Lucian's "do as you please" was permission. 　From that night onward, Sakurai Misaki's mind had been consumed entirely by thoughts of the northern fields. The passage about land reclamation incentives she'd found in the archive, the drainage ditch blueprints, the crop rotation calculations—it all kept spinning in her head. 　So this morning too, she woke before the sky turned white. 　She threw off the blanket and pulled out her work clothes, still caked with dried mud. She made sure to fasten the silver piercing in her left ear. It didn't mean anything, but somehow she couldn't take it off. 　When she opened the door beside the kitchen, the cold early morning air struck her cheeks. A thin mist drifted from the direction of the Torvaarn Mountains, and the stone-paved streets of Halbert Village appeared hazy and white. Even at the start of spring, mornings in the Glesia frontier territory were mercilessly cold. 　Misaki shouldered her hoe and headed toward the northern farmland. --- 　Several farmers were already out in the fields. 　But none of them approached Misaki. 　Standing about twenty meters away, they stopped their work and stared at her intently. She thought she heard whispers. "……The lady candidate is here again." "What's she planning to do with a hoe?" "She'll run away in three days anyway. The last candidate did too." 　Misaki heard it all clearly. But she didn't turn around. 　(Run away in three days, huh.) 　Laughing quietly to herself, she drove her hoe into the edge of the field. The first section of the drainage ditch—she planned to start from the eastern low point she'd sketched in the blueprint yesterday. If she dug a channel here and angled it toward the Lente River, the problem of water pooling and root rot after every rain could be solved at once. 　She swung the hoe down. 　With a sharp crack, the hard ground split. Chunks of clay-rich soil flew. A second swing. A third. Sweat began to bead on her arms. Her body warmed up. 　The whispers behind her continued. But Misaki paid them no mind. Trust was something to be built from here on out. Not with words, but with these hands. 　How much had she dug? 　She heard footsteps. 　They were approaching. But unlike the farmers' heavy boots, these were much lighter, hesitant and timid. --- 　When Misaki looked up, a small figure stood before her. 　Pale green short hair swayed gently in the morning mist. Bright brown eyes looked straight at her. A single small freckle on the right cheek. Her height was barely one hundred fifty centimeters—a full head shorter than Misaki. 　She looked to be about fourteen or fifteen. Everything about her gave off the air of a farm child from Liese Village. 　The girl's face flushed slightly with tension, but she opened her mouth with determination. "Um, um……C-can I help……?" 　Her voice trembled just a little. Awkward formal speech. But her eyes were steady. 　Misaki froze for a moment, hoe in hand. Among all the adults watching from a distance, only this small child had approached. "[surprised]……Oh, of course! But it's hard work, you know? Just digging the drainage ditch is pretty tough——" "I'll be fine! I'm used to farm work!" 　Her voice was strong. The trembling from before had vanished. The girl crouched down right beside Misaki without hesitation and grabbed the soil with both hands. 　Misaki laughed without thinking. "Then let's do it together. First we scoop out the soil here……" "Um, I'm Mina. I came from Liese Village. Everyone in the village talks about Misaki-sama……" "Just call me Misaki. You don't need to use formal speech." "No, I want to call you Misaki-sama!" 　She said it firmly. Misaki laughed again. 　As the two of them began digging side by side, Misaki suddenly had an idea. She lifted some of the nearby soil and began demonstrating how to work in green manure—decomposed leaf matter. "See this soil? It's clay-based, so it clumps up tight. When you loosen it and mix in organic matter, the tiny creatures in the soil become active, and the land's fertility returns." 　Mina's eyes went wide. "[surprised]The soil……it gets fertile that way? That's amazing……!" 　Her voice was unexpectedly loud. 　The farmers watching from a distance stirred. One man took a half-step forward. Then another. Before long, about five of them were edging closer. "……Can we take a look?" 　A middle-aged man called out hesitantly. Misaki looked up and smiled brightly. "Of course! I'd really appreciate it if you'd help us dig here!" 　That was the signal. 　As the morning mist cleared, more people arrived at the northern fields. The farmers who had been watching silently began picking up hoes one by one. The sound of digging overlapped, creating a low rhythm across the farmland. 　While working, Mina asked with a curious expression: "Misaki-sama, how do you know so much about soil?" "Well, um……" 　Misaki hesitated for a moment. She couldn't say she'd specialized in agricultural economics in graduate school. It was doubtful this world even had such a concept. "I studied for a long time in a very distant country." "A distant country……how far away?" "By carriage……hmm, probably too far to reach." 　Mina made a confused face. Misaki gave a wry smile and changed the subject. "Anyway! Mina, I want you to be my assistant starting today. What do you say?" 　Mina's face lit up. "[excited]I will! I absolutely will! Your assistant, Misaki-sama!" "Then it's decided. Nice to work with you, Assistant Number One." "Number One……!" 　Mina seemed to love the phrase "Number One" so much that she kept repeating it under her breath for a while. The freckles on her cheek became more visible against her flushed, embarrassed skin. 　By late morning, the first section of the drainage ditch was complete. --- 　In the evening, a light came on in Halbert Village's assembly hall. 　