Who Is to Blame for the Sweet Vegetables?

It’s been a month since Krish-san and I became lovers. It’s so happy when someone you love tells you they love you.

Every morning when I wake up, I’m afraid to open my eyes, thinking, “Everything that happened up until now was just a dream.”

But when I pretend to be asleep, Krish-san’s big hand strokes my head.

When I gently open my eyes, Krish-san, who is dazzlingly handsome in the morning, greets me with a soft smile. He says “Good morning” and gives me a kiss on the top of my head.

When he did that on the first day, I was so surprised that I jumped up and almost fell off the bed. If Krish-san hadn’t quickly pulled my hand, I think I would have hit my head hard on the bedroom floor.

Now I’m a little used to it, and it only makes my eyes wander, but I hope that one day I’ll be able to accept it naturally.

 While I’m making breakfast, Krish-san gets water. He gets a barrel from somewhere and sets it up next to the field, and fills it with water. Thanks to that, watering the field has become so much easier.

I feel kind of sorry. It’s bad that I’m the only one who’s happy.

I want to at least thank him with a meal, so I’m cooking as hard as I can, but the food I make is, to put it nicely, homely, and to put it badly, plain, so I’m not sure if it’s really a thank you.

I thought that Krish-san would also like to eat the food of this world that he is more familiar with rather than the food of a strange other world, so recently I’ve been getting Couge to teach me how to cook.

The food in this world is often quite simple in seasoning, so I’m glad that I can imitate it.

“Krish-san, breakfast is ready!!”

“Thanks, I’ll be right there.”

I waved from the window, and Krish-san turned around holding a bucket. As I thought, Krish-san is amazing. He looks so cool even though he’s just standing there holding a bucket.

His back is so straight. I tried to imitate him standing upright like a line running down his middle, but I ended up cramping my back.

Apparently you need muscles to maintain good posture. I’ve been taking it easy by fetching water, and my muscles are still developing, so it will probably take some time before I can stand up as nicely as Krish-san.

Today’s breakfast was a giant omelet with fried minced meat and chopped vegetables, soup made from chicken bones left over from last night’s dinner, and a Cobb salad with lots of cubed vegetables and smoked meat.

I made the homemade sauce with mayonnaise and tomato sauce because I didn’t have ketchup, pepper and lemon juice.

In the other world, it was easy because I could just buy the dressing, but we don’t have it here so I have to make it all myself.

 It’s hard work, but I don’t use any preservatives and it’s supposed to be good for your health.

I’m researching how to make more dressings.

“If nothing happens today, I should be able to go home at night.”

“Mmm. Are you having dinner?”

“Of course.”

Today is a day shift. Krish-san started working the night shift about a week ago, and I wake up several times in the middle of the night and have trouble falling asleep. On those days I sleep hugging a pillow that smells like Krish-san. It makes me feel a little more at ease knowing he’s next to me.

I wake up before Krish-san comes home in the morning, so I don’t think he knows, but I’m worried that he’ll be put off if he finds out. Because, you know, hugging the pillow of someone you like and sleeping while smelling it seems like a pervert, right?

It’s fun to talk about what time he’ll be home today and if there’s anything he should buy on the way home while eating breakfast. It feels like we’ve become a real family. I wish he’d stay here forever.

The commute is hard, and it’s inconvenient when he gets called suddenly, so I’m thinking he’ll go back to the city soon, but I haven’t been able to ask him. I don’t want to bring up this topic unless Krish-san-san asks me. That way we could live together for a little longer.

“Shinobu’s cooking is delicious again today.”

“Really? Thank you!!”

Yes, Krish-san said “Delicious” again today!!

Krish-san doesn’t seem to talk about unnecessary things, but he casually says thank you and delicious. That makes me so happy!!

Sometimes, when grandma is washing the dishes, she’ll say, “I wish you’d tell me what you thought sometimes. If you don’t say anything, I can’t tell if it’s delicious or not.” and I’d think, “I could tell right away by looking at grandpa’s face. He looks like he thinks it’s delicious though.” But there’s also the importance of words that you only understand when you’re the one making the food. When someone says “thank you,” I’m happy, and even though it might be lip service, when they say “it’s delicious,” it makes me want to try harder.

I’m sorry I couldn’t agree with you back then, Grandma. Your cooking was always so delicious.

Krish-san finished off the huge breakfast I prepared, there was not even a drop of soup left.  After drinking his tea, he stood up.

“I’m going now.”

“Y-yes.”

My face grew hot. When I think about what would happen after this, I always end up acting suspicious.

“Shinobu.”

Krish-san stood in front of the entrance, with his arms open toward me. It was a sign for me to come over.

I approached with jerky movements and hugged his waist.

 “I’m leaving.”

“Okay, have a nice trip. Be careful.”

Krish-san lifts my face with his hands, leans down, and gives me a quick kiss on the forehead.

“Kyaaaaaaa!!”

I squeal in my head and close my eyes tightly. I’ve been doing this morning greeting for a month, but I still can’t get used to it.

Krish-san is a serious guy, but surprisingly, he seems to value this “I’m leaving” greeting very much.

Apparently his mom and dad do this greeting every morning, so it’s natural for him.

