Volume 1: Stone Break
Chapter 1: From Today On, I’m a Ranch Owner
One day in March.
“Cheers!”
The sound of beer mugs clinking echoed off the ceiling of the cheap izakaya.
It’s a five-minute walk from the university. I’ve been to this shop many times over the past four years.
“Well, anyway, congrats to everyone for graduating safely!”
My friend Izumi, sitting across from me, did his best to raise his voice.
“Seriously. At least everyone managed to land a job.”
“Yeah. Looks like we’ll all somehow survive.”
“Yeah, looks like things’ll work out somehow for everyone.”
I—Sakurai Saku—answered without thinking too deeply about it.
Fourth-year agriculture student. Twenty-two years old. Graduation was just around the corner.
It wasn’t like I had some grand dream of what I wanted to do.
but I somehow ended up going to university, drifted through my credits, and drifted into getting a job.
That’s pretty much how life goes for everyone, I guess.
“Saku’s company is a stable one, too. A trading company, right? That makes you one of the winners.”
Izumi grinned.
“Don’t know about being a winner. But apparently the pay’s decent.”
“See? Winner.”
“What about you?”
“Me? I’m starting my own business! Aiming for an annual income of 10 million yen!!”
“If you’re gonna dream, dream bigger.”
“Shut up!!”
“And you?”
“I’m becoming a civil servant.”
“Damn, ultra-stable!”
We all laughed over these stupid things.
The table was covered with fried chicken, fries, and yakitori.
Ahh. University’s all over.
Thinking that vaguely, the four of us sat around drinking beer.
It was peaceful.
It was truly peaceful.
Then suddenly, the TV caught my attention.
“—And now for the next story. Earlier today, XX Trading Company suddenly declared bankruptcy.”
My hand froze.
“Huh?”
The company name on the screen was painfully familiar.
“Total liabilities amount to—”
The TV continued mercilessly.
“…Huh?”
Next to me, I could hear the sound of chopsticks stop moving.
“…XX Trading Company…”
“…Wasn’t that Saku’s…”
“…Oof.”
The TV moved on to the next story.
“—And now for the next news item.”
As though the previous report had never happened.
I stared silently at the TV for a while.
“……”
“……”
“……”
An awkward atmosphere settled over us.
The kind of atmosphere that screamed “well, this sucks.”
Izumi lifted his mug.
“Alright! We’ll treat you to a meal today, Saku!!”
That was one of the good things about him, he knows what to say at times like this.
“Let’s drink!!”
“O-Oh!? Yeah!”
“Yeah! Tonight’s on us!”
“Just drink already!!”
“Yeah!!”
Laughter returned.
I laughed too.
Didn’t really know why, but I laughed anyway.
It’s not like I’m going to die right now.
I could still eat tomorrow.
I could still graduate.
So, well…
Things would probably work out somehow.
◇
One week later.
“Well… maybe things really will work out somehow?”
I lie in bed, staring at the ceiling.
The light of early spring is streaming in through the gap in the curtains.
The company that had offered me a job had literally ceased to exist.
“Hmmm…”
I can’t summon any motivation.
It’s not like I’m panicking or anything.
But I’m not feeling positive either.
“What should I even do…”
I opened a job-hunting website.
Then closed it.
Couldn’t move.
“It’s not like there’s anything in particular I want to do anyway…”
To begin with, I didn’t join a trading company because I had a specific career goal in mind.
I’d just gone with the flow.
Since I majored in Agriculture, I figured something related to food would be good.
So while losing the job shocked me, it didn’t destroy me.
“…Hmm.”
I fiddled with my phone.
Opened a recruiting site. Closed it.
I started to write my resume, but then I stopped.
“…Ah.”
Suddenly I remembered the date.
“Today’s the release date for Winning Post 10.”
Crap, I totally forgot.
My mood instantly lifted a little.
I opened my laptop.
Opened Steam and added the game to my cart.
“Well, buying this much should be fine.”
It’s not like I’ve got anything else to do.
Just as my cursor hovered over the purchase button—
My phone rang.
The screen shows “old man”.
