Rain,
a Cave, and the Truth 9
「Well, I didn't think you would do
anything reckless in a place like this, though.」
After
patting Ashren-sama's shoulder pon, Mark-sama handed me a
rope.
「There are villagers at the top of
this cliff. When I give the signal, they will pull you up, so keep your body
perpendicular to the cliff. Imagine walking up the cliff with the soles of your
shoes. Think you can do it?」
「Yes, I will try.」
Saying
"Well then," Mark-sama was about to tie the rope around my
body, but Ashren-sama swiftly took it and tightly wrapped it around my
waist himself.
「I wrapped it a little tight because
it must not come loose halfway through, but is it painful?」
「I am fine.」
「Even so, you are thin. It looks like
you might break; you should eat more properly.」
Even
with this, I have plumped up quite a bit since coming to the Kanista Kingdom.
Thanks to a healthy lifestyle of eating three proper meals and getting enough
sleep, my bony body had regained feminine lines.
「Now then, are you two ready?」
「Of course.」
「I will do my best.」
While
looking worriedly at me as I placed my shoe soles against the cliff and hyped
myself up, Mark-sama blew a sharp whistle with his fingers. That sound
served as a signal, and just as I thought the rope had been pulled taut, my
body was pulled upward.
Despite
nearly losing my footing a few times on the way, by the time I finally reached
the top of the cliff, I was completely exhausted. Seeing me plop down there,
the man who pulled me up widened his kite-brown eyes in surprise that I was a
woman.
「I was completely sure you were a
man. You were so light, I did think it was strange.」
Perhaps
due to that lightness, or thanks to the man's arm strength, I was the first to
reach the top of the cliff.
「Thank you very much. You saved me.」
「No, no, this much is nothing big.
Besides, that young man over there paid a generous reward in advance. It's good
pocket money.」
"Here,"
the man said, handing me some bread.
「My wife gave it to me, telling me to
take it since you'd surely be hungry.」
「Thank you very much. I have only
eaten dried meat since yesterday.」
「I see. Well then, the first thing to
do when we reach the village is eat.」
He
looked about forty years old. Floating a friendly smile on his dark skin, he
patted my shoulder bon with his large hand.
While
this was happening, both Ashren-sama and Mark-sama reached the
top of the cliff. After putting some bread and water into our stomachs, we were
guided by the villagers and headed toward the Liebel Village we had been
searching for.
Liebel
Village
was a place where flat land spread out in the mountains, as if it had been
hollowed out. In that village where about forty households lived, houses were
sparsely built amidst lush green wheat fields.
The
villagers were split roughly in half between those doing agriculture on the
flatland and those growing fruit on the slopes. It was a tranquil village that
lived basically self-sufficiently, growing vegetables in each household,
setting traps in the mountains to catch animals, and catching fish in the
river.
The
one who pulled me up was the village chief of Liebel Village. We were
first invited to the village chief's house and treated to a soup full of summer
vegetables and grilled fish prepared by his wife.
「I apologize that this is all we
have.」
We
thanked the village chief and his wife, who had immediately become humbled upon
learning we were nobles, saying, "Thank you very much," and
completely and deliciously finished our meals. I didn't know fresh vegetables
could be this delicious.
Ashren-sama asked for seconds three times,
and once our stomachs were completely full, we decided to get to the main
topic.
「Has there ever been a mass withering
of wheat in this village?」
「No, there has not. It seems to
happen once every few years in the villages below, and every time it does,
there are even people who go out of their way to come buy some from this
village... sir.」
In
response to Ashren-sama's question, the village chief made himself
smaller and scratched his slightly graying brown hair roughly, showing he
wasn't capable of using polite language.
「Do you have any idea about why that
is? For example, fertilizer or pesticide passed down only in this region, the
way you raise seedlings—anything is fine, so please tell us.」
「Yes. But, even if you say
anything... We ain't doing anything particularly unusual, though.」
"Any
ideas?" the village chief called out to several villagers who were peeking
at our situation from near the entrance. Those called upon also tilted their
heads, just looking at each other. Before long, one villager timidly stepped
forward.
「U-Um. I came as an adopted
son-in-law from a village at the foot of this mountain, but the way we grow
wheat is the same. If I had to say, because it's up on the mountain and the
temperature is lower here, the time to sow seeds and harvest is just a bit later
than at the foot.」
「How much is 'a bit later'?」
「About two weeks, I'd say.」
Two
weeks. A reasonable timeframe considering the height of the mountain.
「Hey, why aren't Daddy and the others
talking about the Water God?」
The
adorable voice that suddenly reached us belonged to the village chief's
youngest daughter. She was tilting her head while tugging on his wife's arm. In
response, the wife furrowed her brows, saying, "Shh, Sisil, go over
there!" and tried to push her into the next room.
「Um, what is this Water God?」
「No, it's just something a child
says. I apologize.」
「You're always saying that the wheat
doesn't wither because the Water God is in this village, aren't you, Mommy!」
Sisil puffed out her red cheeks and
argued back, but the wife covered her mouth and bowed her head.
「I am so sorry. She was raised in
such a remote village, so she doesn't know how to speak properly.」
「No, it is fine. So, what is this
Water God?」
「Well, it's not like we're enshrining
anything in particular. Around the time of spring sowing, we just dribble a
little liquor into the water source, praying for a good harvest this year, too.」
「The amount of liquor that goes into
our stomachs is dozens of times more than what we dribble in, to tell the
truth.」
The
villager who had married in from the village at the foot agreed with the
village chief. Ashren-sama asked about the details of that ritual, but
the truth of the matter was that it was just a gathering where farmers growing
wheat got together to drink liquor while flower viewing, calling it a
celebration for a good harvest.
「Ashren-sama, um...」
「I know. You want to go to that water
source, right? I will go negotiate with the village chief, so wait a bit.」
Saying so, Ashren-sama handed several silver coins to the village chief and secured us a guide. The village chief was humbled, saying, "We can't accept this much," but Ashren-sama settled the matter including the meal expenses, and we decided to head to that water source immediately.
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