Chapter 20: Rice Paddies and Waterways

After returning to the village, we were checking the status. I was eager to check my status, and although I didn’t show it, I’ve been nervous all the time.

“By the way, Keisuke-san, When you killed Katagiri, your level didn’t go up, did it?”

Sakura, who was waiting for her turn, asked me that.

“I was curious about that too, so I checked, but there was no change.”

“It doesn’t seem to be a system of killing transferees to get more experience or something like that.”

“In a world with so many transferees, that would have been dangerous.”

“There have been attacks here, and of course there will be …… killings elsewhere.”

In a world where mass murderers are getting stronger and stronger, that is extremely annoying.

As for Tsubaki and Sakura, they had improved by one level during the past few days of trap goblin hunting. Also, Touya and Natsuki’s loyalty levels were steadily increasing.

Finally, it was my turn, and I looked at the screen as if I had been waiting for it.

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

Keisuke Lv3

Occupation: Village Chief Nanashi Village ☆

Unique Skill: Village Lv4 (4/50)

『Village Chief Authority』『Range Designation』『Exile Designation』

“Ability Imitation” <NEW>.

Can imitate and use only one skill possessed by a villager; can be changed only once a day *Effectiveness is halved.

Village Bonus

☆Rich Soil

The quality of the soil in the village is compensated upward. Crops are free from disease and continuous crop damage.

Release condition: First harvest

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

“Cheat ability!”

“Hey, that’s not fair, Village Chief!”

Sakura and Natsuki said in unison. Touya looks envious.

“Even though the effect is reduced by half, it’s still one of the …… cheats, a copy ability!”

“It’s indeed a unique skill!”

As they say, even if the effect is halved, it’s still an amazing ability. It’s limited to the skills possessed by the villagers, but I’m grateful that the number of things I can do increases dramatically.

“Let’s check them out in order first.”

Everyone, including myself, is excited, so I’ll pause for a moment.

“No increase in village bonuses. The maximum number of villagers has increased from 20 to 50. It looks like we can expand the grounds this time.”

“Well, let’s go out there later.”

“Yes, and the mimicry ability, can only be changed once a day, so you have to think very carefully about how you set it up.”

“If you can’t use it when it matters, it’s a waste of treasure.”

After checking the skills, I went to find out how much the village would expand.

“I am so glad that Keisuke’s survival rate has improved.”

Tsubaki, who was walking next to me, said. Sakura followed suit.

“If Keisuke-san dies, the ward will probably disappear.”

“Worst case scenario, even the house might disappear.”

“No, that’s not what I meant…….”

“I know, Tsubaki. Thank you.”

Upon arriving at the farm area, I immediately tried for the expansion of the property. The ward flashed on and off as before and as it expanded – Touya and Natsuki, seeing it for the first time, were amazed at the sight.

The total area of the site was 10,000 m2 when the existing site and the newly expanded area were added up. In terms of length, it was 100m x 100m.

After much deliberation, i decided on a rectangle measuring 50 m north-south and 200 m east-west. The house is located slightly west of the center of the east-west rectangle. The rectangle is horizontal, with the residential area to the west of the center of the rectangle and the agricultural area to the east near the river. In order to improve the visibility near the river, we decided to occupy about 10 meters on the other side of the river.

“Then we will fix the site.”

Looking around again, it was starting to look quite village-like with such a large area. Well, there is only one house. ……

“What do you want the farmland on the east side to look like?”

“’What do you want to do about it, Tsubaki?”

“I would like to leave the current field as a vegetable plot, and use the north side of it as a rice field for rice cultivation.”

“That sounds good. By the way, how is the germination going?”

“Not yet. It’s only been two days since we tried it, so we’ll have to wait and see.”

“You soaked them in water, didn’t you? For example, why don’t you put in some of the soil that you tilled?

“I see. I’ll divide it into several small portions and give it a try.”

I suggest that the ‘rich soil’ of the village bonus and Tsubaki’s ‘farming skills’ might help.

“Then we’ll be free to do whatever we want from noon on. If you are out of bounds, do it with more than one person, and be sure to have someone watching your back.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Understood.”

“Yes, sir.”

◇ ◇◇◇

After taking a lunch break, I headed over to Touya’s place. This is to request a copy of the swordsmanship skill.

“Touya, can I try the copy effect?”

“Okay, are you going to have a mock battle?”

“No, I’m thinking of using it for logging work.”

Touya also plans to go logging, so we head to the forest together. As soon as I arrived at the site, I copied his swordsmanship skills and tried swinging the hatchet several times.

“I see, this is what it feels like to hold a machete in your hand.”

“You see? You kind of get the idea, don’t you?”

It is difficult to describe, but it was the feeling of being able to swing naturally and without hesitation, feeling the weight of the machete but not feeling it. When I think that Touya feels twice as much as this, I know that the skill is quite effective. When he actually cut the tree, he was clearly able to fell it faster than yesterday and was less fatigued.

After that, when we continued to take turns logging, a wild boar monster attacked us… but we were able to easily defeat it. Even if the effect is halved, I realized that the effect of the swordsmanship skill is great. Since I had cut quite a lot of trees, I finished bathing before the sun went down, and returned home with boar meat as a souvenir.

◇ ◇◇◇◇

The 15th day of living in another world

Two days later in the morning, I washed my face and went to the living room to hear the long-awaited report from Tsubaki.

“Keisuke-san, we finally confirmed germination!”

“Oh, you did it! Now we have a chance to secure our staple food.”

According to Touya, it was going to take more time, but on the ……4th day, they  succeeded in germinating from the brown rice. The sprouts were then transferred to the soil for seedling production.

“Now we can proceed with rice cultivation. We can all get on with it for a while starting today.”

“How do you want to divide up the work?”

“Hmm, Tsubaki, I’ll ask you to do the rice field. Sakura and Touya will be in charge of the waterway, and Natsuki and I will be in charge of processing the planks for the waterway.”

After deciding on the responsibilities, they set about their own work. Natsuki and I also had a detailed discussion at the lumber yard.

“I’ll do the stakes, and you do the planks, okay?”

“Yes, but what about the thickness and length?”

“The thickness is 3 cm, and you don’t have to worry about the length. We’ll adjust it when we install it. If there is enough room, I would like to have a 1 cm one, too. I want to reinforce the roof of my workshop.”

“Leave it to me!”

Natsuki’s crafting skills are also effective in processing wood.

When you pull the saw, the blade goes right in and there is no resistance at all. Moreover, the blade cut straight and cleanly across the cross section. If you wanted, you could even use a machete. According to Natsuki, it is like cutting melted butter.

The only problem she has is transporting the processed boards. Perhaps it is because she is still at a low level, but it seems to be a little heavy.

And there was one thing I found out today. The crafting skill does not apply to logging. It only applies to the processing and crafting of materials, and no correction was applied to the growing trees.

After five days of work, the rice paddies and waterways were finally completed.

It was taking shape, but we were not sure if it was the right shape. We hope that the “rich soil” will do the trick.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter