Chapter 13: Germination

「Yutaka, are you in?」
「Huh—whoa—wait! Wai—...!」

When I visited Yutaka’s house and called from outside, a panicked reply came from within.
Then his small body shot out as if sprung and rolled, gorogoro, along the ground.

「...You okay?」
「Yes...」

The Sword Clan boy must have taken quite a hit; Yutaka got to his feet slowly.

「S-sorry, you stupid monkey! Okay, maybe I went a bit too far—oh, Sensei. Welcome.」

Next, Light Blue appeared and, seeing me, smiled sweetly.
No use putting on an act—it’s obvious, you know?

「You two were fighting again, were you...?」

I sighed in exasperation. To go all the way to Yutaka’s house just to fight—hard to tell if they’re close or not.

「Eh—ah—right, really, this stupid monkey just never understands no matter how many times I tell him. It’s such a bother, isn’t it?」
「Keep it within reason.」
「...Idiot.」

I figured it should be fine since it’s never come to bloodshed—but then, for some reason, Nina kicked me from behind.
Probably her way of saying, “Get to the point already.”

「Right. I saw something like this—do you know what it is, Yutaka?」
「Ah, that’s mon.」

I showed him the coin I’d borrowed from Luka, and Yutaka answered without fuss.

「Uh, at first—what was it again—Sashido the miller made them, I think.」

A miller is a trade that handles threshing and milling wheat. Originally, each field owner ground their own wheat, but since doing it all together was more efficient, millers arose who took in wheat from other fields and returned it as flour. That much I know.

「When you mill it all together, you can’t tell how much came from where, so they issued claim slips—promising to return flour equal to what they’d received.」

I see. A rational method.

「So everyone would get their flour and take it to Ishido the baker... but flour’s pretty bulky, right? Since hauling it every time was a pain, they started handing Ishido the claim slip and asking him to bake bread for that amount of flour.」

Ishido is Sashido’s younger brother and started a bakery by almost the same path as the miller. Whether it’s his control of heat or some trick, his bread is exquisite, and I order from him often. The fermented bread I ate today was his too.

「And then, when someone wasn’t feeling well, they’d hand their claim slip to someone else in exchange for help with the fields... Even when trading meat for wheat, instead of swapping the goods outright they’d exchange slips, let the other side keep the storage, and redeem only what they needed when they needed it—that way’s been catching on.」
「And those claim slips became this, huh.」
「Only recently did they make them metal like this. At first they were wooden slips, but they broke too easily.」

At my words, Yutaka nodded and answered thus.

...Yeah. A monetary economy has really gotten underway.

「We had no idea—why is that, I wonder?」
「Well, of course. If Sensei or Nina-nee-san say you want something—wheat, meat, cloth, hides—you don’t need mon. Everyone says, ‘Take as much as you like.’」

So that’s it... It’s true no one’s ever asked anything of us.
I mean, for the last two hundred years or so we haven’t even been bartering.
Whenever we pass through, the villagers take the initiative and bring us meat, hides, and all sorts of things.
I realized, belatedly, just how much I’d been taking advantage of their kindness, and put a hand to my head.

However... money, huh.
I’d always thought this day would come.
But I never imagined the villagers would think it up and create it on their own.

A complicated current of feelings—happy yet lonely—surged through my chest.
For development, the concept of money is surely indispensable.
But at the same time, I can’t say it will necessarily bring happiness to humankind.

From what Yutaka says, right now it’s merely a tool to save the trouble of exchange and make things efficient.
But someday imbalances will arise... and a gap between rich and poor will appear.
That might turn this gentle, pastoral village into something entirely different.
I felt that fear.

I have no children, in my previous life or this one, but I think of everyone in this village as my own.
There’s not a single face or name I don’t know; I’ve watched their lives and deaths all along.
No parent wishes misfortune on their child.

However—if the child chooses to walk on their own, then watching over them is surely a parent’s duty too.
I don’t know a thing about economics; I’m just an occult geek.
Rather than butting in with half-baked knowledge, it’s better to leave it to their own initiative; that’ll surely go better.

「Hey, why is this called ‘mon’?」

As I was lost in thought, Nina pointed at the coin in my hand and asked that.

「Funny thing is, for some reason we’ve always had a word that referred to that.」

Yutaka tilted his head, answering with a puzzled look.

「Like, ‘The early riser gains three mon.’ That mon.」

Ah, yeah.
I realized that seeds will grow on their own—even if you’ve forgotten you ever sowed them.


* * *


「Well then, we should be heading back. Sorry to intrude.」

After we’d talked at length, Nina said that and forcibly cut off my conversation.
Hm? What’s this? She’s self-paced, but she rarely forces others to match her pace.

「No, please! Ask me anything!」

Yutaka answered with a winning smile.
He hasn’t grown much taller, but he’s grown into a fine young man.

「Oh, and, Light Blue.」

Nina suddenly looked back at Light Blue and glanced up at the sky.

「Next week is the full moon.」

At those words, Light Blue’s expression tightened.

「Is there something about the full moon? Some elf custom?」
「Who knows?」

On the way home I asked Nina, but she only shrugged.
This is one of those she’s not going to tell me.

「Ah, Sensei—welcome back!」
「I’m back... what’s everyone doing all together?」

When I got home, Luka and Rin—whom I’d asked to watch the place—and even Ruful and Tia were all there.
I hadn’t wanted to leave Luka alone while I went to ask Yutaka about currency, so I’d called Rin; so it’s no surprise she’s here.

「So, um, we were talking about, you know, making a road.」
「A road?」

At Ruful’s words, I looked at their hands; on the spread-out paper was a familiar drawing.
The round mark in the center is probably this village—Hiiro.

Not far to the east, the tree mark is Nina and Light Blue’s homeland—the elves’ forest where Violet-san and Ultramarine live.
Beyond the mountains from there is the lizardmen settlement where Sig is.
Head south and there’s the vast grassland where Luka’s people live, and farther south, in the bay, the sea where Rin’s merfolk live.

The scale and distances are a mess, but the general relationships are right.
In other words, it was a map.

「To bring our wheat and pelts to Hiiro, that handcart you made before is handy, but getting through this forest is pretty tough.」

Luka pointed to the small forest lying between the grassland and Hiiro—these days it’s called the First Forest.
It was named because the elementary school students first visit it for their initial field lesson in magic. It’s the same forest where, when Luka and Rin had just come to Hiiro, they played tag with Violet-san.

「Ah... yeah, pulling a cart through there would be rough.」

There is a path out to the grassland, but it’s not really maintained—just some undergrowth cut and the ground somewhat packed. You have to get over bumpy root humps, and it’s not wide enough to take a handcart through easily.

「And, and, we were thinking we could make a waterway along with it.」

Rin flicked a line across the map.

「That’s, well... a bit too much, isn’t it?」

I understand her intent: in short, it’s a path for a mermaid to come all the way to this village.
But the line from Hiiro to the sea would be close to a hundred kilometers in reality. Building even just a road would be a major undertaking; making a waterway a mermaid can travel would be a staggering amount of work.

「I’ll do my best!」
「This kid is weirdly fired up. Do something about her.」

Tia, in an exasperated tone, pointed at Ruful, who was bending both arms to show off her biceps. If Ruful helps, it would literally be a hundred-man strength—but conversely, it’s only the strength of a hundred men.

「Isn’t the hard part digging the trench?」
「Well... that’s probably the hardest part.」

I nodded at Rin’s words. Paving so the trench doesn’t collapse and bringing in water from a river would be hard too, but the biggest labor will be that.

「In that case, I know a good way.」

Grinning mischievously, Rin looked off toward the distant sky and said so.