better to lie down and accept its destruction.

'Well, that’s never going to happen.'

That was why Elodie was able to keep moving forward, holding onto the vague hope that she would be able to break the curse one day.

Even if the process felt like searching for a needle in a desert...

But now, she had Sera to guide her in the right direction.

"I’ll research with you."

For the necessary analysis, her reliable assistant—the fire spirit—would help!

"Sera, you find a way to untangle the curse, and I’ll focus on using my healing abilities to eliminate its side effects."

"It’ll be an honor."

Elodie thought to herself.

We really are destined to be together, after all.

***

Since there were no farmers available, the only option was to assign makeshift workers on the spot.

Edmund, Karon, and the harvest mouse beastfolk who had been freed from their curse were all recruited to «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» make up for the lack of manpower.

"You're saying these two gentlemen will be assisting me?"

The farmer harvest mouse looked at Edmund and Karon with obvious skepticism, scanning them up and down.

They were nobles, through and through.

One was a tall young man, strong in build, but clearly unfamiliar with farm work. The other was barely past childhood, a noble heir who looked entirely out of place in a field.

The rest of their group consisted of attendants and maids.

"How are we supposed to farm this vast land with just these people... and what’s with those harvest mice?"

Lowering his gaze, he saw several cursed harvest mice still wandering around aimlessly.

"They must have come to watch."

"No, those are the eyes of predators eyeing their prey."

The farmer sighed and scattered some seeds on the ground, his gaze lingering on the overly excited harvest mice, whose eyes gleamed a little too intensely.

Food was a pressing issue.

"Of course, we have money, so we won’t starve to death immediately, but if we're going to live here long-term, we need a sustainable solution. We can’t rely on secretly purchasing outside food forever."

"Well, I guess we have no choice. If food is that urgent, I’ll at least plant a small wheat field."

The Holy Knight—no, the farmer—grumbled as he assigned tasks to Edmund.

"For now, my lord, you’ll help me plow the field. Normally, we’d use horses, but we only have four, and they’re needed to pull the carriage."

"..."

Was this the first time Edmund had ever been treated as inferior to a horse?

Horses were considered high-value resources, so instead of using one, he had to plow the field himself.

The farmer handed him a plow and said,

"Remove weeds and stones, and till the soil thoroughly."

"How am I supposed to remove them with this comb-like thing?"

Edmund stared at the plow, dragging it absentmindedly across the ground, sounding utterly dazed.

"Are you tickling the ground? You’re not scratching someone’s back—put some strength into it!"

"You’re saying I need to dig with this?"

"Yes, swing it as hard as you can."

"As hard as I can..."

For once, the normally sharp-witted Edmund looked completely clueless as he echoed the farmer’s instructions.

It was understandable.

When would the heir to a ducal house have ever held a plow before?

The farmer then turned to Karon.

"You, my lord, will spread the seeds evenly as I instruct."

"..."

Karon silently accepted the handful of wheat seeds, holding them carefully in both hands.

BOOM!

It happened in an instant.

A tremendous roar erupted behind them, shaking the ground.

"What—what was that? An earthquake?!"

A natural disaster, at a time like this?

Elodie staggered but managed to regain her balance.

Startled, she turned around—only to find that the "disaster" was actually a person.

Edmund stood there, looking down at the massive, gaping hole in the ground, awkwardly scratching his cheek.

The field had been left with a deep trench, as if a massive dragon had clawed through the earth.

The farmer harvest mouse rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, as if questioning reality itself.

But no matter how much he rubbed, the scene before him remained unchanged.

"W-What the hell is this?!"

"You told me to do it as hard as I could..."

"Did you plan to dig underground and farm like a mole?! Do you think sunlight will even reach that far down?!"

"My apologies."

Edmund admitted his mistake without argument but was immediately stripped of his plow.

"Oh, my poor, precious land..."

The farmer groaned and turned around—only to freeze in horror.

"..."

The wheat seeds Karon had been carefully holding had turned to black dust, scattering into the air like ashes.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

"Aaaaah! My precious seeds...!"

Karon stared blankly at his now-empty hands, mumbling in disbelief.

"I didn’t do anything..."

"That’s even worse! How can you make seeds evaporate just by standing still?!"

"I—"

"Don’t even touch the seeds!"

And so, the two men, both among the strongest individuals on the continent, were banished from the field.

Elodie crossed her arms and stared at them before speaking.

"Karon, you did come here to help me, right?"

"...Sorry."

"Edmund, you’re not even a divine beast like Karon, so what’s your excuse?"

"...I apologize."

At that moment, the old nurse, who had been watching the catastrophe unfold, suddenly spoke up.

"Seeing the young master’s strength reminded me of something I really need to ask of you."

"And what is that?"

"Running errands."

"..."

"As you know, the Ratson territory only has supplies suited for harvest mice, so we need to buy everything new. We’re out of essentials. I’d like you to visit the nearby village and do some shopping."

"That’s doable."

Edmund responded sincerely after a brief silence.

"But I’m human, so if I start buying supplies, it’ll look suspicious. I also can’t reveal that I’m from the Valkyrisen family."

At his words, the nurse let out a soft "Ah."

If they were just stopping by for a few small purchases, it wouldn’t draw attention.

But if someone from the Valkyrisen family was seen making large purchases in Animallia, people would definitely get suspicious.

Some might even link it to the Ratson family.

At that moment, a simple yet brilliant idea crossed Elodie’s mind.

"He just has to look like a beastfolk."

"...Right?"

"Hmm."

Elodie circled around Edmund, scanning him up and down.

"With black hair and yellow eyes, it’s obvious, isn’t it?"

The nurse nodded, understanding immediately.

"A black panther."

"What are you talking about? He’s a black cat."

"A cat? With that build?"

"If he disguises himself as a black panther, he’ll be caught immediately. But there are so many cat beastfolk families that no one will question it."

Besides, there were some terrifyingly large cats in this world.

Elodie nodded in satisfaction, but Edmund protested.

"...I refuse."

"Huh?"

"I’d rather be a black panther."

But given the circumstances, he had no choice.

Elodie gave him a pitying look.

Then, with an utterly cold expression, she pointed outside the territory.

"Go, giant cat."

"..."

With slumped shoulders, Edmund was dragged away by the nurse—to be disguised as a feline beastfolk.

Elodie then turned her attention to Karon.

"Karon, as for you..."

Our divine beast of destruction.

What kind of role could someone who could turn all living things to dust possibly take on?

‘It’s clear that his poison isn’t leaking anymore.’

His poison had been filtered enough that it was no longer harmful to humans, but perhaps the seeds were just too fragile to survive his presence.

Elodie grabbed Karon’s hand and sniffed at it.

He flinched, clenched his fist tightly, and turned his head to the side.

Bzzz—

Just then, a fly that had been hovering near Karon suddenly dropped to the ground.

‘What?’

Elodie, who had lowered her gaze absentmindedly, gasped.

‘...It’s dead?’

The fly had, quite literally, ceased to be.

That was it.

There was a perfect role for him.

Something only he could do.

"You’ll exterminate pests."

"..."

"Your job is to wipe out all agricultural pests."

Why wasn’t he saying anything?

Since Karon remained silent, Elodie repeated herself.

After a long pause, he let out a deep sigh and muttered,

"I’ll go."

"Yes! You can wipe out all the pests! Eradicate them completely!"

"..."

Phew, she really hadn’t considered using Karon’s abilities for this purpose.

But pest infestations were one of farming’s greatest enemies.