Seiun wo Kakeru Chapter 28

Chapter 28 – The Preparations for the Festival of Abundant Harvest 1

A winter day is short.

Inevitably, the night comes early.
In exchange, the morning came earlier than dawn and people would wake up at the time when the sky was the darkest.

It was the morning.

As Eiji stood up from the bed, his body trembled in the chilly atmosphere, making him dive into his bed one more time.

Aah, so warm. As expected, beds were the best. – he thought.

The bed, for which he longed for the whole time and which was finally completed, used the big and grown, old trees as its material. It was an enormous, almost king-sized bed.

By putting feathers inside the bed cover little by little, Eiji created a warm down-filled mattress. The amount of the raw cotton inside the sleeping mat was small, because of that, the stiffness in elasticity was its weakness, just like in hard bedding. Nevertheless, in comparison with the woven mat made from straw before, this one was exceptionally comfortable for sleeping.

Of course, there were times when he would sleep on it alone. On the other hand, Tanya, who usually had no problem with sleeping and waking up, became unable to get up in the early morning due to its warmth.

Being able to see the sleeping face of a women, who would usually wake up earlier than Eiji and go to sleep late while not showing any weaknesses, was considered a precious time for him.

Thanking her for all the troubles she had gone through, Eiji gently brushed Tanya’s hair and moved his hand on her cheek.

It’s soft – he thought.

Her body was tender, wherever he looked.

However, there was no sign of them loosening up.

The roundness and elasticity were the special traits of a woman, which coexisted in Tanya in beautiful proportions.

His hand caressed her body, starting from her nape through the collar bone and reaching her abundant breast.

Even though the shape of her ribs below is understandable, its volume was still magnificent.

Moving with his fingers, the shape of her breast kept changing endlessly together with him caressing it.

I wonder why it makes me feel this calm – Eiji wondered.

Was it because he wasn’t restraining? Tanya’s eyelids began to twitch.

Thinking about that, her eyes opened while blinking with surprise.

– Nnn…Ah….

– Good morning…. You’re touching my chest again, aren’t you?

– Ann…

Even though they were talking, his hand wouldn’t stop.

However, it had no feeling of desire.

Tanya’s sight was still in daze.
Was it perhaps due to her low blood pressure?

– You really like breasts, just like a baby.

– Oh my, was it so?

After making an unexpected face, Tanya embraced him.

While having his head hugged, she brushed it gently.

– Look, it’s your mother.

– Eiji-san, you sometimes behave like a child, don’t you? You would desperately suck on breasts.
– I’m a man so…. Speaking of which, you don’t seem to be mad.

Usually, Eiji would be scold whenever he tried to do something in the morning.

While she was pleased, Eiji wondered whether he was expected to so something. Trying to read her hidden intentions, he couldn’t settle down.

– It’s because today is the day of the festival, isn’t it? We are free from doing any labor, so it’s special.

– Fufu. You’re indeed a child.
– Today is special, a special day.

Eiji was fully spoiled.

– All right, let’s prepare breakfast.

– It’ll soon be the time for waking up.
– Got it. By the way, what are the plans for later?

Within a blink of time, Tanya stood up as she slipped away skillfully.

In front of Eiji, who was thinking so, Tanya smiled.

– For the festival to be enjoyable, adequate preparations are needed. Women will be in charge of arranging dances and cooking. On the other hand, men are supposed to set up the stage, is what I have heard.

– So Eiji-san could do cooking as well, is it?

While preparing meals, Eiji had no confidence in adjusting the fire.

For Tanya to nonchalantly prepare the meal each time, she was indeed a great wife.

– That’s because it’s a mannish type of cooking, so it’s obvious it would be inferior to the delicious meals made by Tanya-san.

– And therefore I’m always thankful for being treated.
-……….

That’s bad – Eiji felt his face turning red while feeling embarrassed.

Neither of them said anything. The silence, which made one want to writhe in agony, continued for a while.

