I stood in the aftermath, chest heaving, silver hair dripping with rain and sweat. The guard's body lay where it fell, eyes glassy and empty, a faint green mist still curling from his open mouth like the last breath of a dying plant. Harlan had fled, robes flapping behind him like a wounded bird, leaving only the echo of his panicked footsteps in the mud.
The field felt… satisfied. The radishes around me pulsed softly, their whispers now a low, contented hum: *He ran. Good. We're safe. Plant more.*
Sprout Quill hovered near my ear, voice trembling with excitement. "Host, that tomato? Pure evil genius. One bite and boom—soul snack. I'm framing this moment in my mind forever."
I wiped my hands on my overalls, ignoring the sticky residue of tomato juice. "It wasn't planned. I just… felt it. The seed wanted to be used that way."
"Seed wanted," Sprout repeated, almost reverently. "You're hearing them like they're people now. Level 2 Seed Whisperer is no joke."
I glanced at the remaining plants. Eight radishes, four tomatoes still ripening on the vine I'd snuck in yesterday. They looked ordinary from a distance. Up close? They glowed like captured starlight, veins throbbing with quiet menace.
A shout rang out from the village path. More footsteps—faster, angrier. Harlan wasn't done. Of course he wasn't. Men like him never slink away quietly.
He burst back into view, this time with reinforcements: six guards, all freshly awakened, weapons humming with elemental power. Fire flickered along one sword. Wind swirled around another's fists. Harlan's face was flushed, eyes wild with humiliated rage.
"You little witch!" he bellowed. "You think you can humiliate me? I'll burn this pathetic patch to ash and drag you back in chains!"
The guards fanned out, encircling the field. One raised a hand—flames roared to life, ready to sweep forward.
I didn't run. I didn't beg.
I smiled.
"Burn it," I said softly. "See what happens when you threaten my crops."
Harlan laughed, harsh and brittle. "Kill her. Take the vegetables. Burn the rest."
They charged.
I didn't move from the center of the field. Instead, I knelt, pressed both palms to the soil, and poured everything I had into the earth.
Essence surged—hot, wild, unstoppable. The ground shuddered. The radishes responded first: stalks shot upward like spears, roots bursting from the dirt to snare ankles. One guard tripped, face-planting into mud. Another screamed as a tomato vine whipped around his wrist, thorns of green light sinking in.
[Essence Pulse – Area Burst Activated]
The field erupted.
Green light exploded outward in a perfect circle. Plants grew in seconds—radishes swelling to the size of melons, tomatoes bursting like grenades. Essence-charged roots erupted from the soil, wrapping legs, arms, throats. The scarecrow I'd propped against the shed days ago jerked upright, straw-stuffed arms lengthening into wicked scythes of twisted vine.
The scarecrow moved.
It swung.
One guard's head rolled before he could scream.
Harlan's eyes widened in horror. "What… what is that thing?!"
I rose slowly, silver hair whipping in the sudden wind of my own making. "That's my guardian. And it's hungry."
The remaining guards fought, but the field was alive now—vines lashing, roots crushing, tomatoes detonating in bursts of soul-rending essence. One by one, they fell. Flames sputtered out. Wind died. Bodies hit the mud with wet thuds.
Harlan backed away, face pale as bone. "You're a monster."
I walked toward him, calm, unstoppable. The scarecrow followed at my shoulder, silent and towering.
"No," I said. "I'm a farmer. And you just tried to steal my harvest."
He turned to run.
I flicked my wrist.
A single tomato—perfect, ripe, glowing—launched from the vine like a cannonball. It struck him square in the back.
He staggered, gasping. Black veins spread across his skin in seconds. He dropped to his knees, clutching at his chest as the soul-devouring essence ate inward.
I stopped in front of him. Looked down.
"Any last words, Uncle?"
He wheezed, eyes bulging. "You… can't… this is impossible…"
I crouched, voice soft as a lullaby. "It was always possible. You just never thought dirt could bite back."
I pressed a finger to his forehead. Essence flowed—gentle, final.
His body slumped forward.
Dead.
The field went quiet.
The scarecrow settled back against the shed, arms drooping, as if nothing had happened. The plants rustled softly, pleased.
[Harvest Complete: Plunderer's Essence Shard Acquired]
[Absorbed into Farming System]
[New Function Unlocked: System Shard Integration – Minor]
[Your system just got a little less trash.]
Sprout Quill floated down, voice hushed. "Host… you just killed a noble. In broad daylight. With vegetables."
I stood, brushing dirt from my knees. The sun was climbing now, painting the field in gold. Bodies lay scattered like fallen weeds.
I looked at them, then at the sky.
"I didn't kill them," I said quietly. "The harvest did."
And somewhere deep inside, the girl from my previous life—the one who'd been betrayed, broken, left to rot—smiled.
She wasn't broken anymore.
She was growing.
And the next harvest was going to be legendary.