Chapter 3

Built and hardened with mud over stacked stones, the inside of the oven was bright red due to the high temperature, and stacks of flatbread were being packed inside leaving no space. The dough didn’t rise much as it was baked, being made from freshly ground whole-wheat flour, salt, and some water kneaded in. The surface was scored with minute patterns using a sharpened stone knife, the loaf itself having a hearty thickness to it.

From the oven into the basket, Yaginuma threw loaves of freshly baked bread one after the other. Sweat drenched Yaginuma’s face, this task being considerable hard labor.

“The village chief himself bakes the bread, huh.”

“Actually, baking bread was originally the function of the central figure of a community.”

“Really?”

“Indeed. Fundamentally, the duty of the village baker was to bake bread. Apparently, that’s exactly why it used to be considered a lifetime fortune to marry a baker. As you can probably tell, whoever bakes the bread serves as the central figure within the community.”

We were inside Yaginuma’s house, having returned to the village from the milling hut. The interior was cramped and uncomfortable, the bread oven the central focus of the house, and the heat generated by said oven made it incredibly hot inside.

The night brought a significant drop in temperature outside. Even though it was the beginning of summer, the weather reminded me of the middle of winter. With their work being completed, the villagers had returned to their dwellings within the village. I thought that they would be chilled to the bone with such rudimentary housing, but according to Yaginuma, they were provided with adequate protection from the cold.

Not only had the wheat adapted to this severe environment, but also the humans as well. In a sense, this could have been the sort of changes meant when eating the wheat could ‘change the constitution’.

“All right, the bread’s ready.”

Hoisting up the basket piled high with bread with his burly arms, Yaginuma noisily set it down on top of a wide table. The alluring smell of freshly baked bread wafted towards us.

“Since I’ll have to hand these out to the villagers afterwards, I won’t say you can eat all of it; however, today is special. Please feel free to eat as much as you like.”

We gathered around the dining table. The only things set onto the table were the basket of bread, and carved wooden cups filled with water. The spread was quite meager, even plain. In spite of this, our hunger had made it look like a most extraordinary feast had been set in place.

“Cheers to the auspicious encounter between wheat and humanity, and to our own encounter as well―”

Following Yaginuma’s lead, we each toasted our cups. The water was refreshingly chilled, quenching my parched throat well.

Right away, I extended my arm toward the bread. Unleavened and made using primitive methods, even tearing off pieces of the bread by hand took effort. I chewed, gnawing and gnashing, savoring the taste of the piece of bread I put into my mouth. It was as if I were eating a wheat-based meat substitute. Spit slowly trailed out of my mouth, and I swallowed down the bread which eventually broke down inside of my mouth. With a gulp, the filling weight went down my throat. 

“Why, this―to be honest, up until now I’d had just a little feeling in my mind that this wheat was just wheat despite everything … but this is so much more. Its distinctiveness as a food surpasses any bread I’ve ever eaten. What I mean to say is―”

I brought the second bite of bread to my lips.

“They’re delicious!”

I could not help but yell this impulsively. My hands could not stop moving, tearing off a second bite, and then a third.

I finally knew what earned the ‘Gleanings of Paradise’ its lauded reputation. Even just eating the bread filled me with overwhelming contentment.

“Condensed into the ‘Gleanings of Paradise’ are nature’s blessings of the dirt of the fields, water of the mountains, and the freezing wind, containing nourishment and housing an intense power incomparable to the wheat domesticated by mankind.”

Yaginuma wore a happy smile on his face.

“Right now, you’re taking in the wheat’s very vitality into your bodies. This is real wheat. This is the crop that should be cultivated by humanity, the quintessential Harvest.” 

Yaginuma was fervent, his confidence blatant.

“Undoubtedly, this has to be the best bread I’ve ever eaten. How do I put it … I’m compelled to tell others about this, it tastes so good.”

The sensation I felt was strange. Sure, I’ve been deeply impressed by delicious food before, but never to the extent that I would have such an intense desire to tell others about it. Inexplicably, I felt a great duty that I had to―although very obviously overkill―make the brilliance of the ‘Gleanings of Paradise’ widely known.

“The workers ignoring me had annoyed me at first, but I suppose they’ve earned my respect for their indifference, if the result is a delicacy such as this bread. Truly, this is what it means to hone a craft to utter perfection.”

“Thank you. However, this wheat truly shines when it’s simmered into a porridge directly after being freshly threshed and then eaten. We’ll treat you to the freshly harvested wheat tomorrow.”

“―Can’t it be today?”

I still had quite the appetite, even though I had eaten until I was full.

“It has to be tomorrow. The timing of the Harvest is a strictly observed custom.”

“Hey, hey … I’m busy too, you know? The journey itself took an entire day, so that means we’d have to stay here for a day longer.”

I was incredibly irritated at the prospect of being forced to wait. This is serious, I had to eat more of it. I didn’t even know why I was so captivated by the ‘Gleanings of Paradise’.

