The first step was to make sure the village was clean of corpses. Even if they're magical creatures, they stink and probably carry diseases. The next part was making sure the perimeter was safe and for that we would need tons of materials, particularly wood. And that is where the problems started. The inhabitants of the village were all women since their husbands had been drafted to fight against the undead. They were just as capable as men to gather wood, but no one wanted to leave their children unattended even if it was for the greater good.
The solution to that was simple. I just picked the sturdiest looking house and declared it to be a school. The concept was foreign to them, but I explained that by putting all the children together only one or two adults would be enough to take care of them and they were fine with it.
The villagers were divided into groups that would take on the assigned task. They would work at the same time, rest at the same time and eat at the same time. Some went in to gather wood while others turned the logs into spikes. Another group was sent to dug a moat around the village, then another to building and finally a group was assigned to repair the buildings that resulted damaged.
"This is miniature industrialization." I say to the system manager as I watch the plan getting executed beautifully.
"Good thing you think like a desk agent. Most field agents would have tried to do everything on their own."
"Did you just compliment me?"
"Of course, a regular field agent wouldn't have ran in circles all night," The system manager continued and then asked. "May I ask a question?"
"Sure."
"Back at the warehouse you defeated over twenty mercenaries like they were nothing, but then you ran away all night from low level undead creatures."
"Hmmm... it's different because those were just regular guys and these are fantasy creatures. I noticed how I've become stronger since I started taking field assignments, strong enough to have an advantage over ordinary humans."
"I see." Was all the system manager said though for some reason I could tell there were things left unspoken, not that it worried me much, but I really like my distant relationship with the system manager. I prefer to keep things between us at a strictly professional level and asking questions was the first step to getting to know each other.
With the need for safety being taken care of I wanted to inspect the food source. The system warned me it was tainted, but it was unknown whether it was a pathogen or something of a magical nature. Whatever the case, it couldn't hurt to check and I took a lap around the fields inspecting plants with more curiosity than knowledge. It wasn't long until I found the cause and all it took was a small test with my green thumb skill.
"The water is tainted." I inform the system.
"Are you positive?"
"Absolutely, I tried watering the crops with my skill and they look much better than the rest."
"You just leveled up that skill by the way, don't forget to keep an eye on your mana consumption." A blue bar appeared in the outskirts of my vision. It was three quarters full and there was nothing to worry about.
The effects of leveling up the skill were noticeable, but not really a game changer. I'm not complaining, but the Green thumb skill is meant for gardening and not combat. I wish I had picked something more powerful instead, like the ability to shoot fire from my hands or maybe psychokinesis, but I can't complain since I picked it up naturally.
I heard that learning magic usually involves years of dedicated study and sometimes it needs rare magical reagents that can only be obtained from monsters. And even after that, the results vary depending on the ability of the user and the amount of practice. Just thinking of how hard it must have been for Nora to learn dimensional magic to the point of sending people to other dimensions made me more understanding for her mistakes. Though I still think she sent me to the wrong worlds as payback for me knocking her out that time. Like I said, I can't complain.
"It's ready."
"What is?" I look up to see the woman who invited me to her house when I first arrived.
"The moat you had us dig, my lord." The woman bowed her head leaving me confused.
"I'm not a noble." I shrug, but the system corrected me on the spot.
"Technically, you've been recognized by royalty as a knight from another world. So, you are indeed a noble."
"You aren't?" The woman tilted her head and another followed.
"But you're so smart and powerful. You can't possibly be a farmer."
"You caught me, I'm a knight."
"Where's your sword then?"
"I left it on my other pants." I joked lightly, but a generalized gasp was heard.
"He owns more than one pair of pants!"
I knew from the start that applying the logic from my world into other worlds was not going to work, but at times like this I feel confused. They were chased after by dead people all night, had their village almost razed and rebuilt it the same day, yet for some reason they're shocked a person's garments.
That night most of the palisade was finished and just as expected the undead showed up to test our defenses. Since the door wasn't built in time I worried we would have trouble, but the undead were as slow as they were dumb. Instead of walking towards the entrance they just mindlessly walked into the moats becoming unable to escape. The few that did reach the entrance got tangled on the spikes and the fight didn't take as long as the day before.
I could finally get some sleep that night. Or that's what I would like to say, but for some reason people kept showing up on my room as if they were taking turns.
"I don't need anything, please leave," I said politely the first time when I thought they meant well. The next time I wasn't as polite and I ended up begging them to just let me sleep. "you too!?" I said to the elder woman who entered my room unannounced.
"Can't blame an old woman for trying." She shrugged. That night I learned a valuable lesson. Always lock the doors.
Days passed by with me tending to the crops by day and watering zombies by night. The life of a fantasy farmer is not so bad and I could get accustomed to this if not for the fact that I haven't had a bite in days. I'm not hungry, I'm starving.
Luckily, the elf queen made it in time and that meant I would be able to return soon. The system marked her arrival location and I ran towards her like my life depended on it.
"You look thinner." She commented. For her, it was as if she just saw me, but to me it's been a week of being deprived of sleep and food.
"What did you expect? It's been a week and the food is tainted."
"It can't be... this... this isn't my world. I'm sure." Loraina let out after looking around. All this suffering just to land in the wrong world, I almost lost my mind.
"It's definitely the correct world." The system gave me hopes.
"I have never seen a town like that one." She pointed at the distant village that now boasted wooden walls, two watch towers with archers appointed and all. This confirmed it really was the correct world and I finally heaved a relieved sigh when we entered the village and was finally allowed to recall. I didn't leave any explanations to the elf queen who was at a complete loss after seeing the sturdy houses villagers walking with purpose all over the place. Royalty or not, she needed to figure things on her own.
It may seem cruel, but I sacrificed enough for the mission and having me starve to death by her side would be of no use. Besides, she was aware of the presence of the undead on her world and didn't say a word about it and I did my best to prepare a defense that would hold on its own at night in spites of that.
I was greeted at the office with a table served with food as my colleagues were aware of my situation thanks to the system manager who notified them by email. I had my full and then ran to my apartment in hopes of finally being able to sleep on my bed not knowing I would bump into the one thing I didn't account for.
"Where have you been all this week?" Tasha questioned me the moment I entered my apartment.