Chapter 49 The Brigade Leader of Meteor City 49 Farm Construction in Progress...
Ayyana brought other people with her.
Kuroro looked at the group of people standing in the center of the living room and thought to himself.
Although he had long understood that this meant nothing to Ayana, he was still somewhat displeased.
If he could, he would prefer that it was just him and Ayana there.
But instead of speaking his mind, he turned on the light, slowly walked down the stairs, and called out in a daze, still feeling sleepy from just waking up.
"Ayana?"
The three people in the living room all looked at Kuroro.
"Kuroro?" Ayana was quite surprised. "Why are you still awake so late?"
She slapped her head again, annoyed, and said, "Were we too noisy and woke you up?"
"Sorry, Kuroro."
"It's nothing." Kuroro shook his head, picked up the lantern, walked to Ayana's side, looked at the other three, then his gaze fell on Ayana again, and he asked gently, "Why are you back so late again?"
As fellow residents of Meteor City, the other three also knew Kuroro.
However, they were unaware that Kuroro was so familiar with this girl who had only recently arrived in Meteor City, and that the two of them were even living in the same house.
"Something came up... haha, I need to take care of it." Ayana continued to dodge the question as usual.
She instinctively felt that the mastermind behind it all was very dangerous and didn't want to involve Kuroro.
Kuroro blinked, didn't ask any further questions, and simply said, "Okay."
He then turned to the other three and asked, "Where are they going to sleep tonight?"
There are no extra rooms left in this house.
But it doesn't seem right to let several girls sleep on the sofa or the floor in the living room.
Ayana looked troubled, unable to think of a solution for the moment, and even considered asking the system if she could have another house.
But the system only responded coldly.
【Hello, host, it's nighttime now, please don't daydream at night^^】
…All right.
"How about you all sleep in my room for the night?" Ayana thought for a moment and said, "We can discuss the room allocation again tomorrow morning after everyone is awake."
Kuroro: "So where are you going to sleep?"
Ayana was about to say that she would sleep in her room like last time, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she suddenly realized how ambiguous those words would be.
She forced herself to swallow her words, forced a smile at the girls, and said, "I have a way to solve this problem."
Machi and Pike exchanged a glance, seemingly understanding something.
But Sarasa didn't understand yet. She blinked her innocent big eyes again and again, about to ask a question, when Machi suddenly grabbed her hand and dragged her towards Ayana's room.
Shh, everyone is sleeping, don't wake them up.
Salazar blinked twice, forced back her questions, and followed Machi and Pike into the room.
Only Ayana and Chrollo remained in the living room.
Kuroro blinked innocently and asked, "Ayana?"
He did it on purpose.
Although he had already guessed Ayana's plan, he still asked on purpose.
Ayana laughed awkwardly twice and tentatively asked, "Kuroro, can I sleep at your place tonight?"
Kuroro tilted his head slightly.
Because the room was too dimly lit, Ayana couldn't see his expression clearly and therefore didn't notice that the boy's lips had already turned up in a smile.
He said, "Okay."
The two walked into Kuroro's room one after the other.
The door closed gently behind me, shutting out the silence of the living room.
The room was even darker than the living room, with only the sparse starlight outside the window and the lantern in Kuroro's hand providing limited light, outlining the blurry contours of the furniture and the boy's slender back.
An indescribable sense of tension permeated the air.
Ayana's cheeks inexplicably felt hot.
Kuroro placed the lantern on the bedside table, its warm yellow light spreading out and barely illuminating the bed and a small area around it.
He turned around, his face somewhat blurred in the interplay of light and shadow, his dark eyes quietly looking at Ayana.
Ayana stood by the door, somewhat at a loss.
Although it wasn't the first time she had stayed overnight in Kuroro's room, she still felt a strange sense of nervousness.
“Um… I’ll sleep on the floor this time,” Ayana said first, pointing to the not-so-spacious open space next to the bed.
Kuroro tilted his head and said, "The ground is hard, and it will be cold at night. Aiana is injured and needs to rest, right?"
Ayana subconsciously touched the spot on her shoulder that Pike had bandaged; the wound was still throbbing slightly.
Indeed, sleeping on the cold, hard ground is of no benefit to the injury.
"I'm fine..." she said again, but her voice lacked confidence.
Kuroro didn't reply. He simply walked to the bedside, started tidying up the bedding, then looked up, the light dancing in his eyes, and said, "You sleep on the bed. I'll just sleep on the floor, like last time."
