The slight smell of the earth in my nostrils.

　The earthworms that come out when we plow tell us how rich the land is.
　The rich land is inhabited by these small animals, which use the impurities of the field as food and enrich the land instead.
　They can be used as food, but it's too much trouble to make them vomit soil, so I leave them alone and concentrate on making rows for now.

　As he plows the newly leveled field, a smile naturally appears on his face as he imagines what he will plant in this field.

I'll collect the leaves from the forest, but will I need to make compost?　But I don't think I'd have much leftover food on my own, and even an orphanage with only five children wouldn't have much to collect.
　And I don't even know my neighbors yet, so it's impossible. I wonder what's going on?

　The man plowing the field is a middle-aged man of medium height with a stubble and a cigarette in his mouth, with his hair so long that it blinds his eyes.
　At any rate, he was an unhappy old man who had been reincarnated into this world due to the mismanagement of the four gods, with the profession of Great Sage, the highest level of mage.
　He was named Zeroth Merlin, and his name in the original world was Satoshi Osako.
　He is a dull old man who is a recluse NEET with a smelly appearance, and would be a bit more popular if he dressed better.


　Until a few days ago, he was a tutor who taught magic to the sons and daughters of dukes, but he is currently unemployed.

He has money but no job. ....... I'm not sure how much money I'll be able to spend on the grimoire copyright and my salary as a tutor. .......
　It's good to live a life of self-degradation, but that's not much different from the original world, and more importantly, if you get married, you can't say ...... "I'm unemployed" to the public ....
　If I had a child and someone asked me, "Dad, what kind of work is unemployed? I want to die.

　I think it's fine to be a farmer to begin with, but his farming is one of his hobbies and he doesn't even consider it a profession.
　There are farmers in this world, but they all lead a similar life to his, making a living by doing other jobs while farming.
　However, the trouble is that Xellos' sensibilities are somewhat different from those of others.

　He thinks of farming as a hobby, but he's a bit reluctant to be a farmer.
　His power as a mage is extreme, but he is not proud of it because it was given to him by others.
　I am a graduate of an engineering college, but I have no intention of cheating on my knowledge.
　In just two months, I made a lot of money, but I didn't want to spend it. I only wanted to make a small living by myself.

　To put it bluntly, he has an incomprehensibly biased obsession and an extremely innocent and annoying personality.
　Despite this, he is a small-minded person and tends to avoid taking the initiative even though he has the talent to stand above others.
　When I was working as a tutor, I was swept away by the situation, and I got through it by using the worldly wisdom I had cultivated in my days as a businessman, the predictions I had made by substituting the setting in the game for reality, and the momentum I had cultivated from my experience of staying up all night in a series of chaotic situations.

　To tell the truth, he is inwardly terrified of how it will affect his two students.
　He has a tendency to be a bit emotionally unstable.
　I would recommend that he seek counseling from a psychiatrist or a church.

The seeds he gave me were "s*xy Radish", "Metabo Turnip", root vegetables, ...... "Maximum Spinach" and "Buster Lettuce" .......
　What's with the "Maximum" and "Buster"?　More importantly, who gave this vegetable seed its name?　It's a mystery... an interesting one indeed.

　Xellos twisting his head around strange things and taking an interest .
　His long life as a recluse had changed his personality in a strange way.
　Well, he's not aware of it, so it's not a problem, is it?

I'd like to keep chickens in this big place. It might be a good idea to see if I can find some for sale somewhere.

　He makes plans for a slow life in his new home and considers what he should do.
　He liked to eat rice with eggs. Chickens are essential for that, but there is a big obstacle.

(Rice ...... is there any in this country?　(Is there rice in this country? I see barley for sale all the time...)

　Before that, the lack of soy sauce is also a big problem.

("Jack beans"... I think they are beans, but are they soy beans or mung beans?　Or mung beans?　Or could it be red beans?

　It is impossible to tell what kind of brown bean seeds they are.
　I also used an appraisal, but it came out only as 'common beans that are widely eaten in this world'.
　This appraisal ability was very fickle.

　Even so, it was useful because it gave me the information I needed, but sometimes I wished it wouldn't be so one-word.
　I'm not sure if they have feelings or not, but there are rare occasions when they only give one word such as "plate," "stone," or "magic stone.
　There are times when I can only think that someone is managing it and sending me random words depending on their mood that day.

