「そういや、昨夜は何を食べに行ったんだ?」
「ん? 回らない寿司だな! 美味かったぞ!」
TBにログインして作物を収穫しながら、ユーミルと昨夜のことに関して雑談している。
手には小さな鎌、刈り取った物は次々とインベントリに放り込んでいく。
今は丁度アルベルト達と探索したピラミッド関連の話を終えたところで、話題は未祐の外食に関してに切り替わる。
しかし、高級寿司店とは羨ましい。
「あー、魚も良いなあ。ウチはハンバーガーだった」
「ハンバーガー!? 家でか!?」
「ああ。生地を発酵させてバンズを焼いて、ハンバーグも全部自家製で作ってみたんだよ。母さんも理世も喜んでたし、結構上手く出来たと思う。今度はピクルスも用意してみようかね」
「......ゴクリ」
ユーミルは喉を鳴らして手を止めた。
だけなら良いのだが、何かを訴えるような眼をしてこちらに寄って来る。
近い、近いよ顔が。
「分かった、分かったから。今度お前にも作ってやるから」
「本当だな!?」
「それよりほら、手を止めないでくれ。なにせ今夜は俺達二人しか居ないんだし、喋ってばかりだと永遠に終わらんぞ」
「うむ! と言っても、見ての通り半分は枯れているがな!」
「言うなよ。悲しくなるから......」
土壌改良をし、植えた薬草の約半分は枯れていた。
恐らく理由の大半はこの地が暑いせいだと思うのだが......。
一方の多肉植物の方は数日で無事に大きくなっている。
こちらはこの地域の植物なので当然といえば当然なのだが。
「でも、ユーミル気付いてるか? 薬草と一緒に種が取れるじゃん?」
「取れるが、これがどうかしたのか?」
「普通の種に混じって、変わった奴が混じってるんだよ。良く見てみ?」
インベントリを自動整頓すれば直ぐに分かるはず。
俺の言葉を受けてユーミルがメニュー画面を開いて操作する。
「む......たい......?」
「暑さに適応しているということか?」
「どうもそうらしい。耐暑性能を獲得した薬草の世代を重ねさせれば、或いは」
「おお!」
ユーミルの顔が明るさを帯びる。
将来的には枯れる薬草を大きく減らすことが可能かもしれない。
ゲーム内は現実世界よりも遥かに早く植物が成長するし、そう遠くない内に実現可能だろう。
「薬草が一区切りついたら、食材になる物も植えたいな」
「芋だ、ハインド! ジャガイモを植えよう!」
「お前、ハンバーガーから連想しただろ......フライドポテト?」
「うむ! あ、言っておくがハンバーガーは現実で食べるからな!? ゲーム内じゃ嫌だぞ! 味が一緒でもだ!」
そもそも調理器具が違うから同じ味にはならない。
調味料も現実通りには揃わないし。
そういえば、ゲームならではっていう味にはまだ会ってないな......意外と出ないぞ、モンスター肉。
「食材と言えば、家畜を飼うために牧草地帯も作らないとな」
「牛とか豚、鳥だな?」
「そうそう。農地以上に下準備が多くて、敷居が高いから計画的にやる必要があるし」
「飼うための小屋から何から、全て用意されているゲームもあるというのにな......」
その為の土地は既に購入したので、後は今立っている農地と同じように土壌改良を進めるところから。
ユーミルの言うように飼育小屋も建てる必要があり、こちらの本格的なスタートは暫く先になりそう。
現段階ではちょっと手が回らない。
もしかしたら村によっては元から在るものを使用可能かもしれないが、残念ながらワーハの農業区には存在していない。
言ってみれば都会で無理やり農作業をしている感じなので、多少の不便はやむなしである。
そこで一度雑談が止み、少しの間は淡々と薬草を刈り取り続ける。
「......なあ、ハインド。これだけ長い時間二人きりというのは久しぶりではないか?」
「かもな。二人だったのはゲーム開始当初だけで、直ぐに理世――リィズが合流したから」
あのちんちくりんめ......と、当時のことを思い出したかのように呟きつつユーミルの顔が歪む。
が、気を取り直すように頭を振ってこう切り出す。
「私としては、お前とこうやって二人で過ごす時間が偶にあると嬉しい......のだが。ダメだろうか......?」
ユーミルにしてはしおらしく、こちらを探るような表情で訊ねてくる。
俺はそれを茶化そうかと一瞬考え、止めた。
