My Wife Waited in the Wheat Fields

A week had passed since the Harvest Festival, and the temperature had begun plummeting to chill-inducing levels.

Winter was almost upon us, and it was beginning to tint the world white.

Frost blurred the view outside his window, and his clothes grew thicker with each passing day.

In the corner of an office, a fireplace crackled and popped as logs were burnt in it.

Despite the significant change regarding the season, there was still something that remained unchanged.

“Let’s move on to the next one.”

“Okay.”

And that was about the distance between Elric and Tyria.

Ever since the incident at the Harvest Festival, there had been an indescribable awkwardness between them.

For some reason, he found it difficult to make eye contact with her, much less hold a long conversation.

And whenever their fingertips accidentally touch, the contact area would feel hot, almost as if he had been burned.

He couldn’t help but remember the vivid sensations that he had felt that day.

Today was another day full of awkwardness as we worked together.

Elric didn’t enjoy the awkwardness, and so he was looking for a way to get rid of it when he found the perfect opportunity to do so.

Tyria was reading a newspaper she had received.

It wasn’t just any newspaper thought, but a monthly publication containing news from the Western Front.

“A newspaper from the West, huh.”

There was a small note of amusement in Elric’s voice.

In addition to being a convenient excuse to start a conversation, news from the West was the kind of thing that piqued Elric’s curiosity.

Tyria nodded.

“Yes, the western battlefields are big business.”

“Well, there’s no place that needs food supplies as much as the factions there.”

War required a lot of food. Feeding thousands or even millions of adult men was no easy task.

And a country’s own food production was not enough to satisfy their soldiers’ demands.

Supplies were critical then, and the western battlefields often relied on food from outside sources.

Elric knew about all this from his days as a war mercenary, when he had been asked to escort supply convoys.

As he was reminiscing about old times, Tyria suddenly asked him,

“…Have you ever been to the West?”

Elric was taken aback.

The first thing that came out of his mouth were excuses.

“Haha… It’s been ten years, hasn’t it? I’ve been almost everywhere on the continent by now.”

He was hesitant to mention that he had been a mercenary during the war, so he muddled his truths and his lies.

Fortunately, Tyria didn’t seem to be very suspicious of his response.

“I see.”

She returned her gaze back to the newspaper.

Elric checked the front page of the newspaper she was reading from across the table.

[One month after the disappearance of the Sword Demon Kasha, the Chebol Kingdom falls.]

A bitter smile tugged at the corners of Elric’s mouth.

“So it finally came to that.”

It was hardly surprising, as Chebol had been the weakest of the nations participating in the two-decade-long Western War.

The only thing that bothered him was that Elric was not entirely uninvolved in the Chebol’s demise, for it was Chebol that had been his employer for most of his time in the West.

The last battle he had fought before retiring due to his injury was also in defense of Chebol’s capital.

Unlike other nations, Chebol had not been able to produce a continental powerhouse.

As a result, they had no choice but to fill their lack of military strength with external forces, and with the loss of Elric, the core member of their forces, their downfall had been inevitable.

Of course, Elric didn’t feel any particular feelings of regret or guilt for them.

They and him were merely strangers, bound together by a contract.

“Chebol has fallen.”

Tyria said.

“I guess the war will last for a while longer, now that one country has fallen, only after twenty years of fighting.”

Was she trying to use this as a topic to start a discussion with him?

Elric shook his head and replied,

“The opposite could be said to be true.”

“Why do you say that?”

“The balance has been disrupted. Once a tower begins to shake, it tends to fall faster, don’t you think?”

“….”

Elric chuckled at Tyria’s disagreement.

For once, he was sure he was right.

“In fact, the kingdoms that should have fallen should have so five years ago. But, do you know why the balance has been maintained until now?”

“Why?”

“Because of Sword Demon Kasha.”

He felt quite ashamed having said that about himself, but it was the truth.

In the history of the war, the only reason why the weaker nations were not destroyed was solely due to the existence of the Sword Demon Kasha.

The Seven Continental Powers could be moved by money, but even if the price of their bodies was expensive, wasn’t the value of one’s nation more expensive?

As Elric remembered, the four nations that hadn’t produced one of the Seven had competed with each other to hire him, each of them raising their prices in a bid to get him until they weren’t able to raise the price anymore.

‘I was actually able to get my money’s worth.’

There were not enough fingers on both hands to count the number of times he had saved countries from the brink of destruction.

It was no wonder that the balance of the battlefield had been tipped now with his absence from it.

So he was sure of one thing.

As of the status quo right now, at least three of the nations that didn’t have one of the Seven on their side would fall.

