Chapter 49 - Pullin’ Potatoes
Chapter 49 – Pullin’ Potatoes
Translator: ranzan
The next morning.
I saw Cruz off like usual and went to my guard post.
Just sitting by myself, such an easy job.
Vi-Vi wrote magic circles in the ground like usual.
「Al, I was thinking of writing something that would speed up the magic jewel refinement, like this.」
「Where?」
「If I add this here…」
「Well then, here…」
「Hmmm.」
It’s hard to add more effects to an already difficult magic jewel extracting circle.
It seems like we need a lot more time to figure something like that.
As we were discussing it, the chief approached.
「Good morning, chief!」
「Good morning! Al, about those potatoes…」
「Ah, did you hear about that from Millet?」
「Yes. About those potatoes you want to cut up and use to grow new potatoes…we really don’t have any to spare.」
「Is that so? Oh well…」
「I’m very sorry.」
The chief bowed deeply and apologetically.
I was the one that suddenly asked for them, though. I kind of regretted it.
「Okay…well maybe there’s something other than potatoes?」
「Well…」
The chief mumbled in response to Vi-Vi’s question.
「Sorry to say, but we really have nothing to spare…」
「I see. Well if that’s the case, then I think up something.」
He apologized again and left.
「Hmph! I really wanted to grow potatoes, Al!」
『They do taste good.』
『Good.』
Femm and Moofy looked disappointed. Any cow might like them, but for a wolf to like them?
Or maybe it’s only magical beasts that like potatoes.
I wondered what I could plant if there were no potatoes available.
I looked around.
「What are they growing in the other fields?」
「Hm? Those are beans. They can be used for cow food and humans can eat them, too.」
「How long do they take?」
「They’re already about a month late to be planted.」
「I see.」
Seasons really are important. And summer is mostly over.
「We need something that we can plant now, I guess.」
「You’re right, but, I guess the village has other problems to deal with.」
「Hmph.」
We thought about it until noon.
We were thankful when Millet brought us lunch.
「Sorry… I thought we had enough potatoes to plant with.」
「No, don’t worry about it.」
Vi-Vi looked a little sad.
「We should have thought about this when we got the okay to clear the field.」
「That was my fault. The chief probably thought there was no way we could clear a field that fast.」
「I see. You’re right.」
The chief probably though the earliest we could get it done was by next year.
「I should have told the chief how quickly you two would clear that field.」
「It’s not your fault, Millet.」
I think the chief probably saw how the field clearing was going.
However, he didn’t know we’d use a magic circle or a sacred beast like we did, so we cleared and prepared the field very quickly. That’s why it was difficult for him to prepare to plant it.
That evening, we removed the large stones and weeds from the field.
Vi-Vi, Collette, and Millet all helped in picking weeds.
Moofy just ate them…though a sacred beast doesn’t need food.
She just wanted to help anyway she could.
「Al. Be careful you don’t damage that magic circle.」
「I know already.」
You would need magic to disrupt a magic circle. They weren’t that easy to break.
Even if you broke some of it, it was a bit tedious but easy to fix.
I was picking up large stones and tossing them out of the field when I asked Vi-Vi,
「Can you speed up the plant’s growth with the magic circle?」
「That’s easy!」
Vi-Vi had used that to make Moofy huge. Doing something like speeding up plant growth should be simple for her.
If she did, maybe, we’d be able to grow crops regardless of the season.
「Can we grow something and be ready for replanting next spring?」
「The only thing working now is the magic stone refinement circle. It’s hard to add another ring onto something like that.」
「…I see.」
It would take three months to clear the magic from the field. Until then, it would just be a bad field to grow in.
「Ruff Ruff」
Femm bit a mole and brought it to me.
The other wolves were digging holes for them as well.
「Good job.」
「Wuff.」
I thanked Femm and rubbed its head.
「I’d be happy if you could take any big rocks you find out of the field.」
「Ruff!」
Femm helped with the rock removal as well.
The other wolves noticed and started doing the same thing.
It was a big help.
They also found moles and mice and brought them to me, and each time they did, I pet them.
It was evening before I knew it.
Cruz and the others came like usual to Mulg.
「Huh? Aren’t you all going to plant something?」
I guess I had told them last night that today was the day …「Tomorrow we’ll start planting.」
Cruz frankly looked disappointed.
「They can’t afford to use any potatoes to plant new ones.」
「Is that so? Then can’t you plant something other than potatoes?」
「They can’t afford to lose any of that either.」
「Well, do you want me to buy some in the capital?」
「Ah!」
That was right! She could just transport to the capital and back.
Cruz looked at me, confused.
「Huh?」
It was embarrassing that I hadn’t noticed that earlier.
I pretended that I already had it figured out.
「No, um, I was planning to ask you already…Could you help us?」
「Leave it to me!」
Cruz said proudly.
「Okay, then go get me some.」
「No, wait.」
「Yes?」
Cruz was already sprinting away when I realized I didn’t tell her how much or what type to buy.
「Vi-Vi, what type should we buy?」
「Um, for this type of soil…」
Vi-Vi thought it over seriously.
Millet spoke up with a suggestion.
「Here in Mulg, we usually grow baron cobbler potatoes.」
「Cobblers are good, but we could also get dragon eye potatoes.」
「Wow, that sounds cool! Let’s get those.」
Cruz was fascinated by all the potato names that Vi-Vi was talking about. They definitely had names that Cruz liked.
But since Cruz was a baron, I thought the baron one would be most appropriate.
「Should we just buy both of them?」
「Yeah, let’s do that.」
「I think that’s a good idea.」
「Ruff!」
Seems that everyone liked my plan.
Femm barked in approval while wagging its tail.
「Understood! I’ll go buy them!」
「Hey, wait a second.」
「Yes?」
I stopped Cruz from running off again.
The stores must be closed by now. It would also be better if we took the time to write the names and amounts down on a piece of paper.
「Let’s do it tomorrow.」
「Okay!」
I thought about going to the capital to sell meat, as Cruz shouted her okay to me gleefully.