Anyway, the video orb whirled to life, showing...
In the video, Dad and I were standing in front of the vegetable garden. The cabin was visible behind us as a backdrop, and the workers' hands moved with practiced efficiency.
<Really? Really? Ririn, you sprouted potato buds? Oh my goodness!>
<Hehehe. I just put them in the ground.>
<I was wondering what you were up to, messing around with those tiny hands...>
The screen swiveled to show green sprouts peeking out of the damp soil. Then, it showed my face again with the cabin in the background.
Seeing that proud look on my face brought all those old feelings rushing back.
I must have been around six when I first had the idea to plant something.
<It's pretty good, right? It rained a lot last night, so they shot right up!>
<So the rain that was bugging you actually helped a little, huh?>
<Uh-huh. Oh, but stop eating my fingers!>
<Hey now~ I'm kissing my treasure~>
<Eek…>
Smooch, smooch, smooch.
Watching Dad kiss each of my round fingertips, Grandma Elisa wiped away tears.
"Callex, I don't know if I should say this."
"If you don't know if you should say it, then you don't have to."
"You're so sleazy…"
A vein popped out on Dad's forehead.
"Ah, I meant cheesy."
Grandma corrected herself leisurely.
"Are they the same thing? Ahahahahaha!"
Ahem, ahem!
Sounds of agreement came from all around.
A few days later.
Clunk, clunk, clunk.
The gate that had been blocking the east garden swung open wide.
"Grandpaaaa!"
I ran to Blaine, who was carrying a large piece of lumber.
Grandpa Diamond Hand was, of course, in charge of recreating the house from Lepi Village.
"Are you really going to build the cabin exactly the same, just from the video orb I showed you? Really?"
"We dug a well and built a shed too. Now all that's left is to make the white-painted fence… Are you going to do the graffiti on it?"
"Yessss!"
His thick eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Grandpa Blaine handed the lumber he was carrying to a worker who was taking a cart to the east forest and then reached out his hand to me.
"If you want to go see it… I'll take you."
"Okay! Theo, your hand!"
I held out my hand to Theo, who was blankly watching ants next to me.
"Let's go!"
"Hmm."
Grandpa tilted his head, looking at Theo and me holding hands side by side.
His trapezius muscles, hardened with muscle, bulged.
"Heave-ho."
Grandpa lifted Theo and me up at once, instead of the lumber.
His long strides quickly brought us to the entrance of the east forest.
"The distance between the main building and the east forest garden is quite far, so if you want to go, ask the workers to take you in a carriage."
"No, I'm okay! I can run; it's good practice!"
But I guess going back and forth all day would be tiring.
It's kind of a pain to get to the east forest garden, though.
I blankly watched the back of the worker pulling the rattling cart.
"If it's too hard, I'll ask my uncles to put me on the cart…"
While chatting away, we arrived at the east garden before I knew it!
"Wowwww!"
I couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. Theo also opened his mouth wide, his eyes sparkling.
I jumped out of Grandpa's arms and ran towards the cabin standing neatly by the lake.
'It's like they moved the house from Lepi Village exactly as it is!'
Even this winding path!
The vivid green roof and the walls made by stacking square lumber.
The small deck in front of the door and even the five steps leading from it!
'Everyone's attention to detail is amazing…! I did try my best to explain the parts that weren't in the video orb!'
It was truly a technically perfect copy and paste.
'Huh? Copy and paste? What was that word again?'
Anyway, I admired it again and again, looking around the green-roofed house. The inside was still being organized, so we couldn't go in yet.
"The problem is the vegetable garden…"
Blaine said, gazing at me, who was immersed in emotion. The sound of workers hauling and installing the white fence faintly echoed.
"That vegetable garden is the problem. The overall appearance isn't shown in the video orb, so it's difficult for the gardeners to recreate…"
I jumped up.
"I can do that! It's my specialty!"
That's why I explained it roughly!
But Grandpa Blaine pursed his lips as if he had heard something unpleasant. His face, which rarely changed expression, wrinkled slightly.
"A kid is going to make a vegetable garden… A kid. Still as small as a bean."
"I'm eight years old, so I can do it!"
I've been in charge of our house's vegetable garden since I was six years old, you know?
