Chapter 71 - The Mage Kurune
After showing off the deer I had caught to the children as usual, I parted ways with Lauren-san and Kyle and returned to my own home.
I placed the deer in the house's storehouse for the time being and peeked at the fields just in case.
As expected, Flora was there working in the fields, wearing her straw hat.
Seeing that Flora's back was turned and she hadn't noticed me, I erased my presence and approached her from behind.
"Guess who?"
"Wha—!? Aldo-san!? Kyah!?"
When I spoke after covering Flora's eyes with my hands, she let out a surprised cry and tried to stand up.
However, perhaps because she had been crouching for a long time doing fieldwork and the shock of it all, her legs didn't move quite right, and she tumbled backward.
Since I was also in a crouching position, I ended up falling on my backside because Flora suddenly put her weight on me.
"Ah! The crops!"
"It's okay. We're at the edge, so there aren't any crops behind us."
The moment I hit the ground, Flora let out a panicked voice worrying about the crops, but there was no problem.
Since Flora had been working on the very last ridge, there was nothing but soil behind her.
Realizing this, Flora let out a sigh of relief.
"...Geez, you really startled me."
With her back still resting against me, Flora looked up at me with puffed-out cheeks.
"Ahaha, sorry, sorry. I just wanted to see your surprised face."
Actually doing it, Flora's reaction was unexpected, but it was amusing.
"It's unfair, even though I want to try surprising Aldo-san too."
When I laughed as I remembered, Flora pouted her lips and started poking my cheek repeatedly.
When I'm doing fieldwork, Flora tries to sneak up on me to surprise me, but she has never succeeded once. She seems to be quite dissatisfied about that.
To put it politely, Flora isn't very good at erasing her presence and sneaking up.
I can't help but notice her, and even if I pretend not to notice, I don't end up being surprised. It's quite a difficult thing.
Flora poked and pulled at my cheek for a bit, and once she was satisfied, she settled down.
"My legs are a bit tired, so is it okay if I stay like this for a while?"
"Yeah, that's fine."
I raised my upper body slightly so it would be easier for Flora to lean her weight on me.
Perhaps because her back was pressed against me, a soft scent of flowers drifted from Flora's body.
It was a scent I was used to, but smelling it really calmed my heart.
Without thinking, I took a long, deep breath, and Flora squirmed as if it tickled.
"U-Um, I'm sweaty right now, so if you breathe that deeply..."
"It doesn't smell bad at all. In fact, it's such a nice scent I want to keep smelling it forever. If anything, I think my body is the one that smells like sweat."
Oh man, thinking about it again, I'm starting to feel embarrassed. I've been sweating a lot since I was hunting in the mountains during the day. I even did the bloodletting; I wonder if I smell like iron.
"No, I like the smell of Aldo-san's sweat, so it's okay."
Doesn't a man's sweat just smell bad? I thought she might just be being considerate, but as far as I could see looking at Flora, that didn't seem to be the case.
Well, I like Flora's scent too, so I accepted that she probably felt something similar and decided to stay as we were. I was happy to be close to Flora like this.
The clouds floating in the sky looked soft as they leisurely swam through the air.
Amidst the pouring hot sunlight, the wind that occasionally brushed against my skin felt good.
The crops in the field made a rustling sound with their leaves as if they were also enjoying the breeze.
"This field has gotten quite large, hasn't it?"
"We both worked hard to plow it, after all."
Since we had more leeway with the fieldwork after Flora started living with me, we had made the field larger than before.
The two of us removed the weeds, plowed the soil from scratch, and planted new crops to cultivate.
Now those have sprouted and are growing steadily.
The parts of the newly plowed ridges that haven't been touched yet are being left for the vegetables whose seeds will be sown in autumn. By dividing it like this, we can tend to and harvest things all year round.
I realized once again that farmers work throughout the entire year.
The vegetables we had planted from the beginning, like radishes, carrots, snap beans, sheil, and leafy greens, were growing rapidly.
"The carrots and snap beans will be ready for harvest soon too."
"Yes, we should be able to harvest them in another two weeks! And a week after that, we're scheduled to harvest vegetables like sheil and leafy greens, so I'm looking forward to it! Once that's done, we'll have the next sowing too!"
Flora looked so cute laughing happily that I patted her head.
Flora becomes more talkative than usual when it comes to the field. I find even that part of her endearing.
"It feels like it's gone by in a flash. By the time we harvest the sheil and leafy greens, it'll already be autumn."
It was exactly spring when I first came here.
Before I knew it, summer is about to pass and turn into autumn.
Life here really is peaceful and fun, and it goes by in an instant.
As I was thinking about that with deep emotion, Flora, who was in my arms, fidgeted her body.
Wondering what was wrong, I looked down to see Flora looking up at me with a feverish gaze.
Then, Flora shyly averted her eyes and mumbled.
"U-Um, at the harvest festival, we..."
"We'll become husband and wife."
Realizing what Flora wanted to say, I said it with a bright smile.
"...Yes."
Then Flora whispered in a voice that sounded truly happy.
Flora gently placed her hand over mine, which was wrapped around her body.
I hugged Flora's body tightly as if to answer her.
We closed our eyes to feel each other's warmth.
"...Hey, is it about time? I thought about waiting, but if I leave you two alone, it looks like you'll stay like that all day..."
Then, Aisha's awkward voice came flying from behind.
Perhaps because I was so focused on Flora, I hadn't noticed her.
"Fuwaah!? A-Aisha!?"
Perhaps embarrassed at being seen by Aisha, Flora tried to stand up in surprise.
But, maybe because she was in an awkward position, she tumbled back toward me again.
Knowing that Flora gets clumsy when she panics, I gently caught her.
"Welcome back."
"I'm home—wait, we're in front of people right now!"
Even as she said that, Flora was totally getting into it too.
Flora stood up with a red face, and I also stood up slowly and brushed the dirt off my backside.
Then, Aisha looked at us and let out a somewhat exasperated sigh.
That's strange; usually, Aisha would gleefully tease Flora, but today she's quiet and serious.
"I don't mind you flirting in front of me, but someone who looks like a guest is asking for you?"
Aisha said so and turned her face back.
In the direction Aisha turned, there was a single tree, and beside it, a woman was looking this way with a stunned expression.
Her brown hair was tied in a ponytail, and she wore a plain cloak like a traveler's.
Underneath the cloak, she wore clothes and shorts that clearly looked to be made of good materials, her slender legs extending from them were encased in boots, and a long staff was gripped in her hand. It was the typical appearance of a female mage.
She was a female mage who didn't fit in a peaceful rural village, but I knew that person well.
One of the members of the adventurer party "Black Silver," of which I used to be the leader.
It was the female mage, Kurune.