Chapter 132
Chapter 132
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: 14. To the World of Agriculture! (1)
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#1 Their Circumstances: The Circumstances of a Certain Daughter.
“Ugh…….”
The curtains covering the window are pulled away, and blinding sunlight attacks my face.
“Time to get up.”
And then I hear Dad’s voice.
“Five more minutes…….”
Whenever I hear that voice, I always say the same thing.
And,
“As if.”
Snap!
Dad ruthlessly snatches away my precious blanket.
“No, don’t…….”
The blanket is precious.
It’s warm. It’s cozy.
If I pull it over my head, it blocks the sunlight’s attack, and it can withstand Dad’s assault that tries to wake me from my deep sleep.
“Ugh…….”
But I couldn’t get my blanket back.
No matter how much I, still so small, lie on the bed and reach out, my hand can’t touch the blanket Dad’s holding up.
“Five minutes… just five more minutes…….”
But even if my blanket’s taken, my sleepiness doesn’t run away anywhere.
Five minutes. If I just lie down for exactly five more minutes, it feels like it’ll run off~
“You said five minutes last time too, and you didn’t get up.”
That’s right. The reason my sleepiness runs away is because I keep sleeping.
Last time, I overslept and was late for breakfast.
So Dad scolded me.
“I won’t this time…….”
An angry Dad is scary.
He doesn’t hold my hand if I reach out.
He doesn’t stroke my hair.
He doesn’t dry me off after my bath.
Even if I go to him, he doesn’t hug me and runs far away.
He says he hates me.
That… was really scary.
So, really, just five minutes.
I’ll lie down for exactly five more minutes and then get up.
“Keep that up, and I’ll call your big sister?”
“I’m up! Ellis is up! So you don’t need to call big sis!”
Big sis is scary.
Normally, she takes really good care of me, but when she scolds me, she’s scarier than Dad.
Big sis doesn’t get mad like Dad does.
She doesn’t scold me or ignore me.
She just flicks my forehead lightly.
But it hurts.
It really hurts.
It’s not because I’m still too young to endure pain.
Really… big sis’s flicks hurt.
Not just me—even that giant bully from the village who showed up last time, the drunken village uncle, the wild boar secretly eating the hard-earned crops, and even the orcs who tried to raid the village before but no one knew about—all collapsed without resisting her flicks.
Only Dad can withstand big sis’s flicks.
“Are you up?”
“Yeah, I’m up. I’m up now…….”
Tears suddenly flow from my eyes. She’s a good big sis… but scary.
“Good. Time to go eat breakfast.”
Dad hugs me like that, wipes my tears, and strokes my hair.
Dad’s embrace is warmer than the blanket, and I almost fall asleep again right then, but I shake my head to chase away the drowsiness since big sis might come.
“Huh? Ellis is here? Let’s eat quick! Soup tastes best when it’s hot!”
Big sis, who arrived first, is sitting in her chair swinging her legs and shouting.
When big sis swings her arms and legs like that, I have to be careful.
Even getting hit by those legs hurts.
Really!
“Here.”
“Thanks, Dad!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I receive the steaming hot soup, bread, and vegetables.
Vegetables don’t taste good, but if I put Dad’s homemade sauces on them, they become surprisingly delicious.
“Yummy!”
“Yummy!”
“Ellis. I told you not to copy Ar…….”
“Ow!”
Dad’s knuckle rapped my forehead.
It’s not as bad as big sis’s, but my forehead turns a little red.
“I’m sorry…….”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I eat breakfast while feeling Dad’s hand stroking my hair.
Dad’s a great cook too.
No matter how tasteless the ingredients are, the moment they go into Dad’s hands, they turn into delicious food.
Dad is amazing.
Our dad is the best!
***
“Mm… mmph…….”
She busily moves the fork with her tiny hands to eat her salad.
So cute. Kids really are cute.
-Kids used to gross you out, didn’t they?
-Those weren’t human.
The kids I knew weren’t really kids.
The princess who was two years younger than Ellis was already insane back then, and the ones around my age who came under me in the organization were monsters unfit to be called human.
But our Ellis is different!
I proudly watch Ellis, who’s turning twelve soon.
“Tasty?”
“Yes, Dad!”
Her pure smile hits me right in the heart.
Pure kids really are cute.
To the point where I’m proud of my past self for not abandoning her and running away, even though I seriously considered it once.
-Who was it that stopped their owner from seriously ditching her?
-Thank you, Goddess.
-Hmph, if you get it, bring tastier food next time!
“More!”
She stretches out her hand with the empty soup bowl.
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Me, me too!”
Ellis, who wolfed down the last of the remaining soup, holds out her bowl to me too.
“You’re eating especially well today.”
“Because there’s meat! Humans gotta eat meat!”
No, you’re not human……
I’ve gotten used to it now, but I still have no idea where food goes in and comes out with her.
“Yeah! Dad’s cooking is all tasty, but it’s even better with meat!”
Of course. Meat is truth.
“Got it.”
I get up and bring back three more servings of soup, including my own plate.
I wanted to add some pepper, but no way such an expensive spice exists in this rural village.
I settle for sprinkling some simple herbs I found nearby, then tear up the fairly soft bread—not quite like the old stuff I used to make, but still softer and tastier than the black, hard bread other commoners eat—and dip it in the soup.
“Dad… you’re going to the fields again after breakfast today?”
“That’s right. Why, wanna come?”
“Yeah! I wanna too!”
I gaze at my praiseworthy daughter, who’s already sparkling with the joy of farming.
“Eek! No way! Ellis, come play with me!”
Despite her big sis concept, seeing Ar whine like a little sister makes me sigh involuntarily.
