CH 348.2

「It’s delicious! Sorry for my lack of vocabulary, but I just can’t find a better word to put it.」

The very fresh taste and the modest sweetness and sourness spread through my mouth. In addition, there’s also a slight bitterness that gives it a cool and refreshing aftertaste.

(As I thought, this is the best.)

The rich sweetness of iyokan fruit and the intense sourness of summer orange. Each of them may have many fans, but my favorite is Pomelo.

This freshness is about the same as grapefruit in the same family.

「Go on, you can eat it too.」

I smile and give the go-ahead to Zaratan, who swallowed his saliva while staring at me.

Triggered by my words, the pale yellow fruit the size of a softball placed in front of the turtle shrinks to the size of a golf ball. But it’s still bigger than his head.

『To the Lord of this land and to my seniors, I offer my deepest gratitude.』

After sending out a stiff wave of thought, Zaratan attached the tip of his nose to the pomelo and inhaled. Next, he bit off a bit of the outer skin, and after chewing it, he widened his nostrils and exhaled from there.

He must be enjoying the aroma.

(He sure loves this fruit, huh?)

I knew about this already, but it still makes me smile. Seeing him eating the fruit preciously, Imosuke and Dangoro are also emitting a satisfied wave.

By the way, these two don’t eat pomelos. At most, they just take a bite of the peel I peeled off, just to taste it.

(Ah, so this is what she meant.)

I suddenly remembered something from the past and understand it now. It was something that a female employee at work in my previous world said.

『I feel bad for the food.』

When a client brought a box of sweets, I often hand them out to everyone during the afternoon break.

They take time to savor the sweets, but many old employees, including myself, only take a few bites and finish the rest with a cup of tea.

(Now that I thought about it, she’s right. I’d be shocked too if someone swallowed a pomelo whole at once.)

It doesn’t matter how much you know about the thing that you like.

『It was that tasty of a snack after all.』

So I said from the bottom of my heart, but the crevices between the female employee’s eyebrows still didn’t disappear.

While I’m talking to myself, Zaratan is eating the fruit bit by bit. Now he reached and ate the white skin delicately and then the pulp.

『Muu.』

The turtle widened his eyes and stopped eating. Then he looked up at the sky, closed his eyes, and froze again.

(…He’s not on his way to heaven or something, right?)

When I began to worry with such a rude thought, Zaratan started shaking his head slowly while saying, 『To think it was this good』 while exhaling deeply.

The line is different each time, but he kept repeating it from then on.

『A grandpa who enjoys a bottle of his treasured, ultra-premium sake.』

If we were to use a metaphor to describe the situation, it would be this.

The occasional sound of a hard object getting crushed that can be heard from him was the seed. For Zaratan, it is like a snack.

(Fruit picked in the morning is gold… no, maybe eating fruit in the morning was gold, huh?)

I, on the other hand, peeled them one by one and put them in my mouth while thinking about such things. I throw the skins and seeds to the crowd of Heavy Lancers the size of my thumb, which has been gathering for some time.

「Don’t fight among yourself while eating it, okay?」

An infighting among them starts, but fortunately, it didn’t escalate. Probably because of the chief’s involvement.

An individual about two sizes larger than the rest and has a pattern like a Kabuki actor went to the front of the skin and drove away his herd.

(It’s probably going to take a while.)

After eating, I played with Imosuke and Dangorou and waited for Zaratan while meddled with the Heavy Lancers.

(Ah, right.)

I crossed my arms as the cluster of pomelo fruit that came into view reminded me of something.

(I can’t give these out to the others. We have to eat all of it by ourselves.)

As long as the pulp is glowing, I can’t just share them as I did last time. Giving the Unicorn, Cool-san a treat here now is the limit I can do.

(Today it’s just for the lowest branch, but the upper branches will be ripe soon.)

It’s not Jayanne’s Light Cruiser-sensei, but it’s something that would make me scream with joy.

(Alright, I’ve decided.)

Just to be sure, I asked Imosuke, the leader of my familiars and the vice-chief of the 『Doom Squad』 and Dangorou, the general.

