The Heavy Smoker and the Grim Reaper of the Wheat Field (7)
“Adventurers, please gather!!”
After waking up, washing my face, and eating breakfast, the secretary-slave called everyone together just like yesterday. Franc and I quickly brushed our teeth and headed to the meeting spot.
“This is a message from the master. He asks that you don’t sneak off like yesterday and instead work hard. Those harvesting, please line up to receive your sickles.”
We took our tools and headed out to the fields. This routine continued for roughly two more days. I worked all day, then spent the nights in the tent practicing magic or organizing logical arguments for my thesis.
Shit. I can’t tell if I’m a farmer, an adventurer, or an archaeologist anymore.
I was starting to wonder whether they were actually counting this as monster-slaying merit when Franc spoke up during lunch on the third day.
“Nord. Shall we head back soon?”
I knew exactly why she asked. Our food supplies were running low, but that wasn’t the main reason.
“I haven’t bathed in three whole days… it feels so gross.”
Franc wore a slightly sulky expression. The sea-beast extermination request disguised as short-term serf labor made showering difficult. The bathhouse was in Sargadis, and by the time work ended, the city gates were already closed.
For three days, Franc had been wiping herself down inside the tent using water heated by my Hydro-Incontinence Pump and Burning Hand. Adventuring was supposedly a profession where regular bathing was a luxury, but staring at a city with an actual bathhouse while living like this was enough to give anyone existential whiplash.
“I was going to bring that up too,” I replied, stuffing my mouth with dried rations.
I valued cleanliness, but three days without a bath wasn’t unbearable for me. The real problem was Franc avoiding me because she was terrified she might smell. That was why I wanted to leave as well. It was the first time she’d ever rejected my physical affection, and it was taking a serious toll on my mental state. Felt like someone had stolen more than half the reason I existed. It wasn’t just about not being able to grope her chest. We hadn’t had sex since arriving here either. There was only time at night, and if sea beasts showed up, we’d have to scramble into our clothes in a panic. Imagine fighting an enemy while some horny bastard is still fumbling with his pants? If I were the enemy, I’d throw my scabbard at those idiots before even drawing my sword.
Besides, cleanup is a nightmare.
Considering my usual volume, one round leaves me gushing like a broken faucet. Cleaning that up inside a tent? Not happening. The smell of semen lingering in the air would be straight-up unacceptable.
“Let’s go back. We can always wash up and return if we want.”
After finishing lunch on the third day, I went to find the secretary-slave.
“Sir. We’ll be heading back tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
The secretary-slave gave a curt reply and disappeared. When I tried to resume work, Hotulusil suddenly appeared.
“I heard. You’re leaving tomorrow?”
“Yes, that’s the plan.”
Since the farm owner had come to speak with me, I stopped working. A seasoned salary thief never misses an opportunity.
“I thought we’d finish early thanks to you. A shame. Was there some problem?”
“No, nothing like that.”
Now I understood. He’d come because he heard we were leaving and wanted us to stay. After all, I’d been working like a madman. Without exaggeration, I alone had harvested enough to cover two or three football fields in just three days. Franc was strong and diligent too, so she’d been incredibly productive. Of course he’d come running to beg us to stay, even if he had to grab us by the pant legs.
“Our food ran out, and my companion is struggling because she can’t bathe.”
“Not because the work is too hard?”
“No.”
Damn, he just asked that outright. Either he had zero tact or he was deliberately pressuring us. Felt like the former. Hotulusil didn’t seem like the type to nitpick others. Yerina had been the same way originally. She’d stolen my thesis in the end, but among the professors I knew, she’d been one of the decent ones. Not that I had any intention of forgiving her now that she’d become “that bitch professor.”
“I’ll provide food. I can also tell you where you can bathe. Will you continue working then?”
“Huh?”
Free meals and a shower?
“Uh… I’ll discuss it with my companion.”
