Chapter 422: Working, Albeit Leisurely
In the next few days, I diligently worked in the Mountain 『House』, fields and the orchard.
In order to maintain a bright environment, I cut the trees that didn’t grew well, made some sun-lit clearings and changed the directions of the branch growth to improve the air circulation.
ー Hey, little piggy, you don’t have to try to desperately show me where the mushroom grows, okay?
Riche, you too, you don’t need to dig like you’re competing with him. See, frantic little piggy is all covered in mud now! Ah, wait, yeah, pigs love to roll in the mud.
While I was busy hanging the rope on the branch and pulling it, Riche was also busy nearby, vigorously digging a hole in the ground and making a ruckus while at it. Piggy-kun was also beside him, energetically nudging the overturned mud with his nose.
A spirit was stretching atop the truffle basking under the sun, but it jumped in fright and hurriedly scurried away when Piggy-kun’s nose accidentally nuzzled it. Must be a spirit of rotting leaves?
Piggy-kun lifted his head and stared at me with upturned, sparkling puppy eyes, as if showing off what he found. Yeah, yeah, I get it, I don’t feel like eating you anymore alright, so you really don’t have to desperately show how useful you are, okay!
I told the permanent spirit residents of the orchard and the fields that anything that doesn’t fit the image of veggies aren’t allowed and tasked them to teach the newcomers about this too. The fruits and veggies that turned weird will become X-Stick’s snacks.
I didn’t know what to do with the weird stuff, but Retze gave me an idea. He fed the apple to Ivy-chan, after all, and X-Stick seemed happy eating some too.
Afterward, I also inspected the canals and waterways and cleaned up the fallen dried leaves and rubbish ー although there’s little to do thanks to the ‘clean and smooth flow’ spirit who maintains them well.
Even so, I still clear the waterways from time to time. especially the day after a very windy day. Debris can still pile up in the canals that lead to the watermill.
I scooped the floating debris in front of the floating board at the sluice gate, and moved it to the place where dead leaves and cut grass are piled up to be made into fertilizer. I took some rice bran from the 【Storage】,spread it before laying the trash on top.
Well, I did say trash, but it’s not as if there are plastics among them like in Japan. They’re just broken bits of branches that aren’t even worth calling twigs and torn leaves.
The pumpkins should be in season by now. I wonder how they’ll turn out? The previous crossbred batch had been too watery and bland, so I hope this year’s batch will be sweet and fluffy.
I rotate the pumpkins that were bigger now on the straw so the side that was underneath gets some sun.
『This one is on it’s tenth day~』
『And this one is on it’s fourteenth~ 』
『Thirteenth~ 』
The spirits sitting atop the pumpkins told me. The pumpkins are ready to be harvested usually about forty-five days after pollination, but it’s so hard to tell just by how they look so I have to rely on the spirits to tell me when they’re fully ripe. Apparently, you can also check the color of the vines attached to the pumpkin stalks. When they’re cork-like and white they’re ready.
I pruned the side shoots and gently guided the vines to the support sticks, then busied myself with pruning the other vegetables, spreading straw and just worked hard to make up for the time I was away.
The plucked veggy leaves became Chicken-kun and Piggy-kun’s snacks, and they were pretty well-received.
I also harvested figs and pomegranates. The tomatoes had been yielding fruits like crazy ever since the start of the warmer season, so I also munched on some.
The semi-ripe tomatoes are crisp and juicy, perfect for eating fresh. This season’s yield have less water and a more intense flavor, so I’m gonna make some puree them or preserve them with the hot water bath method. I do have 【Storage】, but I still diligently made jars of tomato preserves to share with Shiva and Butler.
By the way, folks here eat the entire pomegranate, down to its seeds. I was taken aback since it sounded so crunchy when they munched on it. The seeds are probably packed with even more good stuff than the flesh so I also tried to eat them too, but… Yeah, I couldn’t get used to it at all.
After I’m done working, I teleported to the 【Sanctuary Home】in the woods and spent the entire day lazing here. This place is so cool and nice, unlike the 【House】that still had the residual heat from summer and the hot island that’s under the sun all year round.
It’s a bit too cool for summer, but lighting the fireplace makes it perfectly warm and cozy. The huge iron kettle whistled with steam and the nice aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafted in the air.
Riche gnawed X-Stick in the shadow created by my profile in front of the fireplace. He prefers the cold, so I’m blocking the heat with my body and the chair. He would trot to the balcony from time to time, probably to cool himself.
I opened the book that I borrowed from the Spirit Library. Actually, that library is kinda like a cellar so it’s pretty nice being there too, but I prefer reading here because of the glimpses of the outside scenery that I catch in my peripheral vision.
It’s kind of amazing, you know. The garden constantly looks like it’s somewhere between late spring or early summer with all the spirits ーrose spirits, shoot spirits, black raspberry spirits, petal spirits, the rustling-of-the-leaves spirits and many more ー frolicking around. Flowers bloom even with all the snow in the ground.
This clearing is originally the only place in the entire forest that’s dappled in warm, soft sunlight with beautiful undergrowth, with the surrounding woods far more than refreshingly cool, more like downright chillingly cold ーoh well, it’s probably like this because this scenery is based on the first impression crossed my mind, I guess.
I let the spirits do their thing here, and it’s kinda nice, fortunate even, that the spirits living in the depths of the forest aren’t the boisterous, wild type. I didn’t put any effort in maintaining this place but it still turned out beautifully. Not the manicured, home magazine worthy type of rigid beauty, but something along the lines of ‘maybe it’d look better if I trim the plants later and let them grow a bit more’ kind of thing.
There’s a slight rain shower during this day-off. I spent the day leisurely playing with Riche, reading a book while petting him from time to time.
◇ ◆ ◇
The following day, I went to the island ーonly to find a self-proclaimed knight, or was it a swordmaster. It sure was boisterous!
I’m pretty used to noise in a sense that whenever I’m here, it feels like I’m really in the Human Realm. It’s pretty much only me and the spirits in the house, after all. But this ear-ringing, annoying din isn’t welcome at all.
Apparently, this guy is famous so the entire island ーeveryone, except for the nonchalant changelings who weren’t interested in things like these ー was buzzing with excitement. Well, I guess it’s good to have some sort of entertainment once in a while…I think?
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
I Got Transferred in the Middle of a Mountain
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