CH 72

Chapter 72 : The Third Year Of Growing Vegetables In The Vacant Lot

I left Nicola behind and headed to the vacant lot to take care of the vegetables I grow there.

The vegetables in the vacant lot are indispensable for making delicious food at our inn, especially cabbage. We need a lot of them to make okonomiyaki.

As usual, when I arrived at the vacant lot, I saw a lot of children playing with the playground equipment I made while their young mothers were chatting with each other.

I passed the playground toward the field and I saw an old man around the age of 60 with a solid body and gray hair picking tomatoes in the field.

He’s not a thief, he’s the owner of this vacant lot, Gill oji-san.

「Hello, Gill oji-san!」(Mark)

「Yo, Mark-boy! You’re not with your sister today?」(Gill)

Gill oji-san had always been calling me “boy”, but he started to call me “Mark-boy” before I knew it.

「Dad is teaching Nicola how to cook right now, so she can’t play.」(Mark)

「Hooー She seems to eat a lot, but now she’s the chef, huh? Oh, by the way, I heard that your inn’s new menu is really popular. Is that true you use monster meat?」(Gill)

「Yup. They’re called Tentacles. They look disgusting, but their meat is really good. Our customers said it goes well with alcohol. Please come to eat next time.」(Mark)

「Of course! I have eaten various food when I was a peddler, so I don’t really care about the look. Speaking of Tentacles, they’re from Secard Village, right?」(Gill)

「Yes. Have you been there?」(Mark)

「A few times when I was young. At that time, there’s a tradition where you will be considered an adult if you can hunt Tentacles by diving into the lake. The villagers said that a few people died every year because of that tradition. Are they still doing that now?」(Gill)

What the heck is that?

That sounds scary.

「I didn’t know they used to be doing something dangerous like that….. Now the villagers fish Tentacles by luring them to land, and then several men will kill them with spears. Still, there were people who got injured.」(Mark)

「I see, so they have changed the tradition, huh? Well, if the old tradition is still going, I don’t think the village will survive….」(Gill)

「Right….」(Mark)

「Anyway, I’ll stop by to eat at your place next time.」(Gill)

「Un. We’ll be waiting for you. Oh, right! Gill oji-san, take a look at this.」(Mark)

I showed Gill oji-san the grade-D potion I made before leaving my house.

And just like when I showed him grade-E potion, he looked into the bottle and sniffed it.

But this time, he tilted his head.

「It smells like Segilia Grass but a little different… what is this?」(Gill)

「It’s Segilia Grass but it has a higher quality than the normal one. If the normal one can be made into grade-E potion, then I think this one is grade-D potion.」(Mark)

「Hmm… I can’t tell how effective it is unless I test it using chemicals and magic tools, but it’s surely more effective than grade-E potion. Mark-boy, you’re the one who made it, right?」(Gill)

「Yup. And it seems like I can mass-produce it from now on.」(Mark)

When I answered a little proudly, Gill oji-san made an amazed look and scratched his head.

「Mark-boy, you’re surprising as usual. Are you going to make a living by making potions in the future? I think you can be rich with that.」(Gill)

「Umm… There’s no guarantee that the herbs I’m growing now will grow forever, so I’m not sure.」(Mark)

But, even if God guarantees that my herbs will grow indefinitely, I don’t think I want to live by making herbs for the rest of my life.

I wanna do something more fun and exciting.

「I think I have told you before that I want to try everything that can be done with magic for now. And actually, I’m now kinda interested in traveling after I had fun in Secard Village.」(Mark)

「I see. Trying various things is great. Even if you failed, you can take lessons from your failure.」(Gill)

Saying that, Gill oji-san stroked my head.

After that, I helped him harvest the vegetables.

「You’re taking a lot of vegetables today. Do you want me to help you carry them to your house?」(Mark)

I asked Gill oji-san while picking tomatoes.

This land belongs to Gill oji-san, so I can’t complain no matter how many vegetables he takes.

He usually took a reasonable amount of vegetables to be used at his house, but today he seems to need a lot of them.

He even brought a large basket on his back.

「Ah, thank you. That will be helpful. But we won’t take them to my house.」(Gill)

As he said that, he took a look at the basket on his back.

「Actually, the feudal lord will come to visit this town, and his escort soldiers usually will eat and drink at the stores near the place where the feudal lord will stay. One of the stores is my favorite store, and I was thinking of giving the store owner these vegetables because she always take care of me.」(Gill)

「Hee, I see. But, the feudal lord will come to visit, huh…」(Mark)

Is it related to the bandits I defeated?

After I put Gill oji-san’s basket that was full of vegetables in my item box, we both went to the store Gill oji-san was talking about.

First, we headed to the main street and walked toward the center of the town.

After walking for a while, I saw the destination building a little further toward the east gate.

It was a stylish one-story building with black tones.

Gill oji-san said that this is a place to eat and drink, but…

I can’t tell what kind of store this is from its appearance…

「Good afternoon.」(Gill)

Even though it’s still noon, there’s a『Closed』sign hanging in the door.

But Gill oji-san opened the door and entered the building without hesitation.

I nervously followed Gill oji-san entering the store, and then I heard a woman’s voice.

「I’m sorry, we’re not open yet…. Oh? Isn’t it Gill-san? What’s wrong?」(woman)

From the back of the store, a sexy onee-san is approaching us.

Could it be… this is a hostess bar…?