Volume 1 Chapter 54 Satsuma is Ready!
One day, not long after Margrave Shield had left.
Lydia was walking to the dining hall, looking very cheerful after finishing her morning chores.
"Mother Lydia, did something good happen?"
"Eh, you can tell? Hehe, I got a letter saying everyone's coming home for the New Year."
She then handed the letter to Cain.
The letter was from Arthur, saying that Arthur, Benjamin, and Chris would be spending New Year's at the Sanroze estate.
It also mentioned that rumors of the "cobblestone" road in the Sanroze territory had reached the capital.
'Hey, Chris is coming back too. I barely remember him. Maybe I didn't get close to him because I was too young?'
"Mother Lydia, that's wonderful. How many years has it been since everyone's been together?"
"Let's see, it must be 3 years since Chris hasn't come back once since he started at the academy?"
Lydia tilted her head as she answered.
'She's cute. Lydia's so natural, doing things like that. No wonder Luke (father) isn't cheating on her.'
"I'm looking forward to it."
Cain felt happy too, seeing Lydia so cheerful.
After lunch, Cain came to the garden at the edge of the training ground.
"Gardy, sorry to keep you waiting! Were you waiting long?"
"No, no, I'm right on schedule. Did you have a good lunch?"
Cain felt he had grown closer to Gardy since they worked on the "cobblestone" road together.
Recently, there were rumors that Gardy had started dating Noel from the maintenance department.
Along with that, Cain noticed that Gardy had lost his sharp, lonely edge.
'It's nice to see the people close to you happy.'
"Of course, I ate a lot."
Cain answered with a cheerful smile.
"Anyway, how's the Satsuma? Grown big? Plump?"
"Yes, it seems Sir Cain's method was very effective. We have a Satsuma that's about 1.5 times larger than usual."
Saying this, he showed Cain the Satsuma that had already been dug up.
"Oh, wow, you're right!"
There, a small but plump Satsuma, about 15 cm long, lay before them.
It was no different in length from the usual ones, but compared to the thin, twig-like Satsuma, this one was a huge difference.
"I haven't seen Sir Cain's yet, but the size of the leaves and the thickness of the stems are completely different. I'm really looking forward to it!"
Gardy, eager to dig it up already, said with excitement.
"Alright, let's get started!"
Cain pulled on the stem of his special Satsuma nearby.
"Huh? It's not coming out! Grrr, here we go!"
With all his weight on it, Cain finally pulled the Satsuma out.
What appeared was a big, thick Satsuma, fully grown and covered in soil, just like the ones Michio had seen before.
"Y-yes! We did it! Big success!"
"Sir Cain, this is amazing! I've never seen such a big Satsuma before!"
"Alright, Gardy, let's work hard and dig up the rest!"
Cain and Gardy dug through the soil, getting covered in mud.
The Satsuma they dug up together was piled up like a little mound.
"Sir Cain, I can't wait to eat it!"
"Tch, Gardy, you're too sweet. It's way too sweet. You gotta let the Satsuma rest until the New Year's to really enjoy it. You'd be wasting it if you ate it now."
"Huh? Even though it looks so delicious?"
"Yeah, it'll get even sweeter if we wait until around New Year's. Trust me, Gardy. But hey, how about we sneak a little taste?"
"Of course, Sir Cain!"
Then, the two of them gathered fallen leaves and firewood scraps, starting to make roasted sweet potatoes.
Soon, the sweet scent of the potatoes filled the air, but they kept telling each other, "Not yet," and waited a little longer.
When the dry leaves had burned down, they dug the Satsuma out of the fire.
Cain and Gardy each took one Satsuma and split it in 2.
Inside, a golden, sweet-smelling Satsuma was ready, and they couldn't resist taking a bite.
Without a second thought, they both dove in.
""Ugh, so good...""
The two of them kept eating, lost in the moment.
'This was a big success. I can't wait for the Satsuma to ripen even more!'
Cain was already looking forward to New Year's Day.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!