The Banished Black Swordsman Wants a Peaceful Life with the White Saint in the Frontier ~Huh? You Want Him to Come Back with the Saint? It’s Already Too Late~ - 46

Chapter 46: A Repair Request and the Restoration of the Fields

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“Could we reuse the land where those fields used to be, I wonder…?”

After finishing a light breakfast and washing the fruit before spreading it out in the drying baskets, Lloyd looked over the abandoned village and voiced a thought that had suddenly occurred to him. At present, the only parts of the former Zaxon village that were still usable were Lloyd and the others’ living quarters and the bath house. They were no longer usable now, but in the past, there had been many fields within the village.

“What do you think…? I’m afraid farming is outside my area of expertise.”

Lusha said, her shoulders drooping.

“I’m sorry.” 

“No, it’s not a problem at all. I don’t really have any knowledge about farming either. I just thought it’d be nice if we could make even a small field here and try our hand at a little home gardening.”

“In that case, why not consult with Cron-san? He might be able to introduce you to someone knowledgeable!”

That certainly made sense. As a merchant, Cron had a wide network of contacts, and he surely knew one or two people well-versed in agriculture. Since they had nothing else in particular to do anyway, the two of them climbed into the wagon right away and decided to head to the town of Gluteridge. They could buy more food supplies, and while they were at it, it would be a good chance to ask Cron about the fields.

Lloyd lightly stroked the horse’s neck and pulled on the reins. As they passed through the forest, the morning chill softened, and by the time they reached the stone-paved road, the murmur of the town blended with the pulse beating deep in his chest. The main street carried its usual scents. Freshly baked bread, animal fat, iron, and herbs. Amid the press of people, familiar signboards caught his eye.

Just before noon, the two stopped the wagon beside the town square and pushed open the door to the Barmasty Trading Company. Cron, who had been behind the counter, looked up and broke into a bright smile.

“Well, if it isn’t the black-and-white duo of ‘handyman.’ Are you looking for work?”

The Boy Merchant said it in a teasing tone. He was probably making a joke about Lloyd’s entirely black attire and the “White Saint.” That said, the joke wasn’t funny at all.

“No, we’re here to ask for some advice today.”

“Advice? About what?”

“We’re thinking about reusing some old farmland, but unfortunately we don’t have the knowledge. Could you introduce us to someone who knows about agriculture?”

“Oh, fields, huh. Well, in your case, it does seem better to be somewhat self-sufficient rather than coming into town to shop every time. …Ah. Now that I think about it, there was just the right little problem.”

As if recalling something, Cron took out a single sheet of paper from beside his desk and handed it to Lloyd. It was a request form. Written on it in simple terms were the words: “Repair barn roof.”

“This is a request from a farm on the outskirts of town. Apparently the roof is about to collapse. It’s not dangerous work, and the pay is modest, but… Since the requester is the wife of a farmer, you might be able to ask her about the fields while you’re at it.”

“I see. That really is killing two birds with one stone.”

“So I’ll leave it to you. Sorry about this, but I have to head to the neighboring town for a business meeting now, so I’ll give you the payment on another day.”

With a light wave of his hand, Cron stuffed several documents into his bag and hurriedly left. Left behind, Lloyd folded the request form and exchanged a look with Lusha.

“Then let’s go check it out right away.”

“Yes!”

Lusha nodded energetically. It was a request far removed from the smell of blood. This kind of work suited Lloyd and Lusha better. The map on the request form was simple, but there was only one road leading toward the outskirts of town. Turning the wagon around, they followed it, and as the stone pavement gave way to dirt, a reddish-brown roof came into view atop a small hill. Fields lay to the side, a scrawny cow beyond a fence. An elderly woman came out of the doorway and shaded her eyes with her hand.

“Oh my, who might you be?”

“We’re ‘handyman’ who took on a request from the Barmasty Trading Company. We’ve come to repair the barn roof.”

“Really!? Oh, I knew it~ When you need help, that Boy Merchant is the one to rely on… In the end, he’s always the one who helps when you’re in trouble.”

The client woman said it like she was venting. I see. By resolving people’s individual worries and problems one by one like this, Cron had built trust despite his appearance. And by having “handyman” do the work instead of his own hands and feet, he gained trust and commissions without expending his own labor. Lloyd felt like he finally understood why Cron valued them so much.

“So, about the roof… You see, it’s about to fall in. Could you take a look at it right away?”

The barn they were led to had wall planks that were sun-bleached. There were dry cracks in the corner posts. The roofing boards were warped upward in places, and even from below it was clear that the joints of the beams were twisted. The breath he exhaled carried the smell of dry wood dust.

