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Volume 1 Chapter 10-1: Kuiro

 

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Lucy had finished her fieldwork and come back so we decided to have lunch together. Today I wanted to liven things up a bit so we went out to a small grove of trees near the village.

Although the harvest had ended, there were still preparations to be made for next year’s planting.

They had to remove the roots of the previous plants properly as well as prepare the soil.

The work needed to be finished before the snow piled up and made any fieldwork impossible. Like this we would be able to plant new crops as soon as spring rolled around.

For now the sky was clear and the breeze was nice and cool.

Lucy had just sat down on the grass when I noticed a maple leaf stuck to her head. I couldn’t help but chuckle.

「Lucy you’ve got a leaf stuck on your head.」
「Ah….you’re right. This maple leaf is yellow…that means fall is already here.」
「Indeed…soon winter will be here.」

Lucy looked at the leaf with some regret as she let it drop.

Then she took a breath and opened her mouth.

「Recently I’ve felt surprised every time I look at you Cyril. I had no idea you’d be able to take on the job of a Doctor. Even as I was working out in the fields the rumors about it reached me. Like you fixing the roughneck Roleau’s arm or curing Renatsu-san’s son of his incurable disease.」
「Well those were simple treatments. It’s nothing much.」
「It feels like you’ll be able to cure any type of illness or injury with how you are now…」

I smiled wryly at how seriously Lucy said those words.

Even I wasn’t that omnipotent.

「There are plenty of things I cannot cure. For example a virus that targets the body’s immune system and causes it to fail can’t be fixed by my hands. Treating someone’s eyes or a deficiency of the body would render me helpless. An extreme compound fracture would also be nearly impossible. Tendons and muscles that have completely snapped can’t be cured by these methods either. Also I can’t cure cancer since it is a fundamental issue with the cells. Furthermore extreme burns can’t be cured by my methods as of now.」

Basically my magic was meant to strengthen self-recovery abilities and immune system activity.

I’m able to heal simple wounds and broken bones…I can even boost the immune system to destroy a cold quickly. But further than that is almost impossible.

Certainly I had plenty of knowledge and experience. Those would allow me to make proper preparations and expand my abilities to treat things. However, even that had its limits.

「I don’t know what a lot of those things are Cyril…I don’t understand.」
「Ah…sorry. I’m just trying to say, don’t think I can cure anything. Be sure that you act carefully to prevent injury and illness as usual.」

I said with a smile as Lucy tilted her head with some confusion.

「Anyways, what’s for lunch?」

Too keep it warm I had purposefully carried it over in an earthenware pot before splitting it up into some deep dishes for Lucy and I.

Since we had decided to eat out here on a whim so we had to carry all our stuff out this way.

「It’s really delicious. I’ve never tasted it before. What is it?」
「It’s suiton soup. You dilute wheat flour into water and mix with deer soup stock.」

I had taken a portion of the deer meat.

According to Lucy’s morals it was borderline acceptable to take that much meat since I was the one who hunted it.

Also I had secretly taken two boxes full of food just in case the Village Chief decided to abandon everything and run off with our goods. Those boxes of food would be the hope of the village.

「It has a strange texture when you chew it. The soup’s taste floods your mouth. Un, this suiton thing is good. It tastes delicious and saves wheat.」
「Ah so you noticed. We have to be careful how much wheat and salt we use.」

Since Suiton used wheat that was diluted with water, it filled your stomach more quickly. Thanks to the flavor of the soup it was satisfying despite being lightly seasoned.

The suiton soup we ate today used very little wheat and salt.

To make the suiton soup you simply cooked deer bones and meat, vegetables, and wheat flour together.

The flavor was fairly weak. Thanks to the deer bones and the wild vegetables it had some flavor, but it felt lacking without salt.

「As I thought….let’s use salt Lucy.」
「Nope. We won’t last until the next distribution day if we do.」

All the food in the village was stored in the Village Chief’s storehouse. Then at certain times it was divided up to be shared amongst the villagers. This was the easiest way to divide up the supplies given by the Empire. This was one more policy we’d have to reconsider.

「Then next time we get our supplies why don’t we ask for some extra for distinguished service?」
「That’s no good. If we get more to eat then someone else in the village will go hungry. It’ll bother me so much I won’t be able to enjoy my food.」
「I know…you’re that kind of girl Lucy.」

I smiled. She was a straightforward and kind girl through and through. She was the opposite of me which is what attracted me to her so strongly.

「Thanks for the meal. I have to go back to the fields for the afternoon…but what will you do Cyril?」
「I was thinking that I would start crafting the weapon in earnest.」
「What kind of weapon is it?」
「A type of bow.」

Lucy’s eyes widened at my words.

Then she forcefully cried out…

「That’s impossible! Even your father’s longbow couldn’t pierce through their armor! No matter how strong the bow it won’t be able to pierce through. Let’s think of something else.」

Lucy’s statement wasn’t necessarily wrong.

My father was the best archer in the village. He used a huge longbow 160 cm in length.

As expected from its size, it had plenty of power. The power needed to use it (the power needed to draw the bow) was 45 kg (99 lbs).
(TN: heavy draw but accurate for a longbow from the middle-ages)

Compared to the bows that were popular in Heisei Era Japan which had a draw weight of 15kg. The power produced was 3 times greater.

You could even say that a draw weight of 45kg was at the limits of practicality when drawing the bow with one arm.

My father’s arrows that had such strength behind them were able to pierce through the crude iron armor of the foot-soldiers…but only left scratches on the higher quality armor of the commanding officers.

It had been five years since then and the Empire’s iron smithing had obviously improved further. I believe that my father’s arrows would no longer be able to pierce foot-soldiers’ armor.

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