各街や村には、都市形態に関わらず必ず農業地区というものが存在する。
これは何処であってもギルドを構えられるというゲームの都合だと思われ、その違いは主に土地の値段に現れている。
都市部の農業地区ほど価格は高く、逆に農村のような場所では地価が低い。
それでも都市部にギルドホームを構えた場合、移動の手間を考慮すると、高くとも同じ街の農業区に土地を買った方が便利だ。
「ということで、大会賞金で結構な広さの土地をワーハに買った訳だが。まず最初に――」
「ハインド、ハインド! 取り敢えず水を撒けばいいのか!? 撒いていいか!?」
「どうして貴方達までここに......」
「えー? 妹さんがそう言うんなら私は直ぐに帰りますよー。帰ってホームの先輩の部屋で寝ます」
「は? ......は?」
「シーちゃん、帰っちゃダメ! 私達のギルドホームのお礼も兼ねたお手伝いなんだから!」
「そうよ、シー! もっとシャキッと立ちなさい! 一人で帰ろうとしない! こら、ちょっと!」
「ヒャッハアアアアア! 農作業だぁぁぁ! ん? セレーネ殿、どうしたでござるか?」
「あ、あの、ハインド君がそろそろ爆発しそうな気が......」
「ハインド、返事しないと撒くぞ! いいのか!?」
「貴女とは一度じっくりと話し合う必要がありそうですねぇ......監視しやすいかと思って、ギルド同盟を了承したのは失敗でした」
「私は妹さんと話すことなんてないですけど? 何を言われても先輩で――先輩と遊びますし」
「うるせぇええええええええええ!!!! 人の話を聞けぇええええ!!」
手が空いてそうだからといって、手当たり次第に連れてきたのは失敗だった。
五人から八人に増えた程度でここまで収拾がつかなくなるとは思わなかった。
俺が叫んだことで、ようやく全員がこちらを注目して黙る。
「もう班分けするからな! ヒナ鳥ちゃん達三人は、セレーネさんと多肉植物担当! ――セレーネさん、そっちはお願いします」
「あ、うん。分かったよ」
「三人とも、セレーネさんの指示を聞きながら作業してくれ。頼んだ」
「「はいっ!」」
全員で作業しようと思っていたけど駄目だ、分担する。
事前に何をするか相談していたセレーネさんに片方を任せ、こちらは地質改良から始める。
あちらは砂漠由来の植物を多く植える予定なので、それほど複雑なことはしなくていい。
「残った連中はこっちこっち。ユーミル、水は一旦置いて」
「撒かないのか......そうか......」
ションボリしているが、そのまま撒いてもこの砂ばっかりの農地に効果はない。
まずはその説明からしなくちゃならないか。
「――という風にあっちは砂地でも育つものを多く、こちらは地質から改良して作物・薬草なんかも採れるようにしていく予定だ」
「そんなこと出来るのでござるか?」
やってみないと分からん、と言うとトビは変な顔をした。
何だよ......仕方ないだろ、まだ誰もやってないっぽいんだし。
それを裏付けるように、農業地区には俺達以外のプレイヤーの姿は見えない。
「ここワーハは砂漠の中では水源が豊富で、
「毛細管現象による、地下水の上昇に伴った塩害が起こり得るからですね?」
「おっ、さすが我が妹。正解。このゲームでそれが起こるのかは分からないが、万全を期すに越したことはないと思ってな」
ユーミルとトビが首を傾げるが、要するに――
「撒いた水が細かい砂地に浸み込んで、どんどん下に入って行ってしまうと良くないってことだ。それだけ分かっていれば大丈夫」
「そうすると、排水設備を作るのは難しいですから......客土ですか。どうするのですか、ハインドさん?」
二人はまだ今一つ分かっていない顔をしているが、話が進まないので取り敢えず先に。
俺はインベントリの中から大量の巻物の束をドサドサと取り出してその場に置いた。
巻物の表紙はいずれも茶色をしている。
「こいつを使う」
「魔法の
「あ、これは分かったでござる!」
「私も分かった! これは――」
「そう、土魔法のスクロールだ」
「「ああー!」」
自分で言いたかった、とばかりに不満気な声だが無視してどんどん説明を続ける。
「このアースショットの巻物を大量に使ってこの一帯に客土する。魔法の土というと栄養が無さそうなイメージがあるが......」
