Chapter 33: Field Work and the Forest
The next morning.
Today, I decided to help my grandfather with the field work. It seems like he grows wheat and vegetables in the field. Wheat is planted in autumn and harvested around the beginning of summer. After harvesting wheat, summer vegetables are grown in the field, and once they are harvested, wheat seeds are planted again. It's a cycle like that.
Also, it seems like the vegetables that need to be planted during the wheat cultivation season are grown in another field.
Today, we are going to harvest the wheat, so I'm going to help with that.
"Leon, please come to the wheat field with the sickle over there."
"Yes!"
In this world, of course, there are no machines, so everything is harvested by hand. The field is quite large... I can't see the end of it.
When I go to the field, Grandma, Uncle, and Dad have already started harvesting.
"Leon, start from here."
"Got it."
Sickle-sickle-sickle...
Sickle-sickle-sickle...
I continued to cut the wheat in silence for a while. Phew, I'm quite tired. I thought I had made some progress, but when I looked back, I hadn't made any progress at all!
Uh-oh... at this pace, it seems like it will never end. Thinking that, I looked around, and Grandpa was three times ahead of me.
Why!? Is there some trick to it?
As I watched, the amount of wheat that can be cut in one swing was completely different. Is it the way to use the sickle?
I tried to imitate it somehow, but it didn't work. I gave up on acquiring the technique and just kept cutting the wheat without resting, trying to be at least a little helpful.
After a while, it was time for lunch break.
"Leon, you worked quite hard. It's impressive for your first time."
"Really!? Thank you."
Grandpa praised me like that during lunch. I was feeling down, thinking that I might not be very helpful, so I'm somehow happy. My face naturally turned into a smile.
"Oh, thanks to you and Leon, the work progressed considerably! Shall we go to the forest in the afternoon? We might be able to gather some mountain vegetables that can still be harvested at this time of the year."
"I want to go!"
I've only been to the same place in the forest all the time. I'm looking forward to a different forest!
"Alright, then shall we go gather a lot of mountain vegetables, Leon?"
"Yes!"
While we were talking like that, Marie, who was eating lunch with us, also wanted to go to the forest.
"I want to go too! I want to go together!"
"Marie, do you want to go too? But the forest is a bit far, you know?"
"Yeah! I always go to the forest, so it's okay!"
"I see, then let's go together."
Marie, Grandpa, and I prepared to go to the forest after finishing lunch.
"Well, we're off!"
"Take care. Make sure you don't cause any trouble for Grandpa."
Father is worried about us going to a different forest than usual. We even brought a bell to ward off animals, but he's quite anxious.
After walking for about an hour, we arrived at the forest. It was indeed a bit far.
It didn't seem much different from the usual forest, but the forest near the town has many people coming and going, so there are quite a few paths that seem to have been stepped on. However, there were hardly any here.
It must be a forest that not many people enter. It looks like we can harvest a lot.
"Alright, Marie, you go after me, and Leon goes last. If anything happens, let us know right away."
"Okay!"
"Got it."
With that, we entered the forest.
The forest was like a treasure trove of ingredients. We were able to gather a lot of fruits like wild strawberries and some mountain vegetables like fern sprouts. They were still at the perfect harvesting stage.
"Big brother! We have a lot!"
Marie has been excited the whole time. In our usual forest, we can't gather this much, so it's definitely fun. I can feel my excitement rising as well.
"Both of you, this area is rarely visited by people, so the footing is poor and there are wild animals. Be careful. I think you'll be fine as long as you have the bell to ward off animals, but just to be safe."
"Yes!"
"We'll be careful."
We continued gathering for a while, and the basket was almost full, so we decided it was time to go back.
"Shall we head back soon?"
"Yeah! Grandpa, we gathered a lot!"
"That's right."
Grandpa is completely smitten by Marie's cuteness. She has a way of melting people's hearts. Well, with that level of cuteness, it can't be helped.
While I was thinking such foolish things, I heard a rustling sound from somewhere.
I became alert and looked around. From the thicket, a small bear cub appeared. It was cute and made me feel at ease for a moment, but I quickly composed myself.
If there's a cub, it means the mother bear is nearby. If the cub lets the mother bear know we're here, she might attack us right away.
