Farming Life in Another World

Noon.

I lounged in a room of the mansion, nestled under the kotatsu, leisurely nibbling on mochi.

The flavor—sweet soy sauce.

No nori this time.

Very delicious.

My drink is lukewarm, lightly steeped green tea.

Although I don’t mind hot, stronger green tea, it pairs better with mochi, you see.

Yeah, a perfect match.

On either side of me, Kuro and Yuki are sleeping inside the kotatsu with their heads out.

Outside the window is a winter landscape, yet the weather remained fair.

Peaceful.

Ah, no, it’s not like I have too much time on hands.

I’m just waiting for Michael-san to arrive.

Yeah, as soon as Michael-san stepped in, he was taken away by the civil servant girls.

The Big Tree Village’s policy with doing business with the Goroun Company like always but there are a lot of adjustments that need to be made.

I think the main thing we need to discuss is about payment.

Big Tree Village had no qualms about cash transactions, but the Goroun Company faced challenges with handling large sums of money.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t pay—it was the impact on cash circulation in Shashaato City and the Village Five that concerned them.

We’d been reminded of this repeatedly, so we cooperated by accepting physical goods instead of cash whenever possible. But now, a new issue arose……

The discrepancy between the value of goods Big Tree Village sold and the value of the goods being purchased.

The value of the products of Big Tree Village is too high.

Furthermore, the items desired by Big Tree Village and our affiliated villages were too few.

While we consistently sought clothing, timber, and seafood, they are not enough to pay for the goods from Big Tree Village.

To bridge this gap, the Goroun Company worked hard to produce high-demand crops in the villages around Shashaato City and Village Five.

Ah, they’re also doing a good job in the livestock industry.

Lately, consumption has been on the rise in Shashaato City and Village Five.

All crops and livestock products increased due to the efforts of the Goroun Company which were brought by Big Tree Village which in turn pays the Goroun Company in kind.

However, the crops and livestock products are sold at low prices in Shashaato City and Village Five through the Goroun Company so Big Tree Village is not really profiting there.

The truth is, we are even losing money.

However, that made the supply of crops and livestock in Shashaato City and Village Five stable.

The residents benefit greatly.

Now, originally, Miyo—the one who works in Shashaato City—said that matters like stable supply of goods are the responsibility of lords and officials. However, I don’t think you should just do what’s good for your own village.

Besides, while we might be at a loss with the crops and livestock, the profits from condiments that make them taste good—mayonnaise, soy sauce, and miso—are surprisingly substantial.

So much that they are enough to forego the Goroun Company’s payments altogether.

The Goroun Company, too, faces its challenges when paying Big Tree Village, but overall, they are making money.

After all, they sell what they’ve bought from Big Tree Village to the surrounding areas at even higher prices.

There is no way they’ll lose money.

Which is great.

However, it is also not good to make too much money one way or the other.

I wonder if they’re discussing that aspect as well.

Ah, finally, Michael-san arrives.

Led by the oni maid, there he is—Michael-san.

Just as he’s about to take his seat across from me at the kotatsu….. Kuroyon, who had been hiding inside, emerges to make room.

When was he there?

No worries, I won’t scold you.

There, there. Let me pat your head before you leave the room.

Oh, you’re not leaving the room?

Well, Kuroyon is a quiet one, so it’s fine.

As I continue to pet Kuroyon, Michael-san settles into the kotatsu.

The oni maid places tea in front of him and collects the empty mochi plate from in front of me.

Yeah, tea is fine.

I still have some.

The oni maid, having heard my response, gently picked up Aegis from the kotatsu and moved him to a cushion beside it.

Aegis didn’t show any signs of waking up.

……

I guess this is what it means to feel safe but is it alright for a living creature to feel too much safe?

But then I glance at both sides, where my companions—Kuro and Yuki—are sound asleep even though Michael-san has arrived.

They’re not just pretending to sleep, are they?

I can hear faint snores.

Well, that only means they know they are in a safe environment.

That’s something good.

