Chapter 63: Playing in the Mud is So Exciting

“Hey, Kenta. Can we come with you to the farming village today?”

This request came from Meyleen around the time we had been working on creating rice paddies and improving rice varieties in the former Lindor farming village for a while.

“Of course, that’s fine.”

When she said “we,” it included Leon, Yulia, and Ayla.

Leon and Ayla had just started toddling around recently, so it was about time to take them to a new playground.

“Wait, wait, Maya-san! What we’re doing isn’t some kind of game, you know!?”

Nara-kun complained when I gave Mayleen an instant “okay,” but…

“It’s basically half-play, isn’t it? This is just because you want to eat good rice, after all.”

It’s not like we’re trying to make it a business or anything.

If that’s the case, then it’s just a hobby. And hobbies are half-play.

“Ugh, well, I guess you’re not wrong about that…”

“Hey, Mitsuhiko-sama, I’d like to come along too. I’ve been wanting to see what you do daily.”

“Sure thing. Let’s all go to the village today, then.”

Hey.

Didn’t you just give her an instant “okay” as well?

Well, I guess if your woman asks you, it’s hard to say no.

“Ivern’s coming too, so get ready now!”
“Huh?! I don’t care about rice or any of that!”
“Be quiet! Ayla and I said we’re going, so you’re going too! Got it!?”
“…Got it.”

There were some reluctant participants as well.

But that’s just how it goes.

And so, it was decided that everyone from the house would head to the farming village to check out the rice paddies today.

When we arrived at the village using teleportation magic, Leon and Ayla’s eyes lit up.

“Whoa!”
“Wow!”

For the two of them, this was the first time seeing scenery beyond the area around the house.

Their excitement was obvious.

“Ah, Mayleen, Yulia, don’t let them play in that paddy over there, but the unused one here is fine.”

“Got it.”

“Oh, and be careful in the paddies. The mud is deep, so they might…”

“Waah! Mamaaa!”
“Uwaaah!”

“…end up getting stuck and crying like that.”

Sure enough, Leon and Ayla, who had rushed into the paddy I said was okay, were now stuck and crying.

Mayleen chuckled at the sight.

“Hehe, I see. I’ll go help them out.”

Without worrying about getting her clothes dirty, Mayleen stepped into the paddy.

Incidentally, both Mayleen and Yulia were in pants today.

They’d known they were going to get dirty.

Yulia followed Mayleen into the paddy and ended up slipping, plunging straight into the mud.

Seeing Yulia covered head to toe in mud seemed to amuse Leon and Ayla, who quickly shifted from crying to laughing hysterically.

And from there, it turned into a full-on mud festival.

Leon, Ayla, Mayleen, and Yulia were soon covered in mud from head to toe.

“Please, let me join in too!”

Eva, who had been hanging out with Nara-kun earlier, couldn’t resist the fun and joined in, quickly getting covered in mud as well.

“…Wait, wasn’t the plan to observe my work today?”

Nara-kun, seemingly shocked that Eva had left his side, muttered in disbelief. But he was missing the point.

“I told you, it’s not work—it’s a hobby.”
“At this level, calling it a hobby feels wrong!”

Nara-kun gestured dramatically toward the sprawling rice paddies. Some were already bearing rice thanks to plant growth acceleration magic, while others had just been planted.

“It’s always a strange sight. This one’s just been planted, but that one’s already growing.”

“That’s the magic at work.”

The magic, though useful, wasn’t without its drawbacks.

Plants require water and nutrients to grow, and using the magic drained the soil’s nutrients rapidly.

This meant supplementing the magic with large amounts of fertilizer, which Ivern had been tasked with purchasing in town.

When Ivern hauled a cartload of fertilizer into the forest, the guards at the entrance apparently gave him a lot of grief.

It was obvious they were wary of the idea of us settling down permanently, given that setting up farmland usually signaled long-term intentions.

This attitude made it clear that Weimar wanted us gone from the country.

But honestly, being treated that way only made me want to stay even more.

So, for now, our stay in Weimar was confirmed.

Back in the village, we were experimenting with various rice strains, combining them to create new varieties.

Normally, this process would take years, but with the help of the magic, we had already gone through several generations.

As for harvesting and threshing, those served as training exercises for Nara-kun’s magic, which had improved significantly.

As for me, other than teleportation and growth magic, there wasn’t much to do.

“Well, I guess I’ll join Leon and the others.”

Ivern silently followed me.
He had even less to do than I did.

Nara-kun hesitated but eventually followed us.

Sometimes, taking time to play like this isn’t so bad.

While we were all playing in the mud, something suddenly caught my attention.

“…”
“Papa?”

Leon called out to me, noticing my sudden stillness.

But I couldn’t respond at the moment.

Because…

“!? Whoa! What the—suddenly!?”
“Wait! Maya-san! Why are you casting magic all of a sudden!?”
“Ohhh!”

Ivern was startled, Nara-kun grumbled, and Leon’s eyes sparkled when I fired magic into the air.

As expected, my own kid gave the cutest reaction.

“Papa! That was amazing!!”
“Haha, really? Papa’s amazing, huh?”
“Yeah!”

While Leon smiled happily, Ivern and Nara-kun looked suspicious, and the women were staring curiously.

“Kenta, is something wrong?”
“Yeah. There were some people crossing the border up ahead, so I took care of it with magic.”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t notice at all.”
“You were playing with Leon, and they were pretty far away. No big deal.”

Mayleen, who could also use detection magic, apologized for not noticing. But with Leon keeping her busy and the considerable distance involved, it was understandable.

As for me, I only noticed because I was so bored that I’d expanded the range of my detection magic.

When a group tried to cross the supposedly sealed border, I intercepted them with magic.

“Crossing the border…? How far is the border from here?”

Ivern, unfamiliar with the area, was clueless.

“The border they were trying to cross is several dozen kilometers away.”
“Sev… dozens…”

Ivern was speechless at the distance.

Well, in this world, I’m probably the only one capable of detecting something that far away.

Thanks to the summoning’s perk of increased magic power, of course.

“Um, Maya-san, it’s impressive that you can sense people that far away, but…”
“But what?”
“…What if they were just regular people?”

Ah, so that’s what Nara-kun was worried about.

“The Lindor border is sealed, remember? Anyone trying to cross it isn’t going to be an upstanding person.”
“…What about refugees?”
“Does being a refugee give you the right to break the law?”
“Well, that’s true, but still…”

Nara-kun seemed on the verge of agreeing but couldn’t shake a nagging sense that something was off.

Fine, I’ll explain it to him.

“Well, the ones crossing the border were all strong adults. They’re almost certainly a criminal organization.”

Military personnel from neighboring countries wouldn’t do something like this since they’d avoid unnecessary trouble.

Even though the area is barren, it’s unclaimed land.

If someone wanted it, they could take it.

For now, countries are in a standoff, avoiding crossing the border.

But when a group of strong adults suddenly crosses the border in such a situation, it’s safe to assume they’re part of a criminal organization.

“Well, if I was wrong…”
“If you were?”
“Too bad for them.”

If I made a mistake, so be it.

When I said that, Nara-kun slumped his shoulders in despair.

“Seriously… That’s not something you should be saying, Maya-san…”

Is it, though?

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