Chapter 8

"Kazura-sama, is this thickness of the board okay?"

"Yes, that should be enough. By the way, why do you keep using the honorific 'sama'?"

The day after placing the order for the water wheel.

Amid the sound of saws cutting wood and villagers calling out to each other as they cut down trees, Ichiro was giving instructions to the villagers while manufacturing wooden boards for the water channel that would be used to channel water through the water wheel.

This was at the entrance of a forest on the outskirts of the village, where several felled trees were waiting to be processed next to where Ichiro and the others were working.

"I understand. Then we need 60 more boards of this thickness."

The young man from the village, after confirming the thickness of the board with Ichiro, resumed his work with a serious expression.

Ichiro, muttering "Damn, completely ignored in the second half," gave instructions to another villager who had come with a new question.

"Kazura-sama, is this thickness and length of the pillar okay?"

"Ah, the thickness is fine, but it's a bit too long, so cut it to this line. And please stop using the honorific 'sama.'"

"I see, this length. I'll let everyone know."

The villager measured the pillar with a tape measure, drew a line with an oil-based marker, and dragged the pillar back to his post.

"Hey? Is this bullying? Bullying?"

"Kazura-san, I've brought the lunch preparations... Is something wrong?"

While Ichiro was muttering "Damn, damn" and reviewing the design of the water channel he had drawn on an A4 notebook, Valletta and a few young village girls arrived with a cart carrying pots of porridge and cans of side dishes that Ichiro had brought.

"... Everyone in the village calls me with the honorific 'sama.' Can you do something about it?"

"Ah... Everyone is grateful and respects you. Please let us call you that."

"Uh..."

Ichiro, who was not used to being called with the highest level of respect, made a clearly displeased face, but Valletta said,

"Well, well, it's fine, isn't it? Anyway, since lunch is ready, why don't we take a break?"

And she deflected the issue.

Well, being respected was not a bad thing, even if he wasn't used to it, so he decided to try not to mind being called with the honorific 'sama.'

"Right, it's already that time. I understand, let's take a break... Everyone, lunch is ready, so please gather for a meal! We'll continue after lunch!"

When Ichiro called out to the villagers, responses of acknowledgment came from all around.

A few villagers were still working to reach a good stopping point, but there shouldn't be any problem.

"Please wash your hands and wait. I'll bring the porridge over."

Valletta placed a bucket of water in front of Ichiro and ladled porridge from a pot on the cart into a bowl.

The other women were also carrying buckets of water for hand washing, and handing out wooden trays with bowls of porridge, cans of side dishes, and wooden cups of water to the gathered villagers.

"Here, sorry for the wait. I'll go distribute to the others now."

"Ah, Valletta! We can handle this, so you go ahead and eat with Kazura-sama!"

One of the girls who was distributing food to the villagers called out to Valletta, who was about to return to the cart to distribute more food.

"But...,"

While glancing at Ichiro, Valletta, who was a bit confused, was told "It's fine, fine, leave the rest to us" and handed the tray of food, and the girl quickly returned to her work.

"Um, is it okay if I sit next to you?"

With a slight smile, Ichiro offered the seat next to him to Valletta, who had returned with the tray of food.

For Ichiro, who had not had much casual conversation with the villagers other than Valletta and the village chief, it was a relief to have Valletta there.

It wasn't that Ichiro was shy, but the other villagers seemed to respect him to the extreme and felt somewhat reserved.

He felt that the situation had improved somewhat because he had taken the initiative to give instructions and talk to the villagers during this water channel construction work.

"How are the people who went to work in the fields? Are they using the tools you gave them well?"

"Yes, they are very popular. I tried them myself, and I was surprised at how easily the soil could be dug up."

The farming tools that Ichiro had bought in bulk from a home center were delivered to Valletta's house this morning using a cart, but since Ichiro had to manufacture parts for the water channel, he had entrusted the distribution of the tools to the village chief.

The village chief had said he would distribute them to the villagers immediately, and it seemed that the villagers were already using the tools to work in the fields.

By the way, last night, Ichiro was so tired that he stayed at a business hotel in town, had dinner at a restaurant, and then slept soundly.

"Good, I'm glad they are happy with them."

While saying this, Ichiro opened the pull-tab lid of a can labeled "Saury with sweet soy sauce," and a delicious aroma wafted out.

He had chosen this can of side dish because it was something that would be well-received by everyone and because it was one of his favorites.

He had told them to warm it up with hot water, and it seemed they had done so, as the can was nicely warm.

"Wow, it smells great. It looks really delicious."

Next to him, Valletta opened her can and smiled at the smell.

From around them, voices like "It smells good" and "This is delicious!" could be heard.

"This is a dish called saury with sweet soy sauce. It's quite delicious."

"It's fish? We sometimes eat fish caught from the river, but we've never prepared it like this."

The river she was referring to was probably the one they had seen yesterday.

Ichiro was curious about how they caught fish in this world, so he decided to ask.

"By the way, when you catch fish from the river, do you use fishing rods?"

"Sometimes, but it takes a lot of time and doesn't yield much. So, we often pick up fish that are left behind in puddles formed after floods and cook them by grilling or boiling."

"I see, that's efficient."

While they were having this conversation and enjoying their meal, several villagers came to the cart for seconds of porridge.

The villagers who came always thanked Ichiro, who was standing by the cart, before getting their seconds of porridge.

"Well, let's call it a day for today. We'll continue tomorrow."

The sun, which had been overhead, had now descended to the top of the distant mountains, and the sky was tinged with the colors of sunset.

It would be completely dark in about two hours, so they decided to end the day's work.

When Ichiro called out to end the work, the villagers immediately responded with acknowledgment.

Ichiro and Valletta thought about helping to clean up the saws and other tools, such as the bronze chisels and wooden hammers that the village already had, but they were told,

"We'll take care of the cleanup, so please go home and rest, Kazura-sama and Valletta-san."

Ichiro felt a bit guilty, but since working with Ichiro would make Valletta work without limit, he decided to gratefully go home.

"I'll take you up on that, then."

"Ah, yes. Let's go home, then."

Ichiro and Valletta thanked the villagers who were cleaning up and decided to return to the house.

As they were leaving, Ichiro thought he saw a few villagers joining their hands in prayer toward him, but he decided it was just an optical illusion.

On the way back to the house, Ichiro and Valletta walked leisurely while talking about the village's fish dishes and the crops they had been growing.

Looking at Valletta's side profile as she talked enthusiastically about the village, he noticed that her cheeks, which had been sunken, and her body, which had been emaciated, had become a bit plumper. It seemed that her nutritional status had improved significantly over the past four days.

Perhaps the biggest factor was that she was no longer under the mental strain she had been experiencing.

(However, can someone recover this much in such a short period?)

Ichiro didn't know exactly how quickly a person in a state of starvation could recover, but perhaps the cells in her body, which had been in such a harsh state of starvation, were catching and absorbing all the nutrients that came in.

He didn't understand how dozens of half-dead people had been revived with Lipod, but there was no point in thinking about it too much.

While thinking about these things and looking at Valletta's side profile,

"Ah, Kazura-san, is something wrong?"

Valletta stopped, her face slightly red, and looked up at Ichiro with a shy expression.

He had been staring at her a bit too long.

"Ah, no... I'm just glad that you're feeling better, Valletta."

Valletta, who had a puzzled look on her face for a moment, then said,

"Yes, it's all thanks to you, Kazura-san."

And she turned to Ichiro with a radiant smile.

Seeing her innocent smile, Ichiro blushed this time, but more than the embarrassment, he was happy to see the smile of happiness on her face, which warmed his heart.