When I puffed out my chest and said that, Grandpa's beard twitched.
Theo, who had been toddling around, had already climbed onto Grandpa's back through a difficult climb and was on top of his shoulders.
"Right, Theo? Your sister is good at it, right? I grow potatoes well, tomatoes well, lettuce too…!"
"Kya!"
As I was saying this, folding my fingers one by one, Grandpa's crushing hug followed before I could even finish my sentence.
A few days later.
I confidently took the lead. A very large and firm hand was holding mine.
"Come on, come on, we're almost there."
The person walking, relying on my hand, was none other than Dad.
"Even training in the mountains wouldn't be this tough."
Dad suddenly muttered in a self-deprecating voice. His handsome eyes were currently completely covered by a child's small hand.
Theo Valt (age 3).
Today, he was perched on Dad's shoulder, faithfully fulfilling my request to be a human eyepatch.
"Give me 100 reasons, no, just one reason why I have to see the completed cabin after going through all this."
At those words, my face fell slightly in despair.
"Why… Why are you correcting me? I can give you 100 reasons…!"
"I knew it. It's to prevent my ears from bleeding. You little chatterbox."
Tch, how did he know I like to chatter?
"Are you not going to remove this soft and squishy hand right now?"
Dad said, growling slightly.
Of course, Theo didn't budge, with his characteristic blank and innocent face.
"Ah, whyyyy! You just have to hold my hand tightly and follow me! I wanted to show you with a 'ta-da'! Theo, block Dad's eyes tightly! So not a single ray of light gets in! So that only darkness is everywhere you look!"
"Woo!"
"Is this torture?"
In the end, it was Dad who gave up.
Being so sensitive over just a few steps!
The tip of the green roof was visible in the distance. We bickered a bit, but honestly, I felt a lump in my throat.
'It's like the way back home.'
Of course, the surrounding environment was fundamentally different from Lepi Village.
But the fact that there was a forest, a lake, and the three of us—Dad, me, and Theo—were walking down the winding narrow path itself.
To me, it was no different from the way back home.
Really, a long-awaited return home.
I sniffed once and started walking briskly again. Soon, at a place where the cabin was visible at a glance, I gave Theo a signal.
"Ta-da!"
Dad's eyes opened!
"……"
Dad scanned the cabin in front of the lake with his characteristic indifferent expression.
"How is it, Duke?"
"Ha, I must have been completely out of my mind."
There was a faint sense of self-deprecation in his grumbling voice.
He had told them to build the green-roofed house because he had no choice due to the situation, but seeing it completed, he seemed to feel complicated.
'Well, this place was originally planned to be a villa.'
I stared intently at Dad and asked.
"Don't you remember anything? Huh? Huh? Look closely. Huh?"
"Not at all. It's making me dizzy, so be quiet… Tsk, what's this? Getting in the way of walking."
Dad clicked his tongue and kicked the white fence lightly. The fence, which had been standing straight, tilted about 15 degrees…
"Oh my god…"
I raised my hand and covered my mouth.
"You're right. That tilt…"
"……?"
In the past, when Jamie from the house downstairs made me cry by pulling my hair, it was exactly the same feeling when Alex—Dad—kicked it down in anger. Detail score: 100 points.
"What comes to mind when you see the entrance of this cabin?"
Dad murmured coldly, looking at the wall made of stacked lumber.
"I really want to scratch it."
"Oh my god… You're right… Ding, dong, ding…"
"……?"
I put my lips to my hands and said with tearful eyes.
"Dad always made scratches on this wall to measure my height…"
Sniff, sniff. I knew building the cabin was a good idea.
Detail score: +200 points.
Riding on the momentum, I quickly pulled Dad's sleeve and headed straight to the mini vegetable garden. Only the sections were divided, and nothing had been planted yet.
"Okay, how is it! Does this scenery remind you of anything?"
"I want to plow it up."
Dad spat out coldly, twisting his lips.
As he did, he glanced down at me, looking like, 'Don't tell me this is also…?'
Of course…
I was already soaking in a wave of emotion, clapping my hands.
"You're right! That's exactly it!"
"Why, though?"
"Plowing the field!"
"……?"
"Dad used to plow my vegetable garden by hand… Sniff."
I dabbed at my tears.
