Shiryu looked at Gloria’s earnest expression.
“Aren’t you still in school?”
Today was Sunday, so he could understand why Gloria had come to help at the ranch.
Tomorrow was Monday, though, which meant she’d have to return to Pokémon School in Wedgehurst.
“Shiryu, did you forget?”
Gloria looked at him in disbelief.
“Galar’s school system isn’t the same as Unova’s.
I’m graduating from the Pokémon School in Wedgehurst in another month.
With my grades, I’ll be able to receive one of Galar’s starter Pokémon through the research lab there, and after that I’ll officially be a graduate Trainer!”
A graduate Trainer was someone qualified to take a Pokémon and travel independently.
Technically, Shiryu was already one himself—and an honors graduate at that.
“Oh…
right.”
Shiryu smacked a hand against his forehead.
Gloria had told him about this yesterday.
After spending the entire morning buried in ranch work, he’d completely forgotten.
“Gloria, you want to work on a ranch too?”
Her mother looked bewildered.
She was still processing Shiryu’s grand declaration from moments ago, only to discover that her own daughter apparently wanted to follow him down the same path.
“Of course!
Mom, I’ve always thought ranching looked fun.
That’s why I used to spend so much time at Shiryu’s family ranch when we were little…”
As Gloria spoke, her mother gave her a sidelong look.
‘Interested in the ranch?
Please.
You were interested in Shiryu.’
She had never expected to raise a daughter who’d been hopelessly attached to a boy since childhood.
“Shiryu, what do you think?”
Knowing perfectly well that talking Gloria out of anything would be difficult once she’d made up her mind, her mother simply asked Shiryu instead.
“If we’re talking about a month from now, I don’t have a problem with it.”
Shiryu gave it some thought.
According to his plans, a month should be more than enough time to turn the property into a properly functioning ranch.
By then, he would probably have plenty of other things demanding his attention.
He needed to catch more Pokémon suitable for ranch life, perhaps establish branch ranches elsewhere, and might even travel to other regions eventually.
If that happened, someone trustworthy would need to look after the Postwick ranch while he was away.
Gloria was someone Shiryu could trust.
If she genuinely wanted to help, that would be perfect.
After all, who didn’t appreciate reliable free labor?
“Fine, fine.
Let’s eat.”
Seeing that Shiryu and Gloria had already reached an agreement between themselves, Gloria’s mother gave up arguing.
Fortunately, lunch was delicious enough to improve everyone’s mood, and by the time the meal was over, she’d largely made peace with the idea.
From her perspective, letting Gloria spend some time working with Shiryu and learning responsibility probably wasn’t a bad thing anyway.
“Shiryu, I have to go back to school in Wedgehurst this afternoon, so I can’t return to the ranch with you.
I’ll come see you again when I get home on Friday.”
Gloria smiled brightly at him.
“Sure.
Come back in a week and I guarantee the ranch will look so different you’ll barely recognize it.”
Shiryu deliberately made himself sound mysterious, immediately sparking her curiosity.
“Then…
see you in a week.”
“Yeah.
Though technically, it’s only five days.”
After saying goodbye to Gloria, Shiryu stopped by several shops around Postwick to stock up on ingredients and supplies.
He also bought Pokémon food that Drilbur and Zigzagoon would enjoy.
As for Beldum, ordinary commercial Pokémon food didn’t seem to appeal to him much.
The ores available in the nearby rocky mountains were apparently better suited to his tastes and growth anyway.
If anything, that saved Shiryu money.
By the time he returned to the ranch, it was already half past one in the afternoon.
Drilbur was still tirelessly digging up the soil.
Zigzagoon, meanwhile, had curled up on the newly formed haystack and was enjoying a peaceful afternoon nap in the sun.
Apparently, she’d decided she’d earned a break.
The Wooloo were still away recruiting more friends and hadn’t returned yet.
Shiryu strolled into the wooden—well, still currently thatched—cottage and set down the large bags of supplies he’d purchased.
Then he took out a basin and poured in nearly half a bag of Pokémon food.
“Drilbur!
Come take a break.”
He called toward the field.
Drilbur was currently the most dependable worker on the entire ranch, so Shiryu certainly wasn’t going to mistreat him.
If Drilbur collapsed from hunger, who was supposed to cultivate all this land?
“Dril~!”
Drilbur immediately burrowed underground and tunneled all the way back to the cottage before poking his head above the surface.
His face was almost completely covered in dark soil.
Shiryu burst out laughing.
“You look even more like a Patrat now.”
“Drilbur, burbur!”
Shiryu had made the same Pokémon joke before, so Drilbur understood it immediately and laughed along with him.
He rubbed at the dirt on his head with one white claw, then bounced around a few times as though pretending he’d successfully cleaned himself off.
Shiryu handed him the basin of Pokémon food.
“Here.
A very late lunch.
Sorry I took so long getting back.”
“Dril~”
Drilbur shook his head to say he didn’t mind and happily started eating.
As he did, the system displayed information about the food.
[Pokémon Food — Low Grade]
[The most common commercially available Pokémon food.
Inexpensive and widely used as an everyday staple by ordinary households.]
[Food Effect: Satisfies hunger.
Provides no additional benefits.]
[Evaluation: The food may be nothing special, but Drilbur is clearly happy with it.
When the ranch owner becomes successful someday, hopefully he will still remember Drilbur’s smile today and never forget how much effort this Pokémon put into building the ranch.]
…
Shiryu scratched his head awkwardly after reading that.
There wasn’t much he could do about it right now.
He barely had any regular money left, and his Ranch Coin balance had fallen to only 180.
He had already spent another 100 Ranch Coins that morning purchasing Pokémon food through the shop.
“I really need to start making some money.”
Shiryu glanced inside the cottage.
The collection Zigzagoon had brought back was still there.
Most of it wasn’t especially valuable, but the Leaf Stone was another matter.
At current market prices, it should sell for somewhere around ₽200,000.
“I’ll find a chance to sell it.
At least then I can buy Drilbur and the others something better to eat.”
Still, selling off a lucky find wasn’t a sustainable business model.
If the ranch was going to survive long-term, Shiryu needed actual sources of income.
He stepped outside and surveyed the property.
The ranch itself was only one part of what he had available.
There was also the forest to the south and the mountains to the southwest, both of which still needed to be explored and developed.
And he couldn’t forget the stream to the east.
That could become an industry of its own.
At two in the afternoon, after eating and resting for a while, Drilbur went back to work.
Once another section of wasteland had been fully cultivated into usable farmland, the quest information on Shiryu’s system updated.
[Quest Complete: Cultivate another one hundred square meters of farmland.]
[Rewards obtained: Renovate the dilapidated thatched cottage into a comfortable wooden house and receive 2,000 Ranch Coins.]
…
[Renovate now?]
“Do it!”
Shiryu had been looking forward to having a proper house since yesterday.
The thatched cottage wasn’t completely unlivable, but a wooden house was obviously a major improvement.
The moment he confirmed the reward, the structure began changing before his eyes.
Shiryu watched in amazement as the old cottage expanded outward, its decaying straw and weathered frame rapidly giving way to clean timber construction.
And it didn’t stop there.
The finished building wasn’t merely a simple wooden cabin.
It was a two-story wooden house.
With a balcony.