12-Field tilling group, go!

There were no streetlights in this world, so when the sunset, it became pitch dark. In my previous world, there were lights on even at night, so I was pretty afraid of the dark.

It took an hour to get home from town, but there was only one road. Plus, Brian was smart so even if I didn't do anything, I'd still get home. I was still a bit scared though, so I made sure to leave town before the sun began sinking.

I had fun today, but a lot of things happened. I got lost and had to walk around a lot. I was so exhausted that the shaking of the wagon drew a huge yawn out of me.

Beside me was the bag of rice I'd bought earlier. Once I got home, I was planning to read the survival book I hadn't opened since I'd come to this world.

I'd bought it for 50 yen at a second-hand shop having a garage sale. To be honest, I haven't really consulted it for anything.

After all, it didn't have anything that would be useful to me. All it had were things like 'how to secure water in a forest', or 'how to catch snakes'.

Since 'uncultivated land' was written on the pamphlet, I'd imagined something like the Amazon forest, but what I was led to was a rural community.

But maybe the book had something about how to hull and polish rice.

As I excitedly imagined cooking rice, I saw the teenager who'd won the onion eating contest in a farm field on the way home.

I was concerned about his expression, so I pulled Brian's reins and stopped the wagon.

Even though he'd been smiling when he won the prize money from the contest, he was now biting his lips and glaring at the soil.

Beside him was...maybe his younger brother? He looked about my height, so he was probably around ten years old.The boy was crouching and clutching at the ground, on the verge of crying.

As an adult, I couldn't just ignore a child crying. The people of this world cherished children, and as an inhabitant, I had to do my part, too. So I called out, "What's wrong?"

I got off my wagon and walked nearer. The eating contest winner turned around, looking surprised.

Then he suddenly looked disappointed. Why the heck?

He fired off, "Who are you? Whose kid are you? Don't just come inside someone else's farm on your own."

I was asked 'whose kid are you?' by a fifteen-year old boy. I kinda wanted to retort 'I'm older than you', but as the adult, I needed to be the mature one.

I said, "I saw your younger brother crying from my wagon." I met the eyes of the boy crouching on the ground. "Why are you crying?"

With his eyes filled with tears, he held out a hand, soil on his palm. "I planted some seeds, but they all wilted."

Aside from the soil, there was a seedling in his hand that looked like it had just started to sprout, but was all brown and withered in the middle.

The soil of their field was unlike mine, all dry and clumped up.

Looking closely, most of the plants scattered around the field looked the same as the one in the boy's hand, while the rest looked like it would only be a matter of time before they wilted, too.

"Are you tilling your field by yourselves? Where're your parents?" I asked.

The older one answered, "Our dad is a porter. He was supposed to come back two months ago, but he hasn't come home yet. Our mom works in town."

I'd heard that being a porter was a pretty dangerous job. They went through forests full of beasts, or traversed narrow roads with a cliff edge.

There were times when something happened, and they'd go missing.

The reason Norn was so shocked when Couge said he would close the restaurant and go back to being a porter was because of that.

It was a very important job of course, but obviously you'd be worried about your loved one taking on such a dangerous job.

He continued, "Dad will definitely come home. So until then, we have to protect Mom."

Their mother worked in town to support them. The two kids wanted to help out so they started planting some vegetables, but it didn't go well.

They'd watched other people to learn how to till, and tried sowing seeds in the field. They tried again and again, but they always failed.

I'm sure it was why he'd done his best in the onion eating contest today, too. He'd wanted to get the prize money to help his mom.

That thought made me want to help them out, anyway I could.

I asked them, "Where do you get water?"

"From that well."

The well was a bit of distance from the field. It'd probably been a little difficult for these kids to draw and carry water from the well to the field.

"Alright!" I rolled up my sleeves and took the fallen bucket from the ground. "If the land is this dry, even if the seeds sprout they'd wilt right away. You need to sprinkle some water. I'll help."

Ever since I came to this world, I've been helped by a lot of people. Like Norn and Couge, who'd teach me a lot of things, or Genett-san who'd taught me how to milk cows, or Krish-san who'd taken my hand and helped me find my way when I'd gotten lost.

I wanted to help someone, just like them.

