(TLC-HelloMojo: This chapter had a few logical inconsistencies and continuity holes, editing was done to try to fill those gaps to preserve the intent of the author as much as possible, but some are just too large that I left them as written by the author. So if something is or looks disjointed that is exactly how it is written unfortunately. There are always open spots for editors and proofreaders especially those who feel confident in their english skill.)
(Other NOTE from HelloMojo: This particular chapter has been checked word for word(letter by letter in some cases) with the japanese raw and isn’t really a MTL in the truest sense. Additionally an effort to convert it from WN draft to novel form with the even more scrutiny in the editing and localization. Let me know what you think of this level of quality whether you want it to continue, does take longer though. http://goo.gl/Uh1sX1 )
A few days had passed after the battle.
The day after the battle, I had decided on the suitable ransoms for the nobles I had captured, and then had them handwrite the letter to their households themselves. They used their own paper from their own luggage. I then delivered those letters along with one I had written all the way to their base. By myself, I can reach the base of those guys in a day.
In order to demonstrate my resolve, I made an example of the lowest ranking noble, it turned out to be fruitless. Delivering the letters along with using the miserable corpse as a practical measure, was the clear choice for total enemy persuasion. 1
There is the 2nd son of an Earl of the Empire, and the Eldest son of a Viscount, it seems likely to expect income from these VIPs. There is not enough foreign currency in the village.
Still, there was no answer, I said 2 weeks as the deadline, it’s about time the empire should make a move. If they ignore it, should I kill a low ranking noble for them(empire) to identify? Or maybe the Earl’s 2nd son’s finger would be better.
Ya… I think letting them identify the Earl’s 2nd son’s finger is better. If I do that maybe they will realize how serious I am…
Today, Lucie and I went to the glass house on the outskirt of the village. The potatoes that both of us carefully nursed, were still safely growing. We were relieved that there were no large outbreaks of pests and diseases, and that they were well and growing rapidly.
The “liberated” grain from the empire in addition to this year’s hunting increase with the help of the crossbow, gave the village a small surplus. One wild boar weighing 100 kg, has about 60 kg of edible parts. The increase in successful hunting has a big meaning to the village.
I prepared for winter without potatoes in mind, leaving them as a “what if” provision if something were to happen.
[TL:1 kg = 2.20462 pounds]
“Lucie, Thank you. If Lucie was not here, I wouldn’t have made it this far, you know.”
It was not just flattery, I seriously said so. No matter what, magic can’t be used to simply remove weeds and bugs when they appear. Every day, they must be carefully removed by hand.
Since there was only a limited number of potato seeds, 3 ridges of potatoes in the field were not planted, even so it was beyond me to do it alone. Lucie would give help to me even though she was busy with other work.
“Well, since Syril was doing his best I thought I should too. And well anyway, potatoes are delicious and was thinking about how I want to eat them again.”
Lucie said slightly jokingly. But, I am sure she is just hiding her embarrassment. That girl, she sincerely wants to do whatever she can for the village even if it’s just a little is what I think. And, she is the kind of person to carry it out.
I would think its natural for some people, in reality, there are few people who can do it.
“I like those sort of humble things about Lucie, the Lucie that does not praise herself, well i’ll give Lucie praise. Great, Great.”
I stroke Lucie’s head, and Lucie blushes while her cheeks swell. I’d say it was Half joy, Half embarrassment.
“Again, treating me like a child. I want you to kinda stop.”
“Sorry, Sorry, but I just like the sensation of Lucie’s hair, That I just… it’s so gentle, so smooth… It feels really good.”
“Syril, Is it fun?”
“Yes, very much”
“then, I’ll forgive you.”
Saying that, I lean in with a little more weight. In this way, my hardened heart is healed.
Welp, today let’s do our best at work.
“Even if it’s a potato, we can harvest them since the stalks turned yellow, somehow we made it in time.”
Watching the movement of the wind, looks like in less than 2 weeks snow will fall. It will be hopeless to harvest at that time.
“Are we harvesting it now?”
“Yep, since harvesting needs quite a lot of people, tomorrow let’s gather everyone. Things will be disappointing unless we make it this far. Once everyone harvests it all in one go, should we have a Potato festival? We can showcase the world’s best way of eating the potato!”
“Best in the world’s…? I really look forward to it!”
“Aaaa, Give me hope! My favorite food!”
At any rate, this will be the most potatoes ever used for consumption on earth. It should be the most delicious in the world, right?
“But, the problem is unless we use a lot of salt it won’t be delicious.”
