Chapter 20: Native Place

Dragon Era 677

「How is it, Sensei?」
「Ooooooh...」

I cried out at the contents of the bag that Nozomu, the farmer next door, had brought me.

「Thanks—it’s perfect, Nozomu!」
「I’m glad to hear it.」

Overcome by that pure white sheen, I grabbed her hand; Nozomu answered with a relieved look.

「Hold on—um, how many mon would that be?」
「No, no, I couldn’t possibly take money from you, Sensei!」

When I doubled back inside and pulled out the coin purse that passed for a wallet, Nozomu, as expected, flusteredly said that.

「I can’t do that. This must’ve been a lot of work to make, right?」
「Um… then, just one mon.」

I pressed a ten-mon copper coin into her hesitant hand.

「No, I can’t accept this much! It’s only one bag!」
「It’s fine. This must’ve been hard to produce, right?」

A mon was originally a voucher for wheat. One bag of wheat was one mon, and the portion milled into flour was one mon, and the portion baked into bread was one mon—that was the value standard.

Since no fees were factored in, these days the rates have settled a bit—for example, milling ten mon’s worth of wheat costs eleven mon.

What I got from Nozomu wasn’t wheat, but since it was a bagful she was saying one mon was fine. Still, the effort of cultivating and harvesting an entirely new plant from scratch is worth far more—ten mon is cheap.

「Nina, I’m stepping out for a bit.」

After half-forcing the ten-mon copper coin on the abashed Nozomu, I got ready. I called out to the girl sprawled on the bed; she just waved a hand without a word.

「Good morning, Sensei!」
「Ah, mornin’, Sensei.」
「Morning, Kairi. Morning, Masora.」

As I walked along the cobbled street, villagers greeted me one after another.
Returning their greetings, I idly looked over the townscape.
There are a lot more brick houses around here now.

Above all, brick is highly durable—worlds apart from wooden buildings. Repairs are relatively easy, too.
I’d wondered why you hardly saw them in Japan, but Ruful’s research answered it: brick buildings are extremely vulnerable to earthquakes. Lacking flexibility, once shaken from the base they collapse in no time.

Fortunately, whether Hiiro sits on stable ground or earthquakes simply don’t occur in this world, in these past centuries we’ve never had a quake large enough to topple buildings. Brick houses seem suited to this land.

「Numera, you in?」
「Yes, yes—coming. Oh, Sensei.」

I stopped by one of those brick buildings: Numera the brewer’s place.

Brewing might be the oldest trade in this village—arguably older than my own job as a ‘teacher.’

Brewing wasn’t something I taught; it was practiced in Dalga’s village and passed down, said to have been learned from the elves. Long before ideas like occupations or division of labor, they specialized in making alcohol.

「Did you make the stuff we talked about?」
「Just a moment… I’m not sure if this is right, though.」

She offered me a liquid. I touched it to my fingertip and gave it a lick; it had a distinctive smell.

「…Yeah! Wonderful—just what I’d expect from you, Numera!」

After an exchange much like before, I handed Numera ten mon and headed to my next destination. Passing through the village center on the way, I found the plaza buzzing with lively voices.

People hauling goods with handcarts passed each other along the road, and stalls lined up like pop-up stands, bustling with trade. Among the people bartering were plenty of centaurs, lizardmen, and elves mingled throughout—the place overflowed with vitality.

Hmm… it really does look tough to keep pulling a cart all day.
There’s no creature in this world equivalent to a horse. We do have centaurs (hippokentaurs), but we obviously can’t treat them like livestock.

We even tried making deer-carts instead of horse-carts using domesticated great-antler deer and six-legged goats, but their temperaments are far too wild—completely uncontrollable. They basically don’t herd, so they lack any habit of yielding to another creature’s will.

I also tried carving characters on the wheels to turn them into magic-powered devices and build an automobile, but that failed too.
It did move, technically. But the mileage was abysmal. With a car big and heavy enough to carry a person, ordinary-sized wheels wouldn’t even get ten meters before needing a reboot.

And with average mana, you’d be drained to the dregs in under a kilometer. Nina and I could push it farther, sure—but at that point we might as well just fly.

Puzzling over what to do, I made my way to the district with the pastures.

At first the ranch only kept deer, goats, and rabbits, but now both the kinds and the numbers have grown a lot.

The creatures clustered around the base of the trees like sheep are cotton sheep—Barometz. I named them that because they resemble the legendary medieval beast.

Vine-like tendrils extend from the tree and connect to the cotton sheep’s tails. They look like animals no matter how you slice it, but they’re apparently a kind of plant.

You could call them ‘grass-eating plants.’ They feed on the surrounding flora for nutrients while monopolizing the soil’s nourishment—gruesome behavior, but their disposition is comparatively docile. Above all, the fleece on the sheep part yields fine cotton thread.