After saying that, Kuroro took another blanket, spread it on the ground, took off his coat, and lay down on it.
He even considerately turned over, facing away from the bed, as if he was about to fall asleep.
Kuroro's actions were swift and decisive; he even offered to give up his relatively comfortable bed, which made Ayana, who was already somewhat nervous and awkward, feel even more guilty.
She stood there, looking at the thin figure on the ground, then at the empty bed, and felt a pang in her heart.
Even though Kuroro himself is still a boy, still her good boy, he is always so considerate of her.
The lantern's glow cast shadows on the ground, and only the two people's soft breathing could be heard in the room.
Ayana pursed her lips, but in the end, she couldn't bring herself to occupy the bed alone without feeling at ease.
She silently walked to the side of the cot, next to the empty side where Kuroro had made, and sat down gently, hugging her knees instead of lying down.
Sensing the movement beside him, Kuroro turned around with some confusion and looked up at her: "Ayana?"
“I still don’t think this is right,” Ayana said, her head down, her voice muffled. “This is your room. And it’s getting cold, the floor is chilly.”
Kuroro stared at the girl for a few seconds, a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes, which appeared exceptionally deep in the dim light.
He moved aside, making room for the girl on the floor, then patted the empty space and asked.
"Want to come together?"
This suggestion made Ayana's heart race even faster than simply having her sleep in the bed.
She wanted to refuse, but looking at Kuroro's calm and composed demeanor, she felt that if she refused, it would make her seem like she had impure intentions.
Ayana hesitated for a moment, but eventually lay down very slowly, her body tense, trying to keep her distance from Kuroro.
The bedding was indeed hard and cold; even through the thin mattress, the chill seeped into my body.
But at the same time, the warmth emanating from the boy beside Ayana was like a small heater, dispelling some of her discomfort.
The two lay side by side, gazing at the blurry light and shadow cast on the ceiling by the flickering lamplight.
"Go to sleep," Kuroro's voice rang out from very close range. "We have to get up early tomorrow."
He turned over again, his back to her once more.
Ayana hummed in agreement and turned to face the other side.
The narrow sleeping area on the floor meant their backs were almost touching, and she could clearly feel Kuroro's body rising and falling with his breath.
The air seemed to thicken.
Ayana kept her eyes tightly closed, trying to ignore the strong presence of the person behind her and her own heart pounding uncontrollably.
She couldn't help but wonder if Kuroro, like her, also had trouble falling asleep.
Behind her, Kuroro, facing the wall, slowly opened his eyes in the darkness, his gaze clear and lucid, showing no trace of sleepiness.
He listened to the slightly disordered breathing of the person behind him, felt the cautious stiffness, his face blank, lost in thought.
The night was long, and the two fell asleep one after the other.
*
[New task issued: Plant other types of plants and sell them.]
[Item [Seed] x20 has been distributed.]
Another new task.
Ayana was awakened again by the system's voice. When she opened her eyes, she found herself holding a package in her hand, which seemed to contain seeds distributed by the system.
The person beside her had already gotten up sometime earlier.
Ayana rubbed her sore shoulders and neck, took a deep breath, and got up to leave the room.
In the living room, everyone was already awake and sitting on the sofa. Hearing the noise, they all looked towards Ayana.
"Good morning, everyone." Ayana cleared her throat, walked to the center of the living room, and said, "There's something I'd like to discuss with you all."
Everyone's attention was drawn to it.
“We can no longer rely on the garbage dump and the struggle for survival as we used to.” Ayana’s gaze swept over everyone present, her tone serious. “That’s too dangerous and unstable. I think we can try to grow something ourselves.”
"Planting?" Salazar blinked her big eyes, her face full of curiosity.
Paknoda frowned slightly, not understanding why the girl had brought up this suggestion. The others, however, already knew that Ayana had successfully grown potatoes before, so they weren't surprised.
“Yes, planting.” Ayana nodded firmly, then dropped an even bigger bombshell: “Moreover, I have found a stable trading channel.”
“There is a merchant who is willing to come at a fixed time each week to buy the crops we grow. He will pay us with money or exchange them for the medicines and tools we need.”
Upon hearing this, almost everyone present showed a look of surprise.
In Meteor City, a stable source of food and trading channels are practically a pipe dream.
"Are you sure?" Feitanta asked cautiously. "Is the other party trustworthy?"
“There shouldn’t be any problems.” Ayana didn’t reveal many details, but her tone was confident. “And it’s at least worth trying. If we succeed, it means we’ll have a relatively stable way of life that we can control, instead of having to struggle passively forever.”