“Your companion is that dwarf, correct? Let’s go now. Follow me.”
Shit, this guy’s really forceful. Living with slaves must’ve turned him into a drill sergeant. Still, it was a chance to earn money without working, so I dragged my feet and followed.
“That’s the situation. Discuss it between yourselves.”
Franc, who had been called over while working, removed her hood and blinked. She leaned in close and whispered.
“Nord, what do you want to do?”
“Let’s check the conditions first. They might serve us pig slop and call it food, or stick us in a stable and call it a bath. What about you?”
“If the bathing place is decent, staying a few more days to work should be fine.”
We exchanged opinions and asked Hotulusil exactly what he was offering.
“Lunch will be sandwiches. Dinner will be soup with meat and bread. If you wish, I can have it cooked. For bathing, there’s a creek in the nearby forest, about a thirty-minute walk from here.”
Hotulusil answered without hesitation. His tone was blunt, but the conditions themselves seemed reasonable. He clearly wanted us to stay quite badly.
After further discussion, Franc and I reached a decision.
“…We’ll work one more day for now.”
“Do so. I’ll look forward to your answer.”
That evening, we received a smoked turkey the size of an arm and were told it was “soup ingredients.”
“Nord. Shall we stay here until the harvest is finished?”
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll slow down the harvesting pace a bit.”
We’d been completely hooked by the delicious turkey and decided to stay a few more days. Damn, I should’ve asked for this from the beginning.
“Franc. I’ll cook this time. Watch closely. I’ll show you a man’s cooking.”
“Hehe. Next time, Nord. I’ll do it today.”
I declared this with full confidence, but Franc smiled and gently stopped me. The look in her eyes was exactly like a young mother dissuading her little son from helping in the kitchen, which left me feeling slightly wronged. But after tasting the finished dish, I shut my mouth.
I shouldn’t show off about cooking in front of Franc.
All she’d done was pull out some kind of seasoning powder from her bag, yet the result was absurdly delicious. In my personal opinion, anyone who prepares special sauces or seasoning powders for cooking is genuinely skilled. Things like anchovy powder or gochujang paste. Franc was the same. She’d dried and ground mushrooms, salt, and herbs into a powder that tasted like otherworldly dashida. Knowing Franc possessed such cooking talent and still ate my terrible cooking while claiming it was delicious made me feel too guilty to even attempt it.
***
And so the third night passed.
“Nord. Wake up. You said you’d come wash up with me.”
Franc, who had woken earlier than usual, roused me. As always, I opened my eyes later than her, created water with magic, and washed my face first.
“Hwaaaah…”
Looking at the dark blue sky just before dawn made me yawn repeatedly.
“If you’re sleepy, you should’ve just stayed asleep.”
Franc spoke while wiping the sleep from my eyes. I turned my head away from that overprotective consideration and replied.
“I need to wash too. Even if I didn’t sweat much, it’s been three days.”
“That’s true, but…”
If I didn’t bathe, Franc bathing would be meaningless. I couldn’t touch her if I smelled. I roughly rolled my shoulders to loosen up.
“We won’t be late for the morning gathering even after washing, right?”
“It’s a thirty-minute distance, so including washing time, we should make it back before sunrise.”
“I see. In other words… if we want to do anything besides washing, we’ll have to hurry?”
“Huh? Uh, yeah… probably?”
Franc stammered as she caught my meaning. Feeling playful, I scooped her up in my arms.
—Whoosh!
“N-Nord?!”
Franc, now princess-carried in my arms, cried out in surprise. Grinning, I activated Beast Regression. Green mana enveloped and rippled across my body.
“Heh heh. This way’s faster. Our Franc is so light, it doesn’t even feel like I’m carrying anything.”
“S-Still, you’ll get tired. And what if Beast Regression wears off while you’re harvesting?”
“What then? We’ll just get more days of free delicious meals.”
I’d already told Hotulusil that whether it wore off or not wouldn’t affect the work. I rubbed my cheek against Franc in my arms and whispered.
