I Thought It Was a Healing Farming Game - Chapter 55

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I thought this was supposed to be a healing farming game.
Episode 55

“Miel, I’m afraid I have another appointment waiting. I should take my leave now.”
“Oh, of course! What a shame, but I understand. Let’s meet again next time, Siard.”
After waving goodbye to Siard, I looked up at Kaies beside me and asked.
“Aren’t you leaving too? You’re always so busy.”
“Today, well. Do you need anything else, tenant?”
“Oh, I was just going to finish tidying up and head out!”
“All right, then.”
Kaies smoothly took the tray from my hands and headed toward the kitchen.
“Mm.”
“Take the rest of the dishes.”
I returned to the dining table and transferred the bowls that the Twins had stacked like a tower.
“Miel.”
I ran into Priam just as he was coming over with a tray in hand.
“Oh, Priam. Happy birthday. You’re the guest of honor today—sit down.”
“I want to help clean up too. But actually, Miel—”
“Hmm?”
Priam looked down at the diary he held clutched to his chest.
“The Exchange Diary… can I start writing in it today?”
His expression showed he was anticipating our promise more than any birthday gift.
I couldn’t suppress a smile and nodded.
“Of course. Let’s start today.”
“A diary you’re supposed to show to someone else—how interesting. I’ve written plenty of diaries before, but… they were always just for my eyes.”
“This is my first time doing an exchange diary too. I’d always wanted to try it, but never got the chance.”
“With me? This is your first time with me?”
Priam’s eyes widened.
“Yes. As I mentioned before, I spent a long time in the Hospital, so every day was pretty much the same.”
“Ah…”
Priam’s face darkened immediately.
I shook off the heavy mood with a bright smile.
“But now something new happens every day! I’m doing an exchange diary with you too. I’m already looking forward to it.”
“Right, I like that. So should we start today?”
I had no reason to refuse and agreed readily.
“Perfect! Let’s write about what happened today. With your birthday, we’ll have plenty to write about.”
“I peeked at the diary earlier, and I want to answer the questions written in here too.”
I felt a quiet satisfaction that Priam showed more enthusiasm than I’d expected.
“Should we?”
I took the dishes to the kitchen with Priam and then opened the Exchange Diary.
As I flipped through the pages, question-and-answer sections appeared that could reveal each other’s preferences and thoughts.
“Let’s see, what’s the first question…”

[What was your first impression of the other person?]