“…Wow, what timing.”
It was rare for Grandpa to call, so I answered.
“Hello?”
“Saku?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re free, right?”
“Huh?”
“Just come back home for now.”
“What?”
“I’ll explain after you get here.”
“Explain what?”
Click.
“…He hung up.”
I looked back at the screen.
The purchase button was still there.
A few seconds passed.
“……”
I sighed.
Then closed the laptop.
“Oh well, it’s fine.”
Winning Post isn’t going anywhere.
But Grandpa might.
He was at that age.
◇
The scenery outside from the bus window hadn’t changed much from when I was a kid.
The bus stopped in front of a station where trains no longer came.
Grass had overtaken the old railway tracks.
My hometown.
The town of cherry blossoms and horses.
From there, I took one of the few taxis left for another twenty minutes to Grandpa’s ranch.
Passing through the gate, a wide grassy field came into view. Fences. Stables. Warehouses. An old tractor. The smell of hay.
It all felt strangely nostalgic.
“I’m home.”
No response.
Only the sound of horses neighing.
“Grandpa, I’m back.”
An old man emerged from deep inside the stable.
“Ou.”
Sakurai Ranch. A tiny little ranch.
Apparently it used to be larger, but now there were only a few horses left and my aging grandfather.
“So what did you need me for?”
“Heard your company went under.”
“You knew?”
“I keep track of where my grandson got a job.”
“Yeah, well… now I’m wondering what to do.”
The old man crossed his arms.
Even though he’s family, he had an intimidating presence.
“You wanna inherit it?”
“Huh?”
“The ranch.”
“Huh?”
It feels like all I’ve been saying is “Huh?” this whole time.
“Back in the day, it was pretty big. Big enough that I could get a license to own a racehorse.”
“Huh.”
“But now it’s just a small ranch with a handful of horses. You should be able to manage something like this.”
This was moving way too fast.
“No, realistically speaking, there’s no way I can do that.”
“If you inherit it, I’ll train you thoroughly until you can. So? You taking it over or not?”
“Uhhh…”
“If you won’t, I’ll just sell it. I’ll give you the money from that.”
“Hmmm……”
My horse knowledge basically came from Winning Post, Derby Stallion, and Umamusume.
But…
It’s not like I had anything else I wanted to do.
And I didn’t hate this place.
Of course I’m not confident.
But the sky was vast here, and the smells were familiar.
“…Alright. I’ll take over.”
Maybe giving it a shot wouldn’t be so bad.
Grandpa nodded quietly.
“Okay.”
Just like that, it was decided.
Maybe life really is this simple sometimes.
“If I end up running the ranch into the ground, don’t blame me, okay?”
“If you didn’t inherit it, I was selling it anyway. It was just a matter of sooner or later.”
Hearing that made me feel a little more at ease.
◇
“Well, I’ll start drilling the details into you tomorrow. For today, just go and say hello.”
“To who?”
“To the horses, obviously.”
I entered the stable and stood in front of the stalls.
hfff.
The smell of hay and manure.
Several horses looked my way.
“Nice to meet you.”
The moment I said that—
“Nice to meet ya too, kid.”
“…Huh?”
The horse beside me tilted its head.
“My, you’ve grown so big!”
“Grandpa! Food!”
“…What?”
The horses were looking at me.
Their mouths weren’t moving. Or were they? But they were horses. Horses don’t talk.
I turned around.
“What’s up?”
Grandpa looked completely normal.
“…No, must be my imagination. Yeah.”
I tried to brush it off.
I must have misheard.
I was tired.
My job offer vanished, I got dragged back to the countryside, my brain’s probably glitching out.
Yeah. That had to be it.
“What’s wrong, kid?”
“Oh my, can you hear us maybe?”
“FOOD!!”
………….
Slowly, I turned back around.
“…Do the horses talk?
“…What the hell are you talking about?”
Grandpa stared at me like I was insane.
And that was how my new life as a ranch owner began.
No, it’s all too new!!
Tl note:
Izakaya: An izakaya (居酒屋) is a type of informal Japanese bar where people gather to drink and enjoy small plates of food