"You're an expert at farming?" the older one asked.

"I'm not 'you', I'm Shinobu. I'm kind of a farmer. I just started, so I'm not an expert, but I know a few things. Since we're in the same boat, I want to help you. By the way, even though I look like this, I'm already eighteen years old and an adult. You can call me 'big brother'."

The brothers looked at each other, confused, as if they couldn't understand what I was saying. The younger one came nearer and held his hand out above our heads to compare our heights.

He asked, "You're an adult even though you're the same height as me?"

I replied, "It can't be helped, we're different races. I moved here from the other world."

"Oh, I've heard about you," The older one then said.

The younger one meanwhile exclaimed, "Wow!!"

The older brother was called Nott, while the younger was called Marco. Marco immediately grew attached to me and called me 'big brother', but Nott refused and cheekily called me by name.

His pride probably didn't allow him to call someone who was only as tall as his younger brother as 'big brother'.

After that, the three of us worked together to sprinkle water onto the earth. I'd talked boldly, but out of the three of us, I was the one who had the worst physical strength. I was exhausted quickly, but I at least helped successfully wet the soil.

At that time, the sun had already sunk quite a bit, so we decided to stop for the day and do the tilling tomorrow.

"I'll call someone who'll be a big help tomorrow. He's an expert at tilling earth, so look forward to it," I said.

I waved to the two of them as I left. By the time I arrived home, it was already completely dark out. I'd dozed off again on the ride home. Pochi licked my face to wake me up, but I was still really, really sleepy.

I fell into bed without even eating dinner and dropped off to a deep sleep.

~

I yawned as I stretched. "It's morning already."

Just like always, I was woken by the sunlight.

I didn't have any problems with waking up in the morning. I could immediately get up from bed as soon as I woke up.

After I did my usual tasks of watering the animals and handing the vegetables for Couge's restaurant to Genett-san, I prepared a boxed lunch.

Though I say 'boxed lunch', it was just a basketful of simple sandwiches and milk from Hanako and Hanayo that I put in bamboo flasks.

I was thinking of sharing these with Nott and Marco.

Also, I was going to bring some vegetables and smoked meat to give to them.

That way, their mother would have it a little easier, right?

"Hanako, Hanayo, Pyonkichi, my dear chickens and sheep, you're in charge of watching the place, alright? I'll be bringing Pochi with me, so you all will have to stay in the barn."

I brought in a lot of water and grass into the barn, then rubbed the heads of the animals one by one. I'd be closing the barn door since Pochi wouldn't be here to watch over them, but I was worried that they'd be too hot, so I should probably prop open the wooden window.

"Pochi, I'll be counting on you to till a lot today, okay?"

Since I was going to be working Pochi hard, I fed him a ton of meat.

I had to feed him a lot so he could stock up some strength.

"Alright! Field Tilling Group, go!"

I had Pochi ride in the wagon as I set off for Nott's farm. This was the first time I was going somewhere with Pochi, so I was worried about him not wearing a leash. Thankfully, he just quietly stayed where he was.

From time to time, his ears would prick up or his nose would twitch as he sniffed at the air. For the whole half an hour that the ride took, he looked like he was having fun.

But I was a bit worried about what his reaction to Nott and Marco will be.

It'll be fine, right? I can believe in you, Pochi, right?

"Nott, Marco, good morning!!"

By the time I arrived, the two of them were already waiting for me in the field.

When they saw Pochi, they jumped and backed away.

Well, I knew how they felt. Pochi was huge. I was scared too when I first saw him.

Nott stood in front of Marco as if to protect him. What a good older brother.

"Good boy, Pochi. Sit there while I introduce you to these two, okay?"

It seemed I didn't need to be worried. Just like when we first met, Pochi's tail wagged so hard it looked like it was about to fly off. He was completely friendly.

Strangely, he didn't have this reaction around adults. Maybe he liked kids.

The question of why exactly Pochi was friendly with me then crossed my mind, but I chose to ignore it.

"I brought Pochi as a member of the Field Tilling Group. He's really good at tilling. I know you're surprised because he's so big, but he's not scary at all."

I hugged Pochi as I beckoned the two of them forward. They slowly came closer. The older brother, Nott, cautiously held out his hand. Pochi sniffed then licked at it.

