Igu, the Nyunyu-daphne from Village One, officially declared the arrival of spring.
Which meant it was finally spring.
Alright, time to give it my all!
With that surge of motivation, the first task on my agenda was... evicting the group of Angels who had barricaded themselves in a corner of the mansion with a kotatsu.
Their argument was that "winter is still ongoing" and "you must not take away our beloved kotatsu." I wasn't actually planning on putting the kotatsu away for a while yet, but they had already built a rather serious barricade. They had even turned the hallway into a fortress.
"Please, leave this to me," Suarlou said, stepping forward.
Behind her stood several of the Angels she had been retraining. For the time being, I decided to leave the situation in their hands.
...
Ah, so she went with a straightforward use of force. I really wished they would hold back on the magic, though. I made sure to tell them that fire-type magic was strictly forbidden. I didn't want them forgetting they were indoors.
Suddenly, a pitfall trap triggered! When did they even have time to dig that? I made a mental note to ensure they restored everything to its original state later. Since it looked like the standoff would drag on, I headed out to start my farmwork.
That night, after swinging the Universal Farming Tool to my heart's content, I returned to the mansion only to find that Suarlou and her squad had been defeated and forced to retreat.
"I am deeply sorry," she apologized.
"No, it's fine, but... weren't they a bit too strong?"
Suarlou had claimed to be the strongest of the Angels before Tia arrived, yet she had been repelled.
"Those barricaded inside are the group evaluated as Capable Slackers. Tomorrow, I will succeed without fail."
"Just don't overdo it. If it doesn't work out, I'll ask Ann and the others for help."
Normally, I would have asked Malbit, the Angel Race Leader, or Ruincia, the Chief Assistant, but they had departed for the Six Dragon God Kingdom around the end of winter. They had been requested to serve as advisors for negotiations with a Human Kingdom. The request had come from both the humans and Mettora, who was currently unable to travel due to her pregnancy.
Despite the various things people said about the Angels, it seemed they were quite relied upon by the human nations. There was even a saying: "In times of trouble, call the Angel Race."
"Oh, there's more to that saying, you know," Lu informed me.
"Wait, really?"
"When in trouble, call the Angel Race. It's probably their fault anyway, so drag them in and make them help."
...
"And then the set is only complete once the Angels scream that it’s a false accusation."
"I... I see."
The next day, I went to greet Zabuton and her children, who had finally woken from their hibernation.
"It’s been a while. Don't feel like you have to push yourselves right away."
First came the feast. They needed to recover the stamina they had burned through during the winter. I had prepared a massive quantity of dishes using potatoes—their absolute favorite. It was a tradition by this point.
Zabuton signaled that they would focus on eating and greetings today and start working tomorrow. That was perfectly fine with me. However, she seemed very curious about the lace fabric and the Gothic Lolita fashion trends.
I laughed. "Don't worry, I’ve secured plenty of lace. I figured you and the kids would want some."
Since some of the children were still wearing their Gothic outfits, I suggested we hold a fashion show sometime soon.
By the way, I only recently learned that Alfred, who was currently in the Progenitor’s kingdom, was involved in the import and export of that lace. Apparently, he had predicted it would be a massive hit because he knew how much Zabuton would love it. However, his allowance hadn't been enough for the initial investment, so he had borrowed the funds from Lu.
I wished he had just asked me. As his father, I felt a little left out.
The Pond Turtles had woken up near the end of winter and had been busy breaking the ice on the reservoir. Now that spring had officially arrived, they were active as usual—perhaps even more so. They were currently munching happily on cabbage.
This was cabbage from last year’s autumn harvest, which Ice the Ice Monster had kept frozen for us. The thawing process seemed to have worked perfectly, as the turtles didn't have any complaints about the flavor.
Wait, I stand corrected. They didn't have complaints, but they did mention that freshly harvested cabbage tasted better.
"Fair enough. I'll make sure to grow plenty of cabbage and other greens in the dedicated Pond Turtle field near the reservoir again this year."
I decided on the crop layout for the fields by consulting with the Civil Official Girls. They had provided signboards with illustrations to make it easy for me to visualize the plan, so I set to work swinging the Universal Farming Tool accordingly.
Before I knew it, the sun had set. Even so, I still had a great deal of plowing left to do.
I couldn't help but smile. It felt like spring, and I was enjoying myself. I was determined to keep at it.
With the arrival of spring, Kuro, Yuki, and their many children also left the mansion to resume their activities. Their job was to patrol the village perimeter and secure meat from magic beasts and monsters. They ran through the forest, which had grown quite lively and noisy.
Some of them, however, preferred to bask in the sun within the Ranch Area, often falling fast asleep. Well, it was spring, after all.
I used to think that the livestock in the ranch avoided the wolves whether they were awake or asleep, but I noticed several goat kids napping right next to a sleeping young wolf. Perhaps they felt safe near the wolves? They were sleeping in the exact same way, looking completely defenseless. It was a heartwarming sight.
Meanwhile, the parent goats, unable to bring themselves to get close to the wolf, watched on anxiously from a distance.
Back at the mansion, a group of Angels was lined up neatly for training. These were the ones who had barricaded themselves in. Suarlou was overseeing the session, which meant she had finally broken their siege. However, even for the flight-capable Angels, fighting indoors meant they couldn't use their full power. The damage to both sides had been heavy.
It was a predictable result. I felt that if she had just asked Ann and the maids for help sooner, they could have at least minimized the damage to the attackers. Not to mention the damage to the building itself. The High Elves and Mountain Elves now had even more work on their plates. In exchange, I intended to make sure the Angels in the village worked extra hard.
Several horses, cows, and goats were moved from our Ranch Area to the one in Village Five for breeding purposes. I had explained the situation to them beforehand, so there was little pushback.
Well... the ones who did resist, resisted with everything they had. In those cases, I was useless. If it were up to me, I’d just tell them they could stay if they hated the idea that much. Instead, the Beastman girls took over, gently persuading and soothing them. Once they actually arrived at the Village Five ranch, they settled down and behaved themselves, so it didn't turn into a major issue.
After spending a year or two breeding in Village Five, they would return to the Village of the Great Tree. Curiously, when it was time to come back, they didn't offer any resistance at all, despite being pampered in Village Five. I suspected the Village Five rearing staff probably felt like crying.
I spent about twenty days straight plowing the fields. The areas I had worked on at the very start were already beginning to bloom with flowers rather than just buds. As expected, the Universal Farming Tool was incredibly reliable.
I looked forward to working hard alongside it again this year.
"It’s a false accusation!" the Angels cried.
"Are you sure?" the humans asked.
"Probably!"
"..."
"Most likely!"
"......"
"I want to believe it is!"
"Why did the Garlet Kingdom even send people like this...?"
"You can insult us all you want, but don't you dare speak ill of the Garlet Kingdom!"
"I wonder," Lu mused, watching me work. "Is the Universal Farming Tool a better heroine than I am? Or am I just imagining things?"