The Life of a Returned Genius Farmer

Chapter 19: Displaying Skill – Part 1

[Translation By Divinity]

The elves, startled by the sudden approach of the undead, looked at Lee Han. He merely stood there with an indifferent expression.

“Run away!”

“We’ll buy you some time to escape, Lee Han!”

“That thing is after us, so…”

“Hmm? A human? Humans still existed?”

The Lich’s red gaze fell upon Lee Han. It seemed quite intrigued, and Lee Han bowed his head slightly in greeting.

“Hello.”

“Hmm… I’m in luck. A human, said to have disappeared long ago, and three elves. This isn’t bad.”

Its bony hand stroked its skeletal jaw with pleasure. It must have been because of the unexpected harvest.

Watching this, Eric gritted his teeth.

‘Damn it. Because of us, Lee Han…’

He had caused harm to the person who had saved them out of kindness. No matter how noble he was, causing this much trouble was a significant blow to his honor.

So he had to protect him. No matter what.

As Eric clenched his teeth with determination, his longtime friends and subordinates, Lud and Kaiser, also made up their minds. They expressed their willingness to protect Lee Han, even at the cost of their lives.

“Huh. I see you’re not planning to run away like rats this time? You should have just become part of my collection from the beginning.”

“Collection?”

“Yes. I was going to turn those elves into undead and make them my Undead Knights. That’s how I planned to expand my territory in the cursed land.”

It seemed it had no intention of hiding anything. The Lich spoke leisurely, as if it were no big deal, and then raised its hand. At that moment, its shadow expanded, and something dark began to emerge from within.

“That’s…”

“Shadow Undead…!”

To summon undead, corpses were necessary. But this was a high-ranking undead, a Lich. With its exceptional abilities, it was certainly capable of creating undead through shadows.

“Lee Han!!”

“Run away!”

“Quickly!!”

As countless Shadow Undead began to form, Eric, Lud, and Kaiser shouted urgently. They quickly swung their weapons at the Shadow Undead swarming towards them.

“Haaap!!”

Every time the aura in their swords flashed, Shadow Undead scattered into the air.

‘Something’s… The sword feels light?!’

It was different from the last fight. Back then, it hadn’t been easy to deal with the undead controlled by the Lich.

But now?

He swung his sword without any hindrance, and the battle felt much smoother. The Lich was also surprised by Eric, Lud, and Kaiser effortlessly cutting down the undead.

Their skills had definitely improved since last time.

Was it simply because of the fierce resistance from those it intended to turn into its collection? The Lich gritted its teeth.

“How insolent!!”

“Hmph!”

Eric deflected the incoming magic with his aura and dashed forward.

And with one strike, he deeply slashed the Lich’s chest.

Last time, he couldn’t even graze its clothes, but now he could do this much damage.

What was the difference between then and now? Eric’s gaze fell upon Lee Han.

The only difference was that they had eaten the food Lee Han made.

Delighted that it had changed the situation so drastically, Eric pressed his attack on the Lich even more fiercely.

“Eeeiit!!”

Perhaps thinking it might be defeated if it stayed like this, the Lich swung its staff widely, pushing Eric back, and soared into the air. Instead of fighting them directly, it started chanting spells to continuously create more undead.

“Ugh…!”

Shadow Undead, endlessly pouring out from the massive shadow surrounding the Lich, were quickly overwhelming the three elves. They were holding on well, but at this rate, their stamina would be depleted first.

So Lee Han spoke up.

“Stop.”

“Hmm? Haha. Human, you wait there. Once I’m done with these elves…”

Before it could finish its sentence, Lee Han raised the sickle. Gaia’s Sickle, as if already aware of the threat, had grown to a massive size.

“Th-that’s?! The cursed Gaia’s…!”

“Earth’s Wrath.”

He had recalled that Gaia’s Sickle could change its form in battle and use ‘Earth’s Wrath.’

Lee Han, remembering this, unleashed the power contained within the sickle.

Rumble!!

The earth began to move. Literally, as if the earth itself was enraged, the ground started to crack open with a tremendous tremor.

Creeeak!!

From within, gigantic and sharp stone spears erupted. The sharp spears, made of stone, mercilessly pierced the Shadow Undead.

With each strike, the shadows scattered.

The Lich, witnessing hundreds of Shadow Undead collapsing without any resistance, let out a cry filled with rage.

“Damn Gaia…!!!”

But its cries didn’t stop the Earth’s Wrath. On the contrary, it intensified, and the stone spears even reached the Lich.

“Haaap!!”

Black darkness gathered in the Lich’s hand. It was using magic. A massive black fireball shot towards the stone spears, black lightning tried to block them, and black torrents attempted to restrain their movement.

But it was useless. No magic, no resistance could stop the stone spears created by the earth.

“This…”

Crack!!

Finally, the Lich, impaled by the stone spears like a skewer, began to let out groans of pain.

“H-how?!”

Lee Han had already arrived in front of the Lich. In his hand was the Saint Elven Blade, the holy sword of the elves.

“You…”

Slice!!

The Lich, surprised by Lee Han’s approach, tried to say something, but its words were cut short. The holy sword had already moved before it could do anything.

It was a clean cut. Lee Han sliced the skeleton in half with a single strike and returned the holy sword to its sheath.

Fwoosh!!

The split skull gradually widened, and the black magic power within began to surge towards the sky. The Lich’s body, the body of a high-ranking undead, started to crumble into dust.

Eric, Lud, and Kaiser, who had been watching the astonishing scene with their mouths agape, were startled when Lee Han approached and stepped back.

