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Harsh Harvesting Work
The place Olga brought me was a huge wheat field.
The area was so large it couldn’t be compared to the other fields, so vast that golden grain spread as far as the eye could see.
「This is the harshest battlefield in Howling Village」
Olga was probably being sent here every year. His expression as he talked about it looked like a veteran soldier who had survived many fierce battles.
On the vast wheat fields were young men like Olga and me, working hard, doing harvesting work.
The wide open, empty spaces were probably places where they had done harvesting. But, those were less than a tenth of the whole area. It felt like there was no end in sight.
「Sorry, Olga. I remember I have something to do back in the royal capital, so I’ll be going back to the royal capital 」
When I turned back, Olga clung to me without caring about how he looked.
「Please, Kureto! Help us! I won’t finish with just us alone! Oi, Mira, you hold on to Kureto too!」
Following Olga’s instruction, his sister - Mira - also came to cling to me.
There was a bit of a sweat smell but also a soft, sweet smell.
I felt a faint, unknown softness around the area of my arms.
There was the rough and sweaty Olga at my feet so it felt like giving more emphasis to the feeling.
「Oi, don’t you have any sense of shame as a woman your age!?」
「Of course. But right now, we want every little bit of valuable workforce more than that」
Her cheeks were a little red, but her expression was ghastly.
I felt a strong persistence to absolutely not let a valuable workforce escape.
I could pry them away without caring about how it looked, if it was Olga or use Teleport to pry her off, but doing such a thing to his younger sister Mira, gave me pause.
「I was just joking. Let’s stop this」
「Don’t even think of escaping, you hear? We’re in this together」
「I won’t. I don’t think I will be able to spend a peaceful everyday life if I were to make Olga and the others my enemies for real」
When I resigned myself and stopped resisting, Olga and Mira finally let go of me.
Even so, Olga was still in a position to immediately throw himself at me so it’s hard to say I have fully earned their trust.
「Then it’s fine. Hurry up and help us harvesting」
Olga handed me gloves for harvesting work and a sickle, and I accepted them.
「Do you know how to harvest wheat?」
「I’ve seen it done but never actually done it myself so please explain it to me」
「Well, it’s not that difficult. Grab the stalk with your left hand while stepping on it so the root won’t get pulled out, and harvest them with the sickle in your right hand as if pulling them. That’s all」
Olga showed me how to harvest while explaining.
I guess it’s as expected of someone who has been helping for many years, as his movements were very smooth.
「I see, is it like this?」
「Right, right. Just be careful not to cut your own leg with the sickle」
When I tried it as Olga explained, I was surprisingly able to harvest them smoothly.
And then it’s just a matter of repeatedly doing this kind of work.
After I harvested my second section of wheat, Olga also started working nearby.
The ears were cut one after another *zakkuzakku*. The feeling of gathering and cutting the ears with the sickle was kinda fun.
Be that as it may, I wonder how many ears of wheat are bundled together?
「Gather the wheat sheaves into a small bundle so it will be easy to dry them」
Perhaps he sensed my confusion as Olga immediately gave advice.
「What’s the matter?」
「I was thinking how helpful you were despite taking me against my will」
「……the work won’t get finished quickly if it is not done efficiently」
Olga answered as he looked the other way when I said that with an involuntary wry smile.
It’s clear he did that to hide his embarrassment but I wasn’t mean enough to press the issue here.
Everyone concentrated on their work as they continued harvesting.
Olga was far ahead of me, perhaps because he still had more stamina than me.
On the other hand, Mira was harvesting skillfully but not very fast. She could actually go faster but she probably did that in order to have a constant rhythm and maintain her stamina until the very end without forcing herself.
She has the same red hair as Olga, but she has slender limbs and is shorter.
She wears clothes that make it easy to do farmwork, and she has healthy and tanned skin.
This was probably the image if Olga were swapped in gender and overall had a slender build.
「……what?」
I guess I must have been staring at her too long. Mira asked while turning around.
「Nah, I thought you looked like Olga」
「That’s not very pleasant to hear」
Mira replied while frowning when I told her what I had been thinking.