「あるのでござるか? アースショットの土には」
「あるんだよな、これが。更に保水力もバッチリ。ちなみに泥を飛ばすマッドショットの方は今一つ」
他の土魔法も巻物として売っているものは大抵試しのだが、その上で初級魔法の『アースショット』が最も農作に適した土だと判断した。
一度に出せる土の量は初級だけあってお察しだが、ここは多少の手間が掛かっても質を優先したいところである。
「更に言うと巻物のコスパは最悪だが......土・水系の魔導士が知り合いに居ないから、こればっかりは仕方ない」
「本来なら重戦士などの魔法が使えない職の為のアイテムでござるからな。物理防御が異常に高い特殊な敵に使う以外に用途が無い以上、作成者も少ない故に」
「それも、パーティを組まないソロプレイヤーしか買わないだろうしな」
「ソロだって属性武器を持てば済む話ですから......用途の狭いアイテムですよね」
そういう都合もあって、巻物は供給も需要も少なく単価が高い。
掲示板を使ってとある金欠だった魔導士のプレイヤーに大量注文したので、普通に取引掲示板で買うよりは遥かに安く上がったが。
「そしたら全員、巻物を取って散ってくれ。このアイテムは作成者の魔力に依存しているから、誰が使っても効果は一定だ」
「うむ! 実は私も一度、魔法を使ってみたかったのだ! 紛い物とはいえ魔法は魔法!」
「拙者もでござるよ! しからば10個ほど持って......いざ!」
巻物から発生する土を、楽しそうにユーミルとトビがばら撒いていく。
俺とリィズも巻物を手にすると、適度な距離を取って作業に――
「何で密着!? 離れろよ、土が固まっちゃうだろ!」
「今夜は兄さん成分がとてもとても不足していますので......。大丈夫ですよ、このまま一緒に進んで左右に散らせば問題ありません」
「兄さん成分ってなんだ......?」
そう言って俺と腕を組んでくるリィズは、セレーネさん達の方――特にシエスタちゃんの方を見て勝ち誇ったような笑みを浮かべた。
視線に気付いたシエスタちゃんはこちらをボーっと眺めた後、プイッと顔を背けてのっそりと作業に戻った。
その眠そうな表情は特に変わらなかったように思うが、それでもリィズは満足したらしい。
更にぐっと体をこちらに寄せてくる。
「いや、何がしたいんだよ? あと、本当にそろそろ離してくれると嬉しいんだが」
「ふふ......ダメです。最低でもこの作業が終わるまでは離しませんから」
リィズは俺の要求を拒否して片手で器用にスクロールを起動すると、そのまま土を撒き始めた。
俺は恥ずかしさから組まれた腕を振り解こうとしたのだが、小さな体のどこにそんな力があるのか一向に解けない。
てか、間接極まってないかこれ? どこでこんな技を......。
諦めて嘆息すると、俺も巻物を使用して周囲に土を飛ばし始めた。
小さな魔法陣が表示され、砂の上に土がボボボッと勢いよく射出される。
あ、意外と楽しい。
There always will be an agricultural area regardless of if it's a city or a village.
Since this is a game where you can set your guild home whenever you want, the main difference is the price of the plot of land.
In urban areas, the price is high, contrary to that, the price is cheap for rural areas.
Even then, when you have set up your guild home in a city, taking into account traveling time and labor, even if it's more expensive, it's more convenient to buy an agricultural plot in the same city.