“…”
The Favorability Decrease icon—now a trauma of sorts—floated before my eyes.
Of all questions, why did the first one have to be this?
Whether Priam sensed my hesitation or not, he smiled brightly.
“Let’s go through everything from the beginning, one by one! Should we answer three questions each over the course of a week?”
“Ah… maybe we could pick and choose which ones to answer?”
“But I want to try answering all of them!”
“I see…”
I nodded awkwardly with a strained smile.
‘If it’s a chance to understand what Priam really thinks…’
I can surely overcome a little fear about what his answer might be.
“So, Miel—how should we exchange the diary from now on?”
I drew out a method I’d already prepared in response to Priam’s belated question.
“We could leave it in a mailbox, or if our schedules line up, we could meet occasionally and read them together.”
“Meet in person? I’d love it if we could see each other regularly, Miel.”
Priam clutched the diary tightly and tilted his head toward me.
“Really…?”
The sincerity in his voice made the corners of my mouth lift slightly.
After brief discussion, we decided to exchange diaries every Monday evening, alternating visits to each other’s homes.
Priam was practically vibrating with joy at the prospect of visiting a friend’s house.
“You’re that happy about it?”
“I’ve never done something like this with a friend before! Everyone else always thought these kinds of activities were a hassle……”
Everyone else?
‘Who’s he talking about? Could it be the previous visitors?’
The previous visitors who had built relationships with the residents as I was doing now apparently hadn’t taken much interest in this sort of activity.
‘If many of them had resorted to taking out loans and vanishing in the night, I suppose that makes sense……”
While I sat with that bittersweet feeling, the cleanup was drawing to a close.
The residents who had set aside their work to help began saying their goodbyes one by one, drifting out the door.
After putting away the last dish myself, I took a light look around the living room.
Beyond the spacious living room and kitchen, I could see Priam’s bedroom and bathroom on the First Floor.
I craned my neck to peer up the stairs, but the Second Floor remained entirely out of view.
‘I wonder what’s up there?’
The two-story house had always been treated like a symbol in the game, yet I’d never actually visited the Second Floor.
Priam’s room was on the First Floor, and within the game there’d been no real reason to go up there.
“What do you use the Second Floor for, Priam?”
“The Second Floor? Oh. Um……”
Priam’s face flushed a brilliant crimson at the question.
I’d only asked out of curiosity, but his unexpected reaction left me flustered instead.
“Um…why? Did I say something wrong?”
Priam remained flushed, hesitating for a long moment before finally speaking in a tiny voice.
“No, it’s not that. I’m just…embarrassed. I’ll show you another time if the chance comes up.”
“I won’t laugh!”
“Sorry, I don’t think I can right now.”
Priam drooped his eyebrows pleadingly, seeking forgiveness.
With him looking so flustered, I couldn’t press further.
‘What on earth is up there that makes him react like that? Does he have some embarrassing hobby?’
My curiosity felt ready to burst, but I pushed it down, remembering my past mistakes.
“Okay, I get it. Just tell me when you feel like talking about it.”
I swallowed my disappointment, stood up, and grabbed my bag.
As I said goodbye to each of the remaining people, Priam caught hold of me with reluctance written all over his face.
“You’re leaving? Stay for dinner at least.”
“I’d like to, but I have things to finish back home.”
“I want to spend more time with you……”
Looking into those puppy-dog eyes made it hard to tear myself away.
Still, I coaxed him as gently as I could.
“I want to finish my work and write in the Exchange Diary tonight. I’m going to go home and write diligently. I promise!”
“Really? Right, me too! I’ll write a lot too.”
Watching Priam bounce back with such enthusiasm, I felt reassured.

* * *

A week had passed since Priam’s birthday.
Today was the day Priam would come to our house for the first time, carrying the Exchange Diary.
“Welcome, Priam!”
As I opened the door, he stepped inside and held out a basket of apples.
“Good evening, Miel. This is a gift. You seemed to enjoy apples last time.”
“Wow, thank you! I’ve been craving fruit every time I pass by the Orchard.”
The gleaming Red Jade Apples looked as tempting as ever.
“I’ll enjoy them. How’s the diary? Have you been writing well, Priam?”
Priam held out the diary with an awkward expression.
“Embarrassed?”
“It feels like I’m baring my soul…….”
“It’s fine. I’m doing the same thing.”
We exchanged diaries with embarrassed faces, then sat across from each other and began to read.
Priam’s diary was filled with neat handwriting—what she’d done each day, her mood and the weather, stray thoughts that had drifted into her mind.
‘That’s so Priam.’

[Knowing someone else will see it makes me want to hide things, but the idea of reading someone else’s diary excites me. The whole time I was writing, I wondered what Miel had put down.]
[But what if something I wrote here gets out?]

I read Priam’s worries about her diary leaking and laughed silently for a long moment.
Priam shifted restlessly, her eyes asking why. I waved my hand, saying it was nothing.
‘As if I’d tell anyone.’
I picked up one of the pens laid out beside us—a green one that suited Priam.
In the small space below the diary entry where comments could be left, I wrote what I wanted to say.

[You never just pass by the scenery you encounter—you always examine it carefully. Your gaze is so warm that just reading it puts me in a good mood!]

Then, at the very bottom, I wrote in large letters for emphasis.

[Of course, everything written here is just between us two! I won’t tell anyone.]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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