It’s absorbed rain and is sagging under the weight. There are spots we could fix with magic, but…

He glanced between Lusha and the old woman. He didn’t really want too many people to see Lusha using magic.

“Got it. I’ll fix it. I’ll come get you when we’re done, so could you leave it to us until then?”

“Oh, is that so? All right, I’ll leave it to you.”

The old woman said that and returned to her house. Good. That took care of the interference. Lloyd gauged the roof’s tilt by eye and knocked on the four corners of the walls in turn. Keeping track of the spots where the sound rang poorly, he turned back to Lusha.

“Check the cracks in the outer walls and the splits in the posts. I want to separate the places magic will work from the places we need to handle by hand.”

“Understood.”

Lusha gently placed her palm against the wood and lowered her eyes. The edges of the cracks faintly glowed, and the surface smoothed out along the grain of the wood. It was the repair spell, 〈Repair 〉. However, this magic wasn’t omnipotent. The parts 〈Repair 〉 could fix were only those where the material was still alive. Dead parts—charred or rotted—had to be cut away and replaced.

Lloyd set up a ladder, grabbed a bag of nails along with a hammer, saw, and replacement boards, and climbed onto the roof. He removed the roofing boards, which were close to tiles in the structure, and checked the condition of the beams. One beam was scorched all the way to the core. It was the trace of lightning striking and fire running through it. Even if the surface looked fine, the core was brittle. One wrong step and it would give way.

I’d like to replace this entirely, but… We don’t have enough materials for that. I’ll have to make it hold with reinforcement.

He fitted reinforcing slats along the length and marked the mortise positions.

Assembling the measurements in his head, he cut the tenons with the saw and fitted everything together. The echo of the hammer traveled through his palms. Somewhere in the distance, children laughed, and the wind carried ash. Below, Lusha was examining the vertical cracks in the outer wall as if stroking them.

“There are a lot of small cracks here, but they’re not deep, so it should be fine if we fill them.”

“Thanks. Don’t push yourself at the base of the posts. Let me know if there’s rot.”

“Yes.”

He lightly sank the nail heads and secured the slats. Loose areas were relieved with sister boards and wedges. He didn’t dislike this kind of work. Repair work wasn’t about brute force, but about understanding how things bent and bore weight. The more something was out of shape, the more room there was to fix it.

He sat down on the beam and wiped away his sweat. At that instant… There was a dry sound beneath his feet. The old board he was standing on split with a sharp crack from the inside.

“Whoa!?”

His field of vision tilted, and his body lurched forward. At the tip of the hand he thrust out to support himself, the hammer slipped.

No good, it’s too late. 

If he fell here, he’d land on his back on a floor littered with scrap wood—

“Lloyd!?”

Along with Lusha’s scream, almost like a shriek, words of prayer spilled out instinctively.

“O mother who governs the earth—please take my friend!”

The air beneath his feet softened. As if pushed up by something unseen, the speed of his fall eased. He stopped with his stomach caught on the beam, and the blood rushed back into his chest. He grabbed the bark of the wood with his fingertips and steadied his breathing. Looking down, he saw Lusha with both hands raised toward him. A faint light wavered between her palms. It was the divine magic 〈Soft Grace〉, meant to absorb impact.

“…You saved me.”

A dry voice came from the back of his throat. A chill ran along the back of his chest. It had been a long time since he’d felt genuine danger.

“I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”

Lusha’s cheeks were faintly pale. She must have been badly shaken too. Lloyd raised one hand to show he was fine and shifted his posture back onto the beam.

It’s not just the battlefield that’s dangerous, huh. I need to be more careful.

Regaining his focus, he added more reinforcement boards to the scorched area. As the load on the beam evened out, the sag in the slats supporting the roofing boards settled down. From the removed boards, he carefully selected the ones still usable, trimmed the edges, and put them back.

He stuffed hemp into the gaps, and finally applied a thin layer of resin for waterproofing.

Below, Lusha applied sealant to the knot holes in the posts and blended it in with 〈Repair 〉. The dry wood surface returned to a smooth plane. When the glow of magic faded, it looked as though it had been that way from the beginning.

“The outside is finished. The inside walls would be better fixed by hand.”

“Got it. I’m wrapping things up here.”

He laid a new ridge board along the top of the roof and drove nails in at even intervals. The sound of the hammer echoed down the slope, apparently drawing children who had been peeking from beyond the hill. Thin voices overlapped from outside the fence.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Fixing the roof.”

Lloyd replied as he continued.

“We’re almost done, so could you go call the old woman from that house?”

“Okay!”

The children answered obediently and pattered off to fetch the old woman. In the meantime, he drove in the last nails. The angle was such that rain wouldn’t get in even if the wind shifted. The slope of the ridge lined up neatly.

