Sprouts

By the time grass sprouts from the ground,

the seeds had been hiding beneath the ground for months.

 

"Yutaka, you home?"

"Huh? W-woah, w-wait! Wait…!"

When I visited Yutaka's house and called out to him from outside, I heard his panicked voice come back from inside.

A moment later, his petite body flew out of the house, rolling on the ground.

"… Are you okay?"

"Yeah…"

What would cause a Swordsaint like him to take that much damage? Yutaka stood up sluggishly.

"S-Sorry, idiot monkey! I guess that was a bit overkill—oh, Mentor. Welcome."

Aqua followed him out afterward looking a bit upset, but she smiled upon seeing me.

I mean, even if you smile now, I already saw…?

"You two are fighting again…?"

I sighed. Is it a good thing or a bad thing that she purposely came over to Yutaka's house to fight?

"Eh, oh, right, really. This idiot monkey, no matter how many times I tell him he just doesn't get it, such a hassle."

"You don't have to go that far."

"… Idiot."

It's fine since things haven't gone to the point of spilling blood so far, but still…

Just as I was thinking that, though, Nina kicked me from behind for some reason. Does she want me to hurry up or something?

"Right, this was brought to me. Yutaka, have you seen it before?"

"Yeah, it's a wor."

Showing him the coin I'd borrowed from Luka, Yutaka answered readily.

"Let's see, when was it first used again? I think the miller, Sashido, made it?"

The miller was the person in charge of threshing and milling wheat. Although it was originally something each person had to do for their own fields, now that it was much quicker, it was more efficient to have a single miller with others bringing that person their wheat. I knew everything up till that point.

"He said that since he didn't have a good way of keeping track of how much wheat from from which person, he started giving out proofs of trade as a way to get back that amount of milled powder when you give them back."

I see. It was a rational course of action.

"Well, then everyone was bringing their flour to Ishido's bakery… but flour is bulky, right? He said it was a hassle having to carry some back and forth each time, so they could give him one of the proofs to make an equal amount of bread that that amount of flour would make."

Ishido was Sashido's younger brother, starting his bakery in much the same way the mill was. Be it due to how amazing he was at controlling the fire's temperature or if he'd come up with some amazing new method, his break was exquisite, so I visited there frequently. I'd even had him make some of the leavened bread I ate today.

"So as a result of that, it started being used as a way to get others to help out with field work when someone feels ill… then, when exchanging things for meat, rather than exchanging items, they exchange for a proof of trade. Being able to trade for only what you need when you need is much easier and has become popular."

"And that proof of trade is this thing?"

"Well, they've only recently started being metal. They started out as wood strips, but they broke quickly."

Yutaka nodded as he spoke after hearing my question.

… Yep. The monetary economy had definitely began.

"Why didn't we hear anything about it though?"

"Right. Honestly, Mentor and big sis, if you asked for wheat, meat, cloth, or skin, anything really, you wouldn't need any wor. Everyone would just say to take however much you want."

I see… certainly, it's true that I'd never been asked for compensation.

Rather, I haven't even bartered with anyone in around two centuries.

The villagers just took the initiative and started taking care of my various needs. I'm just now realizing that I've been presuming upon everyone…

Still though… money, huh.

I knew that it would appear at some point. I never thought that the villagers would create it on their own, though. My heart was full of joy and loneliness. A complex feeling to have.

The concept of money was a necessity for development. But at the same time, it couldn't be said that it'll bring happiness to humanity.

According to what Yutaka said, though, it was only used as a tool to save time and make exchanges more efficient.

However, someday… it will likely create an income gap.

Wouldn't that turn this idyllic village into something entirely different?

That was the fear I harbored.

I didn't have any children in my previous or current lives, but all of the people in this village are like my children. There was no person whose face or name I didn't know and I've seen every birth and death. No parents wished for their child to be unhappy.

—However. If the child began to walk of their own will, it was the parent's duty to watch over them.

A man of the occult like me new nothing much about economy. It would be better for me to leave them to their own devices than to attempt to guide them with haphazard knowledge.

"Hey, so what does wor mean?"

While I was going through such complex emotions, Nina pointed at the coin in my hand from beside me and asked a question.

"It's from a saying someone said a long time ago."

Yutaka responded, his head half-cocked to the side in thought.

"The early bird gets the worm—worm was changed to wor."

Oh, yeah.

The fact that seeds would grow even if their planter had forgotten about them was brought to my attention once again.

 

＊　＊　＊

 

"Alright, it's about time we headed back. Pardon the intrusion."

After we spoke for a little while longer, Nina forcibly cut me off by saying that.

Huh? What's wrong? She's always been a my pace person, she never matches anyone else's.

"Oh, no! Please feel free to ask if you have any questions!"

Yutaka smiled amiably as he answered.

He hadn't grown too tall, but he'd turned into a good young man.

"Oh, and Aqua."

Nina looked toward Aqua, then the sky.

"Next week, on the full moon."

At her words, Aqua's expression stiffened.

"Does something happen on the full moon? Is it an elven custom?"

"I wonder?"

I tried asking Nina about it on the way back, but she just shrugged. She never told me anything.

"Oh, Mentor, welcome back!"

"I'm back… why's everyone here?"

When we got back, there were Luka and Rin—who we'd left behind—as well as Lufelle and Tia.

We hadn't brought Luka to Yutaka's, so it wasn't strange she'd called Rin over, but what about the others?

"You know roads? We were talking about making one!"

"A road?"

Hearing Lufelle's words, I looked at what the girls were laying their hands on and saw a familiar image drawn on a spread out paper. What sad in the center was very likely this village—Scarlet.

Nearby it were markings signifying trees to the east, Nina and Aqua's hometown, the elven forest where Violet and Ultramarine lived. Across the mountains to the west was the lizardmen community where Shig lived.

The vast grasslands to the south where Luka and the others lived, as well as the gulf bay to the sea where Rin came from.

Although the scales and distances were a little disordered, the rough positioning wasn't wrong.

It was a map.

"I was thinking that it would have been convenient to be able to bring our wheat and skins on carts, but taking it through this forest would be hard."

Luka pointed to a small forest lying between the grasslands and Scarlet. Recently, people had come to call it The Forest of Genesis. It was the forest that Luka, Rin and the others had played tag with Violet way back when.

"Oh… true, yeah, it would be hard maneuvering a cart through that."

Although there was sort of a road heading to the grasslands, it wasn't maintained. The undergrowth had been cut and somewhat compacted, so you would have to go over bumpy tree roots. Even then, it wasn't wide enough to allow for a cart.

"And and! I was thinking about making a waterway with it, too!"

Rin gestured a line across the map.

"Wouldn't that be a bit… extreme?"

I understood her intentions. It would be used as a road for the merfolk to come to this village.

However, a line extending straight from Scarlet to the sea would easily be over a hundred kilometers. It would be a massive undertaking even if it were a simply made canal, but to make a waterway through which a merfolk could pass, the effort needed would be all the more immense.

"I'll do my best!"

"This girl gets motivated by the strangest things. Really."

Tia spoke in an exasperated tone, pointing at Lufelle, who was flexing her arm as if to show off her muscle.

"The hard part would be digging the hole, right?"

"Well… I guess it would be."

I nodded and responded to Rin's question. Digging out and paving a canal that could have water run through it without collapsing should be the hardest part.

"In that case, I have a great idea."

Rin spoke with an impish grin, turning her gaze to the sky.