Chapter 65

After finishing the harvest and returning to the ground, Haruki immediately headed to Kito-san's house.

Since it was still before sunset, Kito-san was working in the field.

He called out from behind.

"Excuse me."

"Hey, Haru-kun. What's up?"

Even though he was in the middle of work, Kito-san immediately noticed Haruki and looked up.

With a "yo-ho," he stretched his back and rubbed his waist.

Haruki had been taken care of by Kito-san since he was a child.

That's why, even when the presence of the unassuming Haruki called out from behind, Kito-san always noticed him.

"Actually, I got some rice—"

"What!?"

The word "rice" made Kito-san's eyes bloodshot as he firmly grabbed Haruki's shoulder.

Strong—It hurts!?

The grip was so powerful that it even damaged Haruki's shoulder, even though he was still wearing his armor.

Where did this old man, who was over 70, get such strength from?

Does rice really drive people this crazy?

Led by Kito-san, who suddenly became energetic, Haruki stepped into the warehouse.

There, various machines of different sizes were lined up.

Large tractors, belt conveyors, and iron boxes big enough to fit five people were neatly arranged.

"..."

Someday, I'll farm again...

Kito-san must be thinking that.

Otherwise, the agricultural machinery and tools wouldn't be this clean.

He often said, "I'm done with farming," but he must really want to grow crops again as a farmer.

Haruki felt a lump in his throat as he touched Kito-san's true feelings stored in the warehouse.

As Haruki silently gazed at the warehouse, Kito-san pulled out a few tools from the back.

"Hey, Haru-kun. Show me the rice first."

"Ah, yes."

Following the instructions, Haruki took out the rice.

"Hmm, it's properly dried."

"Yes, it was already dry when I harvested it."

Usually, rice is dried for a while after harvesting.

But since it was a rice monster, it was already dry when it was defeated.

"Then we can move on to threshing right away. Here, put the rice here and step on the pedal."

He pointed to a machine with a round drum.

Its name was "Chiyoda," printed in reverse.

It was a well-used threshing machine.

Following the instructions, Haruki approached the Chiyoda that Kito-san brought.

The drum had protrusions.

Haruki placed the tips of the rice against these protrusions and stepped on the pedal as instructed.

The drum started to move, and the protrusions separated the grains of rice.

...This is great.

Really great!

Haruki's eyes sparkled at his first experience with threshing.

Snap, snap.

The spikes of Chiyoda separated the grains of rice.

The sensation was irresistible.

After the threshing was done, Haruki and Kito-san collected the fallen grains of rice from the ground.

They then set the collected grains on a small water wheel-like device.

"What is that?"

"It's a dango-ki. This separates the rice from the chaff."

While pouring the grains through the spout on top and turning the handle, wind was sent inside, blowing away the chaff and straw.

The grains of rice that fell without being blown away were then polished in a wooden mortar.

By rotating the wooden mortar by hand, the husks were removed.

After the polishing was done, the grains were poured into a wooden frame with a wire mesh.

This way, the polished brown rice fell cleanly to the bottom.

After two hours of work, the harvested rice turned into 30 kilograms of brown rice.

It took two hours to turn the rice into brown rice.

Just to get 30 kilograms of brown rice from the rice, it took two hours!

"Wow, it's a lot of work."

"Threshing can be done in 10 minutes with a harvester. But, if you do it by hand, this is how it is. Turning rice into rice is quite a task, isn't it?"

"Yes."

In the past, rice farmers did this much work.

Even with mechanization, the importance of the work hasn't changed.

We should be grateful for the rice we've eaten and the efforts of all the farmers.

Haruki gave half of the brown rice to Kito-san and took the other half home.

Back at home, Haruki took out a household rice polisher from the shed.

In the past, he used this to eat freshly polished rice, but he hadn't used it since the stampede.

"...Will it work?"

He carefully wiped off the dust and plugged it in.

The rice polisher started up without any complaints.

"It's been a while, but I'm counting on you."

Haruki put the brown rice in and pressed the start button.

With a light rustling sound, the brown rice quickly turned white.

The polished rice was white.

The vivid white was imprinted on Haruki's retina.

"...Wow."

The smell of rice bran as soon as he opened the lid.

The nostalgia made Haruki's eyes well up.

He rinsed the polished rice and set it in the rice cooker, which he hadn't used in a long time.

While waiting for the rice to cook, he started preparing the side dishes that Kuren had requested.

First, he took out the potatoes he had harvested in large quantities before and peeled them.

After boiling them until they were soft, he mashed them, added starch, and shaped them into cylinders, then let them rest in the refrigerator.

While they were resting, he quickly harvested eggplants and coccia from the dungeon, prepared them, and put them in a pot.

After it came to a boil, he added miso and adjusted the taste.

He sliced the rested potatoes into rounds, seared them in a frying pan, and they were done.

As soon as the side dishes were ready, the rice cooker signaled that the rice was done.

He seated Kuren, who had arrived at the scheduled time, and brought in the dishes on a large plate.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Today's dishes are miso-stewed chicken and eggplant, and potato dango."

"Wow..."

He served the rice and sat down.

For some reason, Rea was also sitting next to Haruki.

(When I tried to send her back to her room, she got angry. She must be lonely?)

Kuren was already holding her chopsticks, eagerly waiting for the signal.

"Then... Let's be grateful for the lives we've harvested and all the farmers. Itadakimasu!"

"Itadakimasu!!"

First, Haruki scooped up the white rice with his chopsticks and brought it to his mouth.

