Raising the Grand Duke of the North as a Farmer Behind Dad’s Back - Chapter 20

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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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Episode 20
* * *
“How many houses are in Bedel Village?”
I nodded eagerly.
“If you count the old servants’ quarters too…… there are roughly thirty or so.”
Basilii answered.
“Oh! Quite a few!”
“We built them to attract settlers—nothing sparse about it. Now most of them are abandoned except for the ones the knights live in…… But why?”
A long finger tapped my nose.
“Are you calling dibs on a house in advance?”
“No, well…… I suppose I am.”
“Take your time. There’s no one coming for a while yet.”
“They could come! We can farm now!”
“And who exactly is going to learn that and make their way all the way out here?”
The duke’s tone turned cynical as he bent down.
Pop!
A small mushroom shaped like a pig’s snout came free in his hand.
“Well…… when Brad gets back, I suppose I’ll have him draw up new promotional materials.”
I wasn’t about to lose this one!
Pop-pop-pop!
[Pig-Nose Mushroom Gathering (3/5)]
We were in the Small Forest, located at the back of Bedel Village.
I wanted to look around the village and gather mushrooms at the same time!
‘The forest’s too small to get much timber, but mushrooms and berries are everywhere!’
Especially these Pig-Nose Mushrooms—they were exceptionally rare. A fungus that survived even on land frozen solid for two years had a vitality all its own!
“But why are we suddenly gathering mushrooms? They don’t do anything.”
“They’re delicious!”
And if you gather five, you get Stamina!
“This is delicious?”
“Yes. If you trim the cap and let it roast over a low fire, it tastes just like meat pie.”
“That’s all there is to it?”
“That’s it.”
Truth be told, these mushrooms had no special properties…… Just a bit of a boost, perhaps?
“How you’d even know it tastes like meat pie is— ah, never mind. You probably learned it in the slums.”
Basilii hoisted my bag off my shoulders and slung it over his own, muttering as he did.
‘That’s not where I learned it.’
Someone actually taught me this.
I turned the mushroom over in my hands thoughtfully.
‘When I ran away from the Klein Duchy.’
“If you roast this mushroom over a flame just right, it tastes like meat. Didn’t you know?”
Ah…… it’s coming back to me. My dark history.
Before the regression.
A streak of rebellion had seized me then, and I couldn’t bear the suffocating life at the estate any longer—so I ran. Of course, life on the run was anything but gentle.
And then, by chance, I met a boy who taught me about this mushroom.
‘Seeing the mushroom brings it all back.’
My eyes grew distant somehow.
‘I wonder if he’s doing well.’
The only person my own age I’d ever met, across both my lives.
His name was, I think….
I pulled up the last mushroom with a soft pop, my movements turning wistful.
[Quest completed! (Requested by: Forest Deity)]
[Will you accept the reward?]
“Y-yes……”
Even my answer came out distant somehow.
“Hey, small one.”
“I’m not small…… I’m Haniel.”
Even my retort felt far away.
“Before long, I’ll get you some real meat pie.”
My eyes lit up!
“Really? You promise?”
Only then did a new sticker catch his eye. A lush green tree-shaped sticker!
[Haniel’s Sticker Book (Children’s Edition)]
* Stamina Stickers in Storage: 280
* Collected Stickers List: …
[New] Call of the Forest
, Courteous Balance, (Unacquired), (Unacquired)…
“Oh.”
Basilii, who had filled an entire sack with mushrooms in the meantime, spoke up.
“Brad’s Group will be back soon.”
“……!”
I felt my height stretching upward like a mushroom, growing and growing.
‘Brad!’
That radiant name—the splendid Bread Knight!
“So let’s head back. But…… those Luden fellows have scattered all over, and it’s slowing down the land reclamation.”
Basilii let out a sigh.
That was right. The reason we’d come to gather mushrooms was that Luden’s Group had collapsed from exhaustion during the grueling labor.
‘True enough. Even for knights as strong as they are, reclaiming land on that scale with only six people isn’t easy.’
I stored the mushroom sacks in the warehouse, then descended to the Farmland with Basilii.
Far ahead, I could see where a Red Flag had been planted.
“We’ll cultivate up to here this year,” Basilii announced,
marking the spot where he’d planted the flag with a firm thrust. When Camila saw it, she was utterly flabbergasted.
“……It looks like it could easily be two massive training grounds
(*approximately one hectare each)”
wouldn’t it?”