The assembly hall—a stone building that held about forty people, used for village meetings and festivals—gradually filled with farmers. Word of mouth spread quickly, it seemed. The rumor that "the lady candidate is going to talk about farming" had made its way around Halbert Village by afternoon. 　Misaki had propped up a wooden board as a makeshift blackboard and was drawing a diagram of crop rotation by hand. Beside her, Mina was earnestly adding notes to the edges of the diagram: "Year 1: Wheat" "Year 2: Beans." "[excited]Everyone, have you ever heard of three-field crop rotation? It's a method where you divide your fields into three areas and grow different crops in rotation each year. Legumes fix nitrogen—um, the source of fertilizer—into the soil, so the land's fertility returns without needing fertilizer." 　The assembly hall fell silent. The farmers stared at the diagram. 　Then a cheerful voice came from the entrance. "Well, well! The lady candidate looks just like a farmer!" 　Misaki turned to see a plump middle-aged woman clapping and laughing. It was Corne, the owner of the general store "Corne's Shelf." She was apparently famous in the village for being talkative, and the moment she entered, the atmosphere in the assembly hall relaxed a bit. "But you know, I can spare some wheat and turnip seeds. I have extras in the warehouse." "[surprised]Really!? Thank you so much!" 　She spoke quickly in her excitement. Corne laughed, saying "My, what an energetic girl." 　Then, from the back, a hand went up silently. 　It was Thomas, the blacksmith. The large, taciturn man placed a piece of paper in front of Misaki. It was a list of farm tools needing repair. He said nothing. He simply held it out. "[surprised]You……you'll repair these?" 　Thomas nodded silently. That was all. But to Misaki, that silent nod felt heavier than any words could be. "Thank you so much." 　She bowed deeply. Thomas looked embarrassed and averted his eyes, crossing his arms. 　The assembly hall gradually grew warmer. The farmers leaned forward to see the diagram. Questions came flying. "What beans should we plant?" "How many drainage ditches do we need?" "Can we divert water from the Lente River?" 　Misaki answered each one while mentally spreading out a map of Glesia territory in her mind. Harvest projections for three years from now, where to place a water mill if they built one, what crops to use as a bridge until the rotation cycle stabilized—— "And another thing!" 　Before she knew it, she was speaking rapidly again. "Is there a crop like corn in this world? If not, I could start with selective breeding, and in three years, as the second phase of diversified agriculture, we could link it with livestock farming——" 　Her sleeve was tugged. "[whispers]Misaki-sama? Everyone's faces have gone stiff……" 　Misaki snapped back to reality and looked around the assembly hall. All the farmers had the same expression: "Corn……?" Corne was tilting her head. Thomas looked like he was actually backing away. "[surprised]S-sorry! Let's get back to wheat and root vegetables!" 　She laughed it off. The farmers gave wry smiles, and the tension eased. 　She heard Mina whisper "That was close." Misaki gave a wry smile. Her assistant was too competent. --- 　At the same time, on the second floor of Glesia Manor. 　From the study window, a light was visible in the twilight. The warm orange glow leaking from the assembly hall's windows. 　Lucian Von Glesia held documents in his hand while staring intently at that light. 　A single red streak ran through his black hair, glowing quietly in the dusk. His cold silver eyes were fixed on the direction of the assembly hall. The small scar on his left cheek caught the window's light. 　He thought he heard laughter from the assembly hall. 　Lucian's lips curved upward, just slightly—very slightly. 　"My lord." 　A calm voice came from behind. 　Lucian immediately looked away from the window and down at his documents. "[serious]……I was checking the angle of the light on the documents." 　He spoke without a moment's hesitation. "I see." 　The white-haired butler stood expressionless. But the way he said "I see" carried the tone of "Very well, let's leave it at that." 　Lucian drew the curtains. 　Gilbert bowed deeply and left the study. The moment he stepped into the hallway, his lips curved slightly upward—though no one saw it. --- 　On the way back from the assembly hall, the sky had turned deep indigo. 　Misaki and Mina walked side by side along the stone-paved street. Mina carried an armful of seed bags from Corne. It looked heavy. When Misaki offered to carry them, Mina immediately said "I'm fine!" 　Several houses on Halbert Village's street still had lights on. Laughter drifted from the "Lamp Tavern." 　In the quiet night, Mina suddenly spoke. "[gentle]Misaki-sama, um……" "Hmm?" "Lucian-sama has been watching you from the window lately." 　She said it casually, as if it were nothing. 　Misaki's steps faltered. "[surprised]Huh? Watching……what?" "Your work in the fields. My brother Nika noticed too. He said 'It's rare for the lord to look outside like that.'" 　Something small burst in Misaki's chest. 　(Lucian was watching the whole time?) 　She felt heat gathering in her face. "N-no……" 　She forced her voice to sound normal. Careful not to speak too quickly. "He's just checking on the progress of the farmland. Of course the lord would be concerned if his land was being dug up. It's natural that he'd want to see how things are going, so there's no deeper meaning to it——" "Is that so……" 　Mina said it with a smile, clearly unconvinced. She was smiling while doubting. Exactly like Gilbert's response earlier. "[serious]It is!" "Okay." 　Her reply clearly meant "Yes, let's say that's the case." 　Misaki switched to a faster pace. Mina followed along, clutching the seed bags. 　(Checking the farmland. Just checking the farmland. That's all.) 　No matter how many times she repeated it in her head, that small burst in her chest wouldn't fade. --- 　On the way b