They also keep various other creatures: the great-armored rat whose meat is edible and hide turns into many products after processing, and the sky jellyfish that floats fluffily through the air, among others.

What I was after today lay at the very back among them.

「Hello there, Karako. Sorry, but could you spare me some eggs?」
「Oh, Sensei—welcome. Of course. How many would you like?」

I’d arrived at the chicken shed. I called out to Karako, who happened to be prepping feed just then.

「Let’s see—two… no, could I have three?」
「Okaaay.」

Karako answered pleasantly and stepped into the shed. As the name suggests, the chickens have two pairs—four—wings. I named them ‘chicken,’ but they don’t really resemble Earth’s chickens. They do lay eggs every morning for eating, though.

The moment Karako entered, the free‑range chickens swarmed her all at once. Like most animals in this world, their temperament is extremely fierce. And those double wings aren’t just for show—they’re very good fliers. They take off, then after a dive suddenly stop to hover right in front of you, and their spurred kicks come slashing in.

But Karako casually slipped past every attack, scooping up eggs with easy motions as she left the shed. Mm—no matter how many times I see it, that artisan’s touch is impressive. It’s as if she’s got eyes in her back.

「Here you go, Sensei. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got chores.」

She handed me three eggs, then spun on her heel and slipped back into the shed with the feed box. …Drat! I didn’t pay her.
Holding fragile eggs, I couldn’t very well give chase. With my clumsiness I’d break them in no time.

I’ll repay this favor…! Vowing as much, I headed back to the school building.

I lined up the gathered ingredients and set to cooking at once. First out was the Hihiirokane pot.

Since then we’ve found many kinds of metal, and cookware is now commonly made from the most obtainable one—iron. Based on properties and appearance we loosely call new metals iron, copper, silver, and so on, but they probably aren’t the same as Earth’s.
Even I know it’s odd for ‘silver’ to be harder and lighter than iron.

Hihiirokane turned out far rarer than I’d thought, and lately we hardly find any. The all‑Hihiirokane sword Sig made is still the Sword Clan’s heirloom.
Using it to make a pot is extravagant, but it conducts heat well and never scorches—extremely handy.

As I simmered what I’d gotten from Nozomu in it, Nina pushed herself up with a groan.

「…What’s that?」
「Breakfast.」

I knew that wasn’t what she meant, but I deliberately played coy.

When the fluffy, gleaming white finished cooking, I heaped it into bowls, cracked in the eggs from Karako, and drizzled the liquid from Numera. That barely-a-dish dish was complete.

「What is that?」
「A hometown dish of mine: egg over rice.」

Whether it qualifies as a ‘regional dish’ or not, I insisted on calling it that.
I made a bowl for Nina too; she peered at it intently.

I set out a wooden spoon for her, while I took out a pair of chopsticks I’d secretly made for this day, and took a bite.

—Mm.

The rice Nozomu grew is a bit different from what I know. The grains are long and slender overall, the texture dryer, and since the polishing isn’t perfect they’re faintly yellowish.

The ‘soy sauce’ Numera made isn’t from soybeans but a fermented fish sauce. It has a distinctive aroma and is quite salty.

Even so, it was unmistakably the taste of home.
It’s far, far away, and I’ve now lived many times longer here than I ever did there; I don’t even wish to go back...
And yet, my native place is Japan.

「Huh. Not bad at all.」

Beside me, Nina polished off her egg over rice in a flash and said that.

「You didn’t even hesitate, and it’s not exactly the prettiest-looking food.」
「I’ve learned. The weird stuff you’re eager to eat is usually tasty.」

‘Weird stuff,’ huh. I couldn’t help a wry smile, but it did make me happy she liked it.

「If you liked it, want another bowl? I got three eggs, and there’s plenty of rice—huh?」

I glanced over, and the eggs that should’ve been there were gone.

「Hmm… I see. Not bad at all.」

In their place sat an elf, spoon in hand, munching away at egg over rice.

「…Since when were you in here, Ultramarine?」
「Yu gais reawy shou’nt be tawkin’ whiw eatin’.」

I had no idea what she was saying. Swallow first, please.

「My apologies—I tried to stop her.」

The familiar face wasn’t alone. From the doorway, another elf peeked in timidly and bowed her head.

「It’s been a while, Violet-san. Please, come in.」
「What did you come for?」

She must have some idea what this is about.
Nina asked in a hard-edged tone.

「Now, now. Come, have a seat.」
「It has been a while, Sensei, Nina-sama. Today I have come… as Warden of the Forest, to convey the Elder’s words.」

Violet did not sit in the chair I’d pulled out; she knelt on the floor, straightened her back ramrod-stiff, and spoke in a courteous tone. Her expression told me the message wasn’t of her own choosing.

「…We elves will henceforth sever all contact with Hiiro.」

—Just as I’d expected.