[That being said, we bought this splendid and vast plot of land with the reward from the tournament. First off, we'll sta-] (Hind)
[Hind, Hind! Is it OK if I start sprinkling water!? Can I do it!?] (Yumir)
[Why are you all here...?] (Riizu)
[Eh? If the little sister says that, I'll immediately go back. I'll go back home and sleep in senpai's room.] (Siesta)
[Huh? ...Huh?] (Riizu)
[Si-chan, you can't go back! We have to help them to pay them back for the guild home!] (Lycoris)
[That's right, Si! Stand up properly! You can't go back alone! Come on, do it properly!] (Cineraria)
[Hyahaaaaaaaaaaaaa! It's time for farmwoooooork! Hm? Selene-dono, what's wrong?] (Tobi)
[E-Eh...I think Hind-kun is about to explode...] (Selene)
[Hind, if you are not going to reply, I'm going to do it! I'm going to do it, you hear me!?] (Yumir)
[Seems like I'll have to have a serious conversation with you...it seems like my observations have been lacking, it was my failure to have agreed to this guild alliance.] (Riizu)
[I don't have anything to talk about with the little sister? No matter what you say, I with senpai...I'll play with senpai.] (Siesta)
[Shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!! Listen when someone is talking to yoooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuu!!] (Hind)
They seemed to have been free, but it was my mistake to bring them here to help.
I never thought it would be so hard to keep them under control, just by increasing the number of people from five to eight.
After I shouted, they finally shifted their attention to me and were silent.
[I'm going to split you into groups! Baby Bird's members are to go with Selene-san and in charge of succulent plants! ...Selene-san, I'm leaving that part to you.] (Hind)
[Ah, yup. Got it.] (Selene)
[You three, work while following Selene-san's instructions. I'm counting on you.] (Hind)
[[Yes!] ] (Lyco and Sai)
I thought about working with everyone but it seems like it's going to be impossible, let's split up.
I've discussed what to do with Selene-san beforehand, so I'm leaving one side to her. We'll proceed with reforming the land here.
We had planned to plant local desert plants over there, so there was no need to do anything complex.
[The rest of you, come over here. Yumir, forget about the water for now.] (Hind)
[We are not going to sprinkle it...I see...] (Yumir)
She looks depressed, but...even if she sprinkled water in this sandy soil, there would be no effect.
I guess I should start by explaining that...
[...Like that, there are a lot of things you can plant even in that sandy soil, this side though, we plan to improve the soil and the grow crops or medicinal herbs.] (Hind)
[We can do something like that?] (Tobi)
When I said that we wouldn't know if we didn't try, Tobi made a weird face.
What? ...It can't be helped, right? It's not something anyone has already tried.
To support that claim, in this agricultural area, there were no other players aside from us.
[In Waaha, there's plenty of water compared to other places in the desert, if we compare them by the simple fact that it has irrigation channels. However, you can't just sprinkle water.] (Hind)
[By using the Capillary motion, we are going to raise the underground water and have it increase the salt levels of the soil right?] (Riizu)
[Oh, as expected of my sister. You are correct. Since this is a game, I'm not sure if that will actually happen, but I thought that it wasn't as if the possibility was zero.] (Hind)
Yumir and Tobi tilted their heads, in other words...
[If we just soak this sandy soil with water and have it quickly go downwards it's no good. It's fine as long as you understand that.] (Hind)
[In that case, water displacement of the soil would be difficult so...maybe bringing soil from another region? What are you going to do, Hind-san.] (Riizu)
The two of them still looked as if they hadn't understood anything, but since we wouldn't make progress at this rate, I'll just keep going.
I took a large amount of scrolls from my inventory and placed them on the ground.
The scrolls were of a light brown color.
[We are going to use these.] (Hind)
[Magic scrolls...? What are we using these for?] (Riizu)
[Ah, I understand this!] (Tobi)
[I got it too! These are...] (Yumir)
[Right, these are earth magic scrolls.] (Hind)
[[Aaaaaah!!] ] (Tobi and Yumir)
"I wanted to say that!", they shouted as if they wanted to complain about that but I ignored them and continued explaining.