She looked at Kuroro and found the boy staring at her, his dark eyes deep and unreadable, but he didn't object.
“But we don’t know how to farm!” Salazar asked the most practical question.
“Everyone else knows it except you, Machi, and Pike. They can teach you.”
Seeing that no one objected, Ayana opened a package, revealing plump seeds inside.
She briefly introduced the varieties of seeds available and then planned: "We can continue to use the previous plot of land, or we can clear out the vacant lot behind the house to expand the farmland."
"Although the land behind the house is barren, it can be improved gradually."
She divided the seeds into several portions and distributed them to everyone, a spirited smile on her face: "Well then, shall we begin after we've eaten? So that we can have enough to eat, and so that we can survive better."
After a quick breakfast, the group went to plant on the original plot of land, while Ayana led another group to the barren open space behind the house.
There was a lot of garbage and waste piled up here, and even some gravel. The soil was dry, hard, and compacted, with an unhealthy grayish-yellow color.
Growing crops in such a place sounds like a pipe dream.
But a determined light shone in the girl's eyes.
"First, we need to clear out the big rocks and all this trash." She rolled up her sleeves and took the lead in moving a rather large rock.
Uvogin and Nobunaga exchanged a glance, said nothing, and stepped forward to help.
They were extremely strong and handled these heavy objects with ease.
Machi and Salazar were responsible for transporting the cleared debris to a distant location for storage.
Salazar initially found it novel, but after a while he was out of breath, he still tried his best to keep up with the others.
The cleanup work lasted for most of the day, until the sun began to set, and a relatively flat piece of land was finally cleared. Although it was still barren, after turning over the soil and nurturing it, at least some seeds could be planted.
Almost everyone present was covered in sweat and dust, even the youngest, Salazar, had mud stains on his face. But looking at the land they had created with their own hands, an indescribable sense of accomplishment quietly grew in their hearts.
"Alright, the first step is complete!" Ayana wiped the sweat from her forehead, a tired but satisfied smile on her face.
She took out the seeds distributed by the system and began to explain to everyone how to plant them.
The sowing process is relatively easy, but it still takes a lot of time.
By the time they finished, the setting sun had already painted the horizon a magnificent orange-red.
The group dragged their tired but fulfilled bodies back into the house.
Everyone has been busy all day and is exhausted, but there is still an urgent problem that needs to be solved.
The house originally had only five rooms, but now that three more people have moved in, it's clearly not enough to go around.
As the owner of the house, Ayana thought for a moment and said, "The rooms need to be redistributed. We have eight people but only five rooms."
She had originally planned to share a room with Machi and a room with Pike and Salazar, but then she suddenly realized that she often went out at night to complete missions and needed a lot of personal space. Sharing a room with others might arouse unnecessary suspicion.
She frowned, pondering a solution, when she heard a cold voice speak.
"The three of us can share one room."
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Machi calmly pointing to herself, Paknoda, and Salazar.
Ayana looked at Machi with some surprise.
March met her gaze and said calmly, "We're used to being together."
She explained succinctly, the subtext being that the three of them knew and trusted each other, and didn't want to be separated.
Paknoda nodded slightly in agreement.
Although Salazar was a little hesitant about the crowds, she immediately nodded vigorously when she heard that she could stay with Machi and Pike: "Yes! We'll stay together!"
Machi's suggestion instantly solved the biggest problem.
Ayana felt relieved and readily agreed, "Okay, then let's arrange it like this. Machi, Pike, and Salazar, the three of you will share a room."
She quickly arranged for the others: "Uvogin and Nobunaga will share a room, and Feitan and Phinks will share a room."
In this way, all the boys in the house had a place to stay.
Finally, Ayana looked at Kuroro and smiled, "Kuroro, you're still living in your own room, and so am I."
Kuroro stood quietly to the side the whole time, listening to Ayana's arrangements and Machi's initiative. His face was expressionless, but when he heard that Ayana had decided to let him live alone, his eyelashes fluttered slightly, but he did not say anything.
"Then it's settled." Ayana clapped her hands, and that was it.
Although the living conditions are still basic, and even more crowded than before, at least everyone has a corner where they can stay.
After dinner, everyone quietly went to their assigned rooms.
The same goes for Ayyana.
She had just fallen asleep when she suddenly heard the system's cold, mechanical voice.
[Host, your residence is being monitored.]
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