Chapter 23

It was the afternoon of the day when the abnormal growth of the yams was confirmed.

Under the scorching summer sun, Ichiro dug a hole alone with a shovel, sweat dripping from his forehead.

This was right next to the stone-paved path leading to Japan, and the hole he was digging was to bury the skeleton that had collapsed on the path.

Since coming to this world, Ichiro had not had the time to bury the skeleton, but with the water wheel project progressing faster than expected, he now had the time to do so.

During his absence, the villager who had led the work continued to oversee the production of the parts.

"Is this deep enough? Ah, my back hurts..."

When Ichiro had dug a hole large enough for a person to lie down, he stuck the shovel into the ground and stretched.

Recently, carrying heavy loads for long periods and loading and unloading large amounts of fertilizer and rice had made his back ache.

Thanks to the physical labor, his muscles had grown, and the occasional massage from Barretta had helped alleviate the pain, but digging a hole like this, which put a strain on his back, inevitably made it hurt.

Ichiro rubbed his back and sighed, then crawled out of the hole, which was as deep as a bathtub.

He steeled himself and walked to where the skeleton had collapsed, but the bones were scattered in pieces, and he would have to carry each one individually.

Moreover, he had not brought any gloves, so he would have to pick up the bones with his bare hands.

"Well, bare hands will do."

He had thought about bringing a plastic sheet and gloves to gather the bones, but it felt like it would bring bad luck, so he decided to carry them with his bare hands.

Even if the police found this place, the bones would likely be considered very old due to their state of deterioration, so he would not be arrested, even if questioned.

Moreover, since the place had not been seen by anyone for a long time, there was no need to worry about the police finding it.

Thus, at first, Ichiro was hesitant about touching the bones with his bare hands, but as he continued the work, he gradually got used to it and ended up carrying various sizes of bones in both arms.

After transporting all the bones to the hole, he arranged them to form the shape of a lying person.

Since he was not particularly knowledgeable about bones, some bones were placed in impossible positions, but he did not notice.

After arranging all the bones, he covered them with the tattered kimono the corpse had been wearing and carefully buried them with soil using the shovel.

"That's it. I'll bring some incense and sake on my way back, so please wait."

Ichiro said this, bowed in front of the newly made grave, and headed towards the path leading to Japan.

"Lemongrass, rosehips, orange peel... Should I buy hibiscus too? I'll also get some pre-blended ones."

Back in Japan, Ichiro went to a small, privately-owned herb shop on the outskirts of town.

He had come here simply because it was close after checking on his phone, but the wooden, old-style shop had a good atmosphere, and the acrylic jars filled with herbs displayed in the limited space matched the shop's ambiance very well.

Moreover, the view from the open windows was refreshing due to the many green trees, and the occasional breeze was very pleasant.

The shop also sold herbs they had grown themselves, and the cold hibiscus blend tea he was allowed to taste was very refreshing and delicious.

In addition to herbs, the shop sold small bottles of essential oils, glass pots, and books about herbs, offering a wide variety of items.

Ichiro himself liked herbal tea and used to buy and blend them himself before fleeing to the mansion in Gunma, so he was happy to find such a shop.

"Excuse me, I'd like to get a few single herbs. Can you divide them for me?"

Ichiro returned the tasting cup to the counter and spoke to the young female clerk with long black hair who had served him the herbal tea earlier.

Since there were no other clerks in sight, she might be the owner.

"Yes, which ones would you like to divide?"

"Um, lemongrass, rosehips, and..."

Ichiro added a few more herbs to the ones he had already chosen, and the woman divided 30 grams of each.

The price was a bit high, averaging around 600 yen for 30 grams of herbs, but it was a specialty shop.

While paying at the register, Ichiro noticed bags of herb seeds on display.

"Hmm, seeds... Do you sell herb seedlings?"

When Ichiro asked, the woman looked apologetic.

"I'm sorry, we don't sell seedlings. We do have seeds, though..."

She pulled out a few bags of herb seeds from the display and lined them up on the counter. Each bag was priced at 200 yen.

"Hmm, seeds. What should I do..."

Ichiro had come to buy herbs to drink herbal tea with Barretta, but he decided to use this opportunity to conduct some experiments with herbs.

If he brought herb seedlings to the other world and planted them in pots, giving them fertilizer, and they grew rapidly like the yams in Grisea Village, he could conclude that something dramatic was happening to the items he brought from Japan.

Conversely, if there were no changes, he could conclude that the cause was in the plants or people of the other world.

Since the miraculous effects of Lipod and rice did not affect Ichiro, the cause was likely in the people of the other world.

