The SSS+ Rank Hunter Who Farms

16. The Previous Owner's Inheritance

[Day 4]

If I cultivate one, I get two or three harvests.

Even the quality of the harvest is high.

I planted a D- rank Healing Herb seed, but it grew into D+ rank. I don’t know if this means it received a +1 rank effect, but at the very least, it’s in excellent condition.

"The Rift Dimension is the primordial dimension where the energy of life is created. Naturally, all life that grows here is bound to have an abundance of life energy."

That’s what Lulu says.

I cultivated three Healing Herbs and obtained five fruits and ten leaves.

I quickly planted the Healing Herbs I gathered yesterday in their place.

I watered them and expanded the garden.

Even though I don’t have seeds right now, I decided to cultivate the entire front yard so that I could plant them immediately once I got more.

"This should do..."

If I made the garden too large, movement would become inconvenient, so I arranged it in a square shape with pathways in the center, like a grid.

This is a basic farming layout in Farming World.

It allows easy movement, prevents unnecessary detours, and since it's planted right in front of the house, it helps prevent monsters from stealing the crops.

Also, when I install sprinklers later, this design will ensure that as many plots as possible are covered at once.

"Hooah."

If I had to name the biggest downside of the Secret Farming Map, it would be that time flows at a 1:1 ratio with reality.

In Farming World, I could freely adjust the time ratio, making it possible to save time where needed, but that wasn’t an option here.

Well, increasing the time ratio wouldn’t be beneficial for labor-intensive tasks anyway, so a 1:1 flow makes sense.

But it was convenient to be able to skip time when sleeping or waiting.

Waiting a full seven days just farming and watching the crops grow is no easy task.

At least exploring the surroundings makes time pass faster, but I might have to create things at the base later to kill time.

By then, the logout cooldown will also have decreased, so maybe I can spend that time in reality instead.

The sunlight is quite warm despite it being spring.

Wiping off the sweat soaking my clothes, I emptied a 500mL bottle of water and immediately left the house.

"Lulu, let’s go."

"Eh! Coming, Master!"

Lulu, who had been lazing around inside, followed me with unusual enthusiasm today.

The path I cleared yesterday was wide enough for about three people to walk side by side, considering possible future transport use, so it felt spacious.

What had taken me half a day to clear now took less than ten minutes to walk to the end.

About 1KM.

Since the village was about 2KM away, if I picked up the pace, I might reach it by nightfall.

Even though I left later today because of tending the garden, if I planned to sleep in the village, it should work out somehow.

"Master, I think the previous owner's orchard is nearby."

"Huh?"

"If you go about 1KM east from here, you’ll find it."

"How do you know?"

Lulu had said she knew the key location points of the level 0 biome.

So, does she remember things related to the previous owner?

Does she regain memories when she gets close enough to a certain location?

But Lulu answered in an unexpectedly simple way.

"Eh. I flew over and saw it."

"..."

Look at her, working so hard because she wants to eat ramen.

Not a bad effort, as far as I'm concerned.

"Lead the way. Let's go to the orchard first."

There's no immediate need to go to the village.

The main reason for clearing the path to the village right now is to check whether the seed merchant sells Healing Herb seeds.

If that's the case, the orchard is a much better bet than the village, and I don’t even need to use Farm Points.

If there are any stored seeds or even fruit growing on the trees, that would be fantastic.

No, even if there are just trees planted, that would be enough.

"Please."

I feel more enthusiasm heading toward the orchard than toward the village.

It's only natural.

"Are there any trees?"

"The previous master loved fruits! Since I’m a fairy, fruit is my staple food. The master cared for me a lot and said this orchard was for me..."

Lulu's tone became slightly somber.

Even after all this time, the bond with the previous master still remained.

Well, if Lulu’s words are true, and the orchard was planted for her because she mainly eats fruit...

"But do you really eat fruit as a staple? You only stuff yourself with meat, snacks, and ramen."

"...I like fruit the most!"

"And didn’t your previous master die pretty quickly? Where did they even get all these fruit trees?"

"They made it to the Level 2 biome..."

"Oh, really? That’s a shame."

A thought crossed my mind—maybe Lulu actually knows the key locations of the Level 1 biome but is keeping her mouth shut.

Maybe some kind of system restriction means I need to help her grow before she can reveal more information.

Or maybe it's just that certain memories return when we get close to specific places, like now.

I decided not to press her further.

"What was the orchard like back then?"

"It was huge. Massive. The master put a lot of effort into protecting it from monster attacks."

"Can I expect something good?"

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much.

Fruit trees aren’t easy to find in lower-level biomes.

Even among the rare seeds that sometimes drop when cutting grass or trees, fruit tree seeds are uncommon. And since the type of fruit tree depends on the biome, the tastier and more valuable fruits can only be found in higher-level biomes.

Occasionally, a village seed merchant manages to bring in fruit tree seeds from somewhere, but the price is so absurdly high that unless you’re deep into late-game farming, making an orchard is nearly impossible.

So if the previous master died in a Level 2 biome, chances are this orchard only has common fruit trees you’d find in real life.

What I really want is an orchard with unique fruits that only exist in Farming World.

Still, if there’s a well-maintained orchard site, I can use the fruit for food or sell it for Farming Points. And later, when I acquire fruit tree seeds, I won’t have to go through the hassle of making an orchard from scratch.

With that in mind, I gave up on reaching the village today and focused on clearing the way to the orchard instead.

And there it was—the entrance to the orchard, marked by a stone wall that stood taller than the overgrown weeds around it.

"Whoa. What the hell?"

The three-meter-high wall was covered in vines with colorful flowers, intertwining beautifully.

It stretched out to the sides, enclosing what seemed to be a sizable area.

"Just how seriously did they invest in this orchard?"

Lulu wasn’t lying—the wall wasn’t just made of ordinary stone. It was built with D-rank materials that could only be obtained from a Level 2 biome.

Even cement required extensive labor in a Level 2 biome. And cutting and shaping those bricks so neatly? That must have taken a major construction effort.

Judging by the size, this wasn’t built in just a day or two.

If the outer wall alone was this grand, the interior must be even more impressive.

"Were you and your previous master lovers or something?"

"No! The master was a woman!"

"So? Women can love each other too."

Putting this much effort into an orchard just for a fairy who does nothing but chatter at the sidelines...

Of course, I could be misjudging things, using my own Farming World standards to measure everything.

But assuming the previous master had SSS+ magic abilities and perished in a Level 2 biome, investing this much in an orchard was a waste.

Maybe she lasted longer than most, but all these unnecessary expenses must have piled up, leading to her eventual downfall.

Then again, it’s a stretch to say she died just because she built an orchard.

If the previous master became the ruler of the Rift Dimension under conditions similar to mine, she wouldn’t have been foolish enough to not realize these risks.

Well, whatever the case, this was good for me.

As I pushed open the three-meter-high orchard gate, which had been shut for a long time, it creaked loudly.

"Wow..."

A straight path stretched about 200 meters ahead, flanked by three neat rows of trees on either side.