Hokuou Kizoku to Moukinzuma no Yukiguni Karigurashi

Stories of the Four Seasons

Autumn is the time for harvesting vegetables that were planted in early spring.

This year, the temperature was unstable so the crops did not grow very well.

Well, things happen every year, so we usually harvest the crops with half expectations.

The root vegetables which are relatively easily to pick are harvested by the children.

It’s endearing seeing the children pulling on carrots and digging for potatoes.

When it’s time for lunch, everyone has the packed lunches they brought from home.

Today, Sieg made lunch for me.

I always prepared my own lunch, so I was moved.

I wonder what Sieg made for me. I opened the basket as my heart pounded.

What came into my eyes first were the three large potatoes. They were baked properly, and there were salt and herbs to go with them. Other than those, there was a long sausage on a skewer, standing out very greatly.

The potato and the sausage was sent from Sieg’s family.

Around the edge of the basket, there were also small bottles. Pickled cabbages. I wonder if this is handmade by Sieg? I thought that it was new to put bottles in the lunchbox.

The main menu was crunchy deep fried meat. On top of it, there were thin slices of lemon.

Above were the contents of my beloved wife’s lunchbox.

What should I say, the sensation of a soldier not used to cooking earnestly making lunch feels great! The staple food being potatoes rather than bread was also like Sieg’s home country.

The handmade lunch was delicious.

So much that I almost wished that I should have peeked at her making them if possible.

After lunch, I started working again in the afternoon.

The harvested vegetables are collected in one place and men with discerning eyes take care of the selection process.

Vegetables with scars or ones that are small, which are those not fit for selling, were also needed to be collected instead of tax. I wanted to share them with everyone, but I had no choice but to take them back home.

This year, there was a poor harvest of potatoes.

They were not that big to start with, but this year they only grew to the size of the ring made by putting one’s thumb and index finger together. There were two bags of potatoes that wouldn’t be able to be sold to the merchants.

While pondering how I should cook them, I returned home.

◇◇◇

“Welcome back.”

“I’m back~!”

Sieg stood up from doing her gardening work and greeted me.

“Sieg, thank you for the lunchbox.”

“No, it wasn’t that great.”

“No, they were all delicious!”

If it was the usual, I would have given her a kiss of thanks, but today I couldn’t even approach her because of all the mud.

Unable to bear seeing her husband like that, Sieg talked to me.

“Ritz, you should take a bath first.”

“Eh, it’s alright. Sieg, you can go in first. Meanwhile, I’ll be weeding in the meanwhile.”

“It’s alright, so go in. You must be tired.”

“Really?”

I prefer going in after Sieg! But if I say that I might be treated as a pervert so I decided to receive her hospitality.

I wiped the sweat and mud off my body and headed the living room in a clean state.

While I was resting, sitting on a chair, Miruporon brought a honey lemon juice.

“Thank you~”

As usual, Miruporon pounded her chest and then disappeared.

Before I realised it, I was seeing off a back wider than mine.

While I was wondering what I should do about the pile of vegetables I received, Sieg came out of the bath.

When I tapped the spot next to me, she came over.

“How were the vegetables?”

“N~n, not bad, I guess.”

If the potatoes are as big as the ones from Sieg’s country, the profitability will be much different, or so I thought.

This year, I counseled Captain Artonen of the fortress for financial matters, so I wanted to try out many things.

As I chatted with Sieg, dinner was served.

The pot of soup was placed on the table. It was left there, which meant that we were free to refill our bowls.

The main ingredient of today’s soup were mushrooms. There were mushrooms that were collected and dried in summer.

There were also chicken herb roast that was cooked until the skin was crispy, as well as a salad of leafy vegetables with fish oil.

In the middle of the table, a potato gratin was placed. 𝙛r𝚎𝐞𝑤𝚎𝗯𝗻𝗼𝐯e𝚕.𝒄𝐨𝓂

Next to that, there was a pile of potato fries.

“It’s a feast again today. Thank you as always.”

When I delivered words of thanks to Ruruporon, she returned a smile.

Sieg served gratin onto dishes.

Meanwhile, I took out alcohol from the shelf and poured some into my wife’s cup.

“Now then, let’s eat.”

“Alright.”

After giving a prayer of gratitude to the spirit I started eating.

The soup had the poisonous mushrooms, kantarelli. It’s said that it’s okay as long as they aren’t eaten raw.

They have a spicy flavour like pepper and also have a chewy texture so they’re tasty. Because they’re dried, the flavour is also condensed well.

The soup that was cooked carefully had a mild and elegant taste. I applauded Ruruporon in my head.

When I cut the chicken herb roast, the meaty juices flowed out. The skin was crispy and the meat was tender. The fragrance of the herbs roused my appetite.

I thought that the salad marinated in fish oil would taste good with bread, but unfortunately today there was no bread on the table. Then I thought of using potato fries instead of bread. I discovered that the crispiness of the leafy vegetables went well with the crunchy potato fries. Moreover, the fishy flavour made me want alcohol. It was very delicious.

The potato gratin still had the peel on.

The potato that was just harvested was warm and had a sweet taste. The cheese that was in the slit was also crunchy and tasty.

The dinner meal filled with the blessing of autumn was great.

After dinner, I decided to play with Sieg on the long chair.

“Sieg, let’s play~”

Today, I was quite tired so I just wanted to do something simple. Thus, I brought cards.

We played a game where we flipped the cards to collect sets of the number.

Both Sieg and I were remembering the cards, so it always turns out to become like a game of who gets it first.

When we played games, we always did it after setting a penalty for the loser.

Dishwashing, cleaning the floor, baking, those sorts of things.

“What should we have today?”

“Ritz, what do you want?”

“Let’s see~”

Even though she asked, I couldn’t think of anything specific.

“How about you, Sieg?”

“Let’s see, how about the loser wearing their hair in twintail pigtails?”

“Uwa, that’s nasty!”

Sieg’s hair did not grow out enough to braid her hair, but she said that she has the attachable hair she got from home.

“This, even if you lose, it won’t hurt!”

“No, it would be probably painful to see a woman in her thirties wear pigtails.”

“No it’s not, it will definitely be cute!”

“……”

While talking, I ended up wanting to see Sieg’s hair in pigtails, so I rolled up my sleeves and put effort into the game.

——The result.

“Uwa, I lost.”

A splendid defeat.

I might have been out of focus because of the fatigue.

From the winner, Sieg, I received a comb and ribbons.

“What’s with these ribbons.”

“It’s something brother sent as a joke.”

They were pink ribbons with nice textures from the velvet.

I asked if she wanted me to do it now. When I asked just in case, Sieglinde replied yes.

I couldn’t help it, so I had my hair done in pigtails and put ribbons on.

“Hey, isn’t it disgusting?”

“No, it’s good.”

There’s no way it would be good, I murmured and and hid my face with both hands in embarrassment.

◇◇◇

Like so, the peaceful couple life with Sieg passed peacefully.

Stories of the Four Seasons complete.