「Kazura-sama, is this board's
thickness okay?」(Villager)
「Let me see, I think it is about
right. Also, why do you guys keep calling me with ‘-sama’?」(Kazura)
It has been one day since Kazura had ordered the watermill for the village.
Amidst the sound of saws cutting down trees, and the chattering of the many
villager, Kazura could be heard directing the group of villagers in the
construction of an aqueduct from wooden board that will channel the water pumped
by the waterwheel.
Near the forest’s entrance, in the outskirt of the village, Kazura and the
villagers work at cutting the trees that they had felled.
「I understand. We will make
sure the next 60 boards will have the same thickness as this one.」(Vilagers)
The young men of the village are confirming that the board thickness for
the aqueduct was correct with Kazura. Once Kazura gave his permission, they became
immersed in their work with serious expression on their face.
Even if Kazura was worried 「Can they really make them the same?」, he still gives answers to villagers who ask him questions.
「Kazura-sama, is this support beam's
thickness and length fine?」(Villager)
「Hmm… the thickness is fine, but
the length is a bit too long. Please make it about this long. Also, please stop
adding ‘–sama’ to my name.」(Kazura)
「I understand. So it will be this
long. I will tell the others.」(Villager)
The villager then dragged away the support pillar that had been marked with
permanent marker after Kazura measured it with a tape measure. Then that same
villager came back only a moment later while dragging the support beam behind
him.
「Eh? What is this? Bullying?
This is bullying right?」(Kazura)
「Kazura-san, I want to tell you
that a lunch had been prepared… Is something wrong?」(Villager)
Kazura was grumbling while reviewing the waterwheel’s blueprint he had drawn
on the A4-sized notebook when Valetta and several village girls arrived with the
newly cooked porridge in several pots on the cart.
「Everyone in the village
addresses me with ‘–sama’ honorifics. Could you please tell them to stop?.」(Kazura)
「Ahh…… Everybody wants to show their
gratitude to Kazura-san, since they held Kazura-san in high regards. Please
humbly receive their gratitude if you can.」(Valetta)
「Eeh…」(Kazura)
Not accustomed being addressed with honorifics, Kazura showed a noticeable uneasy
expression.
So, Valetta said to him.
「Well, isn’t it fine? Leaving
that aside, it’s time to eat. Can you take a break from your work?」(Valetta)
Well, being addressed with honorifics is not something so terrible. So he
decide to net the matter about being addressed with ‘–sama’ honorifics bother
him.
「I see, is it already that time?
Alright, let’s take a break …… Everyone! The food has arrived, so please come and eat your share! We will
continue working after we eat.」(Kazura)
Kazura called to the villagers, and they raised their voices in acknowledgement.
This is a good time to stop, also several of the villagers are watching the
workplace, so there won’t be any problems.
「Please wash your hand using
this. I will bring out the porridge in just a moment.」(Valetta)
Valetta put a water bucket in front of Kazura. Then she scooped the
porridge from one of the pots in the cart into a bowl.
The other girls are also carrying buckets around and distributing bowls of
porridge and cups of water from the wooden tray to the gathered villagers.
「Yes, sorry for the wait. Now
then, please distribute it to the others.」(Valetta)
「Ah, Valetta! Leave this place
to us. You just go and eat together with Kazura-sama!」(Girl)
While distributing food to the queuing villagers, a girl had said this to Valetta
who was standing behind the cart.
「Eh? But….」(Valetta)
Valetta stole a glance towards Kazura’s direction and became perplexed.
The food for Kazura had already been placed on a tray, ready to be
delivered.
「It’s okay, it’s okay. Leave this
place to me.」(Girl)
The girl handed the tray with the porridge over to Valetta, before going
back to her own work.
「Errr… May I sit beside you?」(Valetta)
Valetta asked with a small smile, already putting down the tray she
carried.
「Sure, be my guest.」(Kazura)
Therefore, she sat beside Kazura.
For Kazura, except for Valetta and the village chief, he rarely engages in persnal
conversations with the villagers. So, when Valetta came over, his mind felt
more at ease.
Kazura isn’t shy or afraid of strangers, but because the villagers always
show respect to Kazura, he has some difficulty interacting with them on
personal level.
Now that they are building the aqueduct together, Kazura can actively give
instructions and participates in work-related conversations. Thanks to all of
this, his mental condition had somewhat improved.
「What about the people who work
in the fields? Are the tools that I gave them useful?」(Kazura)
「Yes, it's easy to use and quite
popular. Even I was a little surprised when using it. I never imagined that it
could be that easy to dig up the earth like that.」(Valetta)
Kazura had bought a large amount of farming tools were bought at the HomeCenter,
and he had delivered them to Valetta’s house with cart this morning. Because
Kazura was busy with manufacturing parts for the aqueducts, the distribution of
the farming tools was left to the village chief.