Marco became enthralled. "Whoaa, his teeth are huge. Cool!"

Yup, it looked like things were fine. Marco came out from behind Nott and patted Pochi's head.

I said, "I brought breakfast. Let's eat it together? Oh, and I brought vegetables and meat as a gift for your mother."

"Is it okay to give us this much?" Nott asked.

"I harvest a lot of vegetables at home, so it's fine. The meat's smoked so it'll last longer than raw meat. That's why they're a little brown. Tell her it's safe to eat."

They carried the vegetables and meat into the house. Afterwards, we sat down under a tree and I opened the basket full of sandwiches. There were sandwiches filled with vegetables, smoked meat and mayonnaise, while some were filled with omelettes and smoked meat.

I thought that as growing boys, they'd eat a lot, so I stuffed them with a lot of filling.

I even used up all five of the eggs that the chickens had laid that day.

"Eat up, I made a lot."

The fragrant smell of butter and smoked meat wafted from the basket, making Nott and Marco gulp audibly.

The two of them immediately reached for a sandwich and took a huge bite. They didn't say anything, but it was obvious from their faces that they found it delicious. Relieved, I took a sandwich for myself too.

As soon as they finished their sandwich, I handed them some milk and they gulped it down. I chuckled at their twin milk moustaches. The two of them wiped their mouths with their sleeves at the same time and reached for another sandwich.

As expected of brothers, they were really in sync.

Meanwhile, I'd only eaten half of my sandwich. Then I felt a gaze on me. When I glanced to the side, I saw Pochi staring at my sandwich, drooling.

He was really close. So close, I could feel his breath on my cheek.

"Pochi, didn't you eat breakfast already?"

Pochi whined.

Honestly, I didn't really want to feed Pochi with food that I'd specifically made for people to eat, but he sounded so pitiful. So I removed the smoked meat in one of the vegetable sandwiches, taking off the mayonnaise as best as I could, and fed it to him.

I'll have you working hard today, so this is a one-time thing, okay?

"By the way, do you like raw onions?"

"Mm?"

Nott turned toward me, still continuously eating. He had some mayonnaise around his mouth. His bulging cheeks reminded me of a squirrel. How cute.

"Didn't you win the eating contest? You ate six onions, three times what the adult contestants ate. So I wondered if you liked them."

"Of course not. I just tried not to chew as much as I could and swallowed them."

"You're amazing, Big Brother!!" Marco praised.

Well it was certainly amazing, but probably bad for his digestion. Marco should definitely not copy him. But I was glad that his taste buds weren't destroyed like Couge had thought.

It wasn't good to work as soon as you ate, so we took a little break. After that, we got started tilling.

I grabbed Pochi's face in both hands and kneaded his face as I requested, "Pochi, I'm counting on you. Make the soil all soft, okay?"

"Arf! Arf!"

Pochi jumped into the field and started digging. His front legs scraped at the earth, while his hind legs kicked up the dirt as he dug deeply.

Meanwhile, Nott, Marco and I carefully took out the rocks mixed in the soil.

"The soil's all different now," Nott said, sounding moved by the change.

Thanks to the hard work we'd done yesterday sprinkling countless buckets of water, the earth was now all moist. And thanks to Pochi, the field was now aerated. The previously dried up and clumped together soil was now soft and moist.

"With this, we'll definitely get some delicious vegetables!!" Marco triumphantly declared.

We didn't have to do any weeding, so compared to the time I tilled my field, it didn't take as long. Plus, we didn't till a huge area, just big enough that they could plant as many vegetables as needed to feed the whole family.

Their farm tools were huge and heavy, so Marco and I teetered as we worked with them, but Nott, who was the same size as a university student, didn't have any problems. He was proud to receive Marco's envy-filled gaze.

And here I thought I'd bulked up plenty ever since I came to this world.

Finally, all the preparations for sowing were done.

Just then, from the direction of town, a familiar gorgeous coach drove down the road. It drew nearer, then stopped right in front of the farm.

It wasn't a procession, but there were still numerous knights surrounding and protecting the carriage.

"Oh, it's Shinobu."

Just as I'd imagined, the face peeking out of the carriage box was that of Firks-sama.