“Salt is very important! Would it be difficult if the village used a lot of salt for cooking?”
“In the near future, I will be going to the Fire Fox village you know. Because they control rock salt producing land, if things go well it would solve the salt issue. I have deer and bear pelts for exchange along with already made winter clothes, I think they will happily comply.”
About field work, the neighborhood wife and elderly who lack the physical strength gather the girls and hold open workshops, patiently teaching sewing and needlework. Thanks to that, non-consumable items were made in the village, winter-essentials like coats and blankets.
Similar things were made in the village, but the way it was made was very crude, the appearance and the functionality were bad, guidance was needed…… Thanks to that happening, the neighbor-hood wife allowed them to ask for advice on sewing related things.2
The heavy winter clothing can be sold at a high price at the commercial city of Ellis of the Korine Kingdom where many races live together in the east; they can also be used for trade with the Fire foxes.
Since our village can’t be self-sufficient, a way to acquire foreign currency is needed as part of these efforts. In addition, to making a real speciality of this village, other preparations are being made as well.
“Is it really the only reason to go to Fire Fox village?”
For some reason, I caught Lucie raising a protest. Is she worried about something?
“A reason, huh…. Well there is another reason. Before the empire subdued our village we had a friendly relationship with them. Even with the Empire strongly aiming for fire magic stones; they are still putting up stiff resistance against the empire’s control. I would like to propose a war alliance with them.”
The Fire Foxes, as their name suggests are a race that fight using fire magic. Unlike wind magic, they have direct offensive power that is overwhelming; even while being a minority, they are fighting the empire on equal terms.
In this World, only races that have affinity attributes over 90 points harbor stones. Only 4 races have been confirmed to fulfill those pre-requisites. Being the case, it was only a matter of time until the Empire would target those races.
Elf → Magic Stone of Wind *Was ruled by the Empire
Fire Fox → Magic Stone of Fire *Able to oppose the Empire
Gnomes → Magic Stone of Earth *The Empire can’t interfere because they live Underground. Sometimes Gnomes that appear above ground are kidnapped.
Water Sprite → Magic Stone of Water *The same issue as Gnomes but they live in water instead.
The Empire aiming for magic stones, is for catalysts for humans to use powerful attribute magic. A good point for humans is having an affinity of 40 points, using a magic stone catalyst raises it 20-30 points. Reaching 50 or above is about the line when practical attribute magic becomes usable.
Conversely, it can be said that a human’s forte is that they can use all attributes of magic, even if they have to prepare a catalyst to do so. Any other race, are unable to enhance themselves using a catalyst; the fault of the strong interference from too much love from their specific mana.
“Since the Empire also persistently targets the Fire Foxes, this will give them something positive to think about. If we don’t quickly choose to form an alliance, the battle will be lost someday if Elves and Fire Foxes fight separately.”
Particularly in recent years, because of the large quantity of lumber needed to make iron, the surroundings around the empire as well as the hills became barren of trees; in order to reduce the consumption of trees, there were discussions about the forces needed to secure the fire magic stones.
“Syril your thinking about it a lot, but really, it’s not because your Kuu’s fiance, right…..?”
What came out of Lucie’s mouth wasn’t really funny. Kuu was a common friend for the both of us. Although she is a fire fox girl, during the time when the villages were on good terms, my father who was then the village chief brought me along to visit the firefox village quite frequently, so there were often opportunities to meet her.
“That was dad and Kuu’s dad talking about our suitability at the bar! Nobody was serious! It’s ok, my number one is Lucie, you know.”
“But, Kuu is cute and all.”
“I think that Lucie is cuter!”
I speak to Lucie while giving a wry smile.
Kuu is the daughter of Fire fox village chief, it was this kind of story.
In this world, when children are born between races, the child would be the same race as the mother. For that reason, for the ethnic minorities to avoid too much inbreeding, there was a custom to take in an excellent male from a different race.
I often went together with my father to the Fire Fox village to exchange wild boar meat that we hunted for rock salt. The village chief took a liking to me and decided that I would be suitable for his daughter, Kuu.
On my father’s side, he noticed that his little brother wanted to take the position of being the next village chief no matter what, and was thinking I would be happier if I went to Fire Fox village. At the time, Kuu and I were still very young; I wouldn’t say I loved her, I thought of her more as a friend.
“You mean Kuu, I was 9 years old you know? I already forgot about that time when our parents selfishly decided I was to be her fiance, also we haven’t met in over 5 years.”
“But, like earlier how I feel about Syril… Kuu is bound to become same you know!”