It would be one thing if her brother were a handsome man, but a girl her age would not like it if someone told her that you looked like your not-so-handsome brother.
「Sorry sorry」
「Whatever. I don’t care that much」
Although she was cold, she replied properly and was considerate.
Guess she’s probably a good person like Olga. I decided to stay quiet since I would get frowned upon if I made another comparison.
●
As I continued harvesting in silence, my back started to ache.
Since I was cutting the ears of wheat growing on the ground with the sickle, I inevitably needed to be in a stooping position, which put a burden on my lower back.
「Aah, my back hurts」
Even when I exhaled while hitting my back, the villagers, including Olga and Mira, continued to do their work silently without complaining.
「Doesn’t everyone feel pain in their back?」
「No, our lower back hurts. But we’re just used to this, and we just endured it」
「So, so it’s like that」
Mira bluntly said, when I found myself impressed with everyone.
I guess back pain is something everyone ends up experiencing.
It seemed like just because they came from a farming family, they would find it easy, just because they were used to it.
I returned to harvesting after tapping my back to ease the pain.
And the temperature helps with it being comfortable since it was autumn. If it were a day with intense sunlight like in summer, then I would have definitely been knocked out of this.
I thought I had become used to the back pain from the desk work I had been doing in my previous world, but back pain from farmwork was another thing entirely.
The harvesting work continued while battling the back pain.
Nonetheless, quite a bit of time had passed since I started harvesting.
The sun has reached the zenith. I was also feeling hungry and thought of taking a bit of a break.
「Everyoーne, I brought lunchー」
Just as I was thinking of this while continuing the work, a sudden, gentle voice resounded.
With the appearance of Lefyria and the young women’s group, the worker - mainly men - at work became excited.
It’s quite plain to see but Lefyria was a beautiful city woman who moved from the royal capital.
She has a different atmosphere from the women of Howling Village so it’s only natural the men were charmed by her.
Although she only recently moved here, her friendly and gentle manner made her popular quickly.
Everyone stopped their work with Lefyria’s voice as the signal and headed up to the path between the fields.
It’d be great if there were places with shade or some place to rest but unfortunately, there were no such places in these vast wheat fields.
And I guess everyone understood that as they didn’t look for shade but just sat on the cloths the women lay on the ground instead.
「Here you go, it’s lemon water」
「Thank you very much」
As I also sat down, Lefyria handed a cup to me.
Being thirsty, I drank it all in one gulp.
The cold water and the slight sourness from the lemon tasted refreshing.
「Would you like another cup?」
「Please」
I asked her for another since I quickly drank the first one till the last drop.
Looking around me, Olga and Mira also had drinks poured to their cups by the women.
「Are you also helping out Lefyria-san?」
「Yes, we provide meals to everyone who helps out. I actually wanted to help in harvesting but for some reason the others stopped me.....」
Lefyria answered with a somewhat disappointed look on her face.
The villagers who knew about Lefyria’s lack of athletic ability hurriedly stopped her.
I feel sorry for her but I thought it was the right decision given her physical condition.
「I will also give Kureto some food!」
「Thank you very much!」
Unconsciously giving a wry smile at her, Lefyria clapped her hands.
It was just the right timing since I was hungry so I’m really happy with that.
She took out a sandwich wrapped in a cloth.
「Did you make that, Lefyria-san?」
「Yes! I made it so the cross-section would look nice!」
Lefyria proudly answered my casual question.
I’ve never heard about making a sandwich to make a clean cross-section.
「So you’re interested in the appearance and colors due to the nature of your profession, too, huh?」
「It is! It’s nicer when the colors are vibrant and pretty!」
Lefyria spoke with a passionate voice.
She is a beautiful woman, even though a little unusual.
It looked pretty but as expected, I wonder what about the taste?
I nervously tried taking a bite.
「Ah, it’s delicious」
「I’m glad to hear that」
Although the ingredients used were unusual, the overall flavor of the sandwich was well put together.
There were moments when I tilted my head in confusion over the strange combination of ingredients, but I continued to eat, thinking it was fine in its own way.
I was relieved knowing that Lefyria was a woman who could also season her food properly, not only making her food look good. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
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