ここで怒らせると明日の朝まで口を利いてくれなくなりそうだ。一晩寝ると忘れるが。
「珍しいことを言うじゃないか。賑やかなのが嫌ってわけでもないんだろう?」
「むしろ好きだぞ? そうではなく、お前との時間は例えて言うならケーキの様に別腹でありながら、絶対に必要な栄養素であると断言可能というか――」
「相変わらず例えが変だな。ウチの母さんにまで
ってたし......。でもまぁ、一応言いたいことは伝わってるよ。そうだな......」
頭の真面目な部分を使って思考する。
学校でも家でも、確かに二人だけで居るっていう機会はかなり少ないな。
「俺もお前とこうして二人で居る時間は落ち着くよ。今日は偶然だけど......そしたら時々は時間をずらして、皆より先に二人でログインすっか」
「本当か!? 本当だな!? よぉーし、力が漲ってきたぁ!」
ユーミルが頬を紅潮させつつ口元を緩める。
その勢いのままチャカチャカと薬草を高速で収穫していく。
手を切りそうで見ていてハラハラする......。
「あ、言っておくけどずらすなら早い方の時間な。夜更かしはイカン」
「分かっている! 生徒会を早退すればいいのだな!?」
「良いわけないだろ! お前、さてはちょっと混乱してるな!?」
結局、お互いに都合の良い日は少し早目にログインするかという程度の話で。
薬草を取り終えると耐暑性を獲得した種を優先的に撒き、水をやって作業は終了。
続けて多肉植物を植えた、砂地のままのエリアで作業を開始。
それらは薬草と一緒に混ぜ合わせることで効果を変質させたり増強させたりと、素材として使えるものが多くを占めている。
そんな中で、ユーミルと相談して植えた観賞用の植物がこいつだ。
「おー、綺麗に咲いたなぁ......アデニウム」
「うむ、確かに。あの女王と同じ名前と言うのは気に入らんが」
砂漠のバラとも呼ばれるアデニウムは、赤く美しい花をつけていた。
これをユーミル名義でコンテストに出す予定なのだが......。
当のユーミルの表情を見るに、次の発言が容易に予想できる。
「だが、このままではつまらんな!」
「言うと思ったよ。で、どうする気だ?」
「お前に任せる! 何か案を出せ!」
人任せかよ。うーん、つまらないと言われてもな。
植物で目を惹くような要素といえば色、形、大きさ、香り等々だが。
「品種改良してみるとか......」
「ほう。例えば?」
「赤い花って言ってもピンク掛かっている花も多いから、もっと真っ赤なのを目指してみるとか。いっそ本家のバラみたいに青いアデニウムを作ってしまうとか。ブルーアデニウムってのも、どっかで見たような気がするし」
「おお! なるほど!」
「ゲームだし、難易度は現実よりずっと緩めだろうから何とかなるんじゃないか? どんなのが良いか、明日くらいまでに具体的に考えておいてくれ。急げばコンテストの期日に間に合うはず」
「分かった!」
その後はサボテンの棘に気を付けながら、収穫を終えてこちらも再度種蒔きを行う。
これで今夜の農業区での活動は終了。
予定していた作業を二人でスムーズに終えることができた。所要時間も大したことはない。
インベントリを植物で一杯にした俺達はギルドホームへの帰路についた。
[By the way, where did you go to have dinner yesterday?] (Hind)
[Hmm? Sushi not served in conveyor belts! They were tasty!] (Yumir)
While harvesting the crops after logging into TB, I chatted with Yumir about what happened yesterday.
In my hand was a small sickle, I tossed what I harvested into my inventory one after another.
I had just finished talking about our exploration of the pyramid with Albert and Philia, then shifted the conversation to what Miyu went to eat yesterday.
