episode_0008

Once again, it was well past midnight when the potion was finally completed.

“Ugh, I’m dead tired.”

Mirella, who had set down the ladle, wiped the sweat with a towel and sighed.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Just saying that?”

“I don’t really have anything to give you.”

“How about a kiss then?”

“No. It’s a crime to do that with a child.”

“So what? Right now, it’s just the two of us here.”

Sometimes she says crazy things despite being young, creating a strange atmosphere.

I responded with a laugh and used the ladle to transfer the potion into a container.

It came out just as I expected, with a thick, clear brown color.

“I’m going to the river. Want to come along?”

At my suggestion, Mirella narrowed her eyes.

“What for?”

“Don’t worry about what we’ll do. Just follow me or not?”

“I’ll go. It seems like it’ll be more fun than going home.”

Mirella and I crossed the darkened city and headed towards the western riverside.

On the gravel field by the river, a couple of old rowboats used for catching fish were leaning against each other.

We boarded one of them and headed towards the middle of the river.

Looking down at the water’s surface reflecting the moonlight, we couldn’t see anything, not even fish.

As I poured the potion, the brown liquid slowly spread out.

“Keep rowing and moving forward.”

While Mirella, with the buff of the opened lid, vigorously paddled, I evenly sprinkled several bottles of potion I had brought onto the river.

This is a potion that promotes breeding and growth, commonly known as the “breeding potion.”

I slightly modified the recipe of the “fertilizer potion” sprinkled on the farmland, so it will probably be successful.

Surely within a few days, the river will overflow with fish, tearing the nets apart.

* * * * *

And a few days later.

The result was a great success as I had expected.

Hearing that the rowboat had capsized due to catching too many fish, the administrative officer let out a scream.

Rushing to the riverside, I saw fishermen laboriously pulling up the net, which seemed so full it might burst.

“Oh my, oh my….”

The administrative officer wrapped his head in a pale complexion.

“Is this a miracle… Could it be… are you a god, Jack…?”

“No.”

“If not that, then… are you an apostle sent by God to look after our pitiful village…?”

“That’s not it. I’m just a regular potion shop owner.”

That’s it.

The fish will become the meal for the knights working on the estate.

The rest will be distributed to the villagers to alleviate their immediate hunger.

And then, a new rumor began to spread through the village.

A glowing man was said to walk over the river and sprinkle a sacred liquid, causing the fish to voluntarily leap into nets and boats.

Following this, a month later, the first harvest was achieved on the estate.

Thanks to the power of the potion, it was advanced by several months from the expected time.

Radishes, cabbages, chicory, onions, garlic, rosemary, and more.

The fertilizer potion was a great success. Indeed, knowledge never fails.

As carts filled with crops came into the village one after another, people cheered, some even shed tears.

“God has not forsaken us!”

Suddenly appearing and sprinkling a strange liquid, causing fish and crops to grow rapidly – if that isn’t a god, what is it?

Some people believe I performed that miracle.

They think all my efforts, encouraged by the magistrate and the people, have been a great success.

Suddenly, there are people who believe I am an incarnation of a deity.

There was some understandable logic behind why people believed that.

It was because of my incarnation.

Before my incarnation, Jack was a stubborn miser and an outsider.

But since my incarnation, suddenly giving out potions for free and working tirelessly for the village, in the eyes of the villagers, it seemed as if the body of the guy named Jack had been possessed by a god or saint.

In addition, a strange phrase started to trend among the children.

“Potions are invincible, and Jack is a god.”

Anyway, it’s this life, this world, and these jammin’ folks.

“Thank you… thank you….”

The magistrate approached with tearful eyes.

“Thanks to you, Jack, we can finally breathe… We won’t be publicly humiliated and executed in the square…”

Ah, this melancholic magistrate is like a mental health counselor.

“Here, have a healing potion.”

Forcing the potion into the magistrate’s mouth, color began to return to the magistrate’s face.

I traveled around diligently to increase the village’s self-sufficiency in food.

Even Mirella, who became a shop assistant, always follows me when I go out.

“Ah, my legs are so sore from walking around all day.”

And she grumbles along, following me like a shadow.

“I’m really busy. With this, even if I had two bodies, it wouldn’t be enough.”

“Haha, that’s funny. What have you done?”