“Well, once Brad’s Group returns, it won’t be impossible.”
Still, for the number of people involved, it was an enormous scale. Of course, measured against the total wasteland of Bedel Village, it was only about one-twentieth being cultivated.
‘Hmm, according to the Imperial Agricultural Knowledge Dictionary……’
Assuming an ordinary farmer works the land without livestock like oxen,
an area covered by roughly fifty paces across and lengthwise using an adult’s stride
(*approximately 0.1 hectares)
is what one can cultivate, they say.
‘But that’s only the standard for a “typical” farmer, after all!’
The trained knights of Bertus worked twice as hard as ordinary farmers.
And with Basilii possessing superhuman strength, he alone did the work of five farmers.
‘But…… still, the absolute shortage of manpower is undeniable.’
Even Luden’s Group, as tough as they were, had collapsed from pushing themselves too hard.
So land reclamation came to a temporary halt.
‘But that’s all right!’
“This is serious. We need to finish the reclamation by March if we’re to sow seeds on time.”
“Don’t worry!”
I swung my arms and beamed brightly.
It’ll be solved in no time at all!
Ch. 5 The Knights
“Uncle Paullllllll!”
Haniel came charging over.
“Hanielllll! Oh goodness!”
A bearded man came charging from far away just as eagerly.
Basilii watched the scene with a crooked expression.
Come to think of it…… Haniel had mentioned traveling together with someone on the way here. A companion from the Capital.
“He’s Uncle Paul! My travel companion!”
He was absolutely delighted, truly.
Not long after we’d finished touring the Farmland and returned to the village,
a fuzzy-haired middle-aged man appeared. He swept Haniel up into his arms, tears and snot streaming down his face.
“I was so curious how you were getting on out there! And here you’ve made so many friends—you’re such a resourceful boy! I’m so happy to see you again, you little rascal!”
“Oh my, yes! Uncle was so worried about you!”
“Sniff, really? Uncle Paul, you’re the best!”
“Uncle’s the best, isn’t he~?”
“The absolute best!”
“They’re just playing around…….”
Basilii furrowed his brow sharply, muttering under his breath.
His hand rose unbidden to his waist. His eyes hardened with sudden intensity. His lips twisted slightly, as if of their own accord.
What was this? What was his body doing?
Why was he acting like someone who’d just been slighted?
“Hmm? But Haniel, who’s that man standing behind you with his face all scrunched up in a scowl—the one whose body’s suddenly straightened out?”
“Oh! That’s the Grand Duke!”
……
Pol flattened himself against the ground.
“Y-Your Highness! I humbly greet you!”
Trembling shoulders, rapid breaths.
Basilii was just opening his mouth to speak when a cluster of people appeared in the distance, drawing closer.
A group of over a dozen people rode horses or sat in laden carts, escorted by Brad’s Group.
What? The weather really is warm!
Spring has arrived the moment we entered the village!
Look—actual farmland! There’s real farmland here!
People chattered excitedly among themselves.
……
Basilii’s expression grew peculiar.
“You didn’t come alone?”
“W-well, yes, yes, um…… We…… came to…… settle here.”
“……What?”
Truly?
“They said they’d give us…… homes…… and land too…….”
A refrain he’d heard from somewhere before.
Pol’s eyes went wide.
“…… and that we could…… farm here, they said……?”
“How did you manage that?”
Since he’d judged it too premature and hadn’t given Brad the full details, Brad couldn’t have gathered these people on his own.
That was when he felt an unmistakable surge of boundless ambition from beside him.
“Ehehehe.”
Basilii watched Haniel’s cheeks wiggle with barely suppressed excitement, then simply hoisted the child into the air.
“You again.”
“I only sent Pol a letter to let him know I’d survived!”
Haniel glanced around nervously, then cupped both hands near his mouth. Basilii quickly shifted the child onto his shoulder for easier whispering.
“I…… I did that thing with the pillar…… so I thought I might as well…… pass along that news too…….”
The word “Purification” seemed to stick in his throat when Pol was nearby.
“On the public carriages, there were so many people wandering without homes, looking for work…… So I thought it would be good if they came along…….”
……
Basilii had to admit it.
‘This child might be better than me.’
Ability, drive, planning, rapport, charisma—everything was superior.
“Um, um…… Is it…… all right if we settle here?”
Pol asked hesitantly. The people who had gathered were looking up at him with anxious eyes.

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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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