Sesame And Wheat

‘Resident’… in short, it probably meant a provisional member, not an official member of the base.

Since Maachan was working for the sake of the base, it seemed she had been recognized as temporary personnel.

In any case, it had been a while since the base leveled up.

Not wanting to lose to Maachan, I also enthusiastically set to work tilling the field.

After that, I took a short break, and at last moved on to the long-awaited sowing of seeds.

Right now, I had three fields at my house.

One was growing sweet potatoes, and two were empty.

“Hey, hey, Leopin-kun, what are you planting!? What are you planting!?”

To the eagerly questioning Maachan, I said,

“Black sesame and wheat.”

“Sesame and wheat!? For us Merchants, those are important goods, practically our blood and flesh!”

The oil obtained from sesame, and the flour obtained from wheat.

For Merchants, those were goods they continued handling from the time they were beginners all the way until they became veterans.

“Then I’ll sow the sesame seeds, so can you sow the wheat seeds?”

“Yep, I will, I will! Let’s sow seeds! Let’s grow them! Let’s reap them! And then sell… I mean, eat them up heartily!”

Maachan frolicked around the field like a child and scattered the seeds.

Even among all the female students I knew, she possessed outstanding energy and initiative.

After a while, Maachan came back with a refreshed face, like someone who had just finished an early-morning run.

“Haaah, I finished sowing the seeds!”

“Good work. Thanks to your help, the job went quickly.

Now all that’s left is to make them grow.”

“Hehe, I’m looking forward to it!”

Maachan wore an innocent smile.

However, I had seen through the slight ill intent hidden behind it.

“So, what is it that you want?”

“Huh?”

“They say Merchants begrudge even sticking out their tongues, right?

I figured there was no way you’d help with fieldwork without wanting something in return.”

“So you figured me out,” said Maachan, sticking out her tongue.

“Um, I was thinking… I’d like the crops grown in this field to be handled by my class’s ‘Merchant Union’…”

“You mean you want to sell them in the residential district.”

“Yep! Of course, after setting aside your share to eat, Leopin-kun, just the leftovers would be fine!”

When I let out a low “Hmm,” Maachan clasped her hands together as if in prayer.

“Please, okay! All the goods distributed in the residential district are completely monopolized by Class 1-07… the ‘Grand Merchants’ Union’! Even the School Store is run by the ‘Grand Merchants’ Union’ too… At this rate, our ‘Merchant Union’ is going to get turned into their underlings!”

The role of Merchants was ‘distribution and sales.’

They were, so to speak, intermediaries who sold weapons and items made by artisan students to students in combat classes and the like.

There were also cases like Akemi and Kurumi, where artisans sold directly themselves, but that was only at the start.

The more development advanced, the more division of labor advanced as well.

By meeting a good Merchant, an artisan could maximize the profits from the goods they made.

By meeting a good artisan, a Merchant could secure high-quality goods.

At this early stage of development, both artisans and Merchants should have been desperate to find partners.

And so, Maachan had stepped forward to become my business partner.

Maachan continued talking without even pausing for breath.

“And that’s not the only problem! The market prices are controlled by the ‘Grand Merchants’ Union’ too, and flour at the School Store has gone all the way up to 10,000 Enders per kilogram!”

“What? 10,000 per kilo!? That’s expensive!”

In contrast to me raising my voice, Maachan lowered hers.

“This is just something I heard, but apparently it’s on the principal’s orders, to make life hard for Class 1-16. Class 1-16 refused the ‘Cheers Game,’ right? That class is all cooks, so I think not having flour would hit them especially hard.”

“So that’s it…”

Until just a moment ago, my attitude toward distributing flour to the residential district had been, “Either way is fine.”

But now, it was not fine either way at all.

If even Kurumi was having trouble, then my flour absolutely ought to be distributed.

I asked Maachan,

“I don’t mind letting you handle my flour, but I have one condition. Distribute it in the residential district at a fair price that anyone can afford. Can you promise me that you won’t do business that picks and chooses who gets to buy, or use it to curry favor with people in power like the principal?”