What Lucie casually said could have been taken as an answer to my confession. But, since there was no solution to the Empire problem.
I didn’t want to dwell on something childish, so I changed topics.
“You worry too much, anyway about the potatoes. Full-scale harvesting is tomorrow, but shall we test harvest one just to see?”
As I said so, I grab the stem of a potato nearby and pull it out from the soil.
After a moment, Lucie lightly smiles and focuses her attention on the potato.Since we are childhood friends, it is easy to guess what she is feeling.
“Wow, thats a lot of fruit. From such a small cut of potato, for it to become like this…!”
Lucie raises her voice in admiration.
The stem that I pulled out has 11 potatoes on it. The weight of each potato was a good 150 ~ 300 grams.
[TL: 1 grams = 0.00220462 pounds]
“Yup, it’s a good harvest. The other stems are thick and looks good, I think they will have around this many potatoes as well.”
The soil quality in this area is quite good, in addition the fertilizer I decided to use was perfect. From one potato seed, a bud or two will appear. Even though there was a reduction in thin stalks, there was still approximately 500 stalks left.
If my calculation is right, there is about 9 potatoes with 200 grams each on one stem. We can estimate the harvest being around 900 kg of potatoes. I am impressed by the fact it was a far cry from the 40 kgs from earlier harvests.
As for next year potato seeds, we can plant all seven ridges in the glasshouse, and secure about 100 kg; If I calculate it, that would be about 4 kg that can be distributed to each person. I am relieved that there is that much surplus food.
“Chief Syril! its terrible! that, its terrible please come!”
And just like that while I was feeling a sense of relief, an Elf girl that was one year younger than I with an ordinary face from the village came rushing up to me. It couldn’t be an ordinary matter when she is this panicked.
“It can’t be..!? Did the Empire come to attack us!?”
I get a little impatient.
I thought they couldn’t attack now because they are still busy compensating for the loss of soldiers, and the timing would be bad since it will snow in two weeks. Although I have several people monitoring the empire in shifts, I have not received any such report that I needed to be worried about so far.
“No, It’s not. That, People from the Fire Fox village came.”
I release my tension.
Here I was thinking of how I wanted to go to Fire Fox village, I am thankful they they came here instead.
“So it’s only that? I thought it was something else with the way you were rushing here. I will return to the village soon. Treat them politely and lead them to my hou…. village chief’s house.”
Even now I still am living in the same house that I have always lived in with Lucie. Compared to that house, the area surrounding the village chief’s house was more extravagant, and it belonged to me.
I intended to move there together with Lucie just the two of us, But she couldn’t let go of that house that was full of memories. So the house of the village chief was used to receive the visitors.
“That is impossible.”
However, Kona shakes her head.
“Why is it Impossible? Is there a reason why they can’t proceed to the village chief’s house?”
“That is.. that.. Because they can’t enter.”
“Can’t enter? What are you saying?”
Hearing my question, Kona begins to tear up.
“Kona, Calm Down, Take a breath. Look, there is no way Syril will get angry, so please just say it.”
Lucie gives a helping hand.
Apparently, I seem to be pressuring it too much.
“Su… Ha… , Su… Ha… [Breath in and out sound] yes, I have calmed down, ummm… There are too many Fire Foxes that came that they can’t fit inside the village chief’s house.”
“Can’t fit? In that house there should be enough room for 20 people.”
“It is 53 people.”
“Wha…?”
I ask again unconsciously because that is too much people.
“53 Fire fox women came to the village, they came saying “Please save us”.”
Kona said so while her face is red because of the excitement.
There are 50 women that want help.
By the looks of it, that was a rough estimation.
“I see, I understand I will go back soon. Lucie, Kona, the two of you can take your time returning to village, I need to go ahead and rush back to the village.”
It’s going to be bad.
I start running full speed toward the village, praying that those guys(villagers) in the village are reasonable.
(tl: sorta a spoiler but this sentence makes more sense in the next chapter unfortunately…)
Footnote
1 TLC-HelloMojo: The paragraph here looks like incomplete ideas that the author tried to implement and did not finish/polish to keep with story logic continuity. Please take it as it.
(TLC: http://tinyurl.com/oc3kg8m This would be an appropriate example to show what Syril is kinda doing..)
2 (TLC-HelloMojo: WNs are drafts, the author seems to have intended to merge the paragraph above into this one, the …… appears to be a place-holder or marker. The Author probably forgot or never got around to it. Since there is no way of knowing which one or how the author intended to merge it, the sentences were left as written by the author and not edited to best preserve the author’s intentions this time around.)
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