"Grandpa, we should probably leave here quickly."
"Yeah, you're right. Let's go before the mother bear comes."
As we were about to leave this place in a hurry, a mother bear emerged from deeper in the thicket and, as soon as she saw us, charged angrily towards us.
What should we do... Looking at Grandpa and Marie, Grandpa is holding Marie and running away from the bear's charge.
I also ran in the same direction for the time being.
However, the bear changed direction and charged towards us. This is bad. Grandpa won't be able to move quickly with Marie in his arms...
I want to keep my abilities hidden if possible... But if I die, it's all over. I took a knife in hand and decided to only use body enhancement.
I ran to the side of the charging bear, gathered magic power in my right leg, and kicked the bear sideways with my right leg.
It's impossible to send the bear flying far, but since the bear lost its balance and fell, I was able to stop its charge somehow.
However, the bear is already trying to get up. I tried to finish it off before it could stand up, boosted myself to get close to the bear in an instant, and swung down the knife aiming for its neck with my arm built up.
However, the knife's sharpness isn't very good, and it didn't penetrate deeply. What the hell is wrong with this knife! It's useless!
Taking advantage of the momentary opening when I was shaken, the bear swung its arm and tried to push me away. I quickly boosted my leg, kicked the bear, and jumped back.
Dangerous!! Can't let my guard down.
The bear seemed to be enraged by my attack and charged at me faster than before. I narrowly avoided the charge and took the opportunity to slash the bear's neck with the knife.
Alright! It seems I cut deeper than before, and there's quite a bit of bleeding from the neck.
However, the bear still tries to charge at me. It's not dead yet!?
I readied my knife once again and confronted the bear.
However, the bear suddenly collapsed midway and stopped moving.
Is it dead...?
I cautiously approached and touched it with the knife, but it didn't move at all. It's dead.
...I'm glad no one got hurt. It was quite dangerous.
I feel like I should polish not only my magic but also my sword skills and physical techniques. If I try to hide all attributes, I can only use healing magic or body enhancement magic that won't raise suspicion.
But the problem is how to learn them.
I remember that the Royal School also has sword classes. For now, I'll take sword classes and seriously learn from them.
However, it's so unlucky to encounter a bear even though I had a beast repellent bell.
Well, it's probably just an ordinary bell, so it's understandable that it's not all-powerful.
While I was thinking about such things, Grandpa and Marie came to me.
"Is it dead...?"
"Are both of you uninjured?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Marie is fine too! Big brother, you're amazing! You looked cool!"
Marie said I looked cool and got excited.
...I'm glad I tried my best.
"But still, Leon, you're really strong..."
"Maybe I have talent for swordsmanship."
I was talking with my grandfather while desperately trying to divert the conversation.
He had told me that it shouldn't be known as much as possible.
"But weren't you really familiar with it?"
"Well... I've encountered a bear before. I thought I was going to die at that time. This time, I was used to it, so I could deal with it calmly."
"Is that so...?"
My grandfather still had a look of disbelief. I have to divert the conversation somehow...
"By the way, is it common to encounter bears in the forest?"
"No, as far as I know, it's rare. Even if you occasionally see a bear, I hear they rarely attack. Leon is just really unlucky to have fought a bear twice, don't you think?"
The previous time was because I wasn't wearing the bear deterrent bell and deliberately ventured deep into the forest... This time, it was just a coincidence. Maybe I'm just unlucky. I need to be careful.
"I'll be more careful from now on. But what should we do with this bear?"
"We can't take it with us, so we have no choice but to leave it here. I can't even dismantle it. Your grandpa could do it, but he doesn't want the bear meat or fur enough to come back all this way."
"Yeah, you're right. Let's go back quickly before other animals come."
As I looked around, the cub was no longer here. I don't want it to bring other parent bears here.
"Well then, Marie, let's go back. Weren't you scared?"
"I was a little scared, but my big brother defeated it, so I'm fine now!"
"You're amazing, Marie."
My grandfather said as he stroked Marie's head vigorously.
We hurriedly left the forest and headed back faster than usual.
Even though I knew we wouldn't encounter any beasts, I was still nervous, but when we got out of the forest, I felt relieved and my body relaxed.