Town chapter 76: The arrival of winter and the beginning of spring

It was around the end of autumn when the village in the northern forest went under n.o.buhide's control. What will come next when autumn is over? Winter usually comes after autumn, regardless of the fact that there aren't four seasons in this different world.

On that day, I was asleep under a 【Kotatsu】 and woke up from my alarm *PiPiPi*. When I look at the overhead clock groggily, it reads 7:30 am. I have to get up. Crawling out with my upper body that has been submerged in 【Kotatsu】. Just like a snail getting out of its sh.e.l.l. However――.

"Sabuu!"

Too cold. I once again dipped my body into 【Kotatsu】. Next, I stretch my arms out from the inside, and pick up the remote control from the desk and turn on the air conditioner. Don't think of it as a mess. What should I do if I, who is the lord, stay in the cold and get sick with a cold? Under such delusions, I closed my eyelids to sleep again until the room warmed up.

I woke up again at 7:50 am. There are no plans for this morning. j.a.panese cla.s.ses are also in the afternoon. However, I must make prints which are used in cla.s.s.

I got out of the sweet embrace of the【Kotatsu】 with resolution. 【Kotatsu】 is really a monster. Even in a different world, it is difficult to get out of it's sweet temptation. Maybe, is it because it is a different world?

When I finished the morning preparation, I thought that I would breathe the outside air.I put on my outer mantle and left the house. However, the outside of the house is still in the [D-Type Warehouse]. Now, its 8:20 am.

"Good morning, Catherine"

"Gue."

"Did you get cold yesterday?"

"Gue."

"That's right. Catherine is amazing."

"Gue."

I exchanged greetings with Catherine and talked well. When checking the watch, the time is 9:20 am. Oops, an hour has pa.s.sed. It feels like time has accelerated. Similarly to the 【Kotatsu】, Catherine isnt ordinary. Finally I stroke her firmly and then I leave [D-Type Warehouse].

The moment the door was opened, colder outside air hit the warehouse. There are also things that jump into my sight. It's a white world. Yes, it's snow. It was snowing yesterday and it piled up brilliantly. However, the amount of snow is not so bad and the depth of snow is so small that it is less than the calf.

The earth is covered with snow everywhere and the Ga.s.sho-style houses have snow on their heads. The reason why the snow doesn't fall from the steep roofs is because it doesn't pile up so much. I don't know if the amount of precipitation is low, but I'm grateful for the low snowfall. If there was enough snow to cover the whole body, I was even thinking about a [Purchase] of [Snowplow].

Even so, it is quite cold. My breath is visible and and the cold air feels like it is piercing into my skin. When I check the [Thermometer] hung next to the entrance, it shows minus two degrees. Even though winter has just begun, it is already this low. I am worried about how much the temperature will drop when the winter becomes severe in the future.

It is said that the northern village will survive the winter without extinguis.h.i.+ng the fire. Beastmen are st.u.r.dy, but some elves have died of a cold before. I have already sent enough food and liquor to satisfy them through the winter and enough wool was purchased from Reina. The representative of the recipient at that time was Polif, not someone of the tribal chiefs. It may be that I'm not yet trusted. Well, it's hard to say that I trust them too, so the feeling is mutual.

Speaking of that, I sit down by the wall right next to the entrance and start to remove the snow. What came out from under the snow was a wine in a wooden cup with a lid and a banana.

A merchant of the capital city described the winter of this land as so cold that even wine freezes. How cold must it be that the wine becomes frozen? So I left my wine outside yesterday. At the same time the bananas, when I hit the frozen bananas with a nail, they would become "That".

I try to remove the lid from the wooden cup with some sort of expectation. However, the wine is still shaking. Next, I pick up a banana and put power on it lightly and a soft touch was returned. I peel the banana and put the fruit in my mouth. Um, good.

If I think about it, it's still the beginning of winter and the sun has risen considerably. I've heard that it's warm in the snow with air in it. In other words, I came to the conclusion that this experiment should be done after the winter advanced a little more.

When I flattened the bananas and drank the wine, I heard a giggling voice in my ear. It belongs to a few children. When I look at them, they wear a [Knitted Hat], wrap a [m.u.f.fler] around their necks, wear a [Down Jacket] and have a pair of [Gloves] on the hands and [Boots] on the legs. Playing in the snow.

It looks as if this is j.a.pan, not a different world. But not completely. Wolf's ears are hidden under the two's [Knitted Hats] and one of them has a wolf's face that can be seen at a glance even if the mouth is hidden with a m.u.f.fler. Their clothes are discconected from this world. This is what I handed to the wolf tribe before winter came.

