Chapter 15: Harvest Festival (4)

Chapter 15: Harvest Festival (4)

In his first visit to the city square since he had returned home, he had been met with both memories and relationships that he had long forgotten.

Something that had once sat in the back of his mind as a source of nostalgia was now overlaid with new experiences.

Unfortunately, time passed by relentlessly for Elric afterwards.

Today is the start of the harvest festival.

Ah, thats right. I was pretty surprised to see that all the wheat fields were now bald.

At the breakfast table, Elric laughed whilst responding to Tyrias words.

The wheat fields that had once bathed the world in a golden color were now barren.

The harvest had been successful, and now there was nothing left but to enjoy the fruits of their efforts.

For the people of the territory, of course.

I suppose youll be really busy from now on.

It was Tyria who would be busy.

She needed to organize and sort the harvest into the amount needed to pay the tax to the royal family, the amount that would be used for commercial needs, and the amount that would be given to the people of the territory.

After that, she would then have to do the tedious task of organizing the years profits.

If Aldio was right, she was in for a real treat from now on.

Elric felt sorry for her.

Is there anything I can do to help?

No, thank you.

Are you sure? I can at least help with sorting the documents.

That wont be necessary.

She was adamant.

She should have just left it like that, but in that moment, a thought had occurred to her.

Why dont you watch from the sidelines this year. Ill take charge and teach you.

Ah, so that was what she had meant by not needing any help.

Elric pouted.

Hmmm

Youll only be learning the major classifications. The details are too complex to be learned all at once and can only be taught over the course of several years.

Although her tone was calm and even, there was a weight to her words that made them feel heavy.

His gently drooping eyes had added to that gravity.

Well, thats good to hear. Lets get to work on the paperwork right away then.

Arent you going to enjoy the harvest festival?

Stopping by for the speech on the last day is enough.

It seemed as though he had disturbed a beehive with those last words, having implicitly revealed something that she had caught on to.

Im not very smart. He admitted, implying that it would take a long time to teach him.

Very well, I will bear that in mind.

He shouldnt have said that.

Elric regretted it belatedly.

He couldnt really change anything at this point.

It was time for him to pay the price for underestimating her patience.

Anyway, his loose mouth had caused him trouble again.

Save me.

Its not like Im killing you.

I feel like Im going to die.

People dont die that easily.

Its easy to die. Its fair to say that one stab of a knife is enough.

Elric forced himself to swallow those words.

They were in her office right now on the morning of the last day of the Harvest Festival.

Her education had been brutal.

Her meticulous and persistent nature meant that if he didnt understand a part of the lesson, there was no way for them to move on until he had understood that part, and her patient personality resulted in the worst outcome of them having to continue the tutoring for hours on end.

Elric had actually thought at one point during his education that she was actually a better torturer than most of the torture experts that roamed the Western Battlefields.

It was a terrible experience, and that was why he was so desperate today.

Shouldnt you start getting ready soon? For the speech?

Its still morning.

Dont you have a rehearsal or something?

Ive already done it in advance.

When did you have time for that?

As soon as he opened the door to the study, he recalled the image of her sitting at the desk.

This, too, had become one of his overlapping memories.

Just as the transformed city center had been overlaid over his faded memories of the past city center, the image that came to his mind when thinking of the office had changed.

Bittersweet feelings came to his mind simultaneously.

Elric looked over the harvested, bare wheat fields before sitting down at his desk.

Thump

His hand brushed against the unorganized documents.

Hmm?

Elric turned his head and checked the papers.

This is.

It was part of the task hed learned today.

Did he not clear it? Elric picked up the document unconsciously and checked the note that was underneath it.

Elrics eyes widened.

[Deadline, the 21st.]

The deadline was today.

She had certainly said it was a task that could be handled with ease, but how could this document, which was not even partially completed, be finished within the day?

There were easily dozens of pages to deal with, and it would take at least half a day to get through everything.

As soon as he realized that, it hit him.

If I do it while teaching you, it will take half a day.

If she were to handle the work alone, her pace would have been a lot faster.

Elric knew he was slow to learn office work.

And Tyria was teaching him at his pace.

The tight deadline was probably his fault in the first place due to his sudden return.

The reason why she had allowed him to leave early today despite being behind on work.

That, too, was beginning to dawn on him.

Did she consider my situation?

Perhaps she had slowed her pace down out of consideration for his own exhaustion.

Could it be that Tyria, despite her busy work, was concerned about his fatigue first?

This was a strong presumption based on his own self-awareness, but he couldnt dismiss it easily because of the attitude she had shown him so far.

In retrospect, shed been looking out for Elric every step of the way.

.

If he had continued bothering her by asking her to teach him, what would have happened?

She wouldnt have expressed a word of dissatisfaction; she would have just worked alone and silently, losing sleep over the work.

Then he would have never known how much harder he had made things for her.

Suddenly, he felt a pang of shame.

His behavior was like that of a child who only knew how to whine.

Elric furrowed his brow.

Then he picked up a pen.

It was a truly despicable thing for someone to simply receive without feeling grateful to those who have shown them consideration.

Elric did not want to be that kind of person.

He shuffled through the papers for a while, and began to fill in the letters little by little, recalling what he had learned.

It was about an hour later when Tyria came in.

Are you done?

She looked surprised.

Elric laughed awkwardly and said,

The deadline for these documents was today. Why didnt you tell me?

Well.

Im sorry. I didnt understand the position that you were in.

A look of surprise washed over Tyrias face.

Feeling ashamed, Elric lowered his head and spoke.

I couldnt do much, so could you help me with the rest?

Her response came a moment later.

Yes, I will try.

Her voice was a little more subdued than usual.

The mood around them didnt seem too bad.

It was a fortunate thing.