186 - - Episode 184 Harvesting

After Gina's first real battle, the next day Gina, Sarah, and the others destroyed about five small nests of undead. She felt sick at the sight of the writhing undead, but she was doing her job well as she talked it over with Sarah and the others.

Once a fire had caught fire and filled the tattered clothes of a group of zombies with smoke, but it was quickly extinguished by Shiva, and thanks to the efforts of Fuchu and Mame, the fire was saved.

We were careful to prevent the fire from spreading, but it seems that fires can burn in unexpected places in a crowded place. Fire and smoke are really scary in a small space. I've been thinking of countermeasures against such a situation, so I'm sure I'll be able to handle it from now on.

By the way, Sylphy spent her holidays at the distillery, as you can imagine. I don't think it's right for the cool and beautiful Shilfi to spend her first holiday in a long time distilling alcohol, but I guess it's all right as long as she enjoys it. Come to think of it, it's about time to put the distilled liquor in the sea. I'll ask Dine to do it when the harvest is done.

Two distillers are running at full capacity, so fifteen barrels of ale have been distilled. The efficiency of the distillers has been improved since they don't need sleep and If has joined them. I don't think there is enough ale to go around. I should move on to distilling white wine soon since the ale is running low.

**

"Well, as I told you at breakfast, we're going to harvest the crops today. Good luck to all of you."

Belle and Gina and the other girls are happily fussing over my words. I'm kind of excited, too. The situation has changed from a lack of vegetables to being able to freely shop in the labyrinth city. But I'm still happy about the harvest.

"Ha-ha-ha...really? A genie harvesting vegetables is hilarious."

If approached me in an amused tone. His words are harsh, but he seems to be enjoying himself and is not angry.

"Sounds fun, doesn't it? Do you want to join us?"

Sylphy and the others will not participate if they leave it to the children, but If is the first time for him, he might join them. If he does, Belle and the others will be happy.

"Hmm?　I'm harvesting vegetables. That sounds like fun, but I'm not going to do it. You're gonna make a nice meal out of the vegetables you harvest. I'm counting on it. And drink."

...... Hmmm, can you satisfy an amateur with tempura?　I'm a little nervous about it, but it's a new dish and there's nothing else to compare it to. ......?　But the sake ...... I didn't drink yesterday, but I consumed eight barrels in the two days before that, so the pace is too fast.

But the menu is tempura. In my opinion, tempura is a dish that goes well with sake. I want you to taste it with your meal. It would be a problem if Belle and the others could see the Great Spirits drinking sake, but a keg of ale would be fine, right?

"It's a new dish, so stay tuned. As for alcohol, ...... please don't tell me it's only ale today. You can drink at the dinner table instead.

If was not at the banquet on the first day, so please forgive me if I don't have enough to drink. Sylphy and the others seem a little disappointed because of their recent drinking, but they seem to agree with me.

If it's just ale, the barrel won't be empty for a while. ...... Well, they'll say "kuhhaa" or something like that, so Belle and her friends will be interested in it. We'll have to keep a close watch on them to make sure they don't drink.

"Okay, let's start harvesting. First, the pumpkins, please.

Hooooo"""pppgah"""wahhooo"""

"I've never harvested vegetables before, because in the cafeteria we used to buy them from the market. It's strange to be a necromancer and harvest vegetables."

"Gina sister, harvesting is fun." "I enjoyed the sniffing, too." "It will make a delicious meal later."

Motivated spirits, Gina in a strange mood, and Sarah and her friends having fun. It's quite a chaos. I happily follow behind the others as they head out to harvest the pumpkins.

Looking at the grown pumpkins, we see that they looked cute while they were growing, but when it's time to harvest them, their heels are shabby and their surfaces are bumpy. I wonder if it tastes good in this state.　Oh well, let's harvest!

Cut off the heft quickly with a magic survival knife. Stow it in the magic bag. Mmm, I'm deeply moved.

"Yuta, I got it!"

While I was looking at the pumpkins and feeling a little emotional, Belle called out to me. I look up and see Belle with a big smile on her face, holding a pumpkin in both hands. Behind her, the other children are lined up in a row. It's the same scene at every harvest time.

But what do Gina and the others in the back of the line think?　I can feel the presence, but it looks like a strange sight, pumpkins floating in a line.

"Thank you, Belle."

"Whew!"

I thank him and pat him on the head. Naturally, Rain and Sarah and the others in line behind me pat their heads and thank me. .......

"Well, do you want to pat Gina on the head too?"

......It's Gina's turn now, so I'll ask her just in case. I don't think it's right to go with the flow and pat an 18-year-old girl on the head. But it's kind of a ritual.

"Haha, master, it's embarrassing to be patted on the head.

I know, right?"

I just want to thank Gina.

............The pumpkin harvest was over in a blink of an eye. The more people, the quicker it goes. Next up were the burdocks.

Harvesting the burdocks was also over in no time, but there was something a little unexpected. Flare and Shiva had a hard time harvesting the burdocks. Come to think of it, fire is not suitable for harvesting.

The pumpkin vines were burned through, but the burdocks had to be pulled out of the soil. Wind and water can dig the soil, but fire burns the vegetables in the soil. But Flare and Shiva are great at not giving up.