– I-I will go scoop some water.

Facing each other, both of them laughed while getting embarrassed. With that, they began their preparations.

The preparation for the festival of abundant harvest was carried out by all the members of the village.

Because the vicinity of the forest consisted of bottomless swamps, entering it was normally prohibited.
Now in front of that place, preparations, such as mowing dry grass, building a campfire basket, as well as fire kindling were in progress.

Next to it, great amount of alcohol and fruits were gathered.

Is this the thing called the festival stage? – Eiji wondered.

Considering that it had served for such a long time, it was probably a very important facility.

– Eiji, this way!

As always, you would expect her to be in charge of women.

Jane herself was in the middle of baking bread.

It was a type of luxury reserved only for special occasions, such as wedding.

However skillful he is at cooking, as long as he doesn’t have all the required materials, the tastiness will be limited as well.
Thinking about Tanya making this, it would be a natural reaction for him.

– So you came.

– Of course. It’s a festival which is dedicated to the goddess of abundant harvest, who blessed us for the whole year. Whatever festival it is, everyone would put in all their effort.

– And it’s not only that.

– The goddess of abundant harvest  is also the one that blesses us with children. It seems that Tanya is hoping for a child, so you better pray for it hard. Rather than that, you probably should do your best during nights.

Hahaha – while laughing excitingly, Jane didn’t hold back while patting Eiji’s shoulders, which made them feel painful.

4 of them died due to illnesses before even growing up; nevertheless, the remaining 3 had been brought up healthily and were now helping out in their household.
Because he would hear the couple talking about wanting to have a brother or sister, their relationship seemed to be on good terms.

– I’m fine, but I’ve heard that Mike isn’t doing well.
– Whaat? If he’s out of stamina, then there’s no use of him as a hunter. Well, if you say so, I’ll make sure to feed him with something that brings back his spirit.

Because they are hunters, there should be lots of meat around them, more than anyone else in this village.

Women from remote regions sure are strong.

Recalling the startling face of exhaustion Mike had whenever they met; Eiji felt the urge inside his heart of wanting to sympathize with him.

As long as he doesn’t sustain a renal failure[1], it should be fine.

– Well, just leave that husband’s matter to me, I’ll deal with it.

– Besides that, what do you plan to make? Are you going to tell us a dish which has never been eaten here?

– Heh? Isn’t that nice? Can we expect something from its taste?

What Eiji thought was how to make full use of the ingredients available in this village in order to make it delicious.

As for the livestock, there were cattle, pigs and chickens.

There were no tomatoes or potatoes[2], which were present in Italian cuisine.

What’s more, there was a problem with seasonings.

It was customary in this period to make sauce using vegetables and fruits, which were almost rotten.

Eiji was determined about improving foods once there are enough of them.

If it’s a hamburger, then making use of some salt, as well as using herbs for aroma, will probably do for the taste.

There was one more overwhelming advantage of making a hamburger as it used minced meat, which could utilize the tendon that is usually thrown away.

– Those who are not occupied, gather!

After finishing his explanation, Jane quickly gave new orders to the other women.

It looked like none of them were the type of women that would show cute reactions, such as screaming or averting their eyes.

Seeing the animals’ roundly opened eyes made him want to turn away his head.

Nevertheless, nobody showed such emotions in this place.

It was not the same as the world where the meat would be lined up and cleanly dried from blood.

Indeed,  women from long time ago were strong.

However, you could feel that this was a clear display of the difference in the strength of a human being.

Perhaps, if they both were to have a matrimonial quarrel, it would be Eiji to lose. This made him a little bit anxious.

Translator and reference notes:

[1]: In traditional Chinese medicine, renal failure was believed to be the source of the body inactivity, including sexual drive.

[2]: Guess, I mentioned before at the beginning about them using potatoes, but I didn’t precise them which was wrong from me. The type of potatoes in this text is an European/American type, whereas the one before, was probably Japanese type

Chapter end