However, a high grade sushi store huh...I'm so jealous.
[Ah, fish is also nice. We ate hamburgers.] (Hind)
[Hamburgers!? At home!?] (Yumir)
[Yeah. Made the buns with fermented dough and toasted them, I also tried making homemade hamburgers from scratch. Since mom and Rise looked happy, I think they came out well. I think for next time, I might prepare pickles.] (Hind)
[...gulp.] (Yumir)
Yumir made a sound with her throat and her hands stopped moving.
That would have been fine by itself, but she was approaching me while begging me with her eyes.
So close, her face is so close.
[I get it, I got it! Next time I'll make a portion for you too.] (Hind)
[You are not lying right!?] (Yumir)
[More importantly, look, don't stop moving your hands. Today it's only both of us here, if we just talk, we'll never finish.] (Hind)
[Umu! Though even if you say that, as you can see, about half of them have withered!] (Yumir)
[Don't say it, it'll make me sad...] (Hind)
Even with the improved soil, half of the medicinal herbs we had planted had withered.
I think the biggest reason is that it's too hot over here for them...
When it comes to the succulent plants, they have grown pretty big in just a few days without any issues.
Though I guess that's pretty obvious considering those plants are local ones.
[But Yumir, have you noticed? We are picking the medicinal herbs along with seeds right?] (Hind)
[I can see that, is there anything wrong with them?] (Yumir)
[Along with the normal seeds, there are some weird ones mixed in there. Look at them carefully.] (Hind)
Since the inventory automatically sorts things, it should be easy to see.
Hearing my words, Yumir opened her window menu and operated it.
[Re...sistance...?] (Yumir)
[You mean that they have adapted to the heat?] (Yumir)
[It seems like that's the case. If we can stock up on this generation of medicinal herbs that have heat resistance, in other words-] (Hind)
[Ooh!] (Yumir)
Yumir's face brightened up.
There's the possibility in the future that the number of medicinal plants that wither will drastically decrease.
Plants inside the game grow way faster than in real life, so there's a possibility that it becomes reality in the not so far future.
[Once we are done with the medicinal herbs, I want to grow some food ingredients.] (Hind)
[Potatoes, Hind! We should grow potatoes!] (Yumir)
[You, you were just reminded of the hamburgers and are thinking about..French fries?] (Hind)
[Umu! Ah, just so you know, I also plan to eat that hamburger in real life OK!? I don't want to do it inside the game! Even if it tastes the same!] (Yumir)
To begin with, since the cookware is different, there's no way they would taste the same.
The seasoning would also be different from real life.
Now that I think about it, I have never had that taste inside the game...they don't appear that often, monster meat that is.
[Speaking of ingredients, in order to raise cattle, we should make an area with grass.] (Hind)
[Something like cows, pigs and...birds?] (Yumir)
[That's right. There is far more preliminary work involved compared to a farmland, so we'll have to do a lot of planning since it'll be difficult.] (Hind)
[We would also need a shed among other things, even though there are games out there that prepare everything for you...] (Yumir)
We had already bought a plot of land for that purpose, so we plan to go through the same soil improvement method in the future.
Like Yumir said, we also need to build a shed to raise animals in it, it'll take some time until we can finally start with that.
We can't really afford to work on it currently.
We might have been able to use one that was originally in a village or something, but unfortunately, Waaha didn't really have an agricultural district.
In a way, it's as if we were forced to do farmwork in a big city, there were no small amount of inconveniences.
We stopped chatting for a little bit and for a short amount of time, we just kept harvesting.
[...Hey, Hind. Hasn't it been a while since we were alone for this long?] (Yumir)
[Probably. We were only alone during the game's launch, shortly after, Rise...I mean, Riizu joined us.] (Hind)
"That midget"...muttered Yumir as her face warped once she remembered that.
However, she returned to normal instantly, faced me and said.
[If you were to ask me, I would be happy if we could spend alone together like this once in a while...is that no good...?] (Yumir)
She was acting quite meekly and looked at me as if she wanted to know what I thought about it.
I thought for a second that I should make fun of her, but I stopped myself.