"Hey, come quickly!"

"Please wait!"

The loud voices of the children resonate while running on the snow. It's cold, but fine. Why are children so full of power even though their bodies are small?

"Ah, Fujiwarsama!"

"Fujiwarsama!"

The children saw me and waving with their hands couppled with a smile. I looked back smiling lightly as they looked at each other and laughed and returned to play again. Anyway, it's peaceful. It should be cold, but it is a peace that makes you feel warm.

Looking at the children as they were, Chief Jiharu himself appeared from the nearest house――his residence. The Chief also wears the [Down Jacket] that I handed him. To be honest, it doesn't suit him. For example, I feel that it is like a Sengoku Warlord wearing modern clothes. It's a surreal sight.

When Chief Jiharu noticed this, he came here, leaving footsteps in the snow.

"Good morning, Fujiwarsama."

"Good morning, Chief Jiharu."

We exchanged greetings and I asked first.

"How about the cold?"

"So far, it's okay. Inside the house, its hotter than I thought and the clothes and futon made from wool are very warm"

Like the northern forest village, the townspeople are also given a lot of wool purchased from Reina. This country has a thriving sheep indsustry, especially in the land adjacent to the south, one of the country's leading wool production areas. Because of the cold terrain, sheep's hair grows long and you can get cheap, good-quality wool.

"It's going to get colder and colder. If something goes wrong, please let me know immediately. We are thinking about evacuating everyone to this [D-type Warehouse]"

"Thank you for your concern. I'll make sure we're in good shape."

Then after a little talk, Chief Jiharu returned home. When I look down on my watch, the time is 10am. The original schedule is supposed to have started printing at 8:00 in the morning, but the schedule has been delayed for two hours. If this is the case, it will not be in time for afternoon cla.s.ses. I hurried back home to start working on the prints as soon as possible.

"Nevertheless, life in a different world is dominated by constantly chasing for more time......"

I put my feet in the [Kotatsu] and whisper while facing the computer. Today's life is much more laid back than the original world. However, because I had exhausted my heart in the old town, I was starting to complain from my mouth as soon as I was restricted by time.

When winter pa.s.ses, spring will come. My Fujiwara territory was able to pa.s.s through the winter without any trouble and we were able to reach spring safely. It is a great pleasure for me to keep the lives of many residents.

Currently, I am in the only human village in the territory. At the lord's mansion, new village workers were waiting every day.

Durring spring in the village, those who went to work in the capital in the winter returned. But I call those migrants. For convenience, I used it because there was no other proper name, but this doesn't mean I would go for it. The villagers call those migrants 『Went to the capital』 and the reality is close to reducing the number of people.

Even when they go to the capital, there is not much work as long as the workforce is full. Still, it's better than spending a quiet winter in the village and just reducing food. At least, if it is the royal city, they can get enough food so they can eat that day. This is why the words 『Went to the capital』 is used instead of migrating.

Only for this year, the village tax was only for potatoes, and there was enough food so that it was not necessary to go to the capital city, but it should still be said to be poor, some of the villagers headed to the capital city despite this. So I told them to look for someone who was originally in the village and bring them back.

I also asked Reina to collect people who live in poverty in the capital as temporary workers. If possible, I would like to go with the recruitment of villagers, but no one in the capital wants it. Anyway, this was a lonely village that didn't even have a lord until a while ago. Even if they are suffering from poverty in the capital, it is usually better to stick it out than live in a village. The treatment of those gathered for that purpose is period workers.

So, at the lord's mansion, Mira and the wolfmen guards were teaching j.a.panese, and they received reports that workers came along with Reina and those who 『Went to the capital』. I immediately went to the village and gently peeked at the workers gathered in the village square from the shadows.

"Hey, I heard you can eat a lot of food here!"

""I came here because you're the one who said it!"

There are people who demand a meal loudly in a group of people who aren't dressed well even if they won't say anything no matter what. Umm, their att.i.tude is not so good. Clearly a guest feeling. Well, at this time of year, I don't think there's a decent person among them who come to the remote area in the north.

Spring and autumn are farming seasons. In the capital city, workers come from villages, and those who are wasteing away in poverty streets usually have a lot of time to waste. In other words, the people who are here now are the surplus workers nolonger needed. I should judge that they have some problems. I was thinking――.

"Hey! Stupid son!"

"Gee, father!"

"When I think you've finally left the village, you have finally come home, this! This!"