“I-I will! I absolutely promise!”

Maachan nodded over and over with a serious expression.

I decided to trust those copper-coin-like eyes, free of greed.

“All right, then the deal is made.”

“R-… really!? Y-… yessss!”

Then Maachan’s eyes changed abruptly, beginning to shine like gold coins.

That made me a little uneasy, but she spoke before I could.

“You already promised! So no backsies after this!”

Maachan had been energetic the whole time, but the moment she achieved her goal, she became even more energetic.

“All right! I’ve decided! I’m not just helping today, I’ll help tomorrow too! Because that way, they’ll grow faster! Then see you again tomorrow! Bye-bye!”

As she started to dash off like a gust of wind, I hurriedly called out to stop her.

“Hey, hey, wait. Since you’re here, stay a little longer. Then something even better might happen.”

“Huh?” Maachan turned back while still in a running pose.

By this point, I had already activated ‘Dexterous Job Change,’ the skill of ‘Jack-of-All-Trades,’ and changed jobs to ‘Mana Farmer.’

I spread both hands toward the fields stretching out before my eyes.

And then declared,

“O light… become the power that causes new life to sprout forth in this land…!”

At the next moment,

…unyunyunyunyuーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー!!

As if time had been fast-forwarded, shoots sprouted from the ground all at once.

Fresh green stalks shot upward with enough force to pierce the heavens.

The sesame field grew thick with leaves, its pods hanging in clusters.

The wheat field passed beyond fresh green and became a golden sea stretching in every direction.

“E-… eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー!?!?”

The sesame and wheat that had only just been sown all underwent explosive growth at once.

Watching it from beside the field, Maachan had fallen over as if she had been struck upward by the suddenly growing plants.

She opened her orange-glowing eyes wide, like someone beholding a twilight illusion.

“Eh eh eh eh!? Eeeeeeeeーーーーーーーーーーー!?

Why, why did they grow so fast!? Doesn’t it normally take half a year for crops to grow…!?

To raise them this much in an instant, it’s just like magic…!”

With a startled look, Maachan looked up at me.

“Could it be that Leopin-kun, you were actually a mage!? But Leopin-kun, weren’t you supposed to be unemployed…!?”

“These days, even unemployed people can use magic.”

“T-that’s amazing! An unemployed person who can use magic, that’s way too amazing!? Yes yes yes! Yessssーーーー!”

Maachan sprang to her feet, rushed over to me with a swoosh, and grabbed my hand.

“To tell the truth, I was worried! I thought that before your crops could even grow, Leopin-kun, we of the Merchant Union would get turned into the Grand Merchants’ Union’s underlings first! But now, we can finally show those girls from the Grand Merchants’ Union! Can I harvest this right away and sell it in the residential district!?”

Maachan stared at the ears of wheat swaying before her in the wind like a horse dangling a carrot before its own eyes.

“Don’t rush so much. Were you planning to take the harvested wheat there just as it is? If you’re going to distribute it in the residential district, then it has to be flour.”

At that, Maachan rounded her already large eyes in puzzlement.

“The wheat growing right in front of us and flour… could they maybe be different things?”

From that reply, I understood.

Maachan wanted to deal in flour, but she had no idea how it was actually made.

“No wonder you dug a huge hole in the field and thought you were helping…”

“Huh? Did you say something?”

“No, it’s nothing. In any case, just harvesting it won’t let you distribute it on the market, so there’s one more job to do.”

“Really!? But okay, I get it! What do I need to do!? Let’s do it right now!”

“Hey, hey, it’s already evening. It’s too late today, so let’s do it tomorrow. I need to prepare a few tools too.”

“O-okay! Then I’ll come again tomorrow! I’ll go home early and sleep today, then come first thing in the morning! So don’t eat what’s here yet, okay!?”

“Like I could eat all of this by myself. More importantly…”

Before I could even finish speaking, Maachan ran off, leaving behind a lingering fragrance like spring flowers.

Watching that endlessly energetic figure from behind, I shrugged.

“Good grief, it looks like tomorrow’s going to be busy from the morning too.”