RNFB 8

Chapter 8

[Haniel’s Sticker Book (For Children)]

– Divine Power Stickers in Storage: 16

– Collected Sticker List: Thumbs Up, Stomp!, (Not Acquired), (Not Acquired), (Not Acquired) …

– Children can express themselves freely by putting stickers wherever they want!

– Collect more stickers, and you might create a special collection?

That was all the divine power I’d collected since coming to the north.

‘The 10 stickers I received when I arrived in the north were the biggest haul, and the rest were all little errands like climbing one step of the carriage stairs at a time, sleeping under a blanket, and brushing my teeth for three minutes.’

But if I completed this errand, I’d get a whopping 200 divine power stickers!

If I got those, maybe I could help the north. And then, even the grand duke, who was as stubborn as a brick wall, might let me stay here!

My eyes burned with determination. I enthusiastically shoveled stew into my mouth with the spoon Camilla had given me.

“Haap! Hap!”

Stew disposal complete!

“Housekeeper, are there any farmlands around here?”

“Farmland? There probably is?”

Deng. What a detached attitude!

Camilla laughed at my blank expression.

“Child. Surely you didn’t really come here planning to farm? In this north, where it snows or is overcast because it’s about to snow for 360 out of 365 days?”

“I,”

“Forget it. It’d be more productive to go around picking up monster poop.”

“B-but I still want to take a look…”

“Hmm. The snow did stop today, for once. I was planning to take you outside after feeding you the stew, but what should I do?”

I tightly gripped the hem of the housekeeper’s clothes.

“I, the grand duke said I could stay until the day after tomorrow!”

“Hm? When?”

“You said I would probably die around the day after tomorrow earlier!”

“A brat like you will probably die around… the day after tomorrow? Here.”

“Th-that means I can stay here until the day after tomorrow, right?”

“Does it?”

I waved my arms around.

“It does! Totally, totally does!”

It was completely, utterly absurd logic, but for some reason, the housekeeper looked down at me and twitched her eyebrows.

“…You’re really cute. Enough to touch my heart. You’re just dirty enough to look like a freshly dug potato, too.”

A potato!

“It’s an honor!”

Camilla lifted me up in her arms.

I tried my best to make an appetizing(?) expression, as potato-like as possible. When our eyes met, Camilla’s eyebrows twitched again.

“…Dirty. Cute. Huh, I don’t know. Let’s go!”

“Yaaay!”

Wrapped tightly in a large blanket (there were no children’s clothes…), I went outside.

Clutching a hoe borrowed from the housekeeper.

A little while later.

Haniel spectacularly failed at ‘hoeing’ once again.

“It’s hard!”

It was all well and good that she’d persuaded Camilla to take her to farmland (or what looked like farmland).

Kraaang!

But the ground was completely frozen and incredibly hard.

The hoe couldn’t even penetrate it with a child’s measly strength.

And the giant hoe was so heavy!

If Camilla hadn’t secretly helped from behind, Haniel wouldn’t even have been able to lift the hoe properly.

“Children these days enjoy such peculiar games. It’s hard to keep up with their tastes…”

“I won’t loseee!”

Nngh! Clang! Nngh! Clang!

Haniel diligently raised the hoe and brought it down against the ground. But.

[Challenge! Hoeing! (0/5)]

‘Why isn’t it going up!’

Sure, there wasn’t any soil being dug up by the blade!

And sure, she couldn’t feel the actual act of ‘turning over the earth,’ which was the very essence of hoeing!

‘But still! Still!!’

Nngh! Clang! Nngh! Clang!

‘I’m hoeing! This is totally hoeing! I might even be in the upper ranks among six-year-olds!’

Haniel cried out desperately in her heart.

Then, the words before her eyes flickered for a moment as though they were wandering aimlessly.

[Challenge! Hoeing!…]

Poof!

[Challenge! Hoeing! (0.00000001/5)]

‘Oh, come on, I got a participation point!’

It was even stingy!

“My, you’re doing well. Of all the six-year-olds I know, you’re the best at, what was it, hammering?”

“Ghk.”

It’s hoeing…!

Haniel looked down at the ground she’d been tormenting. Despite all that commotion, there wasn’t even a tiny scratch on it.

