CH 128

C128: THE PRINCESS’ TERRITORY

One to two months must have already passed ever since Letasreit, the princess of the now-destroyed Human Kingdom, came to our farm.

Contrary to our expectations, she’s actually pretty hardworking.

The royal family is an unemployed class, and yet, the princess can persevere with farm work.

“Someday, Lord Saint will come… He definitely will!”

It seems those words that have become some sort of mantra is what keeps her going.

She believes that Saint Kidan will appear and rescue her and the entire human race someday.

The reason being that since he’s a saint, he’ll do the sacred thing and defeat the demon race.

Well, I’m the Saint Kidan she’s looking for, though.

And I have no intention of saving their race.

I’m not interested in interracial wars. If anything, I don’t want to get involved in it.

Besides, we’re on good terms with the demon race’s ruler.

If I blatantly spill the beans to her, God knows what will happen to her will to live, so I’m keeping quiet about it for the time being.

I also told the others to keep their mouths shut.

“Lord Saint, I want you to take a look at the ridges I made-”

“Shh!”

Someone makes a slip of the tongue every now and then, as you can see.

And Letasreit just so happens to be nearby.

“Huh? Your name is Saint?”

Thank goodness she’s an airhead.

That’s how our new resident accustomed herself to farm life…

“Would you like to have your own field?” I spontaneously ask.

“My own field? What do you mean?”

“The fields in the farm are common property. It’s cultivated and maintained by everyone, so even the harvests are divided among them.”

Apart from that, she can have a field that she can grow and manage on her own if she wants.

“You can grow whatever you want and keep all the harvests to yourself.”

There is nothing special about this. In fact, even our orcs and goblins started their own kitchen garden near their longhouse to grow their own vegetables and potted plants.

“Fava beans!” suddenly exclaims Letasreit.

“I want to grow fava beans! I love them!”

“I-I see!”

That’s quite the refined taste.

And so, we created a field in the corner exclusive to Princess Letasreit’s use.

It was about the size of two tatami mats, so it’s pretty tiny.

“This is your territory from now on. All that you will harvest from here is yours to keep. But that also means that no one else will help you in your work. You’re doing everything from start to finish.”

“Of course! The restoration of the Human Kingdom’s territory will start from here! I’ll manage this territory under my direct control as the princess!”

Well, that escalated quickly.

All right then, the princess’ territorial reign has begun.

It’s mostly just tilling the soil and growing crops, though.

She starts plowing the soil to create arable land.

“Ack… My hand hurts!”

The princess wasn’t used to using the hoe, so she immediately got blisters on her hands.

She continues to persevere.

After having Garra Rufa treat her blisters, she cultivated within her designated land and planted the seeds.

The orcs and goblins also advised her on plucking weeds, avoiding pests, preventing diseases, and helping crops grow while making sure not to get directly involved in her work.

And because our farm was carefully made with the help of the mermaids and their hyper fertilizer, crops can be harvested much faster than usual. The princess’ fava beans were no exception. In just a few weeks, they were ready for harvesting.

“Huh?! My fava beans!”

It was the crows.

These spiteful creatures exist regardless of the world you live in.

Their rampage has been the bane of the entire farm, and our conflict with them has been going on for over a year now.

They skillfully plucked the princess’ fava beans from its pods with their slender beaks.

Are they Carrion crows?

Oh well, not that it really matters.

“Oh no!!! The pods are empty on this one! This one, too! After all my hard work looking after them…”

It’s no wonder Letasreit is devastated.

She poured her blood, sweat, and tears into this, after all.

The crows have been a nuisance to us for a while now, so we’ve come up with our own countermeasures, but they are still far from perfect. As a result, some crops still suffer from pest damage.

There is only one thing we can do.

“Let’s harvest them. The fact that the crows are feasting on them means that they’re more than ready.”

There’s no better way to keep those vermin away than by harvesting.

We stepped in to help Lestasreit this time around. She could harvest enough fava beans, her first crop that she grew on her own.

“Work is work until we get to eat!”

And so, we immediately prepared the fava beans.

I thought of taking care of the cooking, but Letasreit insisted that she do it herself.

“I’m the one who grew these darlings! It’s only reasonable to let me finish what I started!”

Her attachment to the fava beans is understandable.

That being said, cooking involves the use of cutlery and fire, so I’m worried for her.

Under my strict guidance, a frightening cooking session began and ended peacefully.

In the end, it was just a very simple dish of boiled fava beans.

Even so, Letasreit ate it blissfully to the point of tears.

“It’s so good! I never would’ve thought the food that I grew and prepared on my own would taste this good!!!” said Letasreit as she gobbles it all up, disregarding any table manners.

“It really is so good! All the feasts I’ve had at the royal palace are nothing compared to this!!!”

“…In reality, the vegetables grown on Dear’s farm are several times more delicious than what you get at the royal palace.”

“It’s food from another world, after all. It’s the top-most quality.”

Shut up, Platy and Veil.

Don’t belittle the princess’ feelings from the fruits of her very first labor.

“That’s it! I’ve decided!”

After Letasreit cleans her plate, she says, “I’ve decided to use my field as territory under my direct control and protect it for the rest of my life! I’ll eat the vegetables from it and be happy for the rest of my life!”

“But then, what about the revival of your count- mmph!”

I covered Platy’s mouth to stop her from saying anything unnecessary.

This is for the better.

I like people who lose themselves in their own efforts.