ITK C333: Looking Back at the Farm’s Development

It’s me.

I know this is sudden, but I’d like to take a second look at how our farm has developed.

At first, it started with just me and an empty land.
Then, I cultivated it, expanded the fields, and built houses and various facilities.
I spontaneously did whatever I wanted since I didn’t have a set plan in mind.

It was chaotic.

Not that I intend to reflect on or change this chaos and haphazardness.
I’ve had enough of the suffocating feeling of regimented planning in my world, so I want to do whatever I fancy here.

I want the people who live with me to take it easy, so they’re not obligated to ask for my due permission to start something new, either.
I think it’s more fun this way.

However, my farm has become quite messy due to such disorderly development, so I think it’s time to look back and fix some things.

Let’s start with reconfirming the building facilities.
Then again, most of the land is still fields and rice paddies, and the buildings are mainly houses for the residents.

In the center is the house where I, the owner, live.

It was built in the early days, but I made it large in anticipation of the future, so there’s still plenty of space.
Platy and Junior sleep with me here.
Then, there’s also the demon duo of Batemy and Belena, the mermaids, Puffer, Lampeye, and Garra Rufa, and other early members, including Letasreit and Horkosfon.

Batemy’s tailoring room and Garra Rufa’s packed infirmary are also located in this house.

Veil goes back and forth between her dungeon and the farm, depending on her mood, but she usually sleeps here for the most part.
Actually, she’s been spending most of her time in the house these days.
I wonder if her dungeon will be occupied by the tree spirits soon.

In the back, very close to our house, lies the monster complex where Orkubo, Gobukichi, and the rest of the monsters sleep.
I call it the “monster tenement” because of its shape. It’s a long horizontal building divided into smaller sections, with orcs and goblins living in each room.

This was no different for the leaders, Orkubo and Gobukichi, who were so simple in their way of living that it was hard to believe they possessed world-level power.

Around the house are many workshops where the elves work on their pottery, glasswork, and leather goods.
The elves also have their own dorm. They once refused to sleep under a roof out of pride as forest dwellers, but as time passed, they became envious of the fluffy beds and cute pajamas.

After a bit of conflict, they gave in to civilized bedtime.

The dorm they built is prefabricated from cut trees, so it has this outdoorsy feel, which sometimes made me envy the elves.
However, I would never ask them to let me stay overnight because it might cause misunderstandings.

The satyr milk factory headed by Panu and the brewery run by Bacchus with his maidens are a little further away.
They were built when the farm was already quite developed, after all.

The satyrs’ workplace produces not only milk but also butter, cream, and cheese, making it a surprisingly large facility.
The sake breweries are also large and multiple, as they produce a variety of beers, wines, sake, and spirits.

Each building has its own living space inside, so their respective managers sleep there.

Next is the space where the newest members, the students, live.
The orcs built it at a rapid pace.
They’ve done so much carpentry work that they’ve turned into building maniacs, so they were more than happy to build a three-story building without a hitch, saying they want to take on a new challenge.

We had an agreement with the students that the three races would live in harmony, but the dormitory itself was split into two buildings—one for the girls and one for the boys.

Even if we remove racial barriers, we cannot remove gender barriers, lest they get along a little too much.
I learned that lesson from the incident with Eryngear and Ritheseus.
I didn’t want to disturb the farm’s morals, so I drew the line there.

At the moment, we have Carp from Mermaid Witch Academia as our dorm supervisor, strictly enforcing our rules, so I don’t think mistakes will happen any more than it already has…

…Ah.

Since we’re on this topic, I’d like to share how the students learn and live daily.

The study program aims to educate them on how to support the next generation while interacting with each other on the farm.

Therefore, they take classes.
Building a school was too much trouble, so we prepared only desks, chairs, and blackboards for open-air classes.

Their primary teachers are Sensei, the Lifeless King, Belena, and Puffer.
From time to time, the royal families of various nations, such as the Demon King, Mrs. Astres, and Prince Arowana, would also teach as special lecturers.
In addition, Dalkish, a feudal lord of the Human Kingdom, teaches territory management. Shax of the Pandemonium Trading Company teaches economics. Edward, the king of the dwarves, teaches engineering and…

Wow, this is actually quite the elite curriculum.

Anyway, since they live on a farm, they don’t just learn; they also help with farm work and dungeon hunts as part of their combat training.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to support nearly fifty growing people with hearty appetites.

In any case…

Our farm has become much more crowded.

If I were to add up the number of people that have appeared in my recollections up to this point, there are probably two to three hundred.
But how many more will there be if I include the earth spirits, Pochi and the rest of the hypercaons, and other non-humanoid residents?

It’s no longer an exaggeration to say we’re almost like a large village.

So far, the facilities I’ve recalled are limited to those inhabited by people. But we also have general breweries, a fridge, a hot spring, Horkosfon’s natto lab, a waterway, a dock for mooring the steamship Helcirce, and numerous other facilities, large and small.

Because of this, our farm has become so large, giving rise to another problem…

“…We don’t have enough people!”

‘Not again…’ is what some might think, but after all has been said and done, this problem is bound to happen now and then.
The reason I felt the shortage so acutely this time was the massive influx of students.

It takes a lot of time and effort to provide housing and daily necessities. Of course, let’s not forget their food.
To produce and provide for their needs, it is no longer safe to rely solely on Orkubo and Gobukichi…

“This was a look back at the facilities to reconfirm this…”

But now what?
While it is easy to add people, our farm has grown so much through the following repetition:

Increase people to make up for being short-staffed.
Expand farmland and housing to accommodate the increased population.
Repeat steps 1 and 2.

I think it’s a bit too much to overlook the population inflation spiral caused by this repetition.
I said it’s okay to be unbound by regimented planning, but not when it comes to the fundamentals of farm management!

“Ah… I wonder if there’s a way to optimize this process without increasing human resources…”

Automation?

No, no, no. It’s a huge undertaking to mechanize in another world, and it’s too much work.
I’ll have to ask the Demon King or Prince Arowana to recruit some laborers. Or maybe I’ll go to Sensei’s dungeon and find some more anthropomorphic monsters…

“What, are you having trouble with manpower again?”
“Oh?”

It’s Puffer, Witch of the Bitter Cold.
Mermaid living on the farm and fiancée of Arowana, the Mermaid Kingdom’s prince.

“Yeah. The fields have gotten larger, and there are even more things to do, but I don’t feel like increasing the population just for this.”
“I may be able to help you with that.”

What?!

“I thought it would be a shame to leave them as is, but if it’s to reuse them on the farm, I don’t see why not.”

Puffer!
I wasn’t expecting you to come up with an ingenious idea!

As expected of the future Mermaid Queen, she has formed her opinion on population and labor issues.
So, what’s this secret solution to our problem?

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