(Are you trying to say, "Don't rely on appraisals?　(Are you trying to tell me not to rely on appraisals? There's a limit to how dour you can be.

　As I was pondering this with my chin resting on the handle of my hoe and puffing on my cigarette, a group of dwarves came out of my newly built house.
　They were craftsmen from Hanba Civil Engineering, the company that had been contracted to build Xellos' house.

　Their scope of work was wide, ranging from the construction of ordinary houses to castles, and even from road maintenance to interior furniture making.
　Most of the big jobs were undertaken by them, and they were widely trusted for the reliability of their work.
　Twenty percent of their workforce consisted of dwarven craftsmen, and they were trusted beyond the reach of even the Craftsmen's Guild.
　After all, they did most of the work themselves, and all of the artisans registered in the Artisans Guild were their apprentices.
　In a sense, they even controlled the Guild of Craftsmen, but since they were dynamic people who didn't care about details except for their work, they left all the formalities to others.

　Thanks to them, the craftsmen's guild has managed to keep up appearances.
　In another sense, they are a group of craftsmen that cannot be made enemies of.

"Hey, Mr. Xellos. We've got our work cut out for us.
Thanks for your help, Mr. Naguri. Thank you for your help.
It's okay. It's my job, and it's easy to do what I want.

　They take pride in their work and will not tolerate any compromise.
　They take pride in their work and will not compromise in any way, even to the point of handing out iron fist punishment to those who change the design later, even though they did a perfect job in the initial design.
　They listen to the orders carefully in the pre-construction stage, design the building, hold meetings, and make final checks before starting work, so they are annoyed by the act of changing the design later on a whim.
　Therefore, there is no end to the number of nobles who have been beaten up by them.

　The majority of the complainants and interlopers are nobles, followed by merchants.
　Because they have power and money, they look up to them, and they think they can control the Hanba Civil Engineering Corporation.
　However, they are craftsmen who will beat up even the king if they don't like him, and those who get carried away will learn that through pain.
The question is, "Is this the right way to be a craftsman? However, since they are trusted for their reliable work, they do not change the design or work process unless there is a serious reason.



　Their personalities and their somewhat questionable beliefs notwithstanding, they had a solid enough track record.
　They were so thorough in their work that the royals didn't say anything to them.

"By the way, I'm having some trouble with this site ......, can you lend me a hand?
I don't know when the job is scheduled to start, but it depends on what it is. There are things I can do and things I can't do.
"Actually, I'm planning to build a bridge at a certain place, but it's a difficult place. The river is flowing so fast that we can't build the foundation.
Is the current that fierce?　But why me again?
Your magic is the most reliable. We haven't learned how to manipulate magic yet, the road is built, but we can't build a bridge.

　Recently sold civil engineering magic, Gaia Control and Rock Forming.
　The magic has quickly spread from farmers to the construction industry, and the first to adopt the magic is this [Hanba Civil Engineering].
　However, since most of them were Dwarves, they were not accustomed to using and manipulating magic.

　It is difficult to build a bridge foundation in the middle of a torrent, let alone a foundation.
　Even before that, in a world where heavy machinery did not exist, there would be no small amount of sacrifice to be made by hand.
　If one were to fall into the raging river, there would be a high possibility of death, or worse, the body would not even be found.
　This is where Xellos the Great Sage, a human super heavy machine, comes into play.

(Sadly, I'm on the same level as bucket wheels and bulldozers. ......)

What are you crying about?　
No, ......, it's just some dust in my eyes...

　There are times when you want to cry a little bit.

　The construction industry expects the Zeroth to perform as a heavy machine.
　What the dwarves don't know is that as a result, they see the Zeros as high performance heavy machinery, not as humans.
　Their request is like renting a heavy machine with unparalleled performance.
　Whether they realize it or not, it doesn't change what the Xeros do.

So, when does the work start?
"Beginning of next week. Just get the base of the river fixed and we'll take care of the rest.

　The only thing they can do now is to connect the foundations and keep the shape of the bridge.
　They did not have enough magic skill to build the base of the bridge in a flowing river.
　If they were to proceed with the construction without Xelloss, they would have to keep using magic over and over again, and they were training before the actual work in case they were not accepted.
　The construction itself is a dangerous job, so they are seriously trying to improve their abilities.