“Nooo……. I have my own little plot now! I… I have something to protect now too!”
“Traitor!”
Seeing Ar pout and grumble, I warn her just in case.
“If you mess with the fields… you know, right?”
“Tch.”
If this one hits the fields, the crops are doomed.
I once hoped maybe the fields had some blessing to withstand her, but the next day, seeing the crops dying pathetically, how much did I weep!
I never want to see that happen again.
“I’m bored~”
“Ehehe, go play by yourself!”
I banned her from farming after she followed me a few times and caused all sorts of damage.
This place has good mountains and clean water—perfect for the idyllic retirement life I dreamed of in my past life—but for Ar, it’s a boring village with nothing fun.
The wild animals that occasionally come down to ruin crops become her stress relief.
But even they fear Ar and don’t come down anymore.
In other words, Ellis is her only playmate.
“Then finish up the storage shed.”
“That’s even more boring…….”
“Tch.”
Seeing Ar slump face-first onto the table like melting goo, I click my tongue in pity.
I can’t call the dwarves because of last time, so I’m building the shed alone, but digging the escape tunnel is tough solo.
Shoveling’s one thing, but pickaxing isn’t familiar, so every swing makes my hands ache painfully.
“Ellis, let’s play~ Let’s go up the back mountain and get some tasty meat~”
“M-meat?”
Ellis’s eyes waver at the word meat.
At twelve, Ellis’s tastes prefer meat over veggies.
In that case……
“But Ellis, tonight… we’re having fritters?”
“F-fritters!”
“Guh?!”
At my words, Ellis’s eyes widen even more than at meat.
“You like… french fries, right Ellis?”
“Yeah, french fries are tasty! Crispy outside, moist inside!”
“And with Dad’s sauce on top?”
“Invincible…….”
Her cheeks relax into a grin just imagining it, and I cup them in my hands.
“But to make french fries… we need to dig up potatoes first, and Dad has other crops to check today… maybe we skip it today?”
Ellis’s face starts to darken at that.
Oil-heavy fritters are an even rarer treat than meat.
“Don’t worry! I’ll dig up the potatoes, Ellis! So tonight, french fries!”
“Veggie fritters are tasty too.”
“Yeah yeah!”
“Wanna fry up some squash for old times’ sake?”
“S-squash is tasty too!”
“Hmm… chicken would be nice for some fried chicken…….”
“Ch-chicken… too?”
Thanks to my early education, Ellis—who grasped the greatness of chicken at a young age—looks at me with the eyes of a devotee begging divine mercy.
“But for that, I need someone to help Dad?”
“Me! Me! Me!”
Seeing Ellis raise her hand ready to charge over, I flash a victor’s smile.
-How’s that? That’s how you negotiate.
-Unfair! Fritters! And fried chicken too!
-Who brought up meat first?
-Back mountain animals are just rabbit roast anyway. You can’t beat fried chicken!
-Of course not. Chicken is supreme.
Trying to compete with the Chicken God using some stinky wild rabbit.
I lightly ignore Ar’s glare and start clearing the finished plates.
“Alright, Dad’ll clean the table, so Ellis, go change and get ready.”
“Okay.”
She scurries up to her room on quick little legs, patter patter.
“Can I at least watch?”
“You gonna kill all the crops again?”
“Uh, last time wasn’t on purpose!”
“You just tripped, and the corn almost got wiped out.”
“The ground wasn’t worthy of this goddess’s blessing yet. Grow harder and harder waaah!”
“What mouth says that? Huh? How many corn died then! Apologize! To the corn that died without entering our bellies because of you!”
“S-sorrrryyy!”
Pulling her lips, she starts apologizing.
Her elasticity is still top-notch.
“As punishment, go dig tunnels in the basement!”
“No, not even that!”
Too much?
“Hmph, Lately, my owner’s been neglecting me too much! You’ll only realize my value when some princess big sis types chase after us again!”
“Don’t say such scary things.”
Farming’s finally stabilizing for real now.
Unlike the potatoes and corn that succeeded from year one, plus a few veggies, even the wheat we failed at before is on track to success with the villagers’ help—and now a princess shows up!
What’s the point of all this hard farming through trials if not to taste the joy of harvest!
“Hmph. Receive this goddess’s curse! Your fields will burn to ash later!”
“Don’t say such awful things……. And if they do, your meals burn too!”
“Eek! That won’t do!”
I leave Ar agonizing over revenge against me and Ellis for not playing vs. her own meals, and as I finish morning dishes, Ellis comes down the stairs, perfectly transformed into a little farmer.
“Dad, ready!”
“Hm, perfect.”
Straw hat to block the sun, sturdy farmer’s clothes you’d spot as such from afar.
And as the finishing touch, a pure white towel around her neck!
“Yeah, perfect!”
Grinning ear to ear, Ellis isn’t some ordinary twelve-year-old girl anymore—she’s a perfect budding farmer entering her third-year season.
“Gear?”
“Ready!”
She raises her twig-like hand, revealing a basket with a small trowel and such.
“Good. War prep is perfectly complete.”
“Yessir, commander!”
Snap! I smile at Ellis’s cute, clumsy salute with her left hand.
“Today’s weather!”
“Sun shining bright! Perfect for farming!”
“Good. Today’s war objective!”
“Potatoes first, then veggies! Secure ingredients for tonight’s fritters!”
“Right. If we finish quick, we’ll hit the market for a chicken.”
“Yessir! I’ll do my best!”
Good, full of spirit.
“Then, march!”
“March!”
“Bye~”
With Ar’s half-hearted send-off, we head to the fields greeted by cheerful morning sun.
Four years since fleeing Yuglasia.
We’ve become proper farmers.