[We are going to use this large amount of "Earth Shot" scrolls to mix them with the soil. But since it's soil made of magic, it gives the image of it not having any nutrients...] (Hind)
[Does it really create it? Does Earth Shot make soil?] (Tobi)
[It does. Furthermore, it's perfect for water retention. By the way, there's another one for "Mud Shot" that releases mud.] (Hind)
There are also other earth magic scrolls being sold and I did at least try them out, but among them, I deemed that the beginner magic {Earth Shot's}  soil was the most suitable for agriculture.
The amount of soil released is what you should expect from a beginner level spell, but even if it takes some time and effort, we should give priority to quality here.
[Furthermore, this is the worst method in terms of cost efficiency, but...since we don't know a Earth*Water type mage, we have no other choice.] (Hind)
[These are items made for jobs like Heavy Warriors that are unable to use magic after all. There's no many uses for them apart from using them in situations like when you are fighting against an enemy with abnormally high physical resistance, so the amount of people that make them are low too.] (Tobi)
[Besides that, only people that don't form a party and play solo would buy them after all.] (Yumir)
[Even if you played solo, you could just bring an elemental weapon so...they are items with a low variety of uses.] (Hind)
Having said that, scrolls are items with low demand but their prices are high.
Since I used the BBS to place a bulk order from a penniless mage, I was able to buy them far cheaper than if I were to have bought them normally from the trading BBS.
[That being said, everyone, go pick up the scrolls and scatter around. These items rely on the magical power of the crafter, so the effect is fixed no matter who uses them.] (Hind)
[Umu! The truth is, I've always wanted to try out magic myself! Even if it's just an imitation, magic is magic!] (Yumir)
[Me too! In that case, I'll take ten of them and...here I go!] (Tobi)
From the scrolls, soil came forth and Yumir and Tobi sprinkled it around while having fun.
Riizu and I took a scroll in our hands and started working after taking some distance from each other...
[Why are you sticking close to me!? Make some distance, the soil is going to harden!] (Hind)
[Today I'm really really lacking in nii-san energy so...
[Nii-san energy? What's that?] (Hind)
Linking arms with me after saying that, Riizu looked over at Selene-san and the rest...specifically at Siesta-chan, and then smiled in triumph.
Siesta-chan noticed her gaze and absentmindedly looked over here and then...averted her eyes with a "Humph" and returned to her work.
I believe there wasn't much change in her sleepy expression, but even then, Riizu looked satisfied.
Then her body approached mine even more.
[I mean, what are you trying to do? Besides, I'd be really happy if you could separate from me already.] (Hind)
[Fufu...I refuse. I won't separate until we finish this work at the very least.] (Riizu)
Riizu denied my request and started sprinkling the soil with a scroll on one hand.
It was embarrassing so I tried to shake off the arm that was linked to mine, but I couldn't comprehend where she's getting all that strength from with that small body of hers.
Besides, didn't she just decide this on her own? Where did she learn this technique...
I sighed and gave up, then I took a scroll and started spreading the soil.
A small magic circle showed up and a low amount of soil was vigorously shot.
Ah, this is more fun than I expected.
VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top Player no Shikakenin～
ＶＲＭＭＯの支援職人　～トッププレイヤーの仕掛人～
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/vrmmo-no-shien-shokunin-%ef%bd%9etop-player-no-shikakenin%ef%bd%9e/
Action Adventure Comedy Fantasy Harem Slice of Life
Adventurers Beautiful Female Lead Blacksmith Brother Complex Calm Protagonist Childhood Friends Clan Building Cooking Crafting Curious Protagonist Dense Protagonist Elemental Magic Fantasy Creatures Game Ranking System Gamers Hard-Working Protagonist Healers Level System Love Interest Falls in Love First Love Rivals Male Protagonist Misunderstandings MMORPG Ninjas Possessive Characters Priests Siblings Siblings Not Related by Blood Sword And Magic Virtual Reality Younger Love Interests Younger Sisters
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n4014ds/
二階堂風都