-0-

With negotiations concluded with the civil servant daughters, I engage in casual conversation with Michael-san.

Never underestimate casual chats—it often leads to unexpectedly important topics.

Although such moments are rare.

「The harvest of crops in Shashaato City and its surrounding villages has no issues. As for the crops you’ve requested—wheat, barley, corn, rice, tomatoes, pumpkins, cabbage, and potatoes supplied by Big Tree Village—we’re planning further expansion of the fields. In the next harvest, each crop is expected to increase by about twenty percent.」

Twenty percent might sound modest, but considering the initial yield, it’s quite substantial.

I hope we’re not pushing them too hard.

「We don’t impose unreasonable demands, but those crops fetch high prices, so the workers tend to push themselves. We regularly send overseers to prevent excessive labor.」

I see.

That’s helpful.

But stopping eager workers from overdoing it must be challenging.

Even in Big Tree Village, we face the same issue—people working too much.

It’s a tricky problem.

「As for the elves residing near Village Five—we requested Tree King-dono and Bow King-dono to send in workers. Once those workers get accustomed to their tasks, we should be fine.」

Once they’re settled, perhaps we can expand the fields even further?

No, wait. There’s something more important.

The villages ruled by the Tree King and Bow King have been asked to focus on growing crops that can be used to make tea and oil.

Although it’s not exactly preferential treatment, Youko asked me to give the Tree King and Bow King some form of work. So, I decided to entrust them with crops that can be used for tea and oil.

I’ve heard from Youko that everything is going smoothly, but I haven’t heard whether they have enough workers to spare.

Do they have some leeway?

Or perhaps Elves are particularly skilled at cultivating such crops?

「Oh, no. It’s not quite like that. You see… the Tree King and the Bow King have more elf followers.」

More followers……

I’ve asked the Tree King and the Bow King to organize the elves there so everyone should already be following them, right?

Could it be that they’ve expanded their influence by conquering those who didn’t submit?

「No, no. It’s not that. It’s just that Elves who heard about them being under Village Five’s control have chosen to migrate there.」

Ah, I see.

「They originally want to live in Village Five, but they were introduced by Kinesta-san to the Tree King and Bow King.」

Kinesta, the former Elven Empire princess, now serves as the acting manager of the Kuro And Yuki store in Village Five.

It’s not surprising that Elves would seek her guidance.

「Kinesta-san wasn’t too thrilled about it, though. She has no interest in consolidating power. She said that if it ever appears that she’s doing so, it’s because she’s being coerced into cooperation so we better help her.」

Even if she says that, isn’t it a bit of a bother for Michael-san?

Should I mention this to Youko?

「Yes, indeed. While we’ll step in if anything happens, it would be helpful if Youko-sama and Village Five’s security forces know what’s going on.」

The Goroun Company maintains a reasonably sized security group, so they have some military strength. But I hope they won’t get involved in anything dangerous.

「Fufufu. Well, expanding the company sometimes requires dealing with such matters.」

I understand.

But let’s not push ourselves too hard.

After all, it’s Village Five that must protect Kinesta.

Any trouble she faces should be resolved by Village Five.

Yeah.

-0-

Alright, let’s steer away from ominous topics for a moment. Now, about those recent sought-after goods.

「Well, there are various items catching attention, but the bestseller lately has been the magical tools crafted right here in Village Five.」

Magical tools are undeniably convenient, aren’t they?

But wait, weren’t they quite expensive?

And yet, they’re selling well?

Is the economy thriving?

「That’s part of it, but you see… within Village Five, we have a skilled group of artisans trained by Ya-sama and the mountain elves.」

Ah, yes.

Those are the artisans responsible for mass-producing components for the products made by the mountain elves.

「Exactly. They’ve teamed up with students from the Ifrus School in Shashaato City to kickstart large-scale production of magical tools. These tools are gaining a reputation for being both affordable and high-performing.」

Heh.

I didn’t know they were doing that.

But if that’s the case, why didn’t I hear about it sooner?

「Village Chief’s, that…」

What?

