The Fourteenth Floor is the floor where small Oni reside.
Some of the goblins I granted blessings to had evolved, and among them, one had become an Oni Head.
Surprisingly, they had even learned to speak, allowing for a certain degree of communication.
After confirming this, due to various events, I couldn’t spare time and was unable to check on the goblins.
Deciding to check on the goblins after a long time, Kousuke decided to visit the Fourteenth Floor with Mitsuki.
Upon arriving at the Fourteenth Floor, the first thing that surprised Kousuke was that the individual who had evolved into an Oni Head the last time he visited had evolved further.
No, the evolution itself was not particularly problematic.
I had hoped for it, so that was good.
Even when it became an Oni Head, the individual had undergone a significant transformation, but this time it had undergone an even greater transformation.
If it weren’t for the horns on its head, it would have been almost indistinguishable from a Human.
Its species had also changed from
Up to that point, it was still within the realm of expectation.
Well, of course, it was worthy of great surprise, but it wouldn’t be strange for it to change that much if it were to evolve.
More than anything else, looking at the individual prostrating itself before him, Kousuke was surprised by a fact he had never anticipated.
“Welcome.”
Even the greeting, which was far more fluent than the last time he visited, barely registered in his mind.
“Um… is something wrong?”
“Ah. …Gabou was a girl.”
“? Yes, she was?”
The Dōji looked at him with a puzzled expression, but her figure was entirely that of a girl.
Her face had become even cuter than when he had met her before.
If she were to walk around town normally, men would surely strike up a conversation with her.
However, the remnants of her appearance from when they last met were still there, so she wasn’t completely different.
On the contrary, Kousuke wondered why he hadn’t noticed it when they last met.
Thinking that a girl wouldn’t possibly be named Gabou, he renamed her Sol.
He wasn’t sure if the renaming would properly take effect, but when Sol accepted the name, the name in the status display also changed, so it seemed to be alright.
Conversely, he wanted to know if it wouldn’t have changed if the person herself disliked it, but this time Sol accepted it honestly, so he couldn’t confirm.
Unexpected things happened from the beginning, but he was guided by Sol through the goblin settlement.
Yes, a settlement, not a base.
The last time he visited, there was only what Kousuke had prepared using the tower’s functions, but buildings and the like had clearly increased.
Of course, they were simple dwellings (?), but the existence of individual living spaces was still a big step forward.
Not only that, but several goblins were using tools to make something.
Kousuke hadn’t given them those things, but they were independently making and using tools.
“Are all the tools you’re using things Sol came up with?”
“No, certainly not. My companions came up with them.”
Saying so, she pointed to several individuals.
All of them were evolved individuals.
Among the individuals pointed to, some even bowed to him.
Kousuke was surprised by the drastic change, but a certain idea began to form in another part of his mind.
It was the thought that perhaps they would start producing if he taught them agriculture.
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Due to a minor errand, I returned to the management layer once and immediately went to Schmidt’s place.
Of course, it was to obtain seed potatoes for agriculture.
Schmidt tilted his head, wondering what such a thing would be used for, but he knew that Kousuke was doing various things in the tower, so he proceeded with the necessary procedures without a word.
The seed potatoes were said to be obtainable immediately.
After all, potatoes were the main product cultivated on the Fifth Floor.
It was unlikely that they would be out of seed potatoes.
After sending someone to the production department, I chatted with Schmidt for a while.
There were no new magic tools, so I asked about the recent situation of the Crown.
While we were talking, Hurik himself came from the production department with the seed potatoes.
Hurik was currently the rotating department head of the production department.
It was unlikely that the department head would come all the way here just to deliver seed potatoes.
He had specifically come out knowing that Kousuke was here.
Although Kousuke didn’t hold any particular authority now, he was still the ruler of the tower, and that hadn’t changed.
As the department head of the Crown, which had its headquarters within the tower, if he knew Kousuke was here, he would at least show his face.
After that, after a brief conversation with Hurik, I returned to the management layer with the seed potatoes.
Having obtained the seed potatoes, Kousuke immediately headed to the Fourteenth Floor.
“…What is this?”
“Seed potatoes. To put it very simply, you plant them in the ground and grow them to get potatoes.”
Kousuke explained casually, but Sol’s eyes widened in confusion upon hearing that.
Of course, he knew that explanation alone wasn’t enough, so he explained properly from the beginning.
“…So, you mean we can grow our own food?”
“Well, yes. Although there’s the hassle of various management tasks.”
During the chat with Hurik, I had also been thoroughly taught how to grow the seed potatoes I brought this time.
However, Kousuke couldn’t be there to supervise them constantly, so after the explanation, they would have to make their own judgment.
It wasn’t yet clear whether they could properly grasp the management effort and carry out the work.
Simply plowing the land, planting seed potatoes, and waiting for them to grow would be no different from before.
It was important whether they could properly manage the production.
After that, Sol seemed to have called for another individual to manage the seed potatoes.
Upon checking later, it turned out to be the individual among his companions who was particularly knowledgeable about plants.
However, even though he was knowledgeable, he had no experience with agriculture, so he seemed quite bewildered.
By the way, his species had already evolved into a Great Ogre Demon, so he had a certain degree of intelligence.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to remember where specific plants grew and that they were edible.
Initially, Kousuke himself created a small field and taught them how to plant them.
After that, he decided to check on them periodically.
This was partly because Kousuke himself wasn’t very knowledgeable, but also because he judged that they needed to gain experience themselves.
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To be concise, the goblins successfully managed to grow potatoes.
That said, they didn’t succeed on their first try; initially, they ruined more than half.
Even so, after repeatedly harvesting a few times, they seemed to have grasped some kind of knack.
By that time, Kousuke no longer interfered at all, and they were able to produce them.
Kousuke himself hadn’t expected them to actually succeed, so this was surely the result of the goblins’ efforts.
As they were able to produce potatoes regularly, the goblins’ lives also became stable.
As a result, the goblins obtained a stable life, and their numbers began to increase rapidly.
The goblins learned agriculture!
By the way, it took over two years to reach a stable potato production.
However, while an increase in numbers is good, I wonder what they will do about the population problem that seems likely to arise afterward.
