Healing in the Country Side with a Baby Dragon - CHAPTER 6 (Golden Bell Tomato)

Beneath the passing clouds, an empty plate on the table was the only evidence of what had just happened.

What on earth happen?

"Huft, it's okay now"

If you were to ask me if I felt bad about how things turned out, I didn’t.

The woman who had just visited—or rather, the collapsed Lee Na-yeon—had seemed dangerous in more ways than one. Not just physically, but emotionally, too.

Apparently, she had lost her parents at a dungeon Gate when she was young and had been ruthlessly pushing herself to become a hunter ever since. The grandmother who raised her had passed away, leaving her older sister as her only remaining blood relative.

Still, it was a good thing I was able to feed her a hearty meal before sending her on her way. When I saw her leave earlier, her face looked refreshed, probably because she had finally let all those bottled-up tears out.

‘That’s fine.’

What’s so special about life, anyway? A delicious meal and warm comfort are all you really need. I’ve craved that kind of comfort plenty of times myself, so I knew it would help her.

[You prepared a delicious meal for someone who was tired and worn out! It was a great source of comfort!]

Look at that. Isn't the system's quest window basically setting the table for me?

"Hweuo?"

Seol-ah was staring at the spot where Lee Na-yeon had disappeared, looking a bit sad to see her go.

"It’s okay, Seol-ah. She went home. I'm sure she was incredibly grateful that you comforted her."

"Bam!"

The moment I patted her head, she beamed brightly. Then, she began rolling around the green fruit Lee Na-yeon had left behind. Just watching her made me feel better, and a laugh escaped my lips.

‘I guess I’m being comforted, too.’

The thought hit me as I watched Seol-ah running around under the bright sunlight, her smile as radiant as the blue sky. I used to work two jobs and stay up all night trying to escape the 'hell mode' of life, but surprisingly, the escape route was this simple.

*Roll-.* 

The fruit Seol-ah was rolling bumped against the tip of my foot. I picked it up to take a look.

[??? Tomato]

[Unripe baby tomatoes. They aren't toxic, but they don't taste very good.]

Its greenish tint clearly showed it wasn't fully grown, but it made me curious about the taste. Lee Na-yeon had mentioned earlier that it wasn't bad. Since it wasn't poisonous, I decided to take a bite.

The flesh was crunchy and firm, but the moment I bit into it—

"Tsk, what is this? Ew!"

My face instantly contorted, and I spat it out. It was incredibly sour and bitter! No, how could anyone find this edible? What on earth happened to Inayeon's taste buds?

"Oh? So?"

If 'this' counted as a good flavor to her, no wonder she shed tears over a simple bowl of soybean paste stew. I had finally unlocked the secret behind her crying. What kind of flavor profile had she been surviving on?

Seol-ah burst into laughter, finding my grimacing face hilarious.

"Seol-ah, do you want a bite?"

"Hweuo?"

"It’s delicious. Give it a try."

"Bae—"

As soon as she took a bite, her little face scrunched up, and she spat it out. To wash away the taste, she quickly started chewing on a nearby lettuce leaf, but it didn't seem to help much. A look of deep betrayal filled her large eyes.

"Seol-ah, are you upset?"

"Bam!"

"Don't be mad."

"Bam!"

Seol-ah huffed and turned her head side to side. Her adorable pouting only made me laugh more. As she puffed out her cheeks, a new window popped up.

[Healing Life of a Beginner Farmer]

[You have acquired an unknown crop! You don't know what kind of plant it is yet. Grow it properly to find out! It could be something amazing!]

Ah, I was just wondering about that. It looked like growing it would reveal the name hidden behind the question marks.

"Seol-ah, should we go to the garden and plant this tomato?"

"Bae, bae."

"I know it doesn't taste good now, but if we plant it in our garden, it might end up tasting as good as the lettuce."

Seol-ah, who had been firmly refusing because of the terrible taste, began to waver under my continued persuasion. She looked back and forth between the lettuce and the tomato before finally nodding.

When we reached the garden, I called out to our little helpers. 

"Guys, come out and see this."

"The great master has summoned us!"

These guys had filled the entire garden with lettuce in a single day, so they definitely knew what they were doing.

"I’m going to plant this. Do you know what it is?" 

I placed the tomato on the ground, and the earth fairies gathered around to examine it.

