My Wife Waited in the Wheat Fields

In the end, the outfit that had been chosen for him had been a black suit that was almost like everyday wear.

“Why have I chosen everyday wear? Because it’s an unremarkable outfit that anyone can wear and look good in. You shouldn’t trust your own sense of style, sir.”

Aldio’s sharp comment was valid.

Now that he was dressed properly, he had finally realized just how awful his last outfit had been, a realization reinforced by Tyria’s reaction once she saw him in the suit.

Tiria breathed a sigh of relief.

Elric felt ashamed.

Anyways, after all that, they finally arrived in the city square.

Elric felt a sense of novelty. In retrospect, he hadn’t been to the city square once since his return to Wiven.

On his first day back, he had taken the fastest route to the mansion, and his only two outings since then had been to his father’s mausoleum and to the Wyvern Estate

As such, the look in Elric’s eyes as he gazed at the square was both nostalgic and joyful.

“Nothing has changed.”

The square was, in reality, a circular plaza.

It was just a big square with no fountains or other decorations in it, surrounded by several of Wiven’s most profitable shops.

The names of the shops were still the same as they had been a decade earlier.

As they walked by, people they met on the street had greeted him politely.

As people greeted him, Tyria said,

“Even though you’ve been gone for ten years, the shops are still the same.”

“Is that so?”

“The only thing that’s changed is that the restaurant you see over there has been passed down from the owner to his sons.”

“…I recognize that store.”

“Do you?”

“I got a lot of treats from there when I was a kid. The owner was very friendly.”

When the neighborhood kids got hungry after playing for a while, the owner would call out to them with a big smile on his face.

“You troublemakers! You’ve come again today?”

Then, he would lead them to a table in a corner of the restaurant and give them sandwiches made of jam and meat on bread which Elric could still taste in his memory.

They weren’t particularly delicious, but they were always warm.

Maybe it wasn’t the taste, but the warmth of the owner, who always treated them with a smile, that was warm in his memories.

Lost in his reminiscing, a smile naturally built up on his face.

Looking around the square and seeing all the ceremonial pieces being built in preparation for the harvest festival made him feel like he was back in his childhood.

As he looked around, Elric suddenly made eye contact with Tyria.

Or, more accurately, he had belatedly discovered that Tyria was staring at him.

“…Ah, I apologize. I forgot that I came out today to do some work.”

“There’s no need to apologize, it’s not like we’re pressed for time.”

“Haha, then let’s get started. What do I need to do?”

“You’ll be supervising. You just need to inspect the ceremonial pieces that have been erected and make sure they’re sturdy enough.”

Elric nodded, and they both began to walk slowly, with Tyria matching his pace.

There wasn’t much to see. The largest structure was a campfire that was only slightly larger than the tallest building around.

Even after examining all the lines drawn on the ground for the ordering of or the marking of the position of various decorations commemorating the festival, only two hours had passed.

It had been a pretty easy job that had ended quite quickly.

It was at that moment that Tyria made a decision.

“Now that we’re done, let’s go meet the store owners.”

“Hmm?”

“The shops near the square get especially chaotic on festival days, so we need to do a safety inspection beforehand.”

That made sense.

In fact, when he searched his memory, he remembered that there were ropes set up in front of the stores before the festival started to control the crowd.

“You have to check all that?”

“Of course, that way, we don’t have any accidents.”

Be meticulous.

With his father’s personality, he would have been extremely wary of unplanned accidents, and would have taught Tyria to do her best to prevent.

Elric nodded.

“Let’s go. I’d also like to greet the shopkeepers.”

Will they have remembered him?

That thought came to Elric’s mind.

The shopkeepers didn’t immediately recognize him.

This wasn’t surprising though, since he’d changed so much that even Aldio hadn’t recognized him at first glance.

It wasn’t too regrettable though.

All of them had still remembered the young Elric.

“Eh, eh, is that really you, Lord Elric? Wiven’s resident troublemaker?”

Elric chuckled at the store owner’s words.

He was filled with joy.

“You remember me.”

“How could I not remember? Seeing how I still get a headache thinking about how much of my shop’s fabric you destroyed!”

Elric winced as the shopkeeper chuckled.

“Oh, was it like that…?”

“Yes. I can still remember all the times when all the neighborhood kids would come in, screaming their heads off, and playing siege and everything. Hiyah… now this accident-prone kid is all grown up like this…!”

The shop owner was lost in memories and had a happy expression on his face, but Elric couldn’t smile.

Come to think of it, there had been a lot of incidents like that.

No, there had definitely been incidents like that not only here, but also in nearby stores.

He naturally caught Tyria’s eye.