"All right, sir. I'll schedule it for next week.
Aren't you thinking of getting a job here instead of in the field?
That would mean I'd have to take your job. I'd be taking away a lot of their work just working on the foundation.
"Oh, ......, sure. Should we look at them as temporary helpers?
"If we don't give them some difficult work, they won't be able to improve their magic. ......

　The answer was convincing enough for Naguri.
　It's true that having Xellos on the force will improve work efficiency, but it will not improve their own skills.
　That would mean that they would have a hard time doing the work without the Xellos, and there would be a high probability that they would do something wrong in the important work. This is unacceptable for a craftsman.

　In addition, the construction industry is indispensable to people's lives, so we have been working seriously without any compromise. They took pride in their work because it was where lives were lived.
　To rely on Xellos would be to abandon their own pride.

"We're training to use magic in groups, but we can't get the skills.
You'll need to do this until you fall. You'll learn it if you repeatedly run out of magic power.
"Oh ......, I haven't gone that far. I'm not sure what to do with it.
You have to spend your magic to the limit at least once to get the skill.
"You want me to know my limits?　Goddesses are tough, aren't they?

(Goddess ...... ...... Goddess ....) They don't need such a big title... the outcasts are enough...

　When it came to the four gods, Xellos was sick.

　For him, the things he left behind in his world were too great.
　In other words, his resentment is deep because everything was taken away from him because of the goddesses.
　The things he left behind are things like stuffed gorillas and ginjo sake, things that honestly don't matter to him.
　However, they seem to be important to him, and his resentment is deep.
　It really depends on what is important to each person.

"You look like hell, man.　You've got a bad face.
"God is the enemy. I'll never forgive them. ......
I don't know what happened to you, but you could be mistaken for a dangerous person right now. I don't care if your followers kill you.
"Fine, let's get back at them. ......　

　God's followers were the enemy.

I don't care what you say, but the crops in the field grow fast. Can you make it back before the harvest?
Huh?　No, that's not possible.
No, vegetables grow really fast, you know. The same goes for medicinal herbs, if you don't plan for the day you harvest them, they will multiply in the fields.

　Vegetables in other worlds have a stronger life force than on Earth.
　Plant a seed and it will sprout overnight and be ready for harvest in two weeks.


　This is largely due to the influence of magic power, which circulates in the cellular tissues of plants and promotes growth.

　The growth rate of living things does not increase by magic power alone, but changes little by little to a state suitable for the environment through diet and exercise.
　In addition, they absorb magic power from the earth, so not only do they grow at an unusually fast rate, but they also germinate twice as fast as the seeds that are spread around them.
　No wonder the field was filled with plants.

　Incidentally, the cry of the mandragora, when the roots of the mandragora are pulled out, the magic absorption line is cut off and the magic power is released to the surrounding area as a wave.
　This wave acts on the mind and hearing, and can be heard as screams and cries of despair, but it is only effective on humans.
　These waves subtly affect people's most dreaded fears, tormenting their minds as auditory hallucinations, but once they get used to it, it doesn't affect them too much.

　In fact, other demons have eaten mandragora as food and have not been affected by the magical waves.
　The range of the wave's emission was wider than expected, and since it echoed around the orphanage, it must have been quite extensive.
　Furthermore, earplugs are useless because you can hear it even when you are inside the building.
　The magic wave also has the property of penetrating walls.

This is a problem. Do I need to hire a slave?
No, you should buy a slave rather than hire one. Renting a slave is also very expensive.　It's cheaper to buy a slave than to rent one from a slaver.
If you buy a slave, you'll have to pay ...... for food and maintenance.
You'll get your money's worth if you work for us.
...... Are you sure you don't want to bring them into your workplace?　Just as a good groundworker.
・・・・・・・・・

　No company can afford to lose its best heavy equipment and personnel.
　The dwarves are like second-hand heavy machinery from a few generations ago, and the Zergs are the most advanced general-purpose man-sized all-purpose heavy machinery.
　There was no way they were going to miss it.

I want to live my life growing wheat. You'll have to find another job.
"Wheat? You want to make rice paddies?　Where do you get the water?
・・・・・・ What?
No, we're growing wheat, right?　You need a paddy field, right?

　In this world, wheat is a crop grown in paddy fields.
　The vegetation seems to be completely different even for crops that are known only in other worlds.