Ichiro himself had not gained any special powers since coming to the other world, so this hypothesis seemed correct.

If his body had changed to a reverse cheat state where he could not benefit from anything, it would be impossible to determine the cause without drinking poison, which he did not want to do.

Even if he brought seeds and grew them in the other world, it would be more convenient to see the growth changes immediately with seedlings.

However, he could not ask for something that was not for sale, so he decided to buy the seeds.

"Well, it's fine. Can I get one of each of the seeds here? And one of these glass pots and a book, please."

"Thank you. By the way, you can also find herb seedlings at a home center. They are cheaper and have a wider variety of seeds."

The woman stopped gathering the seeds and recalled this as if it had just occurred to her.

Ichiro thought that mentioning this might ruin a good sales opportunity, but from her expression, it seemed she was being genuine.

"Okay, I'll buy the seeds. I'll get the seedlings at a home center."

"Thank you. This is a memo I wrote about how to grow herbs. Please feel free to use it."

The woman smiled happily and put copies of the memo, which included illustrations of how to grow each herb, into the paper bag along with the seeds.

The memo was entirely handwritten, including the illustrations.

With that, Ichiro bought the pot and herb seeds and headed to the usual home center to buy herb seedlings and other daily necessities.

Upon arriving at the home center he often visited, Ichiro immediately went to the gardening section.

The gardening section had a wide variety of seedlings, including flowers and fruits, and the herb seedlings he was looking for were also available.

While Ichiro was browsing the herb seedlings, one of the clerks, who had a name tag that read "Manager," came running over.

"Mr. Shino, what do you need today?"

"Huh? I was thinking of getting a few herb seedlings..."

Ichiro was a bit surprised to be called by name, but he had bought a lot of farming tools and fertilizer before, so the manager must have remembered him.

Since he did not plan to buy a lot today, he did not want to be expected to do so.

"Herbs, huh? We only have the ones on display today, but if you need more, we can order a large quantity for you by tomorrow."

"No, I don't need that many. Two or three pots will be enough."

When Ichiro said this, the manager looked a bit disappointed but quickly recovered and started explaining the herb seedlings on display.

Since Ichiro had only drunk herbal tea and never grown herbs before, he asked the manager about which herbs were easy to grow while being introduced to the seedlings.

After listening to the explanations, he decided to buy peppermint and lemongrass seedlings, which were hardy and propagated easily.

He also bought a few pots for planting the seeds and several bags of herb soil.

Next, he bought incense and sake to offer at the grave.

While incense was available at the home center, it did not sell sake, so he moved to the supermarket where he had previously bought a large amount of rice.

He went to the alcohol section and put two bottles of a well-known, easy-to-drink sake into his cart.

He put two bottles in the cart because he thought he would try one as a gift for the village chief.

He had not seen any alcohol in the other world, but it must exist.

If the consumption of alcohol caused any problems, it would be troublesome, so he decided to bring only one bottle.

If there were no people who drank alcohol, he could offer both bottles at the grave.

He put the incense in the cart and was about to pay when he noticed the medicine section.

During his conversation with the villagers earlier, he had thought about medicine.

If medicine also had miraculous effects like Lipod, it would be useful to have some on hand.

He would have to be careful with the dosage, but it would not hurt to have it.

He decided to check with someone who was sick before trying it and put various cold medicines and Chinese herbal medicines into his cart.

He also added three white teacups, some ointment for wounds, bandages, and gauze to his cart and headed to the register to pay.

By the time the sky was dyed a beautiful sunset color, Ichiro had finished all his shopping and returned to the mansion in the mountains, carrying the shopping bags in both hands.

He crossed the threshold to the other world as usual and walked through the stone-paved path to the newly made grave.

He opened the sake and poured a little on the grave, then burned incense and bowed.

"I'm sorry there's no gravestone, but please bear with it for now. I'll bring something next time... I should have bought some flowers. I'm sorry."

After bowing to the mound of earth, Ichiro started walking towards the village through the mixed forest.

As he followed the usual path marked by trees, a small figure appeared in the shadows behind him.

The figure, after confirming that Ichiro was out of sight, stepped out of the shadows and tilted its head, looking at the mixed forest.

"That's strange, I'm sure Kazura-sama came out from here..."

Kolts, who had followed Ichiro into the mixed forest earlier, was puzzled.

After Ichiro entered the forest around noon, Kolts had decided to follow him and entered the forest alone.

However, despite following Ichiro closely, Ichiro had suddenly disappeared.

When he continued walking through the forest, he found himself back at his village, which was very confusing.