Chapter 32

Chapter 32: The Sick Cow and the Recovery Magic

Staying at my father's hometown, the next morning. I woke up at a time when the sun was already rising, probably because I had slept deeply. However, Marie was still sleeping, and I couldn't see my parents anywhere.

It's still early for them to be awake at this time...

Feeling curious, I went towards the living room and found everyone gathered there, having breakfast.

"Oh, Leon, you're up early. Since you must be tired today, I thought of letting you sleep, but are you already awake and fine?"

"Yeah. I slept soundly, so I'm not sleepy anymore."

"Then, Leon, would you like to help with the work?"

"Work? What kind of work?"

"That's right, your father and I are planning to help each other at our respective parents' places. What about you, Leon?"

That sounds exciting...!! I'm interested in seeing what farming and livestock raising are like, especially the livestock!

"I want to do it too! I want to see the animals!"

"Then let's go together. Hurry up and get ready and have your breakfast."

"Okay!"

While I was talking to my mother like that, my grandfather approached me.

"Leon, can you help in the fields tomorrow? It gets lonely if you're always over there."

My grandfather felt a little sulky that I didn't choose the fields. I've been thinking about it since yesterday, but they really love their grandchildren... Is it because they can't meet us frequently?

"Okay, I got it! Tomorrow it will be the fields."

While having that conversation, I prepared myself and headed to my mother's hometown with my mother.

"Grandpa, Grandma, can I help too?"

To distinguish between the grandparents, I call my mother's side grandparents "jiiji" and "baaba," and my father's side grandparents "ojiichan" and "obaachan." That's how we differentiate them.

"Oh, Leon! Good to see you here."

Grandpa was delighted, almost theatrically.

"Well then, first, would you like to help with feeding?"

"Sure!"

As we walked there, the cows in the cowshed turned out to be dairy cows, which surprised me. In this world, there are dairy cows!

But are dairy cows naturally occurring? I'm not sure, but there seem to be quite a few things in this world that existed in Japan. Moreover, for some reason, they were things that existed in modern-day Japan. I wonder if I'll understand the reason someday?

When I asked Grandpa about it, he said that they mainly raise cows, pigs, and chickens for consumption. However, some livestock farmers were given dairy cows by important people in the past, and they still raise them today. Grandpa mainly takes care of the dairy cows, while Uncle and Aunt take care of other animals.

Milk is primarily processed into butter and such, and it seems that nobles and wealthy merchants buy it. In winter, they apparently sell milk as it is, but in summer, it seems difficult to store, so it doesn't sell. It would certainly be troublesome if it spoiled.

If we had an ice-making machine, we could sell milk even in summer. Wealthy nobles might use an ice-making machine to transport milk. It would be great if it could make the lives of grandpa and the others even more abundant.

"Leon, this way."

"Yes."

First, I fed the cows. The feed was like grass, but carrying a lot of it was quite heavy, so it was quite laborious...

After that, it was time for milking. At first, I learned to milk from grandpa.

"Leon, first firmly hold the base of the teat between your thumb and index finger, and then apply pressure from the top and move your fingers in order."

"Like this?"

"Yes, you're doing well!"

Grandpa said so and patted my head.

From there, I quietly milked the cow by myself. My hands gradually started to hurt, but I managed to finish milking somehow. It's tiring...

Since body enhancement makes it difficult to have a delicate touch, I didn't use it because I thought it would be pitiful for the cows.

I thought I had finished milking until the end, and I stood up while stretching, but then I noticed that there was another cow at the edge.

So there was one more... But why is that one a little apart from the others?

"Grandpa, are we going to milk that one too?"

"Ah, that one. It can't produce milk because it has mastitis. I've been trying to treat it cleanly and take care of it, but it doesn't heal easily."

"Mastitis?"

"Yeah, it's a disease where the teat becomes red and swollen, and milk doesn't come out. It usually heals if you keep the teat clean, but it's been lingering. I want to heal it soon because it's pitiful."

If it usually heals by keeping it clean, it means that bacteria or viruses have entered the teat and caused inflammation, right?

Could it be... that I can heal it with healing magic?

This is not an injury, it's a disease, so maybe healing magic could work on diseases too!

I want to try it.

