Chapter 285: Making Rice Paddies

With the mock battle tournament over and the Dark Elves welcomed in, spring came and went in the blink of an eye.

I wanted to take a trip while the weather was still pleasant… but I was far too busy to even think about it.

I’d like to take a longer break soon, but rice paddy construction is waiting. On top of that, I still need to decide how to use the NP I accumulated during spring, so a proper vacation will have to wait a bit longer.

I thought having more people would make things easier, but right now it feels like the opposite.

It’s a bit worrying that the “slow life” vibe is fading, but more than that, every day has been fun.

I decided this is where I need to push through—give it my all during summer and liven things up by holding events too.

After psyching myself up, I started with planting seeds and seedlings for summer crops.

Since it was the first day of summer, the basic farm work was done by the morning. After that, I gathered the members I had selected to begin creating the rice paddies.

“From here, we’re going to build rice paddies. I’ve explained it before, but do you all understand the general structure?”

“Master, we’ve got it! It’s basically like a field filled with water, right?”

“Yes, that’s exactly it. Alright, let’s get started.”

After I marked out the size of the paddies, Helena and Moji began plowing the land all at once.

We dug it deeper so it could hold water, and to prevent leakage, Thread, Lime, and I compacted the soil.

Lime, who could harden its body, was especially useful—what would have taken over a week by manpower alone was finished in no time.

Thanks to the prior explanations, everything had gone smoothly so far.

“That completes the basic shape of the paddies. From here on, it’ll get more difficult, so let’s split into two groups.”

“Moji and I will follow Sheila’s instructions and build the water channels.”

“On this side, Thread, Lime, and Mash will help build the ridges.”

So we split into two groups and got to work.

The ridges, which prevent water from leaking, needed to be built very carefully.

There were regular fields nearby, and if water leaked, it would affect them.

We took our time, carefully forming and firmly compacting the ridges together.

The work itself was simple but physically demanding.

Thread, the undead who didn’t feel fatigue, played a major role, tirelessly compacting the soil with a shovel.

For about a week after that, we spent our mornings on regular farm work and the rest of the day building the paddies.

Along the way, Brittany and Lua came to help, and in the end, even Drake and the Dragonkin lent a hand, allowing us to finally complete the ridges.

It was more work than expected, but up to this point, the rice paddies were perfect.

All that was left was to test whether water would flow from the channels Sheila and the others had built.

If it worked, the paddies would be complete. It’s a bit late in the season, but we planned to start planting rice seedlings right after.

I had also thought a lot about the planting process.

Since the paddies were quite large, I wanted to use machines to plant everything at once… but this time, we’d have to do it by hand.

It’s guaranteed to get muddy, but more importantly, we need to confirm the paddies can actually hold water.

“Phew… this is a tense moment. We built everything according to the books, so it should work… but it’s still nerve-wracking.”

“I feel the same. I just hope the ridges do their job properly.”

If the water didn’t flow, we could still fix it.

But if the ridges broke and water leaked out, there’d be no fixing it.

Of course, we checked everything thoroughly, so it should be fine… but it’s still scary.

With pounding hearts, we watched as water drawn from the river flowed through the channels into the paddies.

The channels worked perfectly, and the water flowed safely into the fields.

The ridges held firm, properly containing the water.

“Oh! It’s actually a rice paddy now! So this is necessary to grow certain crops, right?”

“Yes. Rice—the base of many dishes in this world—can only be grown in paddies like this. Once the water level is right, we’ll start planting the seedlings.”

“We plant them directly into the water…? Sounds like it’ll get really muddy.”

“If you’re careful, only your hands and feet will get dirty. But if you lose your balance and fall, it’ll be a mess—so be careful.”

The mud makes it easy to lose footing, and working in a crouched position leads to fatigue, making it easier to lose balance.

And mud stains are hard to clean, so everyone needed to be careful not to fall.

Once the paddies were properly filled with water, we all worked together to plant the rice seedlings.

I’d always thought rice planting was just hard labor, but doing it again after so long was surprisingly fun.

With so many people helping, we managed to plant seedlings across the entire field in no time.