I Planted Them
Atre came back from the Great Forest in about an hour.
He said there were Cocotte around the area where the Koblin had been, and no Koblin at all.
So the Koblin had been driven out and the Cocotte had taken over the territory?
Atre seemed to think the same.
“Why?”
“Because of the Dodorin fruit and the Coco fruit.”
Meyer said it was only his opinion, but the trigger had been the Dodorin fruit, and once the Cocotte realized they could also eat the Coco fruit, they started gathering.
I see. There hadn’t been any Dodorin fruit around here, so the Cocotte never settled—but if Dodorin fruit were available, of course they’d want to live here.
And with the Coco fruit also edible now, that meant even more Cocotte would come.
“This place is going to turn into a Cocotte hangout.”
“Isn’t that dangerous in a different way?”
Right. This was the path from Eminira to the new town and then to the domain capital.
There was no guarantee the Cocotte wouldn’t wander out of the Great Forest.
“Should we build a Cocotte ranch here?”
“Even if we did, Cocotte would come from elsewhere too, wouldn’t they?”
“And who would manage the ranch?”
Meyer and Georges were right.
Since Varshe was there, we couldn’t just increase the number of people as we pleased.
If the Cocotte increased enough to become a problem, we’d have no choice but to subdue them.
“I can take down Cocottes.”
“Bale, you’re mainly specialized in recovery magic, right?”
“I can use defensive magic and the sword to a certain extent. I used to go as far as the middle of the Great Forest.”
Right, Bale had been in a B-rank group and individually had been C-rank.
“I’ll train my younger brother next.”
Bale’s younger brother used water magic, so if he aimed at their legs or heads, he could knock them out.
If too many Cocotte gathered, Bale and I agreed we’d thin their numbers.
But we had to notify the Adventurers’ Guild.
Georges told me we should report it before we forgot, so we stopped by the Adventurers’ Guild on the way home.
Mebius happened to be at the counter, so I called out “Mebius,” but the moment he noticed me, he rushed out from behind the counter and ushered me straight into the reception room.
“It’s nothing serious—we could’ve talked at the counter.”
“No. Please wait here.”
He shut me down firmly and left the room.
“Georges, isn’t this a bit much?”
“Please consider everything that has happened before.”
Macberry the Guildmaster, Gavin the Vice-Guildmaster, Mebius, and the three staff members who always handled things for me all entered the room.
“Another sudden visit.”
“I just had something I thought I should mention.”
“That ‘just’ sounds suspicious.”
Macberry eyed me warily.
“Cocottes have started appearing at the fort near the New Town, so I thought I should let you know—”
“Huh?” “What?” “No way.”
I told them we had succeeded in hatching Cocotte chicks.
And that once we planted Dodorin fruit around the fort for their feed, Cocottes began settling in the Great Forest there.
“But it’s fine. The caretaker at the fort used to be a C-rank adventurer.”
“That’s not the issue. You succeeded in hatching Cocotte chicks?”
“It’s not completely guaranteed yet.”
I explained that chicks wouldn’t grow unless they had a warm, stable environment, and that we’d begun raising them at the fort using the hot spring heat.
“If that’s true, then not just anyone can raise poultry.”
“They could probably be raised at a ranch once they reach a certain stage, but until then it would have to be done at my house.”
“That is not a ‘small matter.’”
“I had to explain why Cocotte appeared at the fort.”
“That’s true. Until the lord makes an official announcement, we’ll swear to keep quiet.”
Gavin and Mebius both nodded.
I again asked them to stay alert to the possibility that Cocotte might appear along the highway.
“Understood. We’ll say they were sighted in the Great Forest and issue a warning.”
When we were about to leave, Georges said we had to tell them everything.
“What?”
“The Coco fruit.”
“What is that?”
“One of the fruits Cocotte like. It’s hard to find in the Great Forest.”
“And what about it?”
“We planted the Coco fruit around the fort,” he said in an extremely casual tone.
“So that’s what made the Cocotte settle there,” Macberry snapped.
“It can’t be helped. It’s important feed for the chicks.”
“How did you even figure that out? No—don’t answer.”
Macberry held out one hand, palm open, signaling me to stop talking.
“I can tell you if you want. It’s a secret I can’t share anywhere else—”
“I said don’t tell me.”
“What a shame.”
What do you think about this chapter?