You can't grow rice in this land. If only we had rice, ......".
"Are those weeds edible?　They're all over the place.
・・・・・・・・・ What's that?
No, it's called "rice weed.　There's plenty of it growing around here. That's what's at your feet.

　A single weed growing at Xellos' feet.
　Upon closer inspection, there were a few grains at the tips of the plants, and they looked very similar to the rice plants Xelloss remembered.
　He quickly tried to identify it.

　＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

[Rice Weed　

　A free weed that grows in clusters everywhere.
　It is a free weed that grows everywhere. It is very fertile and grows very fast.
　The seeds can be eaten, but are not common in this world.
　It has a slightly sweet aroma and an excellent taste with a hint of sweetness when cooked.
　It is a pitiful grass that is thinned out because it inhibits the growth of other crops.
　It can be harvested seven times in just six months.

　＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

(I found it out of nowhere!　　And the position of rice is so low ------!

　It was also incredibly vigorous.
　It tastes great when appraised, but no one wants to eat it because it multiplies so much.
　In fact, it stunted the growth of other crops and was destined to be the first to be harvested.

(As a Japanese, I can't see rice being left in this position. However, their fertility is a threat.
　Would you put a wall around it to prevent it from reproducing?　We could divide the field into sections and cut only the weeds, the same way we do with mandragora... but what if the seeds fall out?
　Massive propagation from a single weed. In just a month or so, it'll be out of control.
　As long as you can't say that you won't open your house that much, you have to plan ahead, divide it up, and make sure you get enough rice. .......
　Oh, I think it germinates faster when it's so vigorous. ....... Would it be better to build a dryer?
　I'm sure you'll be able to figure out how to make it work.　No . We don't have enough magic power, and it's faster to divert the magic formula and supply magic power from the surroundings. ......)

　The discovery of rice accelerated Xellos' thinking speed.
　If you have rice, you can make koji, from which you can make miso and soy sauce.
　He could also make sake, which was a dream come true for him as he had always enjoyed the original world.
　He wanted to drink sake that badly.

This is something I must grow ...... to revive the rice culture here!
"No, so, can we eat the grass?
It's not the grass, it's the berries that are edible. It's the same as wheat.
Oh, I'd love to try some of that.
You'd have to have a lot of them. You have to start growing it to get more.

　It's easy to get rice.


　I didn't expect to find it growing as a weed under my feet.
　But once you know, you can act fast.

"Let's start dividing up the fields. Let's get the rice back into our hands!
"You're very motivated, aren't you?　Well, if we succeed, you'll have to feed me.
I can't make any promises, but I'd like to see results as soon as possible. I'll feed you when it's done.
Yeah, I'll be waiting for you.
Don't raise the bar too high. I'm only good with small things.
No, I'm just curious what kind of food you make. All right, well, I'm off to the next site. See you next week, okay?

　Naguri waved his hand as he headed for the next site.
　Xelloss watched him go.

　I've decided to help with the engineering work next week, but before that, I have something to do.
　The soul of the Japanese people, rice, was to be grasped in his hands.

　After that, I asked myself, "What?　I later realized, "How can I get dried plums?..." but that's another story.
　For now, Zeroth was just working on dividing the field to increase the amount of rice.


　　"What?


"What?　Eggs ......?　I haven't had many of those luxury foods.

　The next day, Zeroth set out to gather information with the goal of eating eggs.
　The first person he approached to talk to was Luceris, an apprentice priest who was in charge of running the orphanage.

　She is also a priestess of the Four Gods, and wears a white priestess robe, but I can't help but notice her breasts.
　She has long blonde hair and a mild mannered face that is right in the strike zone of his taste, and he thinks that if she were twenty years younger, he would have asked her to be his girlfriend.
　As a lover of big breasts, Xellos finds her good, full figure (especially her breasts) stimulating, as opposed to Japanese women.
　The four gods were his enemies, but big tits were justice.

　I felt my heart beating wildly from time to time, but I managed to restrain my mind so as not to behave suspiciously, and started talking to her as if we were making small talk, which we are doing now.
　However, the eggs seemed to be a luxury item.

"Is it that expensive?　Eggs?
"Eggs are very nutritious and fresh, and the common people cannot afford them. When I was training in the temple, I would occasionally have them for dinner, but even then it was only a luxury once every two months.
I'd like to buy some chickens somehow.
But that bird is at .......
What's the problem?