“Uh, uh…”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“No… well, that’s…”

How could they not be surprised when he effortlessly defeated the Lich, which they couldn’t even handle properly even when they were prepared to die?

But Lee Han, unconcerned by their reactions, simply watched as the cracked earth returned to its original state.

‘I might be able to till the land more easily using this.’

The ground where Earth’s Wrath had manifested was finely plowed. The earth had cracked and rejoined, bringing the fertile soil beneath to the surface.

Lee Han sat on the ground and touched the soft soil, and Eric, who had been hesitating, cautiously asked.

“Th-thank you…”

“It was nothing. It was also a fight to protect me.”

A fight? Could what just happened be called a fight?

But what could they say? The three elves just smiled awkwardly.

☆

“…That sickle…”

“I obtained it by offering a tribute to Goddess Gaia.”

Lee Han held out Gaia’s Sickle. Eric received it respectfully, examined it carefully, and then returned it.

“I saw your swordsmanship earlier… it was extraordinary… Have you used a sword before?”

“Yes.”

He had used one, but it was nothing special. He was a farmer now, after all.

“Ah, ahaha. I see.”

His short answer seemed to imply that he didn’t want to be asked about his past, so Eric didn’t inquire further. He simply stared at the kiln that Lee Han was looking at.

“It seems like it’s done…”

“Indeed. Shall we take them out?”

Lee Han took out the earthenware from inside, and the three elves looked at them with curiosity. They were quite well-made bowls. While they admired the fact that not a single one was broken, Lee Han applied glaze and put them back into the kiln.

“Are you going to fire them again?”

“Yes. To be properly made, they need to be fired this way.”

Lee Han explained briefly and then chuckled. Usually, Seolmyeong would be the one giving these explanations. He hadn’t realized he would feel this empty without the little creature that was always by his side.

“Lee Haaan! We’re baaack, nyaaang!!”

“Looks like there’s no hope for them to be polite.”

The sound came from afar. It was Seolmyeong’s shout.

Looking over, he saw Seolmyeong running towards them with three dog beastfolk.

“We’re back, nya! We went to the dog beastfolk village, and Shredder was there, but he left with another dog beastfolk, nyaa~.”

“Really? Thanks for your hard work. So, when did Shredder say he’d be back?”

“The three of us came to find Shredder!!”

“It seems like he went quite far, so it might take about a day!!”

“But are these the ones?! The elf nobles who came all the way here?”

Perhaps because of the three dog beastfolk’s gaze, Eric lowered his head in embarrassment. However, instead of scolding them, the dog beastfolk laughed and patted their shoulders.

“You’ve got guts!”

“To step into such a dangerous place! Not bad!!”

“Want to go to other dangerous places too?!”

“Ha, hahaha… I’ll pass.”

While they were chatting, Lee Han glanced at the kiln. The pottery inside seemed to be holding its shape, indicating it was firing properly.

“Did you make more pottery?”

“It’s never a bad thing to have extra bowls.”

“Make some for us too!!”

“Let’s trade later.”

“Alright!!”

Hearing their conversation, Seolmyeong jumped onto Lee Han’s shoulder. It settled comfortably and tickled his neck with its tail.

“I’m hungry after running all the way here, nya! Grill some sweet potatoes for me, nya!”

“How about some mattang?”

“That sounds good too, nya~!”

“You guys eat too, since you’re here. And you must be tired from fighting, so let’s eat together.”

“Uh… it seems like Lee Han did all the fighting…”

“Lee Han, did you fight, nya?”

“Yeah. The undead chasing these guys came here.”

Lee Han told them what had happened earlier. When he mentioned using Earth’s Wrath to defeat the enemies, the dog beastfolk tilted their heads.

“Why did the undead come all the way here?”

“Undead usually don’t leave the cursed land!!”

“It said it wanted to make Undead Knights using the elves. What are Undead Knights?”

“Undead Knights are like lieutenants leading lower-ranking undead, nya! They’re quite powerful beings that can serve as direct subordinates to high-ranking undead, nya! But it’s strange, nya! Undead usually don’t make Undead Knights, nya. Why did that Lich want to make Undead Knights, nya?”

Undead Knights were meaningless unless they were forming an army. And what reason would there be to create an undead army in the cursed land? The undead only lived within their territory.

The dog beastfolk and Seolmyeong put their heads together and pondered, but they couldn’t come up with a good answer. Then, Lee Han, who had been watching them while making mattang, casually said,

“Maybe they’re fighting for power?”

“The undead? That can’t be…”

“Maybe it just wanted to make them?”

If that was the case, there was nothing they could do. Lee Han chuckled and put the finished sweet potato mattang on a plate.

“Everyone, eat and talk while you eat.”

“Yay, nya~!”

With Seolmyeong’s cheer, everyone started eating the sweet potato mattang on the large plate. While they were enjoying their snack, Lee Han was about to wash his hands when he heard a shout from afar.

“You guys!!”

Everyone turned their heads at the shout.

Standing there was Leon, looking very angry.

“Ahahaha…”

Leon, who had disappeared in an instant, suddenly appeared next to Eric, Lud, and Kaiser. His lightning-fast hands struck their heads.

Smack!

As they clutched their heads in pain from the hard hits, Lee Han grabbed Leon’s arm and said.

“Scold them later, later.”

‘They say even a dog shouldn’t be disturbed while eating.’

Lee Han grinned as he looked at the dog beastfolk engrossed in their food.