When I went to school after the harvest festival, the three idiots were showing three different kinds of faces .
The first was overflowing with confidence, the second was somewhat feeling refreshed and the third one was quite drained .
âŠâŠletâs just leave them alone .
At my training place in the forest, I did my usual nibbling of poisonous plants and throwing practice using my weapons and some stones . While I was in the middle of throwing an obsidian knife, the three idiots suddenly appeared so I had to immediately switch to the machete . I wonder if my obsidian knife was exposed .
ăHey, Caam . How was it for you on your first time?ă
When I gave out a vague reply, Wurst seriously asked me again so I had to give them some answers . I share my knowledge with these guys to some extent so I wonder if theyâre trying to gain even more information .
Even though I also have knowledge from my previous life of acts that are too âuniqueâ, I decided just to teach them the basic stuff . Letâs just set aside the unique ones to use as a punch line . As I was teaching them, everyone was earnestly listening to me . In this world, never mind the internet, even books havenât really promulgated yet so these kinds of conversations are probably essential .
ăSo, why do you guys want to know this? You probably didnât want to know about Suzuran, right?ă ăAhăŒâŠ Thatâs because we were doing some light reading using introductory-like books at the townâs bookstore the other dayă
They probably arenât lying about that .
ăHey, Iâm been wondering about this for a while now but the thing youâve been chewing on isnât dried meat, isnât it? Since it has a really gra.s.sy smellă
As expected of a dog . He has a better sense of smell than the rest of us .
ăA, ahăŒ . UhmâŠâŠthat is⊠Poisonous plantă ăHa!?ăăăŁïŒ1ăăEh!?ă ăWell, this is just a story I heard but if you ingest poison just to a degree that you wonât die, youâll steadily build up resilience to poison . Thatâs why I continued doing it . Incidentally, the first time I did this, I was just grinded a leaf and drank a watered down solution . However, the next day my health took a turn for the worst so you should be careful if youâre going to try ită ăThatâs because not just anyone could do it . I havenât even heard my mother say anything about thată
So elves donât do thisâŠâŠ I see, so they arenât even aware of it in the first placeâŠ
ăIs that so? Could it be that there are no cases of poisoning anywhere?ă ăThat only happens to royalty and n.o.bles . Those who are living normal lives arenât going to be served poison, you know?ă ăThatâs right so you should stop doing thată ăWell, itâs fine since Iâm still alright . I can already chew on a leaf and still be fine when I couldnât even handle a bit before you know? I could probably eat two right now and still not dieă
I smiled as I said that but I could easily see that they were taken aback by that .
While we were having that random conversation, Sc.h.i.n.ken suddenly said,
ăThat reminds me, the village chief said, âIf you see Caam-kun, please tell him that Iâm looking for himâ . What was that about?ă ăAhăŒ I can pretty much guess what he wants . Itâs probably about the expansion of the fields . It seems like Iâm treated as an expert when it comes to using magic for agriculture . Remember his speech during the harvest festival? Iâve had a bad premonition about that since that time . ă ăAhhăŒ he said that didnât he⊠What will you do?ă ăLike this, I guessă
As I said that I started creating a simple image .
ăImageă»1 meter x 1 meter x 20 centimeter of soil rising up then settling downă»executeă
I activated that thing that I imagined right in front of our eyes . The soil in front of us turned soft as it made waves and settled down .
ăSee, I used an image of digging up the soil with a shovel . With this, Iâve removed the need to plow . Next isâŠă
ăImageă»mix the surface of the soil in front like a whirlpool ă»Executeă
Like an old washing machine, the soil started spinning and became even softer .
ăSkillă»Offensive Attributeă»Earth: 3ăacquired .
Oh? Itâs been a while since that went up .
ăWhat I thought up was something like this . This will break up the large lumps of soilă2 ăăăOoohăŒăăă
The three idiots were impressed .
ăWith this, it wonât get clumped up once we scatter the seeds . Just as I thought, you really are amazingă
I stepped on and touched the soft soil in front of us . The impression of magic being used for attacking is definitely strong it seems .
After that, it turn into an indecent conversation where we talked a bit about what happened after we separated . I could only say nothing but my condolences to Speck .
A bit after that, we returned to the village and I started asking around about where to look for the village chief . Thatâs because I donât have any idea where that person usually is . Rather, he really elusive and he only appears whenever youâre searching for him . He always appears behind me though for some reason .
ăI am the village chief desu3ă
Uwaa! He came from my back again! Furthermore, I felt like we was able to say that really irritating line without hesitation Itâs decided, Iâm going to kill him .
Well, since I really can go and kill him, Iâll just endure it .
ăWas there something you wanted to ask me?ă ăI talked about it during the harvest festival, about the expansion of the fields . I was thinking of gathering all of the villageâs men together to do it . You see, I want to decrease the burden even a bit so Iâm looking for a good method for doing that . Caam-kun is good at using convenient magic, right? Depending on the circ.u.mstances, we can also pay you a reward . ă ăY-yeah⊠Well, I can probably do it if itâs only that muchă ăOh, so youâre able to do it . Thatâs splendid . Could you show it to me for a bit? I was thinking of clearing the sides of the road towards Aegirine town for the expansion plans . There are also gra.s.s needed to be cut thereă
We continued our conversation while walking .
ăHow much land do you plan to cultivate?ă ăAround ten fields worth . Based on this years sowing and harvesting, we wonât have any problems adding that muchă ăWill there be no troubles when it comes to scattering the seeds?ă
Itâs has not occurred to me to think about magic for sowing seeds .
