Now Daisuke perfectly uood how Reeza felt. Despite her ient role in the people's suffering, they still regarded her as a saint, unknowingly worshiping her as their savior.

  Daisuke’s chest tightened in distress as the slum folk gathered around him with reverent expressions, whispering words of praise, thankfulness, and relief that he had returned in one piece.

  Zephyr led into the torso of Daisuke's clothes, hidden from view, as the leader of the notorious Slum Sprites was tentatively touched and caressed as if he were some mythical creature or divine being. Daisuke couldn’t help but wonder if they believed he had returo tinue where he had left off—stealing from the financially stable and giving to the poor.

  Suddenly, in the distance, Daisuke heard the unmistakable sounds of stru work. It struck him as a mistake; almost no one in the slums bothered to work anymore. They had long since surreo despair, stricted by the steely fingers of hopelesshat gripped their lives.

  A, it was undeniably the sound of productivity.

  Elysia, the Perfectly Endowed Woman, offered a warm smile as Daisuke gged behind her, his eyes wide with surprise. In the rearmost se of the slums, it became clear that the farming endeavor he had introduced several years ago was still thriving.

  The sight of the flourishing crops filled him with a mix of pride and disbelief, a glimmer of hope amidst the harsh reality he had grown aced to. Gardens of various sizes adorhe space around the shoddy houses, each boasting a vibrant array of crops. But something had ged—the scale had seemingly transformed ht, which shouldn’t be possible.

  Initially, the few who had taken up farming faced signifit challehey either had to risk venturing outside the vilge walls to fetch water from the river or ration their precious drinking water, salvaged carefully from the rain. Each drop was hard-won, and the struggle to sustain their irrored the harshness of their lives.

  “Then how did—”

  TUCK-TUCK-TUCK!

  The rhythmic sound of men and women w the earth with hoes caught Daisuke’s attention. They were diligently carving trenches in the ground, creating els that led to the various residences with gardens.

  Daisuke's expression torted into disbelief as he took in the se. “An irrigation system? But how?” he murmured, struggling to prehend the transformation.

  “Acc to a group of children,” Elysia said as she guided him toward a stretch of farmnd, “they were chasing a shadow when it burrowed underground to escape. Shortly after, water began gushing out of the hole it created.”

  “…An underground reservoir,” murmured Daisuke in awe. But what’s this talk about a shadow?

  “The vilgers believe it was the work of a Guardian Spirit that shares your belief in sustainable farming.”

  Daisuke raised an eyebrow iicism. “Guardian Spirit? Ideology?”

  The woman turned, her gaze sweeping over the sight of people diligently w to pave a path toward a better future. “It may not look like much at first,” she said with a warm smile, “but dropping a pebble into a ke creates ripples. And, with the right ditions, those ripples grow into powerful waves.”

  Daisuke followed her gaze, the profundity of her words washing over him.

  “I’m not sure how much you believed in the vision yourself, but that doesn’t ge the fact that you took the initiative and literally gave these people the seeds to sow and build a better life. Deep down, you must have realized that stealing wasn’t a sustainable solution. You uood that you o find a better way to help these people.”

  “You’re right,” Daisuke replied. “It robably only a matter of time before the lord decided to dispose of us—and, if anythio happen to me or the troop, I wahe people to be able to stand on their own.”

  Without a word, he approached the clear pool that had formed from the water vein aly touched his fio the cool surface. The water shimmered under his touch, and for a moment, he felt a e to the life it nurtured.

  DING!

  [Aquessence is the purest form of water, drawn from a hidden underground aquifer untouched by time. This crystal-clear liquid has been naturally infused with the energy of aher Field—a mystical force that eradicates all impurities and inants at the molecur level. The result is a water so pristine and ri vital minerals and oxygen that it shimmers with an almost ethereal glow.]

  Again, I have no idea what aher Field is, but it seems my sacrifices weren’t in vain after all. More people have started to farm now that they’ve seen the bes for themselves. If this tinues, fewer mouths will go hungry.

  As this realizatiht a smile to Daisuke’s face, Elysia approached and pced a gentle hand on his shoulder. “There’s someone I want you to meet.”

  ***

  Daisuke’s gaze followed Elysia as she came to a stop. In the field ahead, a man dressed in a hooded cloak was busy tilling the nd, fnked by two others who worked diligently alongside him. A gentle breeze caught their thick garments, billowing just enough for Daisuke to catch a glimpse of the heavy armor cealed beh.

  Elysia watched in arm as his eyes suddenly narrowed into dark, dangerous slits. As his body dipped low, poised either for a defensive or offensive maneuver, she quickly rested a hand on his shoulder, grounding him in the moment.

  “Wait, it’s not what you think!” She admitted urgently, a gasp esg her lips as the boy snapped his head around, his razor-sharp gaze burning into hers.

