The wolf whimpered, struggling to stand before ultimately collapsing, blood pouring from the wound on its head.

You have killed [Wolf - Lv 1]! Gained 20 Exp!

Evel sighed, rising from the bush he'd been hiding behind and walking up to the dead wolf.

It'd been an easy kill, too easy. The wolf was injured, bleeding all over, distracted, and clearly ready to drop. All it took was one wooden knife to end its life.

It was clearly strange. Why was the wolf so injured in the first place? What did it fight against?

Moreover, it'd been nearly an hour now, and that injured wolf was the first monster he encountered. The trail was oddly quiet, devoid of wildlife, and with only the wind and the rustling leaves filling the emptiness.

It was slightly creepy actually.

Still, the hour was quickly coming to an end, and he would rather not have his mom scold him for his late return again. So, he plucked out the wooden knife from the wolf's head, giving it a quick wipe before he placed it back on his belt. That done, he crouched down and carefully slung the wolf corpse over his back.

With his goods secured, he headed back to his home, silently retracing his steps back.

The kingdom had finally made a move against the Goblin King. Knights and adventurers had finally begun to move in giant groups, all heading towards the forest the goblin king had made its home.

Whether or not they'd succeed still remained unknown, but she doubted they'd fail.

But something was odd. Her son had gone to the hunting trail again today, but all he'd met was a single wolf, injured and near death. She initially thought some goblins had, for some reason, made it there and attacked the wolves, but she couldn't find any. She then wondered if the wolves and the boars had moved out from the forest, but she couldn't find a reason why they'd do that.

Which could only mean that the wolves were somehow involved with the goblins. In what way and for what reason, she didn't know, but involved nonetheless.

It wasn't something to be overly concerned of; she'd dealt with more powerful monsters in the past, but still something she made a note of. She'd long learnt that expecting the unexpected was ideal.

She bought several coils of steel wires for that, just in case.

However, this brought forward a problem for her son who needed those monsters. He was currently trying to see if those magical tomatoes could act as a suitable substitute to goblin corpses, but the plant was still a week away before it began to bear its fruits.

She could try and take some of the corpses those knights would leave behind, but that would be awfully suspicious of a simple housewife like her, wouldn't it?

Well, that's if she was spotted, of course.

That aside, she really did hope things would settle soon. Her son needed monsters to slay, and she needed the merchants to return and buy her wares.

It would be quite the inconvenience if this went on any longer.

Now then, where did she place the book she'd been recently reading...?

'Would burying magical tomatoes substitute the need for corpses?' Evel had wondered that a couple weeks ago.

The answer seemed to be 'Yes'. With some added rules.

It seemed he needed to bury at least four magical tomatoes for it to work, most likely because that's how many tomatoes a goblin corpse would normally produce. His other seed, one he'd planted over a single buried fruit, had only produced normal tomatoes.

Planting more than four worked as well, but it didn't seem to do anything. It didn't bear more tomatoes, nor were the tomatoes of a better quality. The plant was...bigger? Slightly? But that doesn't really do much.

In the end, his idea was a success. Which meant that he could move on to the next step.

Slightly away from his field, he dug two small holes in the soil and filled each with the four magical tomatoes they'd need. Soil placed back, he planted a magical tomato seed on each, watered them, gave them both a good couple pats before he let them be.

Oh, and there was also the berry seed he'd planted over the wolf he killed a week ago. It was another one of his experiments; one to see whether the seed he planted over the buried corpse had any affect on the result, but the berry still had three weeks or so before it'd bear its fruits.

He would've liked to grow some other plant atop a goblin's corpse, but there was a distinct lack of goblins at the moment, so there wasn't much he could do.

Well, perhaps saying that there was a complete lack of goblins wouldn't be so accurate.

There indeed were goblins in the area, but they were long gone now. Only their footsteps remain, stamped onto the soil and hidden underneath the shadow of the looming trees. Still, the fact that goblins were here was a concern on its own, so he made sure to carry his wooden knives at all times.

His mom said that it'd be fine, but one couldn't be too careful, right?

Three weeks quickly flew by after that. Not much happened, and with the emptiness of the hunting trail, Evel spent most of his time at his home, either reading his books or taking short walks by the riverside.

And he was...bored.

It was a strange experience for him. He'd never really gotten bored before, his books and his farming providing enough entertainment to keep him sated, but something was different this time. It wasn't that they stopped being fun; they definitely still were, but they didn't provide the same excitement they used to.

The only burst of fun came when his magical berry finally grew, but even that feeling didn't last.

His mom said that he simply got bored of the normal life he'd spent most of his life living in, having gotten used to the way his life had changed in the past few months.

It left him in an awkward twilight zone on the matter.

But, that aside, the berry he'd planted had grown, and they'd bore their fruits. Similar to the magical carrots, the four berries that grew from it were dark red. Their taste was similar as well, except with a slight sweetness mixed in.

And when eaten, they gave 1% to his [Rabid Strike], exactly half of the 2% the small magical carrots gave.

It meant that the seed he planted over the corpse wouldn't change much of the result. The amount of Exp given was the same, the magical fruits' color was the same, and their taste was the same.

Which left convenience as the only defining difference. After all, berries were smaller overall. He'd be able to fit more berries in a single basket.

Whether the growth time depended on the plant or the corpse remained unknown however. Both the carrot and the berry took a month to grow, and there wasn't another wolf corpse he could plant on to test it out.

He probably should've planted a tomato instead, since it usually took a couple weeks to grow, but what's done is done.

Hmm, he really should stop calling it as simply a 'magical fruit'. He already had two different magical berries that gave two different [Skills], and he'd definitely quickly get confused if he didn't call them anything else.

Should he just call them based on the monster they came from?

...That didn't sound terrible actually.

Goblin tomatoes, Wolf carrots, Wolf berries, and Bulky Goblin berries. That last one sounded a tad clunky, but it works!

The idea made him smile, but he then sighed. Thinking of new ideas was fun and all, but it didn't wash away the boredom that'd glued onto him.

There was nothing for him to do.

He leaned back on the tree he'd been resting on and sighed again, silently watching as the clouds slowly moved across the afternoon sky. Idly, he wondered what would happen if the goblins suddenly came, but he quickly banished the thought. As wonderful as that would be, it'd place others in danger.

He might be able to fight, but it didn't mean the others could do so as well.

Sadly, fate listened to no one.