They give up on pulling out the burdock by themselves, but Flare floats down and grabs the stem and pulls it out. Sheba digs in the dirt around the burdock, wuffling with her cute paws.

I was watching the burdock as if I was watching a TV show about a child who goes on an errand for the first time. When Sheba's body was hidden in the soil, the burdock came loose with a pop.

Flare spun around with the force of the impact, and I was happy with Shiva after that. It was a thrilling scene. I almost touched it more than once. I praised Flare and Sheba so much for bringing the burdock proudly.

All the vegetables are harvested and washed by Rain. I'd like to say they look shiny, but burdocks look like tree roots even after washing.

"So we've harvested all of them. Thank you all. We're going to make a new dish with the vegetables we harvested tonight.

It means to cook a new dish. ...... Huh?　The Belles don't look too happy. I thought they were going to make a fuss. ....... Gina and Sarah offered to help with the cooking. This one is as expected.

"Belle. Aren't you happy about the new food?"

When I asked her, she raised her eyebrows and said, "Oyasai, nigai-". Oh, I see. I didn't mind that she had eaten some of the vegetables in Toruku's cooking, but she didn't like the komatsuna that I had harvested first from the field here.

Apparently, he remembered that. He ate the daikon radish as usual since the main dish was fish, and I forgot all about it. The only reason why Belle and the others seemed to be having fun in the field was because they enjoyed the act of harvesting.

"Well, they're probably not bitter, so don't worry. And even if you can't eat it, you can count on me to make you some fish.

"Okay!"

Perhaps because she had heard that there would be fish, Bell's anxious expression cleared up. I'll have to do my best. While I was trying to figure out how to cook, Dolly came over to talk to me.

"Yuta-san, pumpkins are tastier when they are dried in the shade rather than eaten right after harvesting.

"...... What?　Really?"

I was surprised and asked him about it in detail. He told me that you can eat them right after harvesting, but drying them in the shade makes them sweeter. I wondered if it was the same in Japan.　So, is it better to have only burdock root tonight?

"Yuta-san, would you like me to mature it for you?"

As I was shocked by the new revelation, Dolly came to my rescue.

"But can you still interfere with the plants after they've been harvested?"

"Yes. Tamamo also fly leaves and other plant matter freely, don't they? I can interfere with them too.

Dolly tells me with a smile. ...... I see. I remember when Tamamo used to defeat demons by manipulating leaves and stuff. But then, couldn't they have done something with rice too?　I've been thinking about it a lot, and you didn't tell me?　I'll ask him next time we harvest rice. I'm going to feel kind of pathetic if I ask him now.

"Okay, Dory.

He pulls out a pumpkin from his magic bag and lays it out.

"............ Yes, I'm done. Now you can enjoy them. I'm looking forward to your new dish, Yuta-san.

They say it's now easy to eat and tasty. That's the great spirit. He's very dependable. But I grew them normally until the harvest, so I'm a little shocked that I had to rely on Dolly at the last minute. No, I usually depend on her to take care of the vegetables too, so it's a little late for that.

I'll do my best.

I promised Bell and the others, and Dolly said she was counting on me. I'll do my best. It's just ...... hard to know that my cooking won't improve all of a sudden even if I really try. But I'll keep trying.

Well, now that the harvest is done, let's do what we have to do before dinner. For now, I want to move the fields and the lawn. I need to put the distilled liquor to sleep at the bottom of the sea. I'll summon the nomos that are holed up in the distillery and won't come out.

"What do you want?　We're distilling."

"No, nomos has been in the middle of distilling for a long time now.

Nomos, who is busy, looks at me like "What do you want? You forgot that you've been signing contracts with me lately, didn't you?

"...... I could say that. So, what do you want?"

After thinking for a while, Nomos, who seemed to be convinced by my words, proceeded with the story.

"For now, I want you to move the fields to the next block, and I want you to coat the barrels with glass so that the spirits can be laid down in the sea.

"Oh, yes. Yes, that's important. We have about five barrels so far. What are you going to do with them?

Obviously Nomos' expression brightened, but I suppose that's to be expected.

"I heard that barrels are important to keep the whiskey in, so I think a few bottles and the rest in casks will do."

"Hmm, what kind of casks?　We've got two kinds so far."

I don't know what you mean when you say barrel wood.

"Let's try both. And I don't know why, but they used to scorch the inside of the barrels over a fire, so let's try that too. It's easy if we ask iff to do it."

"Oh, I got it!"

Before you know it, not only IF...... but the Great Spirits are by your side. They were watching smilingly from a distance during the harvest, but they were quick.

"Oh, please. "Oh, please... I've experimented with different levels of charring, and non-starring. Nomos, take care of that."

"Yes, that's right. We'll have to wait until we've tried it for the first time and tasted it for ourselves.

Nomos and the Great Spirits nodding their heads. They're breathing perfectly.　

If quickly scorches the empty barrels of ale, red and white wine with his flame. It's amazing to see the different stages of charring in that split second.

After washing and cleaning the barrels, he takes out the sand from the magic bag and immediately coats the barrels with thick glass and makes the bottles. He works fast. Also, the farm is completely out of my mind. I need to make sure the fields are moved before I run out of here.