Farming Life in Another World

One winter day.

Rigune, who had heard that Ririus and the others were working under Youko, came to me.

And she said to me,

It’s fine for Ririus and the others to work.

While they’re young, they should experience various things.

However, why under Youko-dono?

In cases like this, they should be sent to a place where it is okay to fail because they’re young.

In other words, a place where others won’t mind if they cause trouble.

Wouldn’t a relative’s place be perfect for that?

…

In essence, the proposal is that they should be under their grandmother Rigune’s care, not Youko’s.

Hmm, I hadn’t even considered that.

If it’s under Rigune’s care, it would become the royal capital.

In that case, it would fulfill Ririus and the others’ desire to go outside, but it would also mean ignoring the wishes of their mothers, Ria and the others, who don’t want them to leave.

So, even if the proposal is made, it will be difficult for me to accept it.

Besides, as Rigune herself mentioned, she is one of Ririus and the others’ ‘few’ relatives.

However, I would want them to get immediate help from their relatives when something happens.

「When something happens?」

When something happens, me and their mothers are just here in this village.

「I don’t think anything will happen…」

We can’t afford to be careless, right?

「Mou.」

So, I have high hopes for Rigune as a reliable relative for Ririus and the others.

It’s just my personal opinion, though.

「Well, alright. Forget what I said.」

Rigune seemed to understand and left, looking satisfied.

-0-

She left so easily.

Since she had come all this way, she should have stayed and talked with Ria and the others.

As I was thinking that, the oni maid who had brought me tea informed me.

「Rigune-san, before coming to village chief, were training with the high elves.」

Ah, I see.

She has already communicated with them.

I guess I was being overly considerate.

「Flora-sama is taking care of the healing of the high elves.」

Hmm?

「Also, the high elves have expressed a desire to construct a place for anti-personnel use and set up traps within the dungeon.」

Ehto… perhaps for the next training session?

As long as it doesn’t inconvenience the passersby or the arachnes within the dungeon.

「I’ll relay the message.」

Thank you.

-0-

For several days, there has been a blizzard.

Finally, on a morning when I thought it had subsided.

I was met with a world of ice before me.

That’s the best way to describe it.

After all, the view from the building’s windows was nothing but walls of ice.

The reason it was ice and not snow was due to the thermal insulation stones we had embedded in the roof for insulation.

We tried to prevent snow from accumulating on the roof by using these thermal insulation stones, but the melted snow that didn’t reach the stones froze into ice elsewhere.

Rather than thick icicles forming and becoming walls, it felt more like layers of melted snow freezing into ice as they fell.

As a result, the ice walls were quite thick.

We had taken precautions to collect the melted snow through rain gutters equipped with thermal insulation stones, but it seems it couldn’t keep up with the accumulation.

I thought I knew the snowfall levels in this village, but apparently not.

Seeing the oni maids breaking the ice walls with axes and hammers, I wonder if it might have been easier to just let the snow pile up.

「No no, it’s fine. When snow accumulates on the roof, the weight can damage the building.」

One of the oni maids reassured me.

However, if the entire mansion were covered in ice, there would be a risk of suffocation.

That’s why you were breaking down the ice walls?

「The front of the mansion is fine.」

We’ve also embedded thermal insulation stones in the floor of the main entrance.

There, no ice walls have formed.

However, the ground has become quite soggy.

It’s because it couldn’t absorb all the melted snow there.

Although we had created drainage channels, it was challenging to install thermal insulation stones everywhere.

Now the frozen drainage channels are clogged.

Perhaps it would have been easier to leave the snow as it was.

「Village chief, the waterway on the north side has frozen.」

One of the high elves, who had been surveying various parts of the village, reported.

But then again, waterways freeze all the time, isn’t it?

Even the reservoir freezes, after all.

「Ah, no, it’s frozen all the way to the bottom of the waterway. Someone capable of using fire magic is melting it.」

All the way to the bottom?

That sounds bone-chilling.

Were the horses and cows okay?

「Yeah, the livestock barn seems fine. The beastgirls have been staying there.」

Ah, right.

During blizzards, the beastgirls take turns staying in the barn with the horses and cows since they can’t go outside.

But it’s not like they’re sleeping in the same space as the animals, we’ve properly expanded the barn to accommodate them.

Of course, there’s a fireplace and even a toilet.

They also bring food and water, enough that they can live there comfortably throughout the winter.

After all, I thought it would be dangerous for them to even stay overnight.

However, the beastgirls insisted on it stubbornly.

They said they were worried because the cow barn collapsed once before.

So, we made sure to create proper facilities if they were going to stay.

As we were talking, one of the beastgirls who had been staying there approached.

Is everything okay?

「It’s all fine. However, a few cows wanted to go to the hot spring during the blizzard… It was quite a challenge to stop them.」

T-thank you for your hard work.

「Oh, no problem. They eventually listened. So, is it alright to move those cows to the hot spring area?」

Yeah, that’s perfectly fine.

The horses and cows use the hot spring as well so we’ve built barns there as well.

Just in case they get trapped in snow on that side.

「Then, I’ll take the cows that want to go to the hot spring.」

I think you’ll be fine on your own, but take some of the kuros as guards, just in case.

「Yes, thank you.」

The beastgirl returned to the barn.

As if to replace her, a lizardman arrives.

「Village chief, the ice in the waterway on the north side is taking a long time to melt. We need reinforcements.」

Ah, the same issue again.

But won’t it just freeze again? Why don’t we just leave it until spring?

「But we throw snow into the waterway when clearing snow in the village. The waterway needs to flow.」

True, that makes sense.

Understood.

If Loo or Tier have some free time, I’ll ask them to help out.

「If possible, could we borrow Aegis-dono?」

That’s fine, but why not Loo or Tier?

「We’d like Loo-dono and Tier-dono to focus on the muddy ground.」

Ah, you mean the area in front of the mansion.

「There’s that too but don’t forget that we’ve also embedded thermal insulation stones in the road within the residential area.」

Oh, right. I almost forgot about that.

Is the waterway there frozen too?

「Yes.」

So, it’s soggy there as well.

Understood. Let’s have Loo and Tier take care of that part.

As for the waterway, Aegis…

Before I could say anything, Aegis flew off toward the north side waterway.

His determined expression seemed to say, 「Leave it to me.」.

The lizardman who had come to report bowed to me, then followed after Aegis.

Hmm.

Maybe it would have been better to embed thermal insulation stones in the waterway before the roof.

Oh, no.

That would cause problems in spring.

The waterway connects the reservoirs to various parts of the village.

And the purpose of those reservoirs is temperature regulation.

They adjust the river water to a suitable temperature for irrigating the fields, so warming the waterway would affect the crops.

To prevent the waterway from freezing, widening it might be more effective.

I’ll think about it when spring comes.

-0-

However, I realize there were many lessons learned from embedding thermal insulation stones in the roofs and roads.

In the meantime, I thought of discussing it with everyone in the village when……

「Creating a convenient life often involves learning from mistakes. Let’s focus on drainage next year.」

A mountain elf said so as I passed by them who were breaking ice around my mansion.

I’ll lend a hand too.

Ah, it would be more helpful if I went around the village?

Understood.

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