“All right, that should be finished.”

He put the hammer back in the bag and climbed down the ladder. The moment his feet touched the ground, the sensation returned to the soles of his feet. Soon after, the client, led by the children, placed a hand on her chest in relief.

“Truly… You saved me. If this had failed, the hay for winter would have gotten wet.”

“There was lightning scorching on part of a beam. It’s holding with reinforcement for now, but if you can afford it, you should replace it entirely.”

“I see, I see. I’ll do that.”

Lloyd went around inside the barn and gathered up the scrap wood and nails scattered on the floor. Stepping on them could cause injuries. Lusha looked around between the posts from inside and double-checked how well the magically filled areas had settled.

“This should be fine now.”

“Good. Request complete.”

The old woman told them to receive the payment from Cron and thanked them repeatedly on top of that. As the two of them were putting their tools back onto the wagon, the children from earlier drew closer. Kids not yet ten, a rambunctious boy, and a girl with grass leaves tucked into her hair. Their eyes sparkled.

“Hey! You guys are ‘handyman,’ right? Do ‘handyman’ fight?”

“Well, only if it’s necessary.”

“That’s amaaazing!”

The boy who’d spoken first looked up shyly at the sword at Lloyd’s waist. Lloyd was about to say that using a sword wasn’t anything special, but stopped himself. He didn’t feel like lecturing a child. As he wondered how to respond, the girl tugged lightly on Lusha’s sleeve.

“Onee-chan, your hair is really pretty.”

“Thank you! I work hard taking care of it.”

Lusha smiled, a little embarrassed. At that smile, the children all beamed at once. Actually, Lusha probably shouldn’t talk even with children, but… Well, it was fine. Watching the scene, Lloyd couldn’t stop the muscles in his cheeks from relaxing naturally.

This kind of thing is really, really nice.

The exchange of lives and skill with the sword felt like it quieted down beside everyday living. Driving nails, fitting wood, stopping leaks—work like that came with someone’s gratitude attached. It was a reward far heavier than he’d expected. The woman brought out a bundle from the house and pressed it into Lloyd’s hands. They were baked sweets wrapped in oil paper.

“It’s not much, but take this too. I set some aside for the children, so no need to hold back.”

“Thank you. This helps a lot.”

When Lloyd bowed his head, the children imitated him, bobbing their heads repeatedly. Laughter arose, and the wind rustled the edge of the field. At that moment, he suddenly remembered the reason they’d taken this request.

“Oh, right. We’re thinking of starting a field… It’s a wasteland now, but where should we start fixing it?”

The old woman placed a hand on her chin and narrowed her eyes.

“How bad is the wasteland?”

“Well, it feels like farmland that hasn’t been used for decades.”

“Hmm… First, you’ve got to turn the soil. Land left untouched for years gets hard and compacted, you see. Then fertilizer. Mix in livestock manure or dead grass, anything’s fine, and by spring it’ll have come back to life quite a bit.”

Lloyd nodded as he assembled the work steps in his head.

“So you can’t just sow seeds right away after all.”

“Of course not. Soil is a living thing too. If you care for it, it’ll respond. If you neglect it, it’ll turn its back on you. As long as you don’t forget that, it’ll surely become a good field.”

Those words felt like they carried a broader meaning than just an explanation of farm work.

Lusha smiled happily, and Lloyd quietly nodded as well. 

“I see.”

After receiving a few more pieces of advice, they prepared to set off with the wagon when the boy ran up to them.

“Hey, will you come again?”

“If there’s a request.”

Lloyd replied, raising one hand from the driver’s seat.

“There’s lots! Dad’s plow is broken, and the chicken coop door squeaks! Fix them!”

“That’s your job. Do your best.”

Laughing as he said it, Lloyd watched the boy puff up indignantly and then, he quickly laughed again. At the children’s straightforwardness, a hard place deep in his chest loosened just a little. They parted ways with the children and headed back toward town. On the way, Lusha spoke quietly.

“…When Lloyd almost fell, I really thought my heart was going to stop.”

“Sorry. I let my guard down.”

“No, I should’ve reacted sooner too… I’m sorry my response came only at the last second.”

“You were fast enough. I’ll be more careful next time.”

That was all he said, as he looked up at the sky. The clouds loosened, and the sunlight spread with a gentle, fading warmth. On the driver’s seat, the wagon wheels marked out a pleasant rhythm.

That was a good job.

A single request form picked from Cron’s stack of papers had turned into the smell of baked sweets and laughter at noon. As days like this piled up, perhaps the black things that had accumulated somewhere inside him would gradually fade away.

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