"I don't know much about it because it's still a baby."

"There is no way to know without trying to grow it."

"Is that so?" I respond.

Even the earth fairies were stumped. Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Let's plant it."

Why overthink it? You just plant it and see. I extracted the seeds from inside the unripe tomato and planted them carefully in a corner of the garden. I had watered the soil thoroughly earlier, so it should be fine. The lettuce had grown in a single day, but I wondered how long a tomato would take.

'What should I use for a stakes? Would tree branches work?'

As I was pondering the logistics, the news of a new crop brought a whole crowd of earth fairies rushing over.

"Do we have a new family member?"

"Yes, that's right! We have a cute new baby friend."

"I think it likes the soil. It has fallen into a deep sleep."

The group of tiny furballs chattered excitedly. Soon, they reached a consensus, holding hands and swaying their bodies.

"It is good to sleep well and to sleep soundly under a warm blanket~"

They began to sing a lullaby in unison. Hearing them chatter away in their high-pitched voices was honestly pretty funny. Seol-ah started humming along too, clearly delighted by the spectacle. Soon, the entire garden resonated with their lullaby.

'No, wait... are they sure this is a lullaby? It feels a bit like noise pollution.'

But then, a miracle happened. The tomato seeds I had just buried sprouted in the blink of an eye!

"Huh? Wait, it’s growing! Guys, look, a sprout came up!"

"Shhh! Great Master, lower your voice. You might wake the sleeping child."

The earth fairies collectively placed their tiny hands over their lips, demanding I follow lullaby etiquette. Seol-ah copied them, placing her little claw against her mouth.

Yet, even as they scolded me, the sprouts were shooting up in real-time. No, does it even make sense to sing a lullaby to a sprout that is clearly awake and growing at warp speed?

"Babies grow the most when they sleep."

Wow. That was a true miracle of logic. I was left utterly speechless as I watched the tomato stems thicken right before my eyes. And still, the earth faires' lullaby continued.

Sitting on the ground, I watched the chorus of Seol-ah and the earth fairies. It was a bizarre, yet undeniably peaceful sight.

However, it seemed the tomato plant had other plans.

"This is bad! Mr. Tomato Stem, you have to stay strong!"

"The important thing is that the stem doesn’t break!"

The rapidly growing tomato stems were beginning to buckle under their own weight. Startled, the earth nymphs stopped singing and shrieked in panic. Seol-ah started running around frantically, too.

In times like this, the adult needs to step in.

"Okay, everyone calm down."

I soothed the panicked fairies who were rolling all over the place and drove the tree branches I had prepared into the dirt. I tied the stems securely to the stakes with some twine, and the sagging branches instantly regained their upright posture.

"Ah! This is what humans call a fulcrum!"

"A support!"

"Heigh!"

I remembered doing this back in elementary school when we grew tomatoes in class. Back then, when the stems started drooping, we used stakes just like this.

"As expected of the Great Master! This is amazing!"

"Heigh!"

A shower of applause erupted from the earth fairies and Seol-ah. It wasn't a big deal, but it made me puff out my chest with a bit of unearned pride.

"Just wait here a minute. I'll go grab some more branches."

Since there were quite a few sprouts shooting up, I stepped away for a moment to gather extra stakes.

*Thump, thump, thump.* 

"The great master fell for it."

"He must have been completely taken aback by our acting!"

The moment Jin-sol was out of earshot, the earth fairies let out sinister little snickers. They were earth fairies—literal geniuses of agriculture. There was no way they didn't know how to support a plant. Jin-sol had been completely fooled by their theatrics.

With the master gone, this lair now belonged to the earth fairies.

"Great Being, please approve our plan!"

"Blah blah!"

Seol-ah nodded solemnly at the earth fairies' earnest pleas. What a magnificent creature, possessed of such vast generosity and profound understanding! The fairies praised Seol-ah with their arms wide open, their tiny giggles echoing through the garden.

This garden was officially theirs.

"What must happen, will happen. Baby Tomato is now becoming an adult Tomato!"

"Come dance with us! Let the earth, the wind, and the sun nurture you."

The earth fairies gently touched the sleeping leaves, and the tomato plant underwent a massive growth spurt. The stems shot higher and higher, quickly becoming thicker than the wooden stakes Jin-sol had just set up. 

