Chapter 71

"Since Thomas, who is acting as the representative, is involved, I assume he has a good grasp of the food situation?"

"Yes. I meet with Barthol and the hunting and gathering team at dusk and distribute food to the villagers."

"Great!"

"N-no, not at all..."

Thomas scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed, but I am genuinely full of admiration for them.

Honestly, I have been taking care of the cassava, which is the source of the crops, and other plants. Even for the gathering that Barthol and his team handle, I have used my plant identification ability to sort out what can be eaten.

However, I had completely overlooked the distribution, even though I had asked Ellie and Arle to take care of the fields.

But, even without me saying anything, the villagers are surprisingly resilient. They have been cooperating to distribute food to survive.

Barthol is involved, and there have been no reports of any trouble from the guards.

They have been implementing "let it be" in a good way.

They are reliable people. What I can do is limited, but I will do my best until things get on track. To the best of my ability.

Of course, my goal of retiring in three years and sleeping in has not changed.

Hehe.

"The crops haven't grown enough to be harvested yet. If there's a shortage of food, we'll have to consider importing it."

Many of the villagers must have come to Campania with their carts full of food.

It's natural, considering they came to a place with nothing.

However, the food they brought will eventually run out. The population of Nellac is increasing day by day.

There shouldn't be much leeway...

But Thomas shook his head and smiled, showing his white teeth.

"No, no. When we clear the land to make fields or build houses, we can gather a lot of cassava. So, we are not at all short of bread."

"Oh, oh!"

"Some people brought a lot of wheat, but they haven't used much of it! Because Lord Joshua taught us about cassava."

"That's great! It seems there won't be any problems until the harvest?"

"Yes. We have also started growing other crops. Please look forward to the fall!"

"Let's have a harvest festival in the fall. A grand one!"

"That sounds wonderful! Lord Joshua always thinks about the people."

I don't mind being praised, but the ones who truly deserve praise are the people who actually do the work.

The farmers like Thomas, the hunters like Barthol...

When I hear the real voices of the people on the ground, it becomes clear that a town cannot stand without everyone supporting each other.

"Charlotte, let's go to the pasture next."

"Understood!"

Charlotte performed a formal bow and turned on her heel.

◇◇◇

The pasture is just a rough field with simple wooden fences, and the weeds haven't been pulled out. But it is a pasture.

There isn't even a stable. However, the cows, sheep, and goats are properly separated and free to roam.

Hmm, there are no birds.

I narrowed my eyes, enjoying the contented mooing of the cows. The wind blew my bangs, and it felt pleasant.

Doesn't seeing animals relax like this make you feel refreshed?

"The Somon birds that people brought are still in the small houses in their carts."

"They'll escape if they're left like that."

"Yes. We plan to build birdhouses and fences for the Somon birds."

Charlotte, who wasn't there, explained about the well-known livestock "Somon birds."

Somon birds are similar to chickens on Earth and are widely raised in this world.

Like chickens, they can be eaten for their eggs and meat, and they are about the same size, but their habits are quite different.

Somon birds have a flocking habit like sheep and do not make loud noises.

Their diet is primarily herbivorous but includes some omnivorous elements. However, they don't eat leaves. They eat grains like barley and wheat.

In my opinion, Somon birds are easier to raise than chickens.

The advantages of chickens are that they grow slightly faster and their eggs are a little bigger.

As a food resource, there isn't much difference between chickens and Somon birds.

"Is there someone looking after the pasture?"

"Yes. It's not a fixed person, but they take turns. We are currently testing whether cassava leaves can be used as feed."

"Is it safe without detoxification? If you do it, please be careful."

"Yes. We are testing with goats first. Sheep and cows don't eat everything."

"Is that so? They can distinguish what they can eat?"

"Y-yes. I am not an expert, so I apologize. I only heard it from others."

Like Ellie, Charlotte is serious or something.

She didn't need to say "from others." She must have gathered the information out of interest.

"Thank you, Charlotte. The pasture and the farm are better than I expected."

"No! I just arrived yesterday. Everything was done by Ellie, Arle, and Thomas and the others!"

"Hehe. Then, thank you to them as well."

Charlotte is still the same in this regard.

I turned to Ellie, who had been accompanying me all along.

"Ellie, thank you for watching over everything since we came to the border. I should also thank Arle again."

"No, I haven't done anything. I just handed over the crops you entrusted to me to Thomas and the others. Ellie and I just watched from the side."

"Got it, got it."

She's still as stiff as ever.

If she had blushed and said "hehe," it would have been cute.

Rattle, rattle, rattle—

At that moment, a carriage came down the road (planned site) behind us... but it stopped.

"Lord Joshua!"

A dwarf sitting on the driver's seat called out.

Hey, isn't this person... Garam's apprentice?

What could he be doing here?

While I was wondering, Garam's face appeared from the carriage window.

"Hey, Joshua. I was asked by your butler."

"Huh? Lumburg?"

"No, no. Joshua, I came on my own accord."

Tore's face appeared from the window, pushing Garam aside.

But I have no idea what's going on.

"What's going on?"

"I heard you're building a watchtower. I thought it would be a good opportunity to build a tall structure."

"Oh, you want to use concrete!"

"Exactly! I thought it would be a good test for future construction."

"I see, I said the watchtower would be in the outskirts. You're going to build it further ahead?"

"Exactly! See you later!"

Rattle, rattle, rattle—

Before I could say anything, the carriage with Tore and the others was gone.