Chapter 472: A Steady Life (With Spirits)
Tending the Orchard
The peach trees, having finished blooming, are now bearing small fruits. Not just peaches, but also plums, pears, and grapes. I carefully prune the grape clusters and thin out the buds on branches I don’t want to extend for the plums. Since I want the peaches and pears to grow larger, I remove a few fruits from the same branch to ensure the remaining ones receive plenty of nutrients.
There are many small green peaches. They look like plums, so I might as well turn them into pickles.
During this time of year, I spend a lot of time thinning unwanted buds and training the newly sprouted grapevines to grow where I want them. It seems to be a season where everything starts to grow, even the watermelons, which aren’t trees but still need some vine management.
As I begin my work, the Spirits mimic me, trying their best to help. At first, they would accidentally snip off necessary buds or make the flowers I wanted to keep suddenly grow five times larger, but lately, they’ve been quite helpful.
Though they do play pranks from time to time!
“It’s been a while.”
“Good morning, Kadal.”
His beard seems to have grown beautifully.
It flows down to his knees, pure white and looking soft. I want to touch it, but I hold back out of respect.
“Hmm. It seems to have stabilized quite a bit.”
Saying this, Kadal reaches out to a newly sprouted young branch.
Stabilized? Is he talking about the orchard or himself?
“The scent of the mandarin flowers is like sweet nectar.”
A faint light gathers from somewhere, growing denser until Haralfa appears.
The fragrance of flowers is Haralfa’s favorite. Right now, the strong scent of the mandarin’s white flowers fills the air. The roses will bloom soon too.
In the dappled sunlight, I see Mishto and Ish, who is gazing at the flowing water. Everyone except Van and Rudil has shown up.
Rudil rarely comes out into the sunlight, so I’ll let that slide, but has everyone else finished their training? They don’t seem to have changed much.
Well, I’ve also grown stronger in a spiritual sense since I’ve named the Gods of Es during our time apart, so maybe I just can’t tell the difference.
“By the way, what is Rishu chewing on over there?”
Kadal’s gaze is fixed on Rishu, who is gnawing on a rope in the shade. He seems utterly captivated.
“It’s a rope given to me by the Earth Folk.”
“…”
Kadal falls silent.
Is it something akin to a national treasure? The Earth Folk gave it to me so easily that I can’t quite grasp its value. It was treated like junk in that place; could it have actually been a treasure vault…?
The Earth Folk don’t seem to like tools that operate on Spirit’s Power. They’re curious about the structure and fascinated by the design, but…
The rope Rishu is chewing on is made of impressive material, but its design is quite ordinary, or rather, it’s rough for something made by the Earth Folk. Apparently, when used by Spirits, it becomes longer and thicker, making it sturdier.
—Let’s not think too deeply about it. Rishu is happily playing with it, and I can’t take it away now.
Still, during this season when everything is just beginning to sprout, the delicate leaves filtering the light look beautiful, and thanks to the Gods’ assistance, the surrounding plants shine brightly. The soil looks fluffy too.
Thinking that I play a part in creating this scenery makes me a bit happy, and I find myself focusing more on the shape of the trees rather than just ease of maintenance. Sure, I can’t reach the upper branches, but there are things I want to achieve beyond efficiency.
I finish tending to the field and orchard. It’s not too wide, but not too narrow either, and the work goes quickly, thanks to the Spirits and [Storage].
In front of the Livestock Shed, I lay out the thinned seedlings and leaves, along with any vegetables I accidentally let over-ripen, and the chickens and pigs come rushing in to devour them in no time.
Now it’s lunchtime for me.
Cabbage, check! Lemon, check! Tartar Sauce, check!
I have two flavor options: one with garlic and one without. The garlic version is seasoned simply with soy sauce, mirin, sake, kombu, and a hint of nutmeg for aroma. The non-garlic version is seasoned after using ginger peel and green onions to mask the meat’s odor.
I take the marinated meat and coat it in potato starch. If I fry it before the moisture seeps into the starch, it turns out crispy.
A plate of fried chicken appears, haphazardly arranged. I squeeze some lemon over it and dig in. Some pieces are incredibly tender, but I prefer them crispy. The batter is delicious!
As I bite into the meat, the fat flows out from between the meat and skin, and I wash it down with chilled water.
The meat is juicy! I drizzle tartar sauce over it and enjoy it alongside some shredded spring cabbage. The garlic version hits hard, while the other has a subtle hint of sesame oil as I eat.
I’m glad to have soy sauce. I can’t help but smile as I imagine the eating habits of the Heroes. The abilities they chose are all geared towards battle. I don’t know what they seek beyond strength, but for me, comfort is the most important.
While playing with Rishu, I take a moment to rest and tend to the waterwheel. I keep the inside of the waterwheel clean with [Storage], so it doesn’t take long. Mostly, I maintain the waterway and check the gears.
Rice, wheat, barley, rye, chestnuts, corn, soybeans. Grinding flour is fun once I start, but it can be a bit tedious, so I prefer to grind a large batch at once.
Thanks to [Storage], it’s always freshly ground. Oh, right, I should store the wheat I got from the mailman in the warehouse. Unlike rice, which can be stored for months, wheat is typically kept for a year or more.
Though, I’ve heard that rice in places like Thailand is also aged. The rice for paella is aged for years, right? Is Japan the odd one out? Oh, but grilled rice balls turn out better with old rice.
On top of the slowly turning millstone, there’s a funnel-like device that lets grains fall like sand through an hourglass. My job is just to keep an eye on it to prevent clogs and drop the flour into bags.
The Spirits find it amusing to help out, so I don’t have much to do. If anything, I’m just on the lookout for their pranks.
They poke at the grooves, spin around with me, and dance on the millstone. One Spirit even drops a generous amount of grains from above while the others are dancing.
I sit beside the millstone, reading a book. If I had a window, I could enjoy the beautiful greenery outside, but unfortunately, my watermill has no windows. If the wind blew in here, it would be a disaster with all this flour!