It Bore Fruit ... I Worked Hard.

When I woke up, thirty members of the Farming Corps were lined up neatly beneath my bed, sitting seiza-style.

Please stop. This is scary. Seriously, stop.

I started to worry that they were harassing me.

I want to believe that wasn't it, but it wasn't, right?

I stared at the Farming Corps, and all thirty stared back. Terrifying.

They took me to the field... I see. Harvest time?

Why did all of them come?

The field was bursting with crops. All I did was sow the seeds and water them once.

Everything else was the work of the Farming Corps, the baby ants, and the baby spiders.

I've never grown vegetables before, but I knew this was a bumper harvest.

I didn't know when they were ready to harvest, though.

First, I harvested the ten kinds of vegetables whose shapes I recognized.

They appeared to be edible, but I wouldn't know how they tasted until I ate them.

There was also a chance they might not be edible after all.

I went into the field and found a new building beside the rock.

...It was a storage shed for things needed for farm work. When did that get there?

I pulled myself together and resumed harvesting.

Of the ten types, seven were harvested today.

For now, I poured a little water into a rock pot, then placed a rock plate with legs inside it.

I placed one of each of the seven vegetables on it, covered the pot, and heated the rocks.

I steamed them so I could get a clear sense of their flavors.

When I opened the lid, a delicious smell wafted out.

I took them all out and checked for any changes, but there were no problems.

First up... Oh, this resembles a potato.

The second... Huh?

It had a fluffy texture, but hardly any flavor... What a disappointment.

The third was sweet and sticky. Maybe a sweet potato?

The fourth was juicy. It resembled a daikon, but was a little different.

I tried it raw. I'd never eaten it before, but it was delicious.

The fifth was a sticky tuber. Maybe something like taro?

The sixth was sweet, but incredibly astringent. This one was no good.

The seventh had a smooth, gooey texture and a curious flavor. Delicious.

I moved everything except the second and sixth to the storage room.

I moved the second and sixth to a room I had temporarily made on the first floor.

That day, I cooked the harvested vegetables and some meat.

They ate them happily, which was a relief.

The next day, one representative was waiting beside my bed.

When I went to the field, the ant family and spider family were tilling the soil.

They seemed to have really liked the taste.

...

It took ten days to finish harvesting everything.

There were seven potato varieties, differing in flavor, stickiness, and size.

Three daikon varieties, differing in sweetness and size.

One sweet potato variety, and it was extremely sweet.

Two taro varieties, differing in size.

Some vegetables grew aboveground instead of underground.

Three pumpkin varieties, differing in sweetness and size. One of them was a giant pumpkin variety.

One ginger variety.

Four onion varieties.

Thirteen kinds of vegetables I'd never eaten before. Every one was delicious.

Thirty-four varieties in all. A bumper harvest.

Of the plants grown from seed, I left ten of each kind in the field so I could collect their seeds.

I moved the rest to the storage room.

There were four kinds I rejected after tasting them.

One was incredibly bitter, and three had an unsettling taste.

I used those as fertilizer.

I saved the vegetables that had mild flavors, sweetness, or strong astringency because I had an idea for them.

If it works, I'll have more seasonings... I want more.

I worked hard. At least the harvest was finished without me being driven out before the end.

Thank goodness.