We arrived in the kitchen and immediately smelled the aroma of soup that was so appetizing.
It had been a long time since I had smelled food this delicious.
I saw Lis-san, taking some soup and pouring it into a bowl.
"Lis-san, may I help you?" I asked.
Who knows, maybe she needs help, especially considering her age is no longer young.
"Just relax, the three of you sit at that table... I can't trouble guests who come to my house," said Lis-san with a small smile at me.
Since she said so herself, well, I decided not to help her.
Rather than helping her by insisting, it would just make her feel disturbed. Besides, this is her house, so I should behave politely.
—
Lis-san's table could apparently only seat four people.
Next to me, Hime had already taken the seat before Yuu-chan could.
But instead of looking upset or anything, Yuu-chan looked perfectly normal.
As if she wasn't bothered by what Hime did.
Well, maybe Yuu-chan really didn't want to sit next to me. Is that it?
Lis-san then came, placing a bowl of warm soup in front of the three of us.
Of course, since I was already very hungry, I saw this soup as my lifesaver.
Lis-san also sat next to Yuu-chan, carrying her own bowl.
"Please eat, if you're still hungry, there's plenty more in the pot," said Lis-san.
I immediately took the spoon and scooped up the soup broth.
I drank it, and felt the deliciousness that made my energy return.
It didn't take long before my bowl was empty because I had finished it quickly.
The three of them looked surprised when they saw my bowl already empty.
Well, I just had to wait for the others to finish before I could leave the kitchen.
My plan was not to stay here too long and to head straight to the city center of Ulvur.
It had already been delayed several times because of unexpected events. I felt like we couldn't afford to waste any more time.
After all, our original purpose coming here was to meet Charlotte, one of Hime's guards.
——
I thought Lis-san would find it normal for me to finish a bowl of soup that fast.
But she kept insisting, and in the end, I had two more helpings.
If she hadn't insisted, maybe I wouldn't have done that. My stomach already felt very full now.
Maybe I wouldn't need to eat until night after having that much soup.
Even though it was just soup, somehow it made me really full.
Maybe inside it, there were ingredients like potatoes that made it filling.
Well, in any case, the soup was delicious but also quite heavy. Very suitable as a main dish.
——
I went outside the house to get some fresh air. I just realized it was still morning.
Earlier I had asked Yuu-chan and Hime to come with me, but they said they'd follow later.
Ah, right... I remembered those farmers had seen me awake earlier.
That means they already realized I wasn't someone who wanted to hurt the three of them.
I had to say that and make them acknowledge me.
—
I went back into the house and walked toward the back door.
I glanced toward the kitchen and saw no one there anymore. Maybe they had all gone back to their rooms.
I wasn't really sure what girls usually did after eating. Do they lie down like I do, maybe?
——
Nothing had changed in Lis-san's garden. And there were farmers working there.
I still couldn't forgive them for how they had treated me.
Before I could approach them, one of them noticed me and came toward me.
Followed by a few others behind him, and I started to think maybe they had all realized their misunderstanding about me.
Good, if that's the case, I wouldn't need to bother making them realize it.
"Uh... we all want to apologize for our misunderstanding..." he said.
"That's right... we thought you were someone bad who wanted to disturb this place."
They all slightly bowed their heads toward me, hoping I would forgive them.
"W-wait, raise your heads," I said, forcing them to stop bowing to me.
I didn't expect they would bow just like Lis-san did that time.
Fortunately, they immediately followed my request to stop bowing.
Seeing grown men like them bowing to me felt strange and made me feel awkward too.
"I don't care about that anymore... by the way, where's Weinz?" I asked.
Of course, I wanted to meet him directly. I wanted to talk to him about something.
Even though I had already talked to him yesterday before I woke up, there was still one more thing I hadn't asked him.
"He said he had some business... I don't know when he'll be back," he said.
Hmm... well, I'll talk to him later when I meet him.
"In that case, is there anything I can help with?" I asked the farmers.
While waiting to leave for Ulvur, I wanted to help however I could.
"Really? We'd really appreciate that!"
"Maybe... you could help us water and plant the oranges... lately, a lot of people have been interested in oranges," he continued.
"All right!" I answered enthusiastically.
If it's just watering and planting trees, that's something I can do anytime.
"So... how much do I need to water and plant?" I asked again.
At least I needed to know the size of the land I'd be working on.
"Not much, just that," he said while pointing toward a plot of land.
I turned to see the area he pointed at.
And I was surprised — the land he pointed to was much wider and larger than I expected.
I didn't know exactly how big it was, but it looked many times larger than Lis-san's house.
So I guessed my work this time would be quite heavy.
——
By noon, I was allowed to rest because the weather had become so bright.
The sun was so bright now, I couldn't even look at the sky because of how strong the sunlight was.
I was really thirsty because of the hot weather.
I was still confused by those farmers, though — they were still working under the scorching sun.
Well, that was earlier; now they were sitting next to me. They must have been exhausted too.
"By the way, what are you three doing coming to this house? It's rare for young people to come all the way out here," he said.
If I remembered correctly, Lis-san's house was quite far from the center of Ulvur.
"We happened to be around here and stopped by because the weather was really hot," I replied.
"Yeah, it's been really hot lately..." said the man, wiping the sweat from his face.
——
After that, I said goodbye to them and went back into the house.
I had invited them to come in, but they said they still wanted to work a little longer.
Well, they must be used to working long hours, being able to keep going until evening.
I had to find Yuu-chan and Hime, and see when we could finally leave for the city of Ulvur.