By the way, because the village chief said that he would distribute it
immediately, the villagers were already using the new farming tools in the
fields.
As a side note, Kazura was very tired last night and after he had eaten his
dinner at a restaurant, he stayed at a business hotel and slept like a log for
the entire night.
「Uh-huh… I glad that it’s
useful.」(Kazura)
While saying this, Kazura ceremoniously pulled off the lid of a can that
had 「Broiled Mackerel」 written on the side. A pleasant, appetite stimulating scent is emanated
from the inside the can.
Canned food is a food that is universally accepted by people, but the
reason Kazura had chosen canned food over everything else was that it is his favorite
dish.
The food inside the can was able to be heated up by simply placing the can
in hot water. Perfectly performed, the food could uniformly heated.
「Wow… What a nice scent. It
looks delicious.」(Valetta)
Valetta also opens a can. She is smiling broadly because of the scent.
「The scent is nice」 or 「This is delicious!」, can be heard from the villagers
in their surroundings.
「This is a kind of fish that is
called Mackerel (Pacific Saury). it was cooked by broiling it in sauce. It’s quite tasty, you know.」(Kazura)
「This is fish? Although we
catch fish in the river and eat them sometimes, we never cook them like this.」(Valetta)
The river where they caught the fishes, is it the same river that they went
to yesterday?
Even if this is a different world, did they also fish with fishhook, net,
and the likes? He became a little curious and decided to ask about it.
「Ano, when you go fishing at
the river, do you use fishing rod?」(Kazura)
「Though it also can be used for
fishing, it is too time-consuming. So, when the river stops flooding, it will
leave puddles of water inland. We catch the fishes that was trapped in the puddles
left when the water receded and cook them by roasting them over a fire.」(Valetta)
「Ah… I see. That way is more
efficient」(Kazura)
While the two are peacefully eating while conversing with each other, every
villager comes to the pullcart to ask for seconds of the porridge. While they
do that, they always send their gratitude to Kazura who is sitting beside the cart.
✦✧✦✧
「Now, shall we call an end for
today? We will continue tomorrow.」(Kazura)
The sun in the sky is already descending behind the faraway mountain peaks.
The lowering sun is dyeing the clear sky a luxurious and deep orange-red color.
The daylight will run out in about 2 hours, so today’s share of work is
done.
Listening to Kazura, who had called an end to the work, the villagers
acknowledged it one by one.
The tools that the villagers had used to work ── the saws, bronze cutters,
and wooden hammers ── belonged to the village, so it will be collected by
Kazura and Valetta to be stored away.
「Leave the collecting and
storing the tools to us. Kazura-sama and Valetta-san should be the ones who go
home first.」(Villager)
So the villagers said.
Although they were a bit reluctant, the pair of Kazura and Valetta had been
at work without rest, so they asked them to return early as a sign of
gratitude.
「Let’s take them up on their offer.」(Kazura)
「Ah, yes. Let’s go back then.」(Valetta)
Kazura and Valetta gave their thanks to the villagers who decided to tidy
up the tools, before walking back towards Valetta’s home.
Just after they started to walk, Kazura saw a glimpse of the villagers
clasped their hand together as if praying to him. However, Kazura dismissed it
as him just overthinking this.
✦✧✦✧
On the way back, Kazura listen to Valetta’s talking about the fish dishes
in the village, and about the crops that the village had produced up until now.
Kazura observed the appearance of Valetta who was happily talks about the
village. Her body, which had previously been only skin and bones, now become
filled with healthy layer of flesh. Her nutrition condition had markedly improved
in the last 4 days.
Maybe, the effect of being released from her previous depressed mental
condition is large.
「(However, is it normal in this
world for someone to recover so quickly?)」(Kazura)
He doesn’t really know in detail about how fast people recover from a state
of starvation. Maybe because they were in a state of starvation for a long
time, the cells in the body had hungrily absorbed all the entire nutrient that
it receives.
Though he really doesn’t understand how dozens of half-dead people can suddenly
be restored by Lipo-D. Since he doesn’t know the answer, so he just let it
slide for the moment.
He ponders about these things while looking at Valetta face.
「A, Ano Kazura-san, is
something wrong?」(Valetta)
Valetta stopped walking and with a blush appearing on her cheek, she looks
at Kazura with upturned eyes.
(TL: Just imagine “kininarimasu”-scene from Hyouka…)
It seems that he had been staring at Valetta for too long.
「N-No…… I just think that Valetta-san’s
complexion had become more healthy as of late.」(Kazura)
Valetta had a puzzled look for a moment after hearing Kazura words.
Then she replied,
「Yes. It’s all thanks to
Kazura-san.」(Valetta)
The blushing girl in front of him is showing him her smile that comes from
happiness in her heart.
To that beautiful smile, this time it was Kazura’s turn to blush. To be
able to see her smile like this, for some reason there is a sense of happiness slowly
spread across his chest.
☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽
