The Story of a Middle-Aged Knight Who Tried to Live a Relaxed Slow Life in the Countryside, Only for a Duke's Daughter Whose Engagement Was Broken Off to Move in With Him

Let's Take a Look Around the Village

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The next morning, I prepared breakfast for two.

Given everything that had happened yesterday, Cistilia couldn't very well offer to cook, so she quietly and meekly ate the breakfast I made.

Together, the two of us went to check on the moon-waiting grass we had planted behind the manor after returning yesterday.

「Considering where it was growing in the pasture, it shouldn't get too much direct sunlight.」

With that in mind, we had chosen a spot behind the manor that got a moderate amount of sunlight and planted it there.

While I was cooking dinner, Cistilia had used some bricks left around the back to enclose the moon-waiting grass, creating a simple flower bed.

Filling a watering can from the manor's storeroom with well water, Cistilia was currently watering the plant.

「...How much water do you think I should give it?」

「Don't ask me.」

「I know that! It's just a conversation starter!」

She got mad at me when I gave her a blunt answer.

「Back at the pasture, there was plenty of water coming from the waterfall.」

「It seems like it prefers more water, but I'm worried whether giving it too much will cause root rot.」

「Like I said, don't ask me, because I don't know either.」

「I already told you, it's just a conversation starter!」

As we had that silly back-and-forth, Cistilia carefully sprinkled water around the moon-waiting grass.

After feeding Aisha the fodder we had gathered yesterday, Cistilia and I left the manor to take a look around the village.

Or rather, Cistilia insisted on taking a tour and wouldn't take no for an answer.

Morning mist still hung in the air, but the early-rising villagers were already hard at work.

Apparently, this was the busy season for planting paddy rice.

The sight of people knee-deep in flooded fields, bending over to plant seedlings, was something you'd never see in a wheat field.

「Paddy rice is quite a lot of work, isn't it?」

Cistilia said.

「It certainly is. Planting rice is pretty heavy labor.」

「Is growing wheat easier?」

「Probably. But paddy fields don't suffer from crop rotation exhaustion, so apparently you can use the land much more efficiently. Still, because it's so demanding, Ascot Village focuses mostly on wheat, and rice is just an extra.」

「Next, I want to see that watermill over there.」

I led Cistilia to the watermill by the riverbank.

Since there was nothing worth stealing inside, the door to the mill stood open.

Inside was a shaft that caught the rotation of the waterwheel, along with gears to change the direction of that rotation. A millstone was secured beneath the shaft fitted with gears.

Since it wasn't the season for milling flour right now, the gears were disengaged so the millstone wouldn't spin.

「How amazing. So the gear receives the waterwheel's rotation like this and like that, turning in this direction...」

「It really makes you wonder who thought up something like this. I'm honestly impressed.」

「I wonder who devised it?」

「They say dwarves were the first ones to build waterwheels. Apparently, bellows for blacksmithing, clockwork spring clocks, and even paper-making techniques were invented by dwarves, if I recall correctly.」

「They live on the other side of those mountains, right?」

「So I hear. Though apparently, they almost never come over to this side.」

「Why is that? Is trade not possible?」

「A few decades ago, there were plenty of humans who couldn't tell dwarves and goblins apart. Detesting that unwarranted persecution, the dwarves seem to keep to themselves to avoid humans altogether.」

「What a sad story...」

「Elves who could use secret magic were once branded as witches and slaughtered, too. Compared to that, the dwarves have it better, but it's still a grim story.」

I had heard that the elves were decimated by human massacres, and now only a small handful live hidden away in unexplored regions.

「Secret magic...」

「There are occasionally humans with elven blood mixed in, and apparently those people can sometimes use secret magic. Even so, it's weak compared to genuine elven magic, and people usually hide it for fear of witch hunts.」

Humans, having learned blacksmithing techniques from good-natured dwarves, used that knowledge to mass-produce weapons and armor.

Armed with steel swords and full suits of mail, humans persecuted other races like dwarves and elves, seizing their lands.

「Do the dwarves not hold a grudge against humans?」

「Who knows? They well might.」

However, few in number and small in stature, no matter how superior their smithing skills were, the dwarves could no longer stand against humanity.

The clattering rumble of the waterwheel echoed through the mill.

「...Shall we move on? Let me show you the orchard next.」

I led Cistilia out of the watermill.

After walking for a bit through the space between the crop fields and paddy fields, the village orchard came into view.

It was an orchard where apples and oranges were cultivated.

Neither fruit was in season right now, but a boy was attaching bird-scaring 'eyeballs' to the trees.

The mischievous-looking boy, around fifteen years old, deftly climbed a tree and tied a wooden board—painted with swirling eyeballs using stone powder—to the end of a branch.

「Ah, Magistrate! Mornin' to ya!」

「Yeah, morning! How are the trees looking?」

「Not bad at all, sir!」

「What are you working on this time of year?」

「Ain't much to do right now, really. In a little bit, though, I'll have all kinds of meticulous work to do—thinnin' out flowers, pollinatin' 'em, and such.」

「So they don't just grow naturally, huh.」

「Nah, if ya wanna grow good apples, it takes a whole lot of time and effort!」

Just then, the buzz of a flying insect sounded.

「Eek!」

Cistilia squeaked, falling flat on her rear.

Looking over, a small bee was buzzing nearby.

「Ah, that little fella rarely stings anyone. Keepin' 'em around means they flit between flowers and pollinate 'em all on their own.」

「Y-You make use of bees...?」

「Pollinatin' is precise work, after all. Little critters are far better suited for it than humans.」

I offered a hand and pulled Cistilia up.

I called out to the boy up in the tree.

「Sorry for interrupting your work!」

「Aww, don't worry about it! I was just gettin' bored anyway!」

Parting ways with the boy who resumed his work, Cistilia and I headed further into the depths of the orchard.

Looping around the orchard, we reached what was practically the edge of the village.

There stood a large single-story building enclosed by a fence.

A farmer was sitting by the fence, looking bored out of his mind.

「Well now, if it ain't the Magistrate. What a trek all the way out here.」

「No, I just wandered over on my own.」

The chubby farmer shot a quick glance at Cistilia.

「Givin' the rumored young lady a tour of the village, are ya?」

「Something like that. You don't get many chances to see a slime shed in the big city, right?」

「Can't say I'd know about that, seein' as I don't know any land other than this one. If ya wanna see it, though, I can show ya around.」

Saying so, the farmer took the lead, opened the gate in the fence, and ushered us inside.

He slid open the large door of the single-story building.

Inside were several partitions, and within each section, a few slimes of various colors were loitering about.

「M-Monsters?!」

Cistilia readied herself.

「The ones in here are slimes for agricultural use, missy,」

the farmer said.

「Wild slimes will digest just about anything, but each individual has its own preferences. Among 'em, there are strains that prefer to eat nothing but crop pests. We track down those breeds and raise 'em here.」

「I-I see... Are they not dangerous?」

「We carefully pick strains that won't attack people, too.」

「To think such a thing is possible...」

「Originally, our feudal lord brought over the slime farming technique that was bein' done in other lands and introduced it here.」

In other words, my former boss had spread technology from other regions to the various territories under his governance.

「We built a fence just in case, but the slimes here are real docile. One of 'em melted my shoe once, but other than that, they ain't done no harm. Lookin' at 'em like this, they've even got a cute side to 'em.」

The farmer said as he scooped up a slime from a nearby partition.

The slime, roughly the size of a large cushion, jiggled softly in the farmer's arms.

It almost looked as though it were fond of the farmer.

Though whether slimes possessed enough intelligence for that was debatable.

「M-May I touch it?」

Cistilia timidly reached out her hand.

When she poked the slime with her fingertip, it squirmed as if tickled.

「...It's actually a bit intriguing.」

「Ain't it, though?」

「What about those slimes over there?」

「Ah, best not get close to those ones. They're meant for drivin' off wild beasts that come to ruin the fields. Get too close without knowin' what ya doing and they'll bite ya.」

At his warning, Cistilia stopped in her tracks just as she was about to step closer.

「Thanks to these critters, the work of weedin', pest control, and drivin' off wild beasts has gone down by a bundle. We got spare time because of 'em, which lets us expand our paddy rice planting. We owe it all to the lord, we do!」

The farmer nodded with admiration.

As expected of my former boss and his attentive management.

Thanks to him, I had practically no work left to do.

「Alright, let me take you to see the hunter last.」

Urging along Cistilia, who looked like she could watch the jiggling slimes forever, I left the slime shed behind.

Passing beyond the slime shed, we walked up a gentle slope.

Ahead of us, a wooden palisade came into view.

It was a fairly proper defensive fence made of sharpened logs set upright.

Part of the fence functioned as a gate, right next to which stood a watchtower.

Lying sprawled out on the watchtower was a sharp-eyed man in his fifties wearing leather armor.

One of his legs was missing, replaced by a wooden peg leg.

「Oh, Magistrate,」

the man said in an arrogant tone.

「Everything quiet?」

「Yeah, not a thing. So quiet it makes me yawn.」

Beside the man sat a bottle of alcohol, half-empty.

「That young lady over there—is she the Eldryuse girl?」

「You know about her?」

「It's all the village is talkin' about. Word is the Magistrate stole a young, beautiful duke's daughter away from some nobleman.」

「I didn't steal anyone!」

「Khehehe. I know, I know. The Magistrate's far too damn earnest for that.」

「Am I really that earnest?」

「You look rough around the edges, but you get things done properly when it counts. If the magistrate is completely blind, the village gets slack. In that sense, you keep just the right amount of eye on things.」

「I hope so.」

I ended up slipping into a long chat.

This former mercenary, now hunter, had apparently been an irregular knight in the royal capital once, just like me.

We hit it off, so we shared a drink together now and then.

「She's a real beauty. Too good for you, Magistrate. Treat her well.」

「You're single yourself, aren't you? Mind your own business.」

「Nah, nah. You're too earnest, Magistrate. Even though you don't actually dislike her, you're probably plannin' to send her back eventually, claimin' it's 'for her own good,' right?」

The hunter's words left me at a loss for a response.

「Goin' by my experience, a woman who barged in like this isn't gonna back down just because you preach a little reason to her. Make up your mind and take her! What's the worst that could happen? Her fiancé challenges you to a duel or somethin'?」

As the hunter made a vulgar gesture while speaking, Cistilia blushed bright red.

「Easy for you to say.」

「It is easy. It all depends on your resolve.」

「Maybe for you, but I couldn't win a duel. I don't know who her fiancé is, but if he's a noble, he could hire a champion to fight in his place.」

Against a champion boasting high skill, even as a former irregular knight, my skill would hardly stand a chance.

「Um... Does that mean if you had a chance of winning, you would take me as your wife?」

Cistilia pounced on my slip of the tongue without missing a beat.

「That's not what I meant! It was a figure of speech! Stop dreaming about an old guy like me and sort out your feelings soon.」

「My mind is already made up.」

「Khehe... She's a spirited gal, ain't she? She's gonna wear the pants in your house, Magistrate.」

The hunter said with a laugh, taking a swig from his bottle.

Still tilting the bottle back, he casually glanced beyond the wooden fence.

And right then, he froze.

「What's wrong?」

When I asked,

「Someone's comin'.」

「Coming? But... that's the mountain side, isn't it? Is it a monster?」

Without answering my question, the hunter climbed down from the watchtower.

Carrying his bow, he opened the gate in the fence and looked out toward the forest.

When Cistilia and I peered out from behind him,

「Is that... a child...? No, a dwarf?!」

Out from the tree line tumbled a small figure.

*****

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