A middle-aged man appeared and called a young man who was complaining about his son and beat him up many times. Villagers who seem to be relatives rush to the other screaming people. Apparently, it was only those from this village that had bad att.i.tudes.

Then what about the other people? When I asked Reina, she said that those people are those who were deceived by sweet words. They were told that they were going to be paid more money. In order to call them to such a distant place, I allowed to present an exceptional value. If I think now, ordinary people will not believe it. I don't think that there is such money in a remote village. There should be at least some suspicion about such a miraculus oppertunity. But without a doubt, they are idiots who believe in honesty and now they are here.

"Now, this is Mare village's famous product: the potato. It's something that you'll grow in the village. Just eat it."

A potato that has risen in a warm atmosphere is being carried by the village women in the midst of the commotion of the square. The smell that drifts is so fragrant that it seems to hang down from the shadow. The period workers then reached out to the potatoes as invited, put them in their mouths and capped them.

"Th-This is!"

"Oh, Oh my G.o.d. This!"

That day, all the workers would have dreamed of potatoes. If they are not foolish, they'll know how much the village will develop.

Dryad Kingdom's capital city Dorisben. In a room of the royal castle, the minister Edenstam, who had acc.u.mulated a white long beard was receiving the report from the secretary while sitting in an oval office.

"What? People are flowing into the Fujiwara territory?"

"Yes, it seems that the Polo Company was recruiting workers for about three times the salary."

"Th, Three times......"

Edenstam trembled. How much money does the Polo Company make? It is Eden stam who is fighting day and night with the finances of the country that is the car of fire. He was only thinking about how stupid it was in his head, and no matter how cheap the original price was, he could only think that Polo Company's performance, which presents three times the standard value, was a insane thing.

"Are potatoes the same as pepper?"

Edenstam asked to convince himself. If it becomes possible to produce pepper freely, the generous goodness can also be gained. Pepper production is synonymous with gold production.

"No, I don't think so. It seems that potatoes itself were food."

"Yeah? What about pepper?"

"There's no sign that pepper was made in Fujiwara territory. It seems that a branch of Polo Company was made in the territory, but I didn't hear that they sold pepper in the castle town when they came to buy the territory and then handled the pepper."

"In other words, what? Is Polo Company not going to make pepper in this country?"

"Probably, but the potatoes, the taste seems to be quite good. There are reports from those who have become obsessed that the harvest is abundant"

"Hmm"

Edenstam stands up and walks around the room, gently stroking his proud white fox like beard.

(Maybe they bought a territory to make a new crop called potatoes instead of pepper?)

Edenstam thought it was possible. It was not for the pepper strategy, but for the potato strategy that they aimed at. What is a potato in the first place? It is a crop he has never heard of. It has never appeard in other countries. What is the reason for cultivating it here? With that in mind, Edenstam was relieved.

"Is the potato a native crop......?"

This area is suitable for potato cultivation. Polo Company found potatoes here and bought land to grow them. If he thought so, everything comes together.

It was actually a completely misguided idea, but when it came to it, Edenstam groaned, "Umm". A feeling which was indescribable began to spring in Edenstam. For example, a treasure that has never been discovered before in his land. The feeling that it was found by others, and that he had unknowingly gave it away left a bad taste in his mouth. He would have been happy if it hadn't been found. As long as someone has found it, the desire to monopolise it springs. That's how he feels.

"The Polo Company knows more about our country than we do. No, they're sensitive to the smell of money and they're good at finding a golden opportunity. A lowly merchant. They're not going to let them join in......!"

"What do you want to do? Do we also look for potatoes?"

"How do you grow potatoes?"

"It seems that you just need to plant the seeds and the soil a little bit, but it's not difficult."

"Hmm, is that easy? All right, there's pepper, too. 'll try to set it up a little bit."

Edenstam takes his seat, removes a parchment from the drawer and writes something smooth with a feather pen. When he finished writing, he sealed it and gave it to the secretary.

"Send this to the lord with that unfriendly face."

Of course, refuring to n.o.buhide.

"This is?"

"It's an invitation to the Queen's garden party next month in the castle's garden."

"Yes!?"

It is no wonder that the secretary is surprised. The garden party is a well-established party where only precious n.o.bles gathered since long ago. Only appropriate people are invited from various countries as guests. It is never a party that an aristocrat who has bought a territory with money can attend.

"I'll have you spit everything out at the garden party, Polo Company! Hahahaha! Hahahahaha!"

Edenstam laughs like crazy and the secretary leaves. This way, the garden party becomes a place of conspiracy around n.o.buhide.