Of course, Arashi wasn't going to choose anyone to accompany him!
If he had ever entertained such thoughts, he would've already made a move on Makino back in Foosha Village.
As a traveler, once you form attachments, can your heart still roam freely?
A journey taken on a whim must be free of distractions—unburdened and unrestrained.
More importantly, while the girls were all decent-looking, none of them gave him that spark.
Arashi's standards weren't even that high—he just needed someone who could make his eyes light up, someone he would never grow tired of looking at.
That's what it meant to be "pleasing to the eye."
Without such a person by his side, it would always feel like a regret.
So Arashi decisively declined the girls' affection, returned to the Traveler with a faint smell of alcohol on him, and went straight to sleep.
…
The next day.
Wearing a straw hat, a loose shirt, and cloth shoes—looking every bit like a farmer—Arashi carried a hoe over his shoulder and arrived at the tangerine grove.
"What a beautiful day!"
Looking at the plump, golden tangerines hanging from the trees, Arashi smiled brightly.
"From today onward, I shall be a qualified fruit farmer—pulling weeds, watering, and eliminating pests. From today onward, I care about tangerine production. I'll even build a small hut, facing the sea, with spring warmth and blooming flowers…"
After modifying a favorite poem from his previous life, Arashi nodded in satisfaction.
This kind of life… wasn't bad at all.
"Good morning, Mr. Kairo D. Arashi!!!"
At that moment, Bell-mère walked over.
"Good morning, Bell-mère."
Arashi returned her greeting with a smile and stepped into the grove, hoe in hand.
After walking around for a bit, he noticed that nearly a third of the trees were lush but barely bore any fruit.
With the planting knowledge now integrated into his mind, Arashi felt an itch to act.
"Bell-mère, could you get me a knife?"
"Of course."
Hearing his voice from within the grove, Bell-mère grabbed a machete and hurried over.
"Mr. Kairo D. Arashi, are you going to prune the branches?"
"No—I'm going to cut down all the trees that don't bear much fruit!"
As he spoke, Arashi took the machete from her hand and walked up to a particularly lush tree that had barely any fruit.
Before Bell-mère could react—
A flash of light streaked through the grove.
Then—
Everything fell eerily silent.
Rustle—rustle—rustle—
In the next moment, one tree after another toppled to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen trees had fallen in neat succession.
"???"
Bell-mère stood there, stunned, staring at the fallen trees.
"That flash just now…?"
Her pupils suddenly shrank as she turned toward Arashi in shock. "Mr. Kairo D. Arashi, that was—"
"Cutting them one by one would've been too troublesome."
As he spoke, Arashi moved toward the fallen branches and began chopping them rapidly, his blade moving like lightning—reducing them into neatly stacked firewood.
"!!!!"
Bell-mère was completely thrown into chaos.
Was this… chopping trees, or training?!
Arashi's blade technique was unbelievably fast. In just a blink, over a dozen trees had been felled. In another blink, one of those trees had already been turned into a pile of firewood.
Is Mr. Kairo D. Arashi also a great swordsman?
But this was too ridiculous!
What kind of great swordsman used such refined swordsmanship… to chop wood?!
So this is why Mihawk almost exploded from frustration…
While Bell-mère was still reeling, Arashi had already finished cutting all the branches into neat stacks of firewood.
His blade technique could only be described as flawless.
If Mihawk were here right now, he'd probably ascend straight to the heavens in rage.
Using such masterful swordsmanship to chop wood instead of sparring—completely unacceptable!
Fortunately, Mihawk had already left.
Otherwise, he might've actually coughed up blood from anger.
"Bell-mère?"
After finishing his work, Arashi turned around and looked at her. "What's wrong?"
"N-Nothing… really nothing… hehe…"
Bell-mère laughed awkwardly.
At this point, laughing was the only way she could keep herself from completely losing composure.
"Good to hear."
Arashi didn't think much of it and began explaining seriously:
"These trees may look lush, but there are several reasons they don't bear much fruit. First, insufficient nutrients during the early growth stage—if fertilization and watering are inadequate, the tree won't accumulate enough resources for flowering. Second, improper pruning—over-pruning can cause excessive vegetative growth, making it harder to bear fruit…"
"Third, branch angles—if branches grow too vertically, the tree becomes too vigorous, with poor light and airflow inside the canopy. You need to adjust the angles by spreading or tying them during the growth phase…"
"And finally—and most importantly—pests and poor intercropping practices. If orchard management is sloppy, pests will damage growth, and competing plants can steal nutrients and sunlight, delaying fruit production…"
"Of course, cutting these branches is just the first step—I plan to graft them."
Listening to Arashi's explanation, Bell-mère's eyes widened once more as she stared at him.
She knew these things.
But she hadn't expected Arashi to know them too—
And even better than she did.
She realized she needed to reassess this so-called "traveler."
When she first heard he was only leasing the grove for a year, she had assumed he was just here to casually experience farm life.
Clearly—
She had been completely wrong.
Arashi wasn't just a traveler dabbling in farming.
He was practically a master cultivator!
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