"Grandpa, my magic is of the healing attribute, can I try using magic? I don't know if it will be effective, but I don't think there will be any negative effects..."

"That's fine, but healing magic only works on injuries, right?"

"But my magic power is five, so there's a chance..."

"If that's the case, go ahead and give it a try."

With grandpa's permission, I went to the cow.

Looking at the teat, it was quite red and looked painful. I remember that inflammation occurs when the body fights against viruses that enter it. If that's the case, if I remove the harmful virus, it should be fine.

I placed my hand on the nipple and imagined removing bacteria and viruses. I couldn't create a detailed image, so it was more of a vague concept. Even imagining it like an anime drawing is better than not imagining anything at all.

In my mind, I solidified the image of removing bacteria and suppressing inflammation using magic. Hmm... I'm using quite a bit of magical power. It's probably because my image is unclear. But it should have healed.

I looked at the nipple that had been swollen and red until just now. It had returned to the same state as the other cows, with no trace of redness. Success!

...Which means there's a possibility of curing illnesses too. Just as I expected. But since it requires a significant amount of magical power, I need to increase my magical capacity... I still have a lot of training to do.

While pondering such thoughts, Grandpa called out to me impatiently.

"Leon, how did it go?"

"I think it's healed, probably!"

"Really!?"

Grandpa hurried over to the cow and checked the nipple.

"It's really healed... Leon, you're amazing! As expected of my grandson!"

Grandpa's joy was overwhelming. It might be better not to spread this news around...

"Grandpa, let's keep this a secret from others, okay? It would be troublesome if they asked us to cure their cows too."

"I... I understand..."

Grandpa reluctantly agreed. He seemed like he wanted to boast about it to everyone around. Well, as long as he doesn't do anything that would disadvantage his grandson, it should be fine.

After that, we resumed our work. The next task was cleaning the cowshed.

First, we removed the dung and other debris from the floor, making it clean. We also cleaned the area where the cows sleep.

Then we took the buckets used for the cows' drinking water to the well, washed them thoroughly, and filled them with water. It was really tough... I can't count how many times I wished I could use water magic.

It seems that Grandpa and Grandma have water and fire attributes, but their magical power is not enough to be useful for work.

When we finished that, it was almost lunchtime, so my mother and I decided to go back to my father's parents' house. It seemed like we would have lunch there.

When we arrived at my father's parents' house, Marie and my father were preparing lunch. It seems they were relying on a chef for the cooking.

For lunch, we had milk soup and bread made with fresh vegetables and milk. Since I always eat the same soup, the milk soup was incredibly delicious.

After eating lunch, we returned to my mother's parents' house. That's when Grandpa called me out with an excited voice.

"Leon, come here. We're going to make butter together."

"Really!? Let's make it!"

Making butter is something I've never done before.

Come to think of it, when I made pancakes before, I wondered if butter was a luxury item. But if it's made at home, it's only natural to have it.

I also wondered if the meat for steaks is expensive, but maybe my family buys it at a low price.

"Alright, let's do it."

The process of making butter involved putting the separated milk fat into a barrel-like contraption that could be turned, and then continuously turning it. Of course, it was all manual labor.

My grandpa took care of the milk separation, so all I had to do was turn it, but it was incredibly tough. You definitely need strength and stamina to do it.

Also, it seemed like a frequent and difficult task to cool the milk and butter. You had to fetch cold water from the well often.

I don't know how they made butter in Japan, but it was probably done by machines... I want a machine!!

It took quite a long time, but we finally finished making the butter.

"Alright, it's done. I'll give this butter to you, Leon. It's the first butter you have ever made."

"Really!? Thank you!"

"You should be able to store the butter for a while. Take it home and use it for cooking or something."

"Yeah! Thanks!"

Certainly, my mom used to leave the butter at room temperature and use it normally, so maybe it can last for a long time at room temperature too. The summer in this world isn't as hot as in Japan, so if I put it in the shade, it should be fine for a while, right? Just to be safe, I'll secretly cool it with some ice.

It would be difficult, but I hope ice-making machines become more accessible to common people.

"Leon, we're going back to your father's hometown."

What!? Is it already that late!? I've been making butter all afternoon!? That's tiring.

"Wait, Mom! Thank you, Grandpa!!"

I hurriedly thanked my grandpa and chased after my mom.