NOVEL NEXT Chapter 42
Chapter 42 – An Old Guard and a Devil Girl…as Beginning Farmers?!
After Luka and Cruz went back to the capital, I went back to my daily life.
Just sitting at the village gate…guarding.
「Al…good morning.」
「Good morning! Be careful out there.」
The villagers going out to farm smiled at me as they left.
They hadn’t said anything to me even though I was away recently.
It seemed that Femm was only involved with watching the baby wolves under the storage shack.
「There’s a good chance no one needs a guard any more…」
Just staying here makes me a weight on the community.
I’m the only one not working, and I’m a guard…just sitting here.
And with that sacred beast Moofy…it’s even safer here.
「This might start to suck…」
「What sucks about this?」
Vi-Vi said, scribbling a magic circle in the ground as usual.
「No…what? I mean I’m not doing any work.」
「A guard is almost always as rest, Al. Begin at rest is way better.」
「I guess so…」
「Imagine what would happen to this village if you were busy!」
A village with a busy guard. Magic beasts and bandits attacking daily.
Villagers going missing every day.
Just thinking about it made me shiver.
「Yeah, better to be bored.」
「Right?!」
「Even so…I think I might try to find a way to be useful.」
「If you’re worried about that, try to find jobs while you’re guarding.」
I tried to think about what Vi-Vi was suggesting, but absolutely nothing came to mind.
I’ve always been an adventurer. There’s nothing I’ve done other than that.
「It’s a tough problem.」
「Right?!」
As we were talking about it, Millet bounced up to us. With the chief.
It seemed that Millet was a candidate for next village chief. She was an apothecary and knew a lot of things for someone in the village.
She had taken on the role of secretary in helping the chief get things done in the community.
「You’re doing fine, Mister Al. You guard during when I get herbs and when we sell meat to the town and so on.」
「Thanks for saying so.」
「That’s why you need to stay here. You help.」
Millet took hold of my hand.
「Ah…okay…thanks.」
It seems that Millet really looked up to me. It was a good feeling.
The chief looked on with a bright smile.
「Alfred, about the…former…guard house.」
「I’m very sorry about the place getting burned down, as it was part of the village. When I have time, I was thinking about rebuilding…」
…although I wasn’t the one that burned down my house.
The reason for it burning down was Vi-Vi and Luka fighting. But it really wasn’t their fault either.
However, since I knew both of them, I figured that I should be the one to fix up the house again.
「No, no, we can’t allow you to do that.」
「Even so, I have to…」
「We were thinking of rebuilding it ourselves. For a while, just stay at Millet’s house, okay?」
「But won’t that be a bother to her?」
「Oh, I’m perfectly fine with it.」
Millet said strongly. Again, it was good to hear.
However, I couldn’t take advantage of the town. I decided I had to rebuild the house soon.
「Chief, we we rebuild it, can I build it out here? I’d like to.」
I pointed to an area next to the storage shack outside of the village.
I didn’t want to impose on the villagers, so it was better outside the village.
It was practical if I had to dissect any more hydras. Those things STINK.
「Yeah, but, even though it’s close, it’s a bit lonely living outside the village.」
「If a wolf gets hurt, I’d like to be able to give it somewhere to stay…」
Next, when a wolf gets sick, I’d like to be able to give it a place to stay.
It’s summer now, so any sick wolf can just lay up against Moofy and sleep.
However, what happens if the wolf gets sick in winter?
It pained my heart to think of the wolf having to lie out in the drifting snow.
「If I’m going to let the wolves in during the winter, I’m going to need a bit of space.」
「Yes, I can see that.」
The chief seemed a bit flummoxed by that.
「It would be sad for those wolves.」
Millet seemed to agree.
I noticed that Vi-Vi was pulling on my sleeve.
「Make a place for Moofy too.」
「Well…」
I would like to help Vi-Vi, but that thing is waaaaay too big.
You’d need a dug-out hill to house Moofy. My house would become a hill.
