Galf and his party departed.
In the end, their intentions had been genuinely friendly, without a trace of falsehood.
The reason they hadn't prepared any gifts was simple: Howlin Village didn't share that particular custom, and quite frankly, they were poor.
When I brought this up and double-checked with Lu and Tia, they both let out a low groan. They admitted that the tradition of bringing gifts to establish friendship was likely a formality reserved for prosperous cities and the nobility.
It seems "normal" can mean many things depending on where you are.
Assumptions can be dangerous things.
Now, while friendship had been established, the matter of future trade required more discussion.
According to Galf, their version of trade was essentially a barter-based marketplace. Much like our village, currency was rarely in circulation at Howlin Village.
Furthermore, while it was standard practice to hold markets at both villages alternately, they requested that we only hold them at Howlin Village.
This wasn't a demand or an act of tyranny. It was simply a matter of logistics; transporting goods to our village was an incredibly difficult journey. They explained that the sheer effort involved would drive the value of their items too high for a fair exchange, and even if a deal was struck, hauling the traded goods back up the mountain would be an ordeal.
I initially thought the struggle would be the same for us, but they pointed out that since we actually lived in this forest, we should have no trouble traveling to them.
It was a fair point. Lu and Tia had made it here on their own, after all, and if I enlisted the help of Kuro and his pack, we could likely transport a significant amount of cargo.
Besides, if it was just a matter of showing up to participate, we could easily pull out if the arrangement didn't suit us.
It wasn't a bad deal.
That meant the next order of business was deciding what to trade.
Howlin Village apparently dealt in various ores and manufactured metal goods. I learned quite a bit from Galf, but the item that caught my eye was paint. They could produce a variety of colors by crushing pigmented stones.
With that, I could finally add some color to the fence around the inn.
Then there were the silver products. They mainly produced tableware. Since our village relied almost entirely on the wooden plates and bowls I carved, I found myself yearning for something a bit more refined.
They also had glass products. According to Galf, they lacked the crystal clarity I was used to, but they still produced various bottles in all shapes and sizes.
Lu and Flora jumped at that mention. Apparently, glass bottles were ideal for storing medicine. They would be perfect for preserving our honey as well.
Finally, there were the iron products. They had iron pots and frying pans. When Ann and Daga’s group first arrived, they brought a few iron cooking utensils with them. After trying them out, I realized they were vastly superior to stone for cooking.
I definitely wanted more of those.
As for what Howlin Village wanted in return, it was food. Specifically, our crops.
Being located halfway up a mountain meant they struggled constantly with food security. The fruits we served during the banquet were a massive hit; Galf actually bowed his head and pleaded with us to include them in the trade.
They wanted wine, too.
If all they wanted were crops, we wouldn't be in much trouble. Well, that wasn't entirely true—our population was growing, so our food stockpiles were a concern. However, because our numbers had increased, it was the perfect time for a large-scale expansion of our fields.
In any case, this barter market wouldn't take place until autumn, as several other villages participated in it as well. That gave us plenty of time to consult with everyone and make a plan.
Following our discussions, we decided on a massive expansion of the farmland.
We jumped from our current eight-by-eight grid of sixty-four plots to a sixteen-by-sixteen layout of two hundred and fifty-six plots—a sudden fourfold increase.
As expected, there was a limit to how much I could till alone. Even though there was a limit, I was the only one who could use the Universal Farming Tool.
I pushed myself hard.
I realized then that limits were meant to be broken. In reality, I think my tilling speed had simply improved with practice. I suppose I’m just getting used to it.
While I handled the tilling, the tending and harvesting required everyone's cooperation. Ria’s group, Daga’s group, and even Zabuton’s children worked themselves to the bone for the village.
Incidentally, out of those two hundred and fifty-six plots, sixty-four were dedicated to wine grapes.
I questioned whether dedicating a full quarter of our land to alcohol was really a good idea, but I suppose it was fine. After all, almost everyone besides me had voted in favor of it.
After that, we laid out the rest of the fields together.
We focused primarily on grains: wheat, barley, soybeans, rice, and corn.
For carrots, potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, eggplants, daikon, spinach, onions, and garlic, we maintained our previous production levels.
Unexpectedly, the others strongly recommended growing canola and sugar cane—the former for oil and the latter for sugar.
Then there were the seasonings. The consensus was that pepper, sesame, and chili peppers would be high-demand trade items, so we decided to mass-produce them.
On a side note, I challenged myself to grow wasabi.
Since it requires a water paddy, I used the Universal Farming Tool to till a spot near the reservoir. I built up embankments to enclose the area and then channeled water inside.
It looked like the real thing.
It was a success, too. I managed to harvest some wasabi.
...I got it, but I quickly realized I didn't have any dishes to use it in.
The production of miso and soy sauce has since passed from my hands to Flora’s. She turned out to be much more skillful at it than I ever was. I taught her the logic and the general methods, and from there, she took over with a process of trial and error while carefully measuring quantities.
Oh right, I made a discovery regarding koji.
By transforming the Universal Farming Tool into a rice scoop and concentrating on creating koji while mixing the crops, the fermentation process went perfectly. I could create almost exactly the kind of koji I envisioned.
We built a dedicated fermentation hut, and experiments are still ongoing. Mainly, Flora is working to satisfy my cravings, since I’m the only one who remembers how these things are supposed to taste.
One character represents a size of roughly 50x50 meters.
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