“Please understand that this is the way things are. Borrowing your own words, you could call it ‘respect’, in a sense. Over here, the ancient wheat takes utmost priority.”

“Why you …”

With a loud crash, the table jolted as I hounded Yaginuma with my impossible demand to eat the porridge. Utsurogi stretched his hand towards the bread basket. His stomach incredibly swollen, it knocked against the table as he moved, puffed out like a giant balloon.

Heaving a groan, Utsurogi held the bread with both hands as he chewed. He ate with a one-track mind, ravenous in his actions. Before I could realize, the basket of bread was basically emptied. Only a few scant pieces of bread remained at the very bottom. Such a grotesque display of eating shook me back to my senses.

“H-hey … aren’t you being excessive, putting it lightly?”

After eating the bread in a blink of an eye, Utsurogi reached his hand toward the basket again. Mind you, each loaf of bread was about as big as a child’s face. Nevertheless, Utsurogi’s hand never stopped moving.

“By the way, Mr. Yaginuma. Didn’t you say you would be bringing these to the villagers afterwards?”

“It’s alright. Everyone generally becomes like that when it’s their first time eating. We have rations stored, not to mention the Harvest tomorrow.”

Utsurogi stilled, hands frozen in place just as Yaginuma finished saying that. His cheeks then ballooned like a squirrel’s, looking as if he were about to hurl. He must have overeaten to the point of throwing up.

“Take your time. It’s not like we’re trying to get our money’s worth at an all-you-can-eat buffet.”

“It’s alright. He’s … particularly bullish at the moment anyway.”

Proving Yaginuma’s point, Utsurogi grinded his jaws together like cattle, languidly chewing and swallowing the bread down like a cow.

“I got to say, it was really excellent!” praised Utsurogi after finishing off the bread, rubbing circles on his massively swollen stomach. “This seems completely different from all other wheat I’ve eaten up until now for sure, now this … Yo might be able to eat this.”

I casted a glance at Yo, who was slowly sipping her glass of water as she sat next to Utsurogi. Bread was placed in front of her too, but there were no signs of it having been eaten. Yo never ate any food unless her father had tasted it beforehand. Besides, the food placed in front of her was a clump of wheat―something dangerous to her.

“… Say, is it really safe for her to eat this, with her wheat allergy?”

“Wheat allergy?” Suddenly, all of the emotion drained from Yaginuma’s face. “This is the supreme grain which should be cultivated and consumed by humanity. Why would there be any human who wouldn’t be able to eat this?”

“… What did you just say?” I swiftly recovered and came to my senses after feeling like I was in a dream since eating the bread. “… Didn’t you invite them to your village to cure the wheat allergy of that girl over there …?”

What was going on? The words uttered by Yaginuma just now contradicted what Utsurogi had previously told me.

“Curing allergies … a completely distinct ancient variety … Toshiya’s child … I remember now―”

Yaginuma’s gaze kept flickering between the bread placed on the table and Yo.

“… It is safe for my child to eat this, r-right …?”

Utsurogi addressed Yaginuma as if he were seeking reassurance from the other man. This was expected, considering that he was relying on his faith in his best friend to treat his daughter’s allergy, regardless of the veracity of his claims.

“―I can’t. I can’t possibly let her eat … anyone but her …”

Without warning, Yaginuma proclaimed this bluntly, as if brushing us and the matter aside.

“You can’t be serious … you promised!”

“Listen to me, I cannot let her eat it. What can’t be done can’t be done … Absolutely can’t, can’t, can’t …”

“Look man, cut the crap! Come on, answer me already!” wailed Utsurogi. He looked just about ready to descend onto Yaginuma with a fist from the expression he wore.

Just then, Yo, who had been hanging her head with her eyes cast downward, uttered a faint voice which was trembling as if in pain.

“… Stop it. I won’t be able to eat that anyway …”

“But … Shozo said that your allergy would be cured if you ate the wheat here …”

As if suddenly returning to his senses, Utsurogi withdrew his hands from Yaginuma.

“… Toshiya. The ‘Gleanings of Paradise’, this founder crop of wheat is―”

Abruptly, just as he began to speak, Yaginuma’s mouth clamped shut.

“… Shozo?”

“Hand that over.”

Yaginuma sunk his teeth into the bread, snatching it from Utsurogi’s hands. Shredding the bread bite after bite, devouring it single-mindedly, demolishing it in a wink. Regaining his reason, his state of agitation of earlier seemingly vanished.

“… Apologies. Yo’s illness must have been weighing so heavily on my mind that I lost my nerve. But there’s no need to worry now. As long as you eat the wheat, everything will be alright. Tomorrow, fresh off the Harvest, the ‘Gleanings of Paradise’ will be prepared for you. You and I will teach Yo the joys of eating, just as I promised back then. I would never break a promise I made with you.”

Yaginuma came close to Yo and knelt as he took her hands into his own.

“You must be scared as well, Yo. But there’s no need to be scared. I’ll make sure to fulfill the promise I made with your father. Tomorrow, you’ll finally be freed from the fear that gripped you throughout every meal.”