“What?!”

Mirella, as the deputy chief, doesn’t hesitate to meddle everywhere.

She sticks by my side, constantly nagging, causing a ruckus anyway.

But despite bustling around like that, she doesn’t actually do much.

The Knights of Hostensta are the ones practically running things.

Mirella is the deputy chief in name only; in reality, she’s the face of the madam.

Pretty, cute, lively, and energetic.

Much better than the old, stern men of Hostensta.

So just waving a lid opener around and showing her face here and there is sufficient.

Mirella, who entered the store, fluttered her eyelashes and asked, “Can I wash up a bit? I sweated a lot from walking around all day.”

“Do as you please. When did you ever ask for permission to wash up?”

“Brother, lend me some clothes.”

“You have clothes too.”

“Your clothes are big and comfortable, that’s why.”

“Alright, alright.”

I brought her some unworn clothes and shorts from the closet on this floor, and Mirella hummed a tune as she went out the back door.

As I was tidying up the store, I heard the sound of Mirella washing through the back door.

Hearing that sound, a good idea suddenly came to mind.

How about making a public bathhouse or something similar?

It would be difficult to bring water, so we could set up a screen by the river and have people wash there.

To be honest, the smell coming from the villagers’ bodies is not exactly pleasant.

Given the poor hygiene conditions in the slums, it’s no wonder.

If hygiene is poor, diseases spread easily, and if luck runs out, epidemics break out.

Then our village is finished.

I should talk to the administrator about considering setting up a makeshift shower facility by the riverside.

It’s a good idea.

While I’m at it, how about running a ranch or livestock farm?

Currently, food supply is smooth, but there’s no meat.

If you raise a few pigs well and make them breed, you can quickly increase the number of livestock.

Honestly, I feel like grilling pork belly over charcoal and eating it with lettuce.

It would be perfect with grilled kimchi and soju. Ssshh.

Surely there must be someone in the village who has experience with livestock.

The more I think about this, the more ideas come to mind, and it’s getting really complicated to figure out where to start and what to do.

It feels like I’m playing a business simulation game.

When a problem arises, solve it, receive immediate rewards, and repeat the process of advancing to the next level.

This is totally a game in itself, isn’t it?

I originally thought this game was a JRPG, but could it actually be a real business simulation?

I’ve been pondering various thoughts alone when Mirella, who just finished showering, returned.

“Ah, refreshing.”

Mirella is now wearing only one of my shirts, looking very awkward.

“What about your shorts? Why aren’t you wearing them?”

“The shirt is big enough that I don’t need to wear pants, right? You’re not having strange thoughts about me, are you?”

“No, of course not.”

“Hmm, you really aren’t, right? Suddenly attacking me or something…”

With a wicked smile, Mirella lifted the shirt slightly.

“I can let you touch at least this much. By the way, I’m not wearing panties right now.”

“Put the towel in the laundry basket over there.”

Completely ignoring Mirella’s crazy talk, I pointed to the basket next to the back door.

“Tsk. The ox would probably have better instincts.”

Mirella muttered as she swiftly tossed the towel.

That little rascal.

Some people don’t know, but I do.

You’re a minor, so naturally…

Wait a minute. Did she say “ox”?

I thought of a place to spend the prize money for the outstanding shop of the month.

I’m going to buy an ox.

Right now, the knights are all working on farming by hand.

As a result, the condition of the fields fluctuates greatly depending on each individual’s ability, and it’s also very labor-intensive.

Fertilizer doesn’t make the soil soft.

So, I’m thinking of buying an ox to pull the plow.

Plows are very versatile and can also pull carts.

They’re incredibly expensive, but it would be good to have two.

He said he would donate the prize money to the community center and use it to buy a bull.

The administrator was so grateful that his eyes were about to pop out, and he bowed repeatedly.

The village security guards brought a strong and handsome bull from a nearby village.

It was truly so huge that one might suspect it was a crossbreed of a demon.

They attached a plow to the bull so that it could plow the tough land that people couldn’t manage.

As the bull’s characteristic forceful strength broke and overturned the hard ground, people cheered.

Upon seeing that sight, several people raised their fists in triumph and shed tears.

One devout old man clearly overwhelmed with emotion shouted that surely God had sent this bull to our village as His representative.

Indeed.