  “Dusthaven’s lord and two of his stro guards are standing right in front of me,” Daisuke retorted with a sneer. “What’s there to misuand?”

  When the man pulled back his hood and bowed deeply, Daisuke's eyes widened in surprise, and his shoulders rexed just a fra. With a dising gaze, he scrutihe older man, who could easily have been mistaken for a dwarf. A pair of sincere eyes peeked out from beh a dense curtain of facial hair, and his demeanor was calm and pleasant, exuding a sense of genuine respect.

  Daisuke had holy expected a sly, pompous mist who wanted nothing more than to eradicate both him and everyone else who dwelled in the slums. But instead—

  “So, you’re the infamous leader of the Slum Sprites,” the man said, a warm smile spreading across his face as he lifted his , his eyes gleaming with kindness. “First and foremost, I want to express my si gratitude for everything you’ve done.”

  Daisuke frowned. “…Gratitude? For stealing?”

  The man took a step forward, his vassals standing behind him like silent statues. “Hunger and despair ge people,” he said, his voice low and passionate as he crouched down to gently flip over a beetle that had found itself stu its back. “You selflessly did what you had to do to keep everyone fed.” He paused, looking up with siy in his eyes. “What truly matters is that you ook more than you needed, nor did you resort to excessive violence.”

  Daisuke’s frown deepened. “Wait. How did you—”

  “And you never had any iion of prolonging that lifestyle,” added Elysia, which crified how the vilge lord had e into possession of susight. “You were always searg for solutions to make the people of the slums bee self-suffit. Eventually, you set yhts on agriculture.”

  As the beetle took flight, the man shifted his attention to the people tirelessly tilling the fields, his gaze filled with veion ahy. “While I care deeply for the people of the slums and desperately wao offer aid,” he said, his voice heavy with regret, “there was nothing I could do.”

  Daisuke’s forehead kled quizzically.

  “Dusthaven has been pgued by a decade-long drought,” Elysia expined, her brow furrowing with . “And the kes and rivers just outside the vilge are haunted by fierce monsters. Lord Chadrick—”

  Daisuke raised one eyebrow teasingly. “Lord Chadrick, huh? So you both are on a first-name basis now?”

  Elysia’s eyes widened, her cheeks flushing bright crimson. Lord Chadrick cleared his throat, evidently flustered by the statement. One of the guards failed to stifle a giggle, which promptly earned him a sneer and an armored elbow to the side by his panion.

  When the heat subsided from her cheeks, Elysia fidently turoward Daisuke again. “sidering the water shes and the stant threat of monsters outside the vilge, Lord Rotherham would likely upset the vilgers if he shifted his focus toward anything else.”

  Daisuke cupped his , his eyes narrowing in ption. “That’s a valid point. Despite their circumstahe vilgers are always w hard to make ends meet. They’d be pissed if their taxes went to supp a group of people who’ve essentially given up on themselves.”

  “You’re absolutely right,” Lord Chadrick agreed, nodding firmly. “I knew for certain that aid could easily spark civil u. And so, Haxks, I’m deeply grateful that you were the oo inspire the people of the slums to bee productive once again.”

  Daisuke and Elysia followed the man’s warm gaze as he spoke. The unfortunate folk who had once been emaciated and bound by despair were now engaged in pleasant versations as they happily toiled away in the fields.

  Children, once deprived of energy and burdened with ashen eyes, now sang and pyed, their ughter ringing through the air. Nearby, those with a passion for cooking were enthusiastically preparing a vegetable stew with ingredients harvested from their own bor, the aroma wafting invitingly. It was a se that felt almost surreal.

  Acc to the lord, wharded the people—both humans and demihumans alike—as if they were his very own children, Dusthaven was on the cusp of a moal ge. After personally witnessing the renewed drive and ambition of the slum folk, he boldly suggested that the local merts did business with them.

  Old grudges gradually gave way to the promise of profits and prosperity when the shopkeepers bore wito the impressive quality of the crops that had been blessed by the presence of the Aquessence.

  After hosting a vote that ended favorably, the lord and the ittee board initiated pns to build new houses, gradually transitioning the people of the slums into proper residential unities.

  Now the slums, once a symbol of despair and hatred, would be transformed into fertile nd friculture, expanding the thriving farms that had already taken root.

  This new industry promised to create more job opportunities in the vilge, and the exceptional quality of the crops had already begun attrag fn merts.

  Slowly but surely, the small vilge was taking the necessary steps toward being a thriving town. As word spread far and wide, it would only be a matter of time before fners, drawn by the vilge’s growiation, started moving in. Their diverse skill sets would bring the development Dusthaven desperately needed, accelerating its transformation into a prosperous unity.

  “And it was your persisteo make a differehat sparked this moal ge in the unity,” Elysia said with admiration in her voice.

  Lord Chadriodded in agreement, his guards sharing his approving smile. “Haxks… won’t you sider staying in Dusthaven and being my personal attendant?”