I Thought It Was a Healing Farming Game Chapter 29

I took out the growth accelerators one by one and inserted them into the soil near the roots of my crops.

“I worked hard to earn the money to buy these, so you’d better grow big and strong, okay?”

After tending to my vegetable garden, I followed my usual routine and stopped by the village hall.

“I’m here to look for a part-time job!”

“Oh, Miss Miel. As it happens, we’ve just posted a good opening. It’s a regular part-time position. Would you like to take a look?”

“A regular part-time position?”

“Yes. I think it was something related to butter… processing. Just a moment.”

The staff member found the job posting and showed it to me.

Ranch Part-Time Job Posting

• Duties: Butter production and processing
• Schedule: Three times a week, four hours per day
• Pay: 25 gold per week
• Additional Benefits: Creditworthiness increases by 10 every week; 30% employee discount on ranch products

My eyes lit up the moment I saw the posting.

It’s finally here!

A regular part-time job at the ranch.

This was one of the best part-time jobs to secure early in the game.

The working hours weren’t long, yet the weekly pay was 25 gold.

That meant I could earn a steady income of 100 gold a month.

And my creditworthiness will keep increasing, plus I get a 30% employee discount on milk, butter, and cheese…!

There was absolutely no reason not to take this job.

“I want to apply! Definitely!”

“I’ll register your application. You know where the ranch is, right? Just take this application form there and submit it.”

The staff member printed out the application form for me.

After thanking them several times, I headed straight for the ranch.

Aaah! I can’t believe I finally got a ranch job!

As I followed the winding path lined with fences on both sides, I spotted dairy cows grazing in the fields.

They’re so cute! I want to pet them!

I wouldn’t have minded working as a milk producer, either, but making butter was pretty fun in its own right.

When I arrived at the ranch, I spotted Mrs. Day among the employees bustling about.

“Hello! I’m here to submit my part-time job application!”

I approached Mrs. Day and held out the application form. She greeted me warmly.

“Welcome! Oh my, Miel? You’re the girl my mother was telling me about! The one who helped carry the milk, right?”

“Ah! Yes, that’s me. Is Grandma Mael here, too? I’d like to say hello if she is.”

“My mother is away today. I’ll tell her you came by looking for her.”

Mrs. Day sounded a little disappointed, but soon led me toward the workshop.

“Let’s see, let’s see. I wonder if we have a work uniform in your size. You’ve never made butter before, have you?”

“I know roughly how it’s done, but I’ve never actually tried it myself.”

I’d experienced it in the game, but this was my first time doing it in real life.

“If you know the method, then you already know enough. Come along. I was just about to start working, so I’ll give you a demonstration.”

As soon as I entered the workshop, the first things I noticed were a large cold-storage room and three butter-making machines.

On one side stood a large sink and a wooden worktable. Deep molds and several layers of cloth were neatly stacked on top.

“We collect fresh milk every other day and use it to make cream, butter, cheese, and yogurt.”

Mrs. Day took a bottle of milk out of the cold-storage room.

“To make butter, we first need aged cream. If you leave milk in cold storage for more than a day, the cream rises to the top of the bottle like this.”

She scooped the cream floating at the top with a ladle and transferred it into another glass bottle.

“Why don’t you try?”

I tied up my hair, put on an apron, and carefully scooped out the cream just as she had shown me.

“Once you’ve removed all the cream, put it on the left side of the cold-storage room. Let it age for about twelve hours, and then it’ll be ready to make butter.”

After putting the cream away to age, Mrs. Day took out some finished butter from deeper inside the cold-storage room and showed it to me.

“This is the finished butter. It’s one of our ranch’s specialties.”

“The color is so rich!”

“Golden, isn’t it? The dairy cows at our ranch are a special breed. All our dairy products turn out to be the highest quality.”

Speaking with pride, she carried the aged cream over to the machine.

Seeing how easily she carried a bottle in each hand, I tried to imitate her and nearly felt my arms fall off.

