"So many guests!" Little Fern declared it was absolutely impossible. There was no way she could prepare dinner for this many people in time.
"Remember, Fern, a chef never says the word 'impossible.' Because we pour our love and willpower into our dishes, the ingredients will answer us!"
Frieren covered Fern's ears and pulled her away, refusing to let her listen to Zenith's nonsense. Zenith, meanwhile, tidied up briefly and brought out his Pam's HarvestCraft cooking utensils.
"The familiar menu... Good heavens, when I think about it now, what on earth have I been eating for the past eighty years?!"
Holding the menu in both hands, Orcini's face was covered in tears. After glancing over and seeing that Zenith was earnestly cooking, he secretly stuffed the onion in his palm back into his pocket.
The onion was a necessity. Orcini had discovered that as long as he shed tears, the Seven Curses wouldn't take effect even if he hugged and cuddled with his wife—or rather, the effect could be resisted through sheer human willpower.
Ever since then, he kept an onion on him at all times. Such was the power of gastronomy.
Golden legendary, glowing gourmet food conquered everyone. Striking while the iron was hot, Zenith proposed an idea.
"I plan to build a village here, specifically dedicated to training qualified heroes, warriors, and mages. If a disaster strikes in the future, we can carry out Demon King subjugations in an organized and disciplined manner."
It wasn't an unreasonable thought. Demons were like a species that just spawned out of thin air—they couldn't be completely killed off or driven away. Who knew when another monster that humanity couldn't handle might pop up.
Accumulating talent in advance was necessary. Besides, even if there was no Demon King, they could still become excellent adventurers, military officers, or scholars. It offered stable employment and guaranteed job placement upon graduation.
The main draw was the formidable faculty. A teaching staff composed of the hero party that successfully defeated the Demon King in history would absolutely tempt anyone who heard about it.
"You've actually made a good suggestion for once. Have you thought of a name for the village? Just 'Hero Village'?"
Himmel, using the alias Melsin, was the first to ask. Frieren stared at that familiar tear mole, lost in thought, and didn't say much.
"We'll call it Konoha. The path of the hero is a kind of inheritance. Subjugating the Demon King requires not just strength and courage, but also an indelible bond."
"Wherever tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. Our conviction will pierce through every era like this unextinguishable flame—this is our village's motto!"
"Great name!" Everyone's eyes lit up. The name was excellent in both phrasing and meaning, seemingly the result of careful consideration.
Of course it sounded good. After all, Zenith hadn't come up with it himself. He was just taking full advantage of bullying people from another world who had never watched *Naruto*.
A mature hero village required many elements. Besides a name, it also needed a good village sword.
A modestly sized village rose from the ground. This time, it finally wasn't a village of matchbox houses. Zenith referenced the layout and architectural style of villages in the Minecraft Overworld—complete with a church, a blacksmith, farms, and a well.
In the exact center of the village, Zenith brought out a sword from the Mahou Tsukai mod.
The Radiant and Brilliant Royal Sword—"Clarent". Clarent itself had no attack power. When used to block an enemy's attack, the next strike would reflect the absorbed damage back at them.
If one didn't actively consume mana during the counterattack, the sword would only deal a fixed 1 point of damage. Therefore, under normal circumstances, it was a sword of mercy, perfectly suited for a novice hero.
"This sword is very strong," Himmel said, looking at the blade. "The stronger the person wielding it, the greater the effect it can unleash. With enough accumulated damage, it might even be able to kill the Demon King in a single strike."
Theoretically, it was possible. But anyone capable of doing that wouldn't need this sword to defeat the Demon King in the first place.
"Next up is an experienced village guard." Zenith looked around, then with lightning speed, whipped out an enchanted bow and shot an arrow right into Orcini's knee.
Orcini's eyes widened like saucers, staring at Zenith in utter bewilderment.
"What are you looking at? From now on, you're the village guard. Remember your line: 'I used to be a brave warrior like you, then I took an arrow in the knee.'"
Pulling the arrow out, Orcini limped over to Heiter and asked him to cast a healing spell. "So why did you shoot me?"
"Don't ask. If you must know, it's for character setting. I'm giving you this bow, take it and play with it."
Zenith tossed the enchanted bow over. He had as many of these things as he wanted, but there was no denying that a fully maxed-out enchanted bow was comparable to a divine artifact.
Before his leg was even fully healed, Orcini threw the arrow in his hand to the ground, leaped into the air, and hugged the enchanted bow to his chest.
He knew better than anyone what level his physical defense was at. A casual shot from Zenith, a seemingly soft and powerless arrow, had managed to pierce through his thoroughly tempered skin and bones, as well as his magical barriers. That alone was enough to prove the bow's power.
Building a real village required a lot of things; it was far from just throwing up some houses.
Zenith took some time to bring Heiter to see the Goddess once. Now, this corrupt, meat-eating, wine-drinking monk was full of energy. After scarfing down a Golden Apple, he happily accepted the position of village chief and led people to fill in the village's missing gaps.
As for Zenith, he was dragged back to class. If he truly wanted to finish learning plant magic, it would be impossible without a year or two of study. It wasn't just a single move or spell, but an entire, comprehensive system.
The class representative, Fern, was a pure-blooded genius. After finishing the day's lessons, she slipped out of the study and headed to the village clearing.
Children her age naturally loved to play. Originally, Fern had to cook and take care of people, but now Zenith could do all that with a snap of his fingers, sparing the child the trouble.
"Lord Stark, why are you carrying a rock on your back?"
Little Fern squatted in the clearing, watching Stark train. The red-haired brat was also a genius, but martial arts were different from magic. Being a genius didn't grant you any special shortcuts.
Training was like sailing against the current; if you didn't advance, you fell behind. The process of tempering the body was absolutely indispensable.
"Because this will make me stronger."
"You can stand on your own just by doing this? I'm so jealous." Fern stood up, hugging her staff, and then used her mana to control another massive boulder, slowly pressing it down onto Stark.
"Lord Stark, let me help make you a little stronger."
With two boulders stacked together, the weight doubled. Stark immediately panicked. Even though he was perfectly capable of supporting this much weight, he was just terrified, convinced that he couldn't do it.
"Heeeelp meeeee, Master!!!!"
He screamed at the top of his lungs. Even though he could have stood up just by extending his arms, his fear completely sapped the strength from his muscles. Tears and snot instantly streamed down his face.
Fern was shocked once again, standing frozen in place, at a loss for what to do. Her calculations had been flawless, so why did it turn out like this?
Himmel hid behind a tree, watching the two kids. Frieren hid behind a tree, watching Himmel. Suspicious. Too suspicious. Just who exactly was this guy named Melsin?
As for Zenith, he was currently drowning in a sea of homework, unable to extricate himself.
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