When we left the forest and passed under the protective fence, the two boys took off at full speed, dashing straight into the Village.
They must be eager to boast about today’s hunting results to everyone.
My brother and Dimo watched them go, both wearing wry smiles.
Incidentally, today Dimo also managed to catch two rabbits by himself and was in an even better mood.
As for me, I was distracted by the sight of the fields as we passed by, glancing all around curiously.
It looked like a large portion of the fields was taken up by stubble left from harvested wheat.
Of the remaining fields, quite a sizable area still had somewhat withered but green leaves visible.
My brother must have noticed where I was looking, because he turned to Dimo and asked: “Come to think of it, I’ve never really taken a close look at how crops are grown in the fields. How do you divide up what you plant around here?”
“The patches where only the stubble remains are the wheat fields. That’s about a third of the whole. Most of the rest is Goroimo. Those can spread on their own even if we just leave them alone. We stagger the harvesting, so there are still some left, like those leaves you see over there. As for the rest, we cycle crops like Kuroaosou in quick rotations.”
“You can’t grow wheat on the same spot every year, right?”
“Right. So next year, we’ll use the land where we’re taking Kuroaosou now.”
“I see. By the way, could I see the Warehouse where you store the harvest and such?”
“Of course.”
Dimo accepted the request easily.
Ordinarily, since I was the son of the man they paid their taxes to, he might hesitate to show everything, but perhaps he’s just being honest since there’s nothing to hide.
If they really have handed over everything required, and whatever’s lacking is supplemented by the lord, plus now they’re even getting rabbit meat due to the food shortage—if all that’s true, then it’s true they have nothing to hide.
After walking a little way between the fields, we came to an open Warehouse that must belong to Dimo’s family.
“That’s helpful. I haven’t really seen crops just as they’ve been harvested before.”
“At the Noble Mansion, I suppose you wouldn’t. If this is all right with you, please take a look.”
Though they were “just as harvested,” they’d probably already been prepared for easy storage.
They were sorted into a few groups, each placed in straw sacks.
Dimo opened one for us to see.
“This is Black Wheat. These are the whole grains, and those over there have been ground into flour.”
Both looked darker than White Wheat, but not exactly black—more like brown.
Still, to eyes used to White Wheat, the color looked a bit unappetizing.
The rest of the sacks taking up much of the Warehouse were filled with Goroimo, piled up in heaps.
The way Dimo handled all the bags seemed a bit rough—probably because none of this was considered marketable.
Still, they were all precious food resources for the villagers.
I thought that perhaps there were some complicated feelings about this among them.
When my brother straightened up from peering into a sack, Dimo quickly and somewhat carelessly closed it.
“Sorry for disturbing you.”
“If this is helpful, you’re welcome anytime. If it’s for Lord Wolf’s sake, I’ll do whatever I can.”
“Thank you.”
Carrying our catch for the Noble Mansion in both hands, my brother set off for home.
Once we’d left the rows of Village houses behind, he whispered to me and asked, “Did anything catch your attention?”
“…No.”
“Hmm.”
To be honest, something was nagging at me, but I couldn’t say what it was.
If only the harvested crops we’d seen could be sold or become even more valuable food.
“Black Wheat, Goroimo, the Wild Rabbit meat we hunted, and if we can grow it well, Kuroaosou— that’s everything. The villagers and our household alike have to survive the winter on these.”
“Yeah.”
“It looks like we’ll have more Wild Rabbit and Kuroaosou than before, but… will it be enough?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s wrong, are you sleepy again?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“I see.”
If the goal is just to avoid starvation, maybe this would be enough.
But considering Father’s debts, that alone won’t suffice.
If we really do need to “repay a good portion with next year’s harvest” as my brother heard from rumors, then we either have to raise the value of what we already have or take a gamble on new crops starting next spring.
Just what can we do?
After getting home, I asked my brother to take me to the Martial Arts Room.
I wanted to reread the Plant Encyclopedia that had been weighing on my mind.
He set me on his knee and opened the thick book on the desk.
The basic script was sometimes mixed with more complicated characters, but since my brother had been taught how to read them by the teacher, he read it aloud for me, which also helped me learn more letters.
It was a handwritten book left by the former lord, supposedly covering all the plants that could be grown in the region.
The hand-drawn sketches were said to capture the plant features well, making them useful for real identification.
I did think that among all the issues we faced, this book might hold the greatest potential for solutions.
“I’ve read it a few times myself, but for the most part, it’s all stuff the villagers already know by heart.”
“Hmm.”
The villagers, Father, and my brother all had a certain level of knowledge, and they’d thought things through before giving up on the state of the domain.
A tough problem, indeed.
For me, especially when it came to the forest’s wild fruits, there was still much I didn’t know, which made the book pretty fresh reading.
But for the villagers, all of it was common knowledge.
As I traced my finger along the pages, my brother peered in again.
“Wild apples are pretty common in the forest, and Mother likes them. She thinks it’s a waste to eat vegetables that the farmers worked so hard to grow, so she often eats apples in place of vegetables at meals. They’re sour, though, so I don’t like them much.”
“I see.”
“Lately, we’ve been increasing Kuroaosou instead of apples, just as you suggested. That’s fine, right?”
“I think so.”
“And there’s more rabbit meat now, too. Wasn’t it for anemia? I hope it works.”
“Yeah.”
When we reached the last entry of the encyclopedia, I pointed at it.
“…This.”
“Hm? Ah, Tsubukusa. Grandpa’s notes cut off partway through, so we don’t really know much about it. It just says you can eat the seeds, but they aren’t tasty or filling.”
“Yeah.”
“Does it seem useful?”
“Hmmm…”
I thought for a moment, then shook my head.
It’s not that I’d realized anything in particular.
It just somehow bothered me—a kind of intuition, nothing more.
‘Today, it seems like that’s all I have.’
Maybe I’m in a slump.
Annoyed by the inexplicable words that kept popping into my mind, I let my brother carry me back to my room.
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