“…If you’re right, then another country will be destroyed in the next war too.”

Tyria flipped to the next page of the newspaper.

The large headline read,

[Vildion’s Ignition Ygrett, Expresses Willingness to Participate in the War.]

Elric immediately responded after seeing this headline.

“If she participates, it won’t take more than three days for a country to fall.”

Ygrett was a battlemage who had become one of the Seven.

Although she didn’t attach much importance to participating in the war, as Elric had only encountered her twice on the battlefield, if she were to step forward, Vildion’s advance would not be stopped unless another member of the Seven appeared.

She was the most terrifying siege machine Elric had ever seen.

“Hmm….”

Tyria’s brow furrowed.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

“There’s been a lot of movement in the west, with many countries trying to buy large portions of this year’s wheat harvest. I just thought it was because the war was intensifying, but if it continues like this, we’ll have to change our policy. We need to choose which countries to sell to carefully.”

Her thought had gotten to this point in just a few seconds.

Elric let out a small exclamation of admiration.

Although such words could be impolite, the speed of her calculations reminded him of his father’s.

This was especially true when it came to synthesizing external pieces of information into just the facts she needed.

“Anyway, we’ll need to make arrangements.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Tyria’s gaze immediately turned to Elric.

Elric felt himself shudder for a moment, at the subtle awkwardness that had suddenly come between them.

He had thought that they’d been having a good conversation up until this point, but the sudden eye contact made him feel hot inside.

Then Tyria spoke.

“By the way, can you receive guests?”

“Uhm, what?”

Suddenly a guest, what did that mean?

He tilted his head in puzzlement.

“We have visitors coming from the west.”

Elric felt his heart drop.

To sum up Tyria’s words:

-There were originally no officials who ever came to Wyvern to buy wheat. All trades had been conducted through upper channels. But this year, the officials expressed their intention to visit Wyvern themselves and make the trades.

They were supply officers from the western battlefields.

And from three different countries at that.

“Hmm….”

This was a big deal.

If there were any among them who recognized Elric, his identity would be immediately exposed.

If they brought news of him to the battlefield, the peaceful town of Wyvern could be thrown into turmoil by a sudden influx of military personnel.

Given his time as a war mercenary, that was pretty much an outcome that was certain.

He had to find a way out of this.

‘Should I leave?’

It felt unnatural though. It could sow the seeds of suspicion if he suddenly vacated the place for no apparent reason on the day the supply officials were coming, especially when he had nothing else to do.

‘Then how about a disguise…?’

No, leaving was one thing, but that would be even more suspicious if he was found out.

Racking his brain over, he soon thought of a solution.

‘Rather than all those other options….’

Couldn’t he visit the supply officers beforehand, and then silence anyone who might have recognized him?

He wasn’t without confidence too.

He had done similar things many times whilst passing through the battlefield.

‘The visitors are from the Empire, Armin, and Disha, respectively.’

Fortunately, they were from countries that Elric never had much contact with.

As long as he was careful, taking into account all possible situations, he could get through this quietly.

Elric immediately left the room.

“Aldio.”

“Yes?”

“Can you find out the arrival schedule of the guests coming from the west?”

“Well, we have some advance notices, but…”

“That’s fine. Bring them up to my room.”

After finishing his orders, Elric found himself in Tyria’s office again.

“Did you leave something behind?”

Tyria asked, and Elric replied.

“I will handle the guest reception alone.”

“…Alone?”

“Yes, alone.”

“That’s not possible.”

His request was denied without hesitation.

Elric’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Why…?”

“How can we not properly greet people who come from so far away? At the very least, I plan to greet them with ten people.”

She had a fair point.

However, this was the worst news for Elric.

There was a sense of urgency.

Maybe that was why.

Grab–!

Without realizing it, Elric grabbed Tyria’s hand tightly. 

Her body trembled at his touch, but Elric was not paying attention to such things.

“Please. There is a reason why I must do this.”

Of course, he couldn’t tell her why.

During the brief confrontation, Elric felt startled by the dilation of Tyria’s pupils and a certain stiffness that he really couldn’t quite place his finger on.

It didn’t matter though.

“…If you say so.”

In the end, the only thing that mattered was that she said yes.

“Thank you!”

Elric thanked her and returned to his room.

He pulled out the longsword he had hidden under his bed and held it up to the light.

‘I have to do this.’

Just in case.

Just in case, he had to, to prepare for any possible situation.

‘If any of them actually recognize me…’

Then he’d have to return to being the Demonic Sword Kasha.

Swish–

Elric’s eyes gleamed coldly.