If I angered her here, she would not talk to me until tomorrow morning. Though she would forget after she went to sleep.
[You sure are saying something unusual. It's not like you hate it when it's lively, right?] (Hind)
[I rather like it? I don't mean that, my time with you is like when you say you have a different stomach for cake. You could say that it's like some nutrient that I definitely nee-] (Yumir)
[Your comparisons sure are weird as always. You even infected my mom with it...
But well, I sort of get what you mean. Let's see...] (Hind)
I used the serious side of my brain and thought about it.
At school or at home, it's true that the chances for both of us to be alone were few.
[I'll make some time for us to be alone like this. Today might have been a coincidence but...how about I shift the times a bit from time to time and we log in before everyone else?] (Hind)
[Really!? You are being serious right!? Alright, I can feel the power flowing!] (Yumir)
Yumir's cheeks loosened as she blushed.
And with that vigor, she harvested the medicinal herbs at high speed.
I'm so anxious that she might cut her own hand...
[Ah, just so you know, by shifting the time, I mean that we'll go in earlier. No staying up late.] (Hind)
[I know! It's fine if I leave the student council early right!?] (Yumir)
[Like hell it is! You, is your brain ok right now!?] (Hind)
As a result, we talked and decided that we would log in early if both of our situations were suitable for it.
Once we finished harvesting, we planted the seeds by giving priority to those with heat resistance and finished our work after watering them.
After that we planted succulent plants, then we began working on the sandy soil.
We mixed some medicinal herbs in there and they strengthened the effect on the soil, they have a lot of uses.
Among the plants, there was a type that Yumir consulted me about planting them and admired.
[Oh, they have bloomed beautifully...the Adeniums.] (Hind)
[Umu, you are right. Though I don't like how they share the same name as that queen.] (Yumir)
The Adenium, also called the Desert Rose, was a beautiful crimson flower.
Yumir was planning to use these in the contest but...
Looking at the expression of the person in question, I could easily see what she was going to say next.
[But, if it's just like this, it's boring!] (Yumir)
[I thought you would say that. So, what do you plan to do?] (Hind)
[I'll leave it to you! Make some sort of plan!] (Yumir)
You are going to leave it to others? Yup, even if you tell me to make it not boring...
Regarding plants, if you told me what drew your attention to them would be: the colour, the shape, how big they are and the fragrance, etc.
[Should we try to do some selective breeding...?] (Hind)
[Oh? For example?] (Yumir)
[Even if we talk about red flowers, there are a lot of pink ones out there, so let's aim for something like one that's more bright red. Or we could do something like they do with roses and make an azure Adenium. I think I've seen a Blue Adenium somewhere.] (Hind)
[Ooh! I see!] (Yumir)
[I mean, it's a game, the degree of difficulty should be easier than it would be in real life, so it should work? What type would you want, you have until tomorrow to think about it properly. If we hurried up, they would be done in time for the date of the contest.] (Hind)
[Got it!] (Yumir)
After that, while being cautious of the thorns of the cactuses, we finished harvesting and planted seeds for the second time.
With this, tonight's activities in the agricultural area are finished.
We were able to smoothly finish the work we had planned. It didn't take that much time either.
With a large amount of plants in our inventory, we returned to our guild home.
VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top Player no Shikakenin～
ＶＲＭＭＯの支援職人　～トッププレイヤーの仕掛人～
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/vrmmo-no-shien-shokunin-%ef%bd%9etop-player-no-shikakenin%ef%bd%9e/
Action Adventure Comedy Fantasy Harem Slice of Life
Adventurers Beautiful Female Lead Blacksmith Brother Complex Calm Protagonist Childhood Friends Clan Building Cooking Crafting Curious Protagonist Dense Protagonist Elemental Magic Fantasy Creatures Game Ranking System Gamers Hard-Working Protagonist Healers Level System Love Interest Falls in Love First Love Rivals Male Protagonist Misunderstandings MMORPG Ninjas Possessive Characters Priests Siblings Siblings Not Related by Blood Sword And Magic Virtual Reality Younger Love Interests Younger Sisters
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n4014ds/
二階堂風都