　"What's the problem?" Luceris stammered, and I asked him back, a little suspiciously.

It's a good idea to take a look at the website to see if there's anything you can do to help.　It is said that poultry farmers have to collect the eggs every day with scars.
Is it like cockfighting?　It depends on how ferocious they are...
Meat doesn't taste good, so eggs are more useful. It seems that the last confirmed evolution of the cockatrice is the cockatrice, and no one wants to keep it at home.
"......, that's a monster, right?　I'm not sure why anyone would want to keep a monster...

　In this world, the boundary between monsters and animals is ambiguous.
　Generally speaking, a monster is a creature that possesses magic stones in its body, but there are cases where a creature that is normally considered an animal also possesses magic stones.
　For this reason, there is a view that monsters are those that are harmful to humans and animals are those that are not.

　In the first place, as long as it is a living thing, it is an animal, but people tend to sort out and distinguish between them, so even today there are conflicting opinions among scholars.
　In addition, demons and animals have the ability to mutate through evolution, so there is a difference of opinion in that area as well.

"Eggs are in such high demand. But don't get me started on that bird.　We have poultry farmers coming into the temple every day.
"It's hard to say how ferocious they are. ....... Chickens, right?
Chickens.

　The chickens of this world do not match the chickens of this world.
　The only thing that comes to mind is that they approach you from behind and peck at you with their beaks.
　They are not afraid of that. It's not something that would cause a lot of injuries.

I can't imagine. Have you ever seen a chicken, Mr. Luceris?
No, sir. I've heard they're big enough to hold in both arms, but I've never actually seen one. ...... I'm sorry.
I'm sorry." "No, the information you've given me is more than enough. By the way, are there any places around here where metal can be mined?
"Metal ......?　I believe there is an abandoned mine half a day north of the city of Santor.
　I've heard that mercenaries often go there to mine metal to reinforce their equipment.
"Half a day north, ....... Maybe we should go there now?
Half a day north?　The sun is going to set!



　We need to build a dryer.
　We don't want the rice we've harvested to germinate right away.

Don't worry. There aren't many people who can take care of me.
But there are demons out there. ......
I survived for a week in the deep green of Fafhran, do you think I'll be able to defeat the demons around here?

And you don't have enough metal to make that. (Also, we don't have enough metal to make that thing.) Well, the dryer is a higher priority.

　Growing up in a rice-based culture, Xellos missed hot rice.
　He missed miso, soy sauce, and everything else.

I'm going to go there now. I'll be back in a few days, so don't worry too much.
"But I've heard that there are many demons in the abandoned mines. I'm worried about you.
If you want to kill me, you'll have to be a Demon Dragon King to do it. I'm going to hurry up and get going.
There it is: ......

　In spite of Luceris' worries, Xellos went out with gusto.
　You'll be able to find a lot more than just a few of them.

"・・・・ What is it?　What is this pain in my chest?
Sister, it's love, isn't it?
I'm not going home. Good for you, Sister.
I'm just worried about you being an old man.
I want some ～～～～...... meat!

　I turned around to see a group of sullen children giving me a thumbs up with nice smiles on their faces.
　The orphans were more mature than they should be, probably due to the influence of their surroundings.

"Meow, meow, meow. ......
"Yeah, yeah, first love, huh?　Sister.
Love is good, isn't it?　Sister.
"Let your heart burn, Sister's love.
And let the flesh burn in moderation .........

　There's one odd one, but the kids seem to be giving their blessing.

I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm sure it's worth it.
"Oh, you bit me. You're upset, aren't you?　Sister.
Love will burn before you know it.
You're going to do something s*xy, aren't you?　Sister.
Meat's good, right?　～～～～

　And the children hunting down Luceris were little devils indeed.

Hey, hey, hey. -------- ---What?
I'm sorry.　Sister.
You're hiding it, aren't you?　Sister.
As long as there's love, there's no ...... age difference.
Where'd you get the sunglasses?　It's all about the flesh, and the flesh is unstoppable. ......

　Really, where do children learn these words?
　There are few polite people in this old town.
　Most of them used foul language.

　The old town seems to have a significant negative impact on the emotional education of children.
　Children running away and Luceris chasing after them.

　It was a surprisingly happy and smiling (?) scene, despite all the talk. It was a surprisingly happy (?) scene.