‘It probably does look like that…’

She had no choice but to admit it.

‘Hoeing frozen ground is pointless.’

In other words, she needed hoeing that actually worked. Simply performing the action wasn’t enough, it meant she had to fulfill the purpose and meaning behind the action as well.

All right, then what should I do now?

Hoeing = start of farming = need thawed ground = to thaw the ground…?

Haniel blinked. Then she whipped around toward Camilla.

“Housekeeper, where is the grand duke?”

* * *

Vasily sauntered through the village.

He suddenly found the whole thing ridiculous.

‘That brat has no fear.’

Where did she think she was, coming here so excitedly?

And then, what was all this nonsense about farming?

She really was an absurd child.

Vasily clenched his fist as if trying to erase the sensation of the child’s touch that remained on his hand.

He’d always hated young and weak things.

A child? Naturally, he didn’t like them.

The brat’s round, sturdy-looking appearance was somewhat cute, but that was all.

Since he’d left her with Camilla, the cold-hearted deputy captain of the knights once known as the Knight of Ice… by now, that brat should be heading outside the territory without so much as a peep.

‘Good riddance, baby hippo.’

He gave a short scoff.

Lost in his thoughts, he had already arrived at the village warehouse.

“Pardon? You’re saying there’s sand mixed in with the salt?”

“Yeah.”

Vasily nodded lazily.

Even sitting carelessly on a wooden crate in the warehouse, the man made quite a picture. Though the picture was a little… fierce and terrifying.

The supply officer who had returned that morning wore a troubled expression.

“I was relieved when the sacks the southerners showed us as samples were fine. How did this happen?”

“Take the whole lot back and return it. If you feel like it, punch them in the gut while you’re there.”

“…Punching them is a bit much… It won’t make us any money, after all.”

The head of the merchant company who had just returned from the south.

Ruden, one of Vasily’s knights, let out a deep sigh.

“Times have changed.”

“Then how do you fight?”

“They throw lawsuits instead of punches. They fight elegantly, at length, and at great expense.”

“What a boring age. …Well, I suppose it can’t be helped anymore.”

After the war ended, his mercenary corps each took on roles necessary for managing the Vertus territory.

Ruden had been in charge of supplying provisions on the battlefield. So he was given similar duties here.

The goods he handled had changed from weapons to household supplies, just a little… no, quite a lot.

“Anyway, I’m sorry, Your Grace. I can’t believe I made such a mistake.”

Ruden wiped his glasses and bowed at the waist.

“It isn’t your fault the southerners are so crafty.”

Vasily dismissed the matter as he looked at Ruden and his subordinates.

“You should still have some Northern Crystal Portal uses left. Go back.”

“Ah, what should we do?”

Ruden scratched the back of his head.

“We used up all our Crystal Portal passes this time.”

“What?”

“Actually, on the way back, we discovered we were short on sugar and cotton cloth, so we had to make a few extra trips and ended up using them all.”

“…”

Vasily fell silent.

The ‘Crystal Portal Pass’, which allowed one to use a teleportation portal.

The finger-sized crystal-shaped magical artifact was unbelievably expensive. So there was an unspoken rule to avoid wasting its uses as much as possible.

That was probably the last one Ruden had.

“Ruden, you…”

“Um… Your Grace.”

At that moment, Ruden spoke absentmindedly.

“Did you perhaps… get married while I was away?”

“What?”

“If not… it seems you’ve suddenly become a single father with a child.”

What was he talking about?

Vasily whipped around to follow Ruden’s gaze.

And he was rendered speechless.

Because he’d discovered a drawing of what appeared to be a lump of potatoes.

“Ghk!”

Below the window.

A pair of pink eyes peeking out widened slightly.

“Hm?”

The brat glanced at Vasily’s reaction, then looked down at her sketchbook. Then…

“Gasp, I opened the wrong page!”

Rustle, rustle. She opened the next page…

What on earth is that brat doing?

Looking closely, it was a bundle of reused paper made by binding old newsletters together and turning them into a sketchbook.

She was holding it up like a picket sign.

Perhaps because she couldn’t reach the window, the child only barely showed her eyes above the windowsill. She watched Vasily’s reaction, then flipped through the pages with a flutter, saying, “Next, next!”