「Well, you know, Village Chief already have quite a collection of high-performance, cutting-edge magical tools…..it is almost impossible to present you something that has inferior performance.」

Ah, no, it’s not that I want them presented officially.

But, well.

Come to think of it, the magical tools in Big Tree Village—whether brought by Loo or Dors and the others—are crafted by Loo herself.

And it seems like they are so valuable that they can’t even be priced.

I guess this village is a place where people wouldn’t be interested in mass produced goods.

「And to achieve mass production, we’ve kept the decorations rather minimal…」

Michael-san glances at the edge of the kotatsu’s tabletop.

「Inferno Wolves… Kuro-dono and the others, right?」

I hope you don’t stare too much.

I thought the edges of the kotatsu were a bit too plain so I carved them myself.

I figured it wouldn’t stand out too much since they are just edges but now that Michael-san has noticed, maybe it’s more conspicuous than I thought.

By the way, the oni maids aren’t fans of these edges—they say it collects dust.

Practical items are better off simple, after all.

So, perhaps for the mass-produced versions, a modest, straightforward design would suffice.

Going all out on decorations would drive up the price and slow down production, after all.

「Indeed. Popular magic tools are light magic tools, magic fires of stoves, the refrigerated magic chests, and water purifier magic tools. Oh, a kitchen carriage that has all of those would sell like hotcakes! 」

Kitchen carriage.

It’s a mobile kitchen, complete with cooking utensils, tableware, ingredients, and freshwater.

Designed to be lightweight enough for a single horse to pull, only the designated driver can ride it. Yet, this culinary marvel can prepare meals for ten to twenty people at once.

It even boasts a refrigeration unit for food storage, capable of transporting provisions for about a hundred meals.

Of course, there’s a drawback: when used as a kitchen, the wagon must be unfolded, requiring a few extra hands.

But picture this—the kitchen wagon I speak of is akin to a downsized, budget-friendly version of the camping coaches found in the Big Tree Village.

They are crafted by the mountain elves and mass-produced in Village Five.

However, I heard that the sales weren’t so good, right?

「Initially, the target market was adventurers. However, they found the kitchen wagon a tad too large, and the need to bring along a horse for transportation hindered their mobility.」

In other words, they were not suitable for adventurers.

So, Village Five stepped in. They acquired these wagons, using them for small-scale events and meal preparations.

I believe they even offer them for rent to the public.

「That said when Yuri-sama saw the kitchen carriage being used at an event, she recommended it to the Demon King’s Kingdom’s army.」

The army?

Seems a bit small-scale for their needs, doesn’t it?

「It is. Yuri-sama suggested it not for the main forces but for the patrol units.」

Patrol units?

「Yes. You see, while the Demon King’s Kingdom boasts numerous villages and towns, not all of them have lords or officials.」

True.

I was surprised at first. Not every town or village has a lord or a governor.

「Exactly. These patrol units travel between villages and towns, bolstering their defenses.」

Defenses?

「Well, when faced with demon beasts or monsters, seeking aid becomes challenging without local lords or officials.」

Ah, indeed. Perhaps relying on adventurers would be costly.

「Yes. These patrol units typically consist of around ten people… However, it seems they need to prepare their own food while on duty.」

Prepare their own food?

Don’t the villages or towns offer anything?

Given that they’re out there battling demon beasts and monsters, they are likely welcomed, right?

「Well, you see, the Demon King’s Kingdom is home to various races, each with its own culinary customs.」

Ah, yes, that’s right.

「While it’s not entirely impossible for them to eat local fare…」

Refusing provided meals could also pose a problem, it seems.

I see.

So, to avoid complications, they bring their own provisions.

And the kitchen carriage fit perfectly into this arrangement.

「Yes. Since some patrol members ride horses, it makes sense. Initially, they ordered five wagons, but word spread about their usefulness, and now demand is increasing.」

That’s excellent news.

「By spring, they might need around a hundred wagons.」

A hundred by spring?

……

Let’s remind Youko to not accept unreasonable requests.

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