The dwarf who had arrived at our village was named Donovan.
He claimed to be an Elder Dwarf rather than a common one, though I couldn't really tell the difference myself. He possessed the barrel-like physique and thick limbs I had come to associate with his kind. While he was about the same height as me, the size of his head made him appear shorter than he actually was.
Now, regarding this Donovan.
He was a man.
No matter who said what, he was definitely a man.
Furthermore, he was a fully grown adult.
Regardless of anyone's opinion, he was an undeniable adult.
In other words, he was the adult male this village—and I, in particular—had been waiting for!
"Women without beards are just... look, I'm not a lolicon," he grumbled.
"..."
It seemed the cultural barrier between us was quite formidable.
"Anyway, I’m going to start brewing with the barley and corn you have here," Donovan continued. "The crops here are of excellent quality, so you can expect great things."
"I see. In that case, it would be best to increase our production," Ria noted.
"Umu. I’d like at least double the current amount... no, quadruple it would be better."
"Understood."
Donovan and Ria were consulting one another, stealing occasional glances in my direction. Look, I didn't mind expanding the fields, but I had my reservations about producing nothing but alcohol.
Hadn't they just been telling me to increase the size of the vineyards for wine as well? I was going to do it, of course, but I really wished they wouldn't put so much pressure on me.
"This is incredible."
"Yes, it’s delicious."
"Quite good."
While Ann and the other High Ogres were the primary leads for culinary research, I occasionally tried my hand at it as well. That said, most of my contributions were just attempts to recreate things from my previous world.
One of the names I remembered was "wine stew."
To be honest, I didn't actually know much about cooking. I simply figured it was something simmered in wine based on the name, so I went through a process of trial and error. I seasoned the meat and then simmered it in wine along with onions and various other ingredients. It was a bit unrefined, but I thought the results were decent.
The reactions from those around me were positive, too. However, perhaps because they were worried about the sheer volume of wine being consumed, no one asked for seconds.
Darn it...
I felt as though the obsession with alcohol in this village was becoming a bit too intense. From then on, the wine stew was relegated to a luxury dish, reserved for entertaining guests with our precious wine.
Spring arrived.
As was the custom every year, I set out to work the fields. I had been asked for barley and corn fields for brewing, and additional vineyards for wine. Consequently, I decided to double the size of everything at once.
Perhaps because I had grown so accustomed to tilling, I managed to plow faster than ever before. Even so, it still took about twenty days to finish.
I expanded the farm from its current 16x16 grid of 256 sections to a 16x32 grid of 512 sections. I extended it toward the south, but the walk to the far end became a genuine chore. By a simple calculation, it was now sixteen hundred meters away. I chose to look at it as a good source of exercise.
The vineyards were increased from 64 sections to 128. I allocated 32 sections each for the barley and corn destined for the brewery. The remaining space was dedicated to various other crops.
Of particular note was the significant increase in the sesame fields. I had remembered that oil could be pressed from sesame seeds. We were already extracting oil from canola and olives, so it wasn't strictly necessary, but I figured there was no harm in having a variety of oils available.
The task of tilling the fields was essentially a solo job for me, since I was the only one with the Universal Farming Tool. Everyone else focused on their own responsibilities.
Kuro and the others went hunting in the forest. I honestly worried whether the forest rabbits would go extinct at this rate.
Zabuton and her brood were busy making clothes. Several new designs had already made their debut.
The High Elves spent the time repairing buildings damaged during the winter and handling new construction. Donovan’s house and the recreation hall were currently underway. They also planned to build a villa for Draim. I had already finished felling the timber for these projects while I was clearing the forest for the field expansion. Cutting down trees in this area was an arduous task for anyone without the Universal Farming Tool.
The High Ogres were occupied with their usual routine of cooking and cleaning. It seemed the dirt and grime that accumulated during the winter was quite substantial.
Daga and the Lizardmen were maintaining the waterways and tending to the cows and chickens.
The Beastman Race handled the processing of the crops. They worked diligently at threshing, milling, pressing oil, and making sugar and salt.
The dwarfs were busy brewing... wait.
Had the number of dwarfs increased?
"I'm Wilcox."
"And I'm Cross. Good to meet you."
Right...
When I asked for an explanation, it turned out they had followed after Donovan. They intended to settle here permanently, just as he had. The decision had apparently been made without my knowledge.
"The crops here are high quality. I was stunned."
"Yeah, they’re delicious even when eaten raw."
There were no bad people among those who praised our crops. Welcome to the Village of the Great Tree.
Lu was being very careful with her physical health. Tia and Flora spent their time helping her with her daily needs while attending to their own individual tasks. Granmaria and the other angels were patrolling the perimeter as usual.
Regarding the field work, I did have one concern for the future.
The fact that we could harvest several times a year and didn't even need to plant seeds was entirely thanks to the Universal Farming Tool. I was truly grateful to God for granting it to me. For the moment, the village was not wanting for food.
But that was exactly why I worried.
What would happen if I didn't have the Universal Farming Tool? What would happen to the village if something happened to me, or if the tool became unusable for some reason?
Driven by that sense of urgency, I felt it was necessary to practice agriculture using ordinary tools.
Crops grown in fields tilled with the Universal Farming Tool grew about four times faster than normal, provided the environment was suitable. However, if crops from those fields were replanted elsewhere, their growth rate returned to that of a normal plant. In short, they became regular crops. Therefore, they wouldn't grow well unless we paid close attention to the seasons and other factors.
Furthermore, crops wouldn't grow at all in places that hadn't been tilled at least once with the Universal Farming Tool. I suspected this was because the natural soil of the forest was fundamentally unsuitable for farming. However, I believed that if a location could naturally support wheat, then our wheat would grow there too.
These were the things I had discovered through my various experiments. It would take more effort and the yields would be lower, but we could manage even without the magic tool. I wanted us to be able to manage.
Currently, I had a small field set aside where the residents practiced tilling as a form of training. The primary participants were the High Elves, the Lizardmen, and the Beastman Race. The fact that I told them they could keep whatever they harvested from the practice fields seemed to be a great motivator. They were mostly growing ingredients for alcohol.
(One character represents a size of about 50x50 meters)
□□□□□□□□□□□□Fruit Fruit◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□Fruit Fruit◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□Fruit Fruit◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□Fruit Fruit◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□Fruit Fruit◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□Fruit Fruit◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□Fruit Fruit◆Cow◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□Fruit Fruit◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□Field Field Chicken Field ○○○○○○○○ ━Upper Waterway━━━━━Pond Pond □ Field ◇◇ Field ○ Dog ○○○○○○○○ ━Drainage System━━━━━Pond Pond □ Field ◇◇ Field ○○○○○○○○ □□□□□□□□□□□□Field House House Dorm ○○○○○○○○ □□□□▼Bath▼▼▼▼▼△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□▼▼▼▼▼Residential▼△New Field△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□▼▼▼▼▼▼Inn▼△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△△
The river is about five kilometers in that direction. ← The wasabi water paddies aren't drawn because they are too small.