Hugs and kisses seem normal in foreign dramas, but I’ve never seen my mom and dad do this, and as a Japanese person, I’m embarrassed by this greeting.

Every morning, I freeze up in Krish-san’s arms like a Jizo statue.

After kissing me on the forehead, Krish-san hugs me tightly before going to work. It’s become a ritual for me to wave goodbye to Krish-san on Blanche, but I wonder if I’ll ever get used to it.

“Okay, let’s do our best today too!!”

The fields have been growing so much lately. When I wake up and look at the fields, they’re thriving. I feel like the vegetables I harvested have gotten a size bigger, and Couge’s vegetables and fruits have gotten sweeter. He asked me if I changed the fertilizer.

All I’ve been doing is watering the plants and spreading compost made from fermented leaves, so even if you ask me if anything has changed, nothing has.

 “It’s not like I’m doing anything unusual. But it’s good that it tastes better.”

“Really? Then maybe Shinobu’s cheat ability has gotten stronger. Oh, by the way, the fruits I buy from Shinobu are also very popular. Not only the kukuri, but other fruits as well. They have a different flavor than the ones sold at the market.

The baker’s father came to me and asked if I could make dried fruit to put in his bread, so how about it? Do you think you can make it?”

“Dried fruit? I’ve never made it before. Is it okay if I just dry it out?”

“I wonder, it might go rotten, right? I could ask someone who knows. People who make it commercially would be rivals, so they probably wouldn’t tell me so easily.”

Couge’s words at that time had been stuck in my mind, and I wondered why, until one day I suddenly realized. I’m sure Felix-sama said that my ability is influenced by emotions…

 So does that mean the vegetables are sweeter because I’m happy and delighted?

So, Krish-san is the reason why the vegetables became sweet. I can tell every morning and every night that Krish-san cares for me. He looks at me with such gentle eyes, and when he holds my hand and hugs me when we go to sleep, it’s completely different from when he touches Pochi.

I’m happy that the vegetables are tasting better, but when I think that he’s spreading the word that he loves me, I feel so embarrassed that I want to run away and take them back.

When I remembered, I felt embarrassed again, and when I said “Waah!!”, I realized that I had dug a very deep hole when I was supposed to plant flower seeds.

“If you dig a hole that deep, they won’t sprout.”

That’s dangerous. They’re important seeds, so I have to plant them carefully. Actually, Krish-san bought these flower seeds for me. One day, he suddenly bought them for me as a souvenir, and since then he has given them to me from time to time.

 The first seed was planted by Krish-san-san during his day off. It grew well and produced a large, bright red flower similar to a dahlia.

I was very happy because I thought it was beautiful, but it was a little different from what Krish-san-san had imagined. He seemed a little disappointed.

The next seed he bought was a bright yellow flower with petals like a peony, and it was also a large flower. The next was a purple flower that looked like a large cosmos. Not only vegetables, but flowers are also big in this world.

Thanks to the presents Krish-san gave me, a colorful flower field is starting to form next to the vegetable field.

“I wonder what kind of flower this one will bloom. I’m really looking forward to it.”

The new seed looked like a sunflower seed, but I wonder what color the flower will bloom. Either way, I’m sure it will be a vivid color.

I like pale-colored flowers, but I also love the colorful flowers that Krish-san gives me as presents.

 “I should open a flower shop someday. I should have learned flower arranging. I have no sense.”

It’s a waste to just shove beautiful flowers in a vase. I have a feeling that Norn might be good at it, so maybe I’ll ask him next time.

“Tonight’s dinner is some kind of Hayashi rice.”

I’ve only been eating rice lately, so I’ll have bread today. I’m sure it’ll be delicious if I let it soak in the salt.

Next, a warm vegetable salad and some meat for Krish-san. In this world, it seems that the mainstream is to simply grill it with salt, so I’m thinking of seasoning it with salt, garlic, and a little pepper, and wrapping it in lettuce.

Being a knight is a physically demanding job, so I always make sure to include meat because I need to make him stronger. Krish-san seems to like meat that’s chewy and tough. When I served him braised pork before, he said, “Tender meat is tasty too.” I tried serving him both hard and softly cooked meat, and he picked the tough one first.

He must have strong jaws and teeth, because he can eat the bones of chicken wings with a crunch.

Of course, I try to make sure he eats lots of vegetables too. After all, I work as a farmer, and we can eat as many vegetables as we want! It’s a relief that Krish-san doesn’t seem to dislike any vegetables at the moment. But it’s still a bit embarrassing to have him eat vegetables that have become sweet.

“It’s almost time for Krish-san to come home.”

As I stir the simmering pot of hayashi rice, I glance outside the window. After a month, I’ve started to get a sense of what time Krish-san is coming home.

At this time, I get restless because I can’t wait for Krish-san to come home, but I’m also embarrassed.

 I took a deep breath to get myself in shape. If I don’t get myself in a good frame of mind, I’ll panic when he gets home.

Ah, Blanche’s footsteps!!

I took a deep breath as I headed to the front door. I feel like a pervert when I breathe alone.

No, I’m not breathing because I’m excited. I’m just breathing to calm myself down.