"～～～～!!"

Sweet, delicious, irresistible!!

The strong sweetness of the rice melted in his mouth and smoothly went down.

The more he chewed, the more the umami increased.

The aroma of the rice made his tears uncontrollable.

Haruki didn't touch the side dishes and finished a whole bowl of rice.

Kuren was also emptying her bowl.

After a second helping, he reached for the miso-stewed chicken and eggplant.

The chewy texture of the chicken and the soft texture of the eggplant were perfectly combined.

The miso brought out the flavors of the chicken and eggplant, and the umami from the chicken and eggplant enhanced the miso.

It was delicious even without soy sauce or sesame oil.

"Amazing!"

"Huff! Huff!"

Neither Haruki nor Kuren could stop eating.

The potato dango had a crispy surface from the oil, but the inside was chewy with the potato and starch.

"Delicious!"

"Huff! Huff!"

The side dishes made it impossible to stop eating!

Rea seemed interested in the potato dango and secretly extended a leaf to store one in her treasure vault.

What will happen to this...?

Will it be absorbed through the roots?

"...Where did it all go!?"

He had cooked five cups of rice, but when Haruki noticed, it was all gone.

He didn't feel like he had eaten anything.

But since it was gone, they must have finished it all.

Kuren had a somewhat sad expression as she picked up the grains of rice stuck to her bowl with her chopsticks.

...Yeah, I'll make it again next time.

After all, rice is unlimited!

Becoming a mid-level adventurer was really a good thing!!

He clasped his hands again and thanked the lives he had received.

"Itadakimasu!"

*

After the meal with Kuren and cleaning up, Haruki put on his armor again.

"...Whoa, you scared me. Are you here to see me off?"

As he was about to leave the house, Rea approached him.

Since the other day, Rea had learned to walk using her lower leaves.

But Haruki still wasn't used to Rea's walking.

It's still a bit too much for my heart.

When Haruki tried to leave alone, Rea poked his knee.

It seemed she wasn't there to see him off.

(Take me with you.)

He heard a voice like that.

He felt a scary presence if he refused.

There was no choice.

Haruki carried Rea on his back and left the house together.

Their destination, of course, was the dungeon.

Haruki had spent a night ingraining better movements into his body, but when he faced a large number of locusts and rice, his old movements resurfaced.

He was far from perfect.

He needed to be able to perform refined movements in any situation.

With that in mind, he went through the gate to play with the locusts again.

Then,

"Huh?"

There was Kuren, wearing her armor.

She disappeared into the gate without noticing Haruki.

It seemed Kuren had come to the dungeon alone.

Since she used the gate, her destination was lower than Haruki's.

So...

"Did she come to harvest melons?"

Kuren was strongly attracted to melons.

She must have come to hunt for her own snack.

"Snacks in moderation."

Haruki muttered and headed to the first floor of the dungeon.

*

"Haa..."

Leaning against the gate, Kuren let out a big sigh.

No matter how many monsters she defeated, she couldn't catch up to Haruki's level.

She wanted to help him. She wanted to get stronger and repay him.

With that in mind, she had been secretly entering the garage dungeon at night to hunt alone since she came to K-town.

At first, she thought she could catch up to Haruki quickly.

Thanks to the night training, Kuren gradually narrowed the gap with Haruki.

But eventually, the gap between them widened.

Haruki's growth rate clearly changed after the incident where he lost the four cauldrons.

The widening gap might be due to the difference in talent between Kuren and Haruki.

Or perhaps, the difference in resolve.

Maybe Haruki also started solo training at night.

Haruki's speed in the dungeon was extraordinary.

He would defeat a monster and immediately search for the next one.

At first, Kuren could barely keep up with him.

She had trouble breathing and almost fell many times.

Even now, she sometimes almost falls.

In contrast to Kuren, who was about to collapse from fatigue, Haruki rarely took breaks.

He continued hunting until he fell.

If he was training solo without any restraints, it was no wonder Kuren couldn't catch up to Haruki.

As it is, it's not enough.

She couldn't reach Haruki's back.

She had to get stronger.

To do that, what Kuren could do didn't change.

Defeat a lot of monsters and level up a lot.

Leveling up makes her stronger.

Getting stronger to catch up to Haruki, even a little,

and then support his back.

There was no time to be depressed.

No time for complaints.

Kuren slapped her cheeks to get motivated and descended to the 11th floor via the gate.

Thinking about the melons she would harvest as a reward after training.

*

This is strange...

Haruki was puzzled by the scene in front of him.

Why did it end up like this?

After seeing Kuren off, who seemed to be heading for melon hunting, Haruki had been chasing his beloved locusts.

—No, he had been training with the locusts to achieve beautiful movements.

The locusts were his training partners.

He had been tearing them apart as soon as he found them.

But now, in front of Haruki, there was a locust,

and Rea, protecting it.

○ Hokkaido Dialect

"nashita" = "What's wrong?"

"Erain" = "Great" (often mistaken for "great" as in "excellent")

○ Kito-san's Farm Machinery

- Large tractor = Harvester (rice harvester)

- Belt conveyor = Sensor-controlled elevator (sorting machine)

- Large iron box = A big box for storing harvested onions (name unknown)

- Chiyoda-san = Chiyoda-style Kokuakari

- Wire mesh = Manjyu-tsu

For farmers, farm machinery is like family.

One farmer counted them not as "one or two machines" but as "one or two people."

(If you said "one or two machines," they would correct you sternly. Scary)