*Crack!* 

The branch Jin-sol had carefully tied snapped instantly.

"Thump, thump, thump! Let's throw a tomato festival!"

"I never imagined we would find Golden Bell Tomatoes here."

Truth to be told, they were doing all of this out of pure gluttony. The moment Jin-sol had shown them the green tomato, their mouths had started watering. It was a Golden Bell Tomato, legendary even among earth fairies for its exquisite flavor! They were incredibly rare, and finding a ripe one was next to impossible. The plan was to exploit this golden opportunity, grow an absolute mountain of them, and gorge themselves.

Naturally, it was a complete secret from Jin-sol. (Though, considering how fast the plant was growing, it wouldn't stay a secret for long—but the fairies weren't bright enough to realize that).

"Thump, thump, thump! We'll hoard them at home and eat as much as we want!"

As they let out their mischievous laughs, Seol-ah’s eyes sparkled. She stared blankly at the towering tomato stems, mesmerized by the sight of them growing in real-time.

"We will offer a few to the Great Being!"

"Huh?"

"They are incredibly delicious! You'll be amazed when you try one!"

Hearing how delicious they were, Seol-ah salivated.

"But we can't give you too many. We don't have enough for ourselves."

'The yield is too small? Then we just need to make more grow.' 

To a dragon, the logic was simple.

Seol-ah jumped up and spread her little arms wide. 

"Byaaaa!"

'Tomato, grow big and strong and bear tons of fruit!' 

It was a cry filled with innocent hope.

Of course, if a normal person had said it, nothing would have happened. But Seol-ah was an SSS-class dragon. At her command, a strange phenomenon occurred—the surrounding ambient wind condensed into pure mana. The horns on her head glowed brilliantly in the sunlight, casting a halo of light that completely enveloped the tomato stems.

Then, explosive growth truly began.

"As expected of the Great Being!" 

The earth fairies gasped as the stems stretched wildly into the sky. At this rate, they really could stack them up and eat them forever.

However...

"Ah?"

"Uh oh?"

"Ahhh?!"

Seol-ah’s magic didn't stop. The tomato stems kept growing, greedily drinking in the dragon's mana until the main stalk grew as thick as a small tree trunk.

"Ew! Please stop!"

"The garden! Our precious home is going to get crushed!"

The plant had long since surpassed Seol-ah’s height, soaring past two meters. Even the earth nymphs were throwing their hands up in panic. This was definitely a case of 'careful what you wish for.' Everyone gaped in horror as the tomato tree grew thicker and thicker, until finally, it began to bear fruit.

The moment I walked back into the garden, the branches I was carrying slipped from my hands and clattered to the ground.

It was a sight that completely drained the strength from my grip.

"What on earth is this...?"

I was only gone for a few minutes to pick up some sticks. Why was there a literal tree standing in my garden now?

The culprits were easily identified: the earth fairies, who were currently fidgeting guiltily, and Seol-ah, whose horn was still pulsing with leftover light. Realizing that if left unchecked, we would end up living out a literal version of 'Jack and the Beanstalk', I rushed over to stop her.

"Seol-ah, stop. You can stop now."

"Heuho?"

"Look, there are already plenty of tomatoes."

And there really were. The massive tree was heavily laden with shimmering, golden cherry tomatoes. A few of the perfectly ripe ones had already fallen, and the earth fairies were frantically gathering them up one by one.

"Bam!" 

Seol-ah chirped, tilting her head as if asking if she had done a good job.

It was ridiculously oversized, but since the damage was done, I figured I might as well leave it. My decision was entirely cemented by the system message that popped up in front of my eyes.

[You have discovered a Golden Bell Tomato! A precious agricultural ally. It tastes excellent and provides incredible health benefits.]

If it tasted good and was healthy, it was bound to be useful. Curious, I plucked one of the fallen fruits to check its item description.

[Golden Bell Tomato - Grade: A]

[A delicious tomato grown with love by a Great Being. Sweeter and richer in flavor than normal crops, it is a nutritious snack loved by all!]

[Effect: Possesses potent detoxifying and calming properties.]

"Oh?"

A highly unusual status effect caught my eye. 

'Detoxifying and calming properties?'

A smirk crept onto my face. 

"This is absolutely incredible."

Without even trying, I had just grown a literal gold mine right in my backyard.