“Put your hood on and hold on tight. Here comes the little express train, Nord!”
“I can’t stop you, can I?”
Franc wrapped her arms around my neck. I kissed her now-closer lips and dashed forward with all my strength.
“Kyaa!”
It was a scream mixed with a hint of delight. My running speed, enhanced by Beast Regression, was faster than an electric scooter. Since Franc’s chest completely blocked my view of my feet, I had to be a bit careful. Still, I reached the creek deep in the forest without falling.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—
It was a small creek. It had a slight resort-like feel, making me think it wouldn’t be bad to spend a summer vacation here. I also wanted to see Franc in a swimsuit. No matter what our girlfriend wore, she’d look incredibly sexy and beautiful, so we had to come here alone so no one else could see.
“The water’s a bit cold.”
Franc muttered after dipping her hand in the creek water. I crouched down and tested it too.
Splash.
A sharp chill ran through me.
“Whoa, damn. This is no joke.”
It felt like a cold bath. If I stayed in too long and didn’t dry off properly, I’d catch a cold. Would we even have time to warm up by a campfire on the way back?
“Franc. Can you hand me the basket we brought?”
“Here. Are you going to heat it with magic?”
“Yeah. We’ll need hot water.”
I took the basket, filled it with water, and set it in front of me. Then I concentrated mana and chanted the spell.
“Burning Hand.”
Fwoosh—
After two days of practice, I was getting somewhat used to the magic. It was basically just choosing between “hottest” and “not hottest,” but temperature control wasn’t necessary when heating water.
“A man’s cooking always uses maximum heat!!”
Sizzle—!
I plunged both hands into the basket filled with creek water. The magic heated the water without losing power even underwater, like an electric blanket made of water.
—Bubble bubble.
The maximum-output flame hands, fueled by mana, brought the water to a rolling boil within minutes. What temperature was this even? I felt like I’d learned the formula somewhere, but I’d forgotten.
“If you’re cold, pour this over yourself. Or stay close to me.”
While speaking to Franc, I lowered the output of both hands to minimum.
Whoosh—
The dimmed light from my hands now looked like fluorescent material had been lightly applied over my original skin tone. Franc stared at them curiously.
“Can I touch that? Won’t it be hot?”
“Probably not? Think of it like a hand warmer… though you might not know what that is. Roughly like holding your hands near a campfire. Just warm.”
“I want to touch it.”
Franc approached and fiddled with my hands.
“It really isn’t. When I use it, it’s only hot.”
“There’s a bit of a knack to handling mana.”
Franc had also succeeded in learning Burning Hand yesterday. Other spells were still beyond her, though. From the way she spoke, she was still struggling with power control too.
After taking cold-prevention measures, we removed our clothes. There was no resistance to bathing together.
“Ugh, it’s cold.”
Franc shivered with her arms wrapped around herself after entering the creek. With water reaching up to her chest, she had to be colder than me.
“Come here. My hands are warm.”
“Okay. Touch the back of my neck.”
Franc lifted her hair to expose her nape. The sight of her revealing a part men found attractive while completely naked made my dick throb as it hardened.
“…As expected, it turned out like this?”
“It’s a physiological reaction.”
We quickly washed each other’s bodies. We lathered with otherworldly soap and rubbed with my warm hands, exchanging body heat in the cool water. Though we were supposedly washing each other, it was practically foreplay. Franc let out heated breaths with half-lidded eyes every time my hands touched her. Her large breasts, which I hadn’t seen in a while, had their nipples standing erect even before my hands reached them.
Swish—
Franc approached and wrapped her arms around my waist. When we stood embracing like this, her breasts pressed against my cock. My shaft, too large even for her ample chest to fully contain, poked out between them and touched her soft cheek.
“…Want to do it?”
“Let’s do it.”
I nodded and moved with Franc toward the shade of the rocks.