ăWe just randomly sprinkle that around, right?ă
Ah, is that good enough? I thought they systematically line them up when planting seeds . If thatâs the case then wouldnât it be simpler if you just let the wind carry it?
We continued walking towards the town and arrived at the designated area .
ăIâm thinking about placing the first field around hereă
was what he said while pointing towards an open area .
ăFor now, weâre trying to clear it up as much as possible before winter comes . Itâs kind of waste just to leave this land as it isă
Although he said âabout ten fields worthâ, a single field is a hundred square meters . A single field may seem large but itâs quite small compared to the overall picture . I had this image of a golden wheat field as far as the eye can see but thatâs actually impossible in reality .
In my previous life, young people were leaving their villages in order to find work . This started to acc.u.mulate and those places became depopulated and eventually turned into deserted villages . Farming is the main source of income in this world . Well, there are no other sources of income in this area . It seems like that doesnât really need any special education based on what the chief said about randomly scattering seeds .
ăChief, are you thinking about increasing the fields as our population increases?ă ăWell, if there are people, the fields will also increase and that will lead to the villageâs prosperityă ăHow about trying to think that the increase in fields would lead to increase in population?ă ăWhat are you trying to say?ă ăPlease wait, Iâll show youă
After I said that, I activated the magic I showed to Wurst and the others earlier . Bit by bit, the soil rose up then dropped back down and became softer soil . Then the soil was mixed to make it softer . The village chiefâs body trembled while in awe .
ăIt was that simpleâŠă
He mumbled as if he was speaking to himself .
ăHow many of these can you do!ă
He excitedly raised his voice while ignoring his aged body . Chief, speaking in such a loud voice is bad for you health you know?
ăEhăŒ? I still havenât tested it out so I donât know . Should I do it until I get tired?ăăPlease!ă
I kept uttering that as I turned over and mix the soil until it was soft . As discussed with the village chief, I left room for carriages to pa.s.s as I continued plowing the fields . One field took ten minutes . When I finished plowing six fields, I started feeling lightheaded so I called out to the village chief .
ăIâm feeling a bit tired with this muchă
With this, Iâve already finished six, one hundred square meter fields . It exceeded half of the number of fields that the chief was thinking of cultivating .
ăThis much in just a dayâŠâŠă ăYou want me to do more?ă ăNo, but scattering seeds and harvestingâŠă ăGet someone elseâs helpă
I said that voicing out my complaint .
ăChief? In the first place, is it alright for me to make it if itâll just be left unused? Itâs fine to use that as a place for grazing cattle or to rent out to villagers who need it, you know? This area doesnât belong to anybody, right? In that case, the people living in the village can increaseă ăY-yeah, I see . Iâm sorry but the talk about rewards will have to wait . There are various things I have to think about and that pretty much increased . Can you give me some time?ă ăWell, I donât really mind . The one whoâll decide whether to increase it or not will be the village chief; however, please give me the rewards for the six fields I made, okay?ă
I said that in a small voice and decided to go home . I didnât particularly tell my parents about what happened and just went to sleep after maintaining my machete and knife that I threw in the forest . Itâs not like I didnât want to talk about it but there wouldnât be any point since nothing has been decided yet .
The next day, it seems like the meeting that was held in front of the field that I cleared yesterday has started .
ăCaam-kun did all of these before the sun went down . Because it would be a waste to leave the plowed field as it is, would it be okay we loan it to someone who wants to use it? If we do that then wouldnât the people who are just coming to the village just to use it build their houses here so that it they wonât waste their time traveling? Iâve been thinking about this but isnât it better if we just build a house here and rent it out? As an experiment, why donât we try building two as we expand our farmlands? If we do that, villageâs residentâs will also increase . ă ăIf thatâs what the village chief says then I donât have any objections . However, what do the others think?ă
After a single villager said that, there was no one in particular who voiced out their disagreement . It has been decided that we would build houses and lend them out as a set to people migrating to the village .
Twenty years later, Beryl village became the continentâs largest producer of wheat . The residents increased, shops and smithies were built and its population no longer cla.s.sified it as a village⊠but thatâs another story for another time .
ăCaam-kun, the plan has been tentatively decidedă
The village chief told me as he filled me in with the details of the meeting .
ăFirst of all, it was decided to continue as planned and make 10 fields . Including the finished ones, we will compensate you with twenty gold coins for all of them . What do you think?ă
What do I think? I would have thought it reasonable even if he told me that I would be getting one or two silvers for a hundred square meter field . Considering adult labor and various other things, how many people and how many days would it take? It would only take two days for me so if the daily wage is ten silver, wouldnât I be considered as one of the top earners in this world? Only for two days though .
ăY-yeah, thatâs alright . Thatâs enough for me since I havenât finished my schooling yetă ăThen, Iâm sorry about this but aside from the remaining four fields, could you also teach the image you used to those who can use earth magic?ă
I wonder how itâs handled when youâre teaching unique magic in this world? Things like a secret formula or hidden arts come to mind but itâs not like I know any of those . Do they just immediately teach magic that arenât too dangerous?
ăThatâs fine with me . Since it makes our lives easier, Iâll teach it to as many as you likeă
Replying with a smile, I started to plow the remaining fields .
Footnotes: 1 . If it wasnât obvious, nothing was said here . He just had a look of surprise . 2 . aka . tilling 3 . Probably a reference to Romancing Saga 3