「Moofy is a sacred animal. It can become small if it wants to.」
「I wonder.」
「If Femm can do it, why can’t Moofy? Huh?」
「Rawf?」
Femm jumped at its name being called and came closer.
「Don’t come any CLOSER TO ME!!」
Vi-Vi sprung behind me and grabbed onto my back.
I walked up beside Moofy with her still clutching onto me.
「Moofy, can you get smaller?」
「Moo.」
At least it responded. But I can’t speak cow.
「He’s telling you to GET SMALLER!」
「Wait, can you speak cow?」
Both Moofy and Vi-Vi had horns growing from their heads. I guess that made them understand each other.
「Hmp!」
Vi-Vi looked proudly at the cow.
『It wants you to rub it’s head, it’s saying. It can’t understand human language.』
It seems that Femm does understand Moofy.
I looked at Vi-Vi, who was turned away from me.
「Fweet Fweeeeet!」
I pretended to whistle silently, to fool her.
「Can you ask Moofy to get smaller?」I whispered to Femm.
『I can try.』
「Wuff rawf.」
「Moooo.」
「Waff Rawr」
「Moo.」
They were talking. Good job, King.
Vi-Vi was now getting frustrated.
「Whoa, good job Femm.」
『…Moofy doesn’t understand wolf.』
It just looked like they were talking to each other.
Femm could understand cow. But the wolf couldn’t speak to the cow.
In other words, it was just two animals going 「Bark」and「Moo.」
「Oh, I get it.」
「You’re just a dumb dog, after all!」
Vi-Vi said proudly, as Femm jumped on her and pushed her to the ground, licking her cheek.
「S…stop that!」
I rubbed Moofy.
「It’s only been a day for Moofy as a sacred animal. It might start to understand language sooner or later. Then we can think about putting Moofy inside.」
「Moo.」
Moofy mooed happily.
I would have to think about how to build the new guardhouse later.
After Millet and the chief finally left, I sat at the gate while watching the village’s farmland.
While I was sitting there on my ass, the villagers were working their asses off.
And the farming area wasn’t that big.
「Those are some small fields.」
「Not really…it’s just the right size.」
Vi-Vi stood beside me and said, as we looked out on the fields.
「It’s more that the land is dried out than the fields are too small.」
「Dried out?」
「Yeah, it might be because the hot springs are sucking up all the magical rocks in the mountains.」
If the hot springs have those stones all mixed in them, then it wouldn’t be strange if the fields were the same.
After looking closely, it seemed there was a lot of plants to cultivate and feed the animals.
But because the land was dried out, Mulg depended more on livestock than crops, it seemed.
「Is it bad for the magical stones to get mixed in with the land?」
「Yeah! They said that the reason the Demon region’s land was so bad was because of the content of magical stones there.」
That reminded me that since Vi-Vi was a sub boss, she was in charge of improving the lands for farming.
Vi-Vi said this as she remembered those days…and possibly thought of an idea.
「Okay, Al, time to cultivate some new land!」
「Why are you saying that all the sudden?」
「You said you were bored as a guard, right?」
「Yeah…I guess.」
If I could do something for the village, I’d be happy to do it.
And I would be very happy to have some delicious vegetables to eat.
「Improving the land is my specialty!」
Vi-Vi was ready to go. It was actually the first time I saw her this enthusiastic.
I didn’t want her to hold back, either.
「Ok. Let’s…cultivate.」
「Sure. But…you said your knee hurts…it’s impossible for you, right?」
「Not at all!」
Vi-Vi was worried about me.
In this case, haste makes no waste.
Vi-Vi and I went to the village chief. We needed permission to cut away one part of the forest.
Then, there was something that we couldn’t forget.
「Femm.」
「Ruff?」
「We’re going to chop some trees. Can you help?」
『Surely.』
We got permission to chop down some of the king’s trees as well.
We were ready to cultivate all we needed.
「Time to make some fields!」
『Doesn’t your knee hurt?』
Femm looked at me, worried.