She rolled her eyes and didn’t seem to mind learning about these incidents at all.

“What’s wrong?”

“…It’s just embarrassing. I was a bit of a strange kid back then.”

“I knew that.”

“Oh, really?”

Wlric was afraid of his past, as he had made a name for himself all over Wiven. 

Whilst he was lost in thought, the shopkeeper spoke up.

“Anyway, it’s nice to see you again. I heard you left Wiven, so I’m glad to see you back!”

“…I’ll make sure to compensate you for the fabrics I ruined back then.”

“Don’t worry about it. The whole cost has already been taken care of anyways. I don’t even remember how much it was, but thanks to you, the square was always so lively.”

The shop owner’s face quickly became bitter.

“These days, it’s so quiet that I think about those times every now and then. Do you know, most of the people who used to get into trouble with you have gone to the big city. It’s been five years since they left to pursue their dreams, and they’ve never come back….”

It wasn’t really a surprising discovery.

The invention and development of the steam engine had greatly reduced the figurative distance between cities.

With the increased ease of movement, it was natural for young and ambitious adults to head for the big city.

Working in agriculture and continuing the family business was now a rare thing, unlike in the past.

“…Well, at least he writes once in a while… Ah, do you remember Luton, your right-hand man?”

“How could I forget him?”

“I hear he’s been knighted.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, he’s now a source of pride for Wiven. Luton’s father still goes around bragging about it you know…”

Upon hearing the words of the shopkeeper, Elric felt a sense of joy.

“We’re going to become knights! The greatest royal knights in our kingdom!”

“Yeah! I’ll follow you anywhere!”

Ah, that was right.

They used to dream of becoming knights together.

Now that Elric thought about it, Luton had been physically fit and strong enough to become a knight if he had wanted to.

‘You’ve realized your dream.’

Good for him.

Unlike himself, who had become a war mercenary, Luton had fulfilled his dream.

“Let’s go.”

Tyria said.

“The safety inspection for this store is over. Let’s head to the next shop.”

“Ah, yes.”

She seemed to have finished her work whilst they were talking.

Feeling a sense of awkwardness, Elric turned to the shopkeeper and said,

“I’ll be back, then.”

“Please come back whenever you need clothes made.”

“Yes, I will.”

After saying goodbye, they left the store and visited quite a few more stores.

The last place they arrived at was the restaurant where he had used to get his meals.

The owner had changed, but they were still someone that Elric knew.

“Elric? You’re Elric?!”

Sure enough, the son who had taken over the business had been a friend of Elric.

“Holy shit, you’re actually back?!”

His name was Bart and he was always the supply soldier in war games. He was also the quickest to run away whenever there was trouble.

Meeting him again, Elric hugged him.

Small talk ensued.

But they were never able to capture that young spirit again in reminiscing about the past

Even then, his feelings of happiness did not easily fade away.

“Do you remember the day we snuck up the back mountain?”

“We all scattered and fled when we saw the giant, wolf-like beast in the distance. It was a miracle no one was killed!”

“Yeah! You remember!”

As they laughed and reminisced, Elric suddenly felt closer to the past, whilst his memories of rolling on the battlefield blurred.

Elric’s smile deepened.

In the end, he never proceeded with the security inspection of the restaurant.

It was Tyria who had done the job.

“Come on, we’re done here. Let’s start heading back.”

“Oh….”

As he fell into disappointment, Tyria said,

“It’s okay. I understand that you’re glad to see your friend.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Elric, you’re a bad husband.”

Bart chuckled, whilst Elric glared at him.

Bart shrugged his shoulders.

“Goodbye. And make sure to come eat at my place during the festival.”

Well, he was still pretty good at being cheeky.

Elric smiled wryly and waved him goodbye.

“Yeah, see you later then.”

And with that, he left the shop.

Bart had kept waving to Elric until he was out of sight.

“Hey, honey.”

“Oh, sorry. I’ll be right there.”

“What are you waiting for? I know meeting your friend is nice, but we have a lot to prepare in lew of the festival.”

“Just… I was just excited.”

Bart’s gaze was still stuck on the door behind the leaving Elric.

“Are those two going to get married?”

“What?” His wife replied.

“I’m just curious.”

Bart scratched his cheek and looked away.

A past memory had come to his mind.

“Hey, Ugly!”

“…W-what?”

“You’re ugly with your swollen face, right? Aldio told me! Pretty people only have really sharp faces!”

Bart smiled wryly to himself.

“No, they’re already married, aren’t they?

He had been one of the few people who had been able to approach her without fear after all, so maybe they were indeed a good match.

Bart shook off his thoughts and headed for the kitchen.

Their unexpected reunion had been quite pleasant.