The two, who had been watching the Heavy Lancers’ children tugging at each other’s pomelo’s thin skins, nodded readily at my suggestion.

「Zaratan, I give you three out of four, including one that will be ripe soon.」

So I wait until he finished eating and tell him. Zaratan turns his gaze to me but makes no further move.

(He’s surprised.)

“I will be given at least one of the fruits”, is what he probably thought, but he must not have expected to get three-fourths of it.

At any rate, as I stared at him, he finally revived after a short pause. Then, he opened his mouth.

『I’m thankful for the offer, but then Lord’s portions will be reduced.』

He won’t be able to eat them until the next season. Sensing what he meant, I smile and shake my head slightly to the left and right, before replying.

「Don’t worry about it. There are other fruits to grow after all.」

I love pomelos. But it’s also great to have seasonal items at the time of the season.

『When one season ends, we look forward to the next with anticipation and longing.』

I would like Pomelos to be one of them.

As I continued, the old turtle showed a faint but understanding look. I smile mischievously and added.

「But it’s different for you, right, Zaratan? You want to enjoy it little by little, all year round, don’t you?」

Unlike me, Zaratan only has pomelo in his heart.

After I finished speaking, I looked at the turtle, who had stopped moving again.

When I was wondering what happened since he turned his face downward, I saw a series of circles spreading out on the surface of the water. He must have been shedding tears.

Even though he is one of my familiars, he’s still a senior who should be treated with respect. The sight of him crying was quite surprising to me.

I politely remove my gaze away from him and look up at the pomelo tree again, pretending not to notice, then mutter to myself.

「But the problem is… how do we store it?」

It would have to be somewhere dark, cool, and not too dry.

And it would need to be spacious. If I were to put them in a box densely packed together, they would be damaged from the contact surfaces.

「Should I talk to the merchant guild and rent a storage unit? No, I’d prefer not to if I can help it.」

Even though you have to peel the skin to see it, the flesh of this year’s pomelos is emitting light. I don’t want to let people see them if at all possible.

『Please leave it to me.』

Zaratan, who seems to have calmed down, responded to my monologue. He doesn’t have the right magic to conceal it, but he knows just the right place to store it.

「Ruins, tombs, and shipwrecks, you say?」

He said he would carry it by transfer magic. It is said that a sealed room in a tomb is the best choice, as there are no people or animals.

(Storing food in a grave, huh?)

It’s a difficult idea to agree with, but it can’t be helped because we are different species as living beings. This is the suggestion of a long-lived and knowledgeable Great Spirit Beast, so perhaps it is the best thing to do.

「Alright! Let’s harvest today’s crop then.」

I put Imosuke back on the branch to continue with the morning harvesting.

Imosuke drops the fruit, then I pick it up and hand it to Zaratan. Zaratan then deploys a transfer magic circle in the pond, dives inside with a small pomelo in his mouth, empties his mouth, and returns.

Incidentally, Dangorou had nothing to do, so he was hanging out with a herd of Heavy Lancers.

(I see. First in, first out, huh?)

After the harvesting was complete, the only thing left to do was to transport the shells. Since there was nothing I can help with this process, I just watched the shells being carried back and forth.

Zaratan told me that he would carry the pomelos every day and bring home the oldest ones to eat. Harvesting and carrying the pomelos will be a daily routine every morning until the pomelo season is over.

(How should I put it… it looks like a squirrel hiding its nuts in a tree.)

The corners of my mouth go up when I see him diving in and out of the magic circle. Seeing him work hard is wholesome and truly adorable.

(He won’t hide it too well and then forgot about it, won’t he?)

I was a little worried and have second thoughts about whether it would be a good idea.

Pomelo trees might start growing there. That would be a good thing.

(Then adventurer might come across it.)

I thought about the future that has yet to come while stroking my chin.

『The treasure room of the underground tomb, which no one has ever broken into. When the group stepped into the treasure room, they saw several pale yellow fruits placed on a table with gold and silver ornaments.』

Moreover, when they crack it open, the contents are still fresh.

(How mysterious that would be.)

I’m sure they’ll be troubled about it.

I couldn’t help but have a nasty smile on my face.