I Thought It Was a Healing Farming Game Chapter 28

Just as I was about to head back, carefully holding the four-leaf clover Kais had found for me, he grabbed me by the back of my clothes.

“Whoa!”

“Brush your knees off before you go, customer.”

“My knees?”

“If you go back looking like that, people will think you’ve been rolling around on the ground.”

At Kais’s words, I looked down and saw that the hem of my skirt was a mess, stained with grass and green sap.

“Ah! What am I going to do about my clothes?!”

As I brushed my knees and made a miserable face, Kais snickered at the clover.

“Looks more like a symbol of misfortune to me.”

“I told you it isn’t!”

Ignoring Kais’s mocking laughter, I clutched the four-leaf clover and ran toward Priam’s house.

I could hear leisurely footsteps following behind me, but I paid them no mind.

Knock, knock.

“Priam!”

“Who is it… Miel? What brings you here?”

Surprised to see me again after we’d parted ways earlier, he welcomed me inside.

“Good evening.”

“Kais is here with you, too. What’s going on?”

After offering a casual greeting, Kais merely jerked his chin in my direction instead of answering.

I stepped closer to Priam and held out my clenched fist.

“Priam, look at this.”

“Hm?”

I opened my palm, and a four-leaf clover suddenly appeared right before his eyes.

“Ta-da! It’s a four-leaf clover. They say it brings good luck if you keep one with you.”

“Wow, you found one yourself? That’s great, Miel!”

I shook my head at Priam, who was congratulating me so cheerfully.

“No! I brought it for you.”

“For me?”

Priam looked back and forth between me and the clover before asking with a slightly puzzled expression,

“Why?”

“Because I wanted some good luck to come your way! If you keep at it, good things will happen to you, and then you’ll be happy, too.”

After hearing my answer, Priam hesitated before carefully accepting the four-leaf clover with both hands.

Soon, his cheeks turned a faint shade of pink.

Priam’s Affection +50

“Thank you, Miel… I’ll treasure it.”

Priam’s Affection has reached Level 2!

The way Priam looked at me became so sparkling and affectionate that it was almost overwhelming.

I didn’t expect him to be this happy. Looks like a symbol of good luck really does work wonders.

I was feeling happy myself, and we were smiling at each other in a warm, cheerful atmosphere when—

“Lord Kais!”

Someone urgently called for Kais.

A young man came running over, panting for breath, and glanced at us.

“There’s something important I need to tell you.”

When Kais approached him, the young man whispered something into his ear.

After delivering his brief message, he bowed respectfully and hurried away.

What was that about?

I craned my neck curiously, and my eyes met Kais’s.

“Hah.”

Kais let out a dry laugh and ran a hand through his hair.

“Kais, is something wrong?”

“Whether it’s a coincidence or the truth…”

Kais muttered as though talking to himself.

“B-Burdock? Did you just say burdock?”

At my serious follow-up question, Kais burst out laughing. Embarrassed, I rubbed the back of my neck.

“Ah! I must’ve misheard. Wasn’t it burdock?”

“No, you heard correctly. I’m considering whether to stock it at the tavern.”

“Burdock? Well… if you simmer it in soy sauce, it becomes crunchy and savory. I’m not sure whether it would make a good snack to go with drinks, though.”

“Our customer really does know everything, doesn’t she?”

Kais casually clapped his hands once.

“Oh, it’s nothing that special…”

I trailed off when I noticed the crooked smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Narrowing my eyes, I eyed him suspiciously.

“You’re making fun of me right now, aren’t you?”

“No? I was complimenting you.”

Kais’s Affection +5

Hmm. Judging by the increase in his affection, perhaps he hadn’t been entirely insincere.

I was still suspicious, but since he’d readily given me the four-leaf clover earlier, I decided to let it slide.

Thanks to him, Priam seems to be feeling a little better, so all’s well that ends well…

I said goodbye to the two of them and headed home with a light step.

 

***

 

As soon as I entered the house, Siad came to greet me.

“You’re late. Did something happen?”

“Ah, I’m sorry! My walk took longer than I expected…”

I smiled sheepishly as I brushed the blades of grass off the tips of my shoes.

“Is that so?”

“Um, actually, I went looking for a four-leaf clover for Priam.”

“A four-leaf clover?”

“Yes. They say that keeping a clover with four leaves brings good luck.”

“So that’s why you were late.”

Siad looked at me for a moment before smiling gently.

“It must have made Priam happy, receiving a gift that came from your heart.”

“It really did. He was so happy!”

I scratched my cheek and smiled, feeling strangely shy.

“Oh, right. It’s already late, so let’s have dinner. After that, I still need to finish today’s mending work.”

After having a simple dinner with Siad, we settled together on the living room sofa.

He worked on his embroidery while I set about mending the work clothes I’d received as a job.

Since we rarely had much time to see each other, I’d been the one to suggest spending time together this way.

As I found thread matching the color of the work clothes and slipped it neatly through the eye of the needle, I spoke.

“Maybe we could go on a picnic together next time?”

“Whenever you’d like.”

Siad responded warmly as he moved his needle through the fabric.

I found a button identical to the one that had come off and positioned it over the empty spot.

I slipped my hand inside the garment to feel where I needed to sew, then carefully stitched the button in place to make sure it wouldn’t end up crooked.

I gave the work clothes a gentle shake to check that the button wouldn’t fall off again.

And I’ll mend the torn parts, too…

I bit off the thread with my teeth and tied it into a knot.

I was folding the work clothes one by one when Siad tapped the table lightly with his finger.

I stopped folding and turned toward him. Siad held out a handkerchief.

A delicate little four-leaf clover had been embroidered along its edge.

“Wow, wow! It’s so pretty! Is that a four-leaf clover?”

“I embroidered it while thinking of the good luck you mentioned.”

“The stitches are so neat! Siad, is there anything you can’t do?”

I couldn’t take my eyes off the tiny four-leaf clover embroidery for a long time.

Apparently pleased with my enthusiastic reaction, Siad gave me a faint smile.

“A little good luck for you, Miel.”

“For me?”

My initial surprise quickly gave way to a wave of emotion as I looked at the handkerchief.

So this is how Priam must have felt.

“I can’t believe you made something so precious… I’ll treasure it, Siad.”

I accepted the handkerchief as carefully as if I were handling a baby.

“You flatter me.”

A handkerchief embroidered by hand… Surely no one could dislike receiving a gift made with such care.

And it’s so delicate… The embroidery is tiny, too. It’s beautiful.

Even the fabric of the handkerchief felt luxurious. It wouldn’t seem overpriced even if a shop sold it for ten gold.

 

***

 

“Five growth accelerators! That’ll be five gold.”

I handed the man the gold, and he promptly held out a pouch containing the growth accelerators.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you.”

Once again, I decided to invest the wages I’d earned from my part-time jobs into farming.

As always, I headed straight for my vegetable garden.

[Miel]

“Hey, little ones. Have you been growing well? I’m back.”

I greeted my vegetable garden and checked on the condition of my crops.

The young leaves that had just sprouted had grown a little taller than they were yesterday.

At this rate… will most of them be fully grown in a week or two?

That was already a fairly fast pace, but it was nowhere near enough for my grand ambitions.

After all, the deposit I needed to secure a house was a whopping one thousand gold.

Which means I need to work hard and earn more money!

After thoroughly watering the soil that had become too dry, I took out the item I’d just bought.

Growth Accelerator: An ampoule containing concentrated plant growth hormones that help plants grow in a short period of time.

It was a small, dropper-shaped ampoule, but its effects were extraordinary.

If it works just like it did in the game, everything should be fully grown within a week.