It’s so heavy…!

Thankfully, Mrs. Day didn’t seem to notice my unsteady steps.

If a part-time worker started trembling just from carrying two bottles of milk, it wouldn’t exactly inspire confidence.

Once I finally managed to set the bottles down, Mrs. Day placed her palm on the machine.

“This is the butter-making machine. Pour the aged cream inside. All of it.”

I picked up a glass bottle full of cream and poured its contents into the machine with a loud glug.

The machine looks just like a giant electric mixer.

After pouring in all four bottles of cream I’d brought over, the machine was about half full.

“Pour in all four bottles of cream, then press the start button. Set the speed to Level 3. And make sure you prepare a large piece of cloth beforehand.”

After finishing her explanation, Mrs. Day immediately pressed the machine’s start button.

The mixer started spinning, and cream splattered in every direction—including onto my apron and cheeks.

“Eeeek!”

“This is what happens, you see. You have to cover the machine with the cloth right away.”

Mrs. Day swiftly covered the machine with a piece of cloth that had been placed nearby.

“I-I wasn’t expecting that!”

I hadn’t expected her to teach me by letting me experience it firsthand.

Mrs. Day wiped the cream splattered on her forehead and laughed.

“Sorry, did I scare you? If I just tell them they need to cover it, they always decide it’s too much trouble and run the machine without the cloth whenever I’m not around.”

She wiped the cream off my cheek with a clean cloth, then smiled with a sigh.

“I’ve lost count of how many times the workshop has ended up a complete mess whenever we get a new part-time worker.”

A new part-time worker?

That’s strange. In the game, only the protagonist who came to Node could work part-time.

Had there been other visitors besides me?

I was curious, but right now, I needed to focus on the job rather than ask questions.

Keeping my eyes on the cream splattered beside the machine, I asked,

“Can I wipe up the cream that splashed over here?”

“Of course. That’s actually the most important thing to pay attention to while working. You have to keep the machine and the surrounding area clean by tidying up as you go.”

I fetched a damp cloth and carefully cleaned the floor and worktable.

While the machine ran, I made light conversation with Mrs. Day.

“How are you finding the village? It must be difficult to adjust when you’ve only been here for a few days.”

“Everyone’s been so kind to me that I’m having a wonderful time.”

“Oh, what a sweet thing to say. No wonder my mother recommended you.”

“Hehe. I think Grandma just has a good impression of me… but I’ll work hard so I don’t disappoint her.”

“That’s a good attitude to have.”

Mrs. Day gave me an approving look before turning her attention back to the machine.

“Oh, it’s about time to check the cream. After running it for fifteen to twenty minutes…”

She lifted the cloth slightly to inspect the inside of the machine.

The cream had already thickened to a consistency similar to whipped cream.

“At this point, you can remove the cloth. Once it gets this thick, it won’t splatter anymore.”

Mrs. Day removed the cloth and continued explaining.

“If you run it a little longer, it’ll turn into butter. Butter chunks will start sticking to the inside of the mixer, while buttermilk separates out and collects below. From this point on, you need to watch it carefully.”

Following Mrs. Day’s instructions, I observed the cream closely.

As time passed, orange-colored granules began to form, resembling little bits of butter, while thin buttermilk started collecting at the bottom.

“Now, reduce the machine’s speed a little. Set it to Level 1. If you keep running it this fast, the buttermilk will splash everywhere and make a mess.”

While Mrs. Day lowered the speed, I peered into the machine and remarked,

“The butter is clumping together into big pieces and floating around… It looks just like icebergs floating in the ocean.”

“Oh my, what a cute way to put it!”

Mrs. Day giggled and opened the lower part of the machine.

A generous amount of buttermilk poured out, enough to fill the glass bottle we’d prepared in advance.

“Once the butter has clumped together completely, you open the bottom of the machine like this and drain the buttermilk. You can use it in all sorts of recipes, too.”

Mrs. Day closed the outlet, then poured me a glass of the buttermilk from the bottle.