Raising the Grand Duke of the North as a Farmer Behind Dad’s Back - Chapter 29

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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 29
“We’re going all-in on barley.”
“Pardon?”
Camilla blinked.
“Truly?”
“Yes. And I’ll buy more oat and wheat seeds—plant more of those too.”
……
“The land I’ve already cultivated will have room left over after the barley goes in. We’ll use that space for the rest.”
“But—Your Highness. Count Redermic came here…… you do remember that, don’t you?”
“As if I could forget.”
That bastard count who wounded my hippo.
Even in death, he’ll haunt my dreams so I can knock him around.
Camilla spoke carefully.
“Begging your pardon, but wouldn’t it be wiser to dedicate about a third of the land to potatoes or turnips instead?”
“No. Buying more wheat and oat seeds is better than spending coin on potatoes and turnips.”
“The thing is…… we don’t quite have the funds to purchase wheat and oat seeds.”
“Sell the mushrooms.”
He gestured toward the small forest behind the village.
The Pig Nose Mushrooms we’d gathered with Haniel.
They were rare enough, and plentiful enough, that selling them would cover a decent portion of the cost.
“That’s how we’re farming this year. That’s final.”
……
Camilla said nothing more.
She knew that once the Grand Duke made a decision, he never wavered from it.
Basil cleared his throat with a soft cough and stroked the round head sitting beside him.
Haniel, who’d been sitting nearby scribbling in a sketchbook the whole time, glanced up and met his gaze.
His hand trembled—just a little, just barely—as it touched that small head.
‘Hey, baby hippo. Is this right? Are we really doing this?’
‘Good job.’
The child’s eyes gleamed with brightness.
Actually, this had been Haniel’s plan.
It was when we were heading back to the mansion after the chaos in the Plaza.
Haniel, deep in thought about something, had spoken.
“Your Highness…… actually, it’s me…… my dreams lately…….”
“What about your dreams?”
……I just…… in my dreams…… I’m seeing something…….”
Basil was startled, wondering if the child was ill. Haniel shook his head.
“Because I’m…… well…… gathering a lot of Divine Power, I think…… the future…… might be showing itself a little.”
“What?”
There wasn’t much public information about Divine Power or temples.
Certainly not about what special abilities a child with Divine Power might possess.
“So what I’m saying is…… soon, in the East…….”
All the wheat and barley will turn black and wither away.
A chill ran down my spine at those whispered words.
Basil gazed at Haniel’s softly rounded cheeks.
He couldn’t explain the miracle that had happened in this village without trusting the child’s words.
So Basil had no choice but to listen carefully to what Haniel said.
And if it turned out to be true…….
‘Jackpot.’
Perhaps he could pull off a proper debut after all.
* * *
Soft, rhythmic tapping.
I turned the Pig Nose Mushroom over in my fingers, calmly recalling the information from before the Regression.
‘It should happen around this time.’
The Crop Blight incident in the East.
A strange poison created in Z Zone spreads to the Eastern Region, contaminating the soil there, causing all the crops growing in that region to wither and die.
Before the Regression, Father was swamped dealing with it. He’s probably still investigating the contamination and poison in the East right now.
Sadly, there’s no way to prevent the Soil Contamination as things stand now.
The village chief of Z Zone has already dispersed tiny insects made of some kind of fungal colony everywhere.
‘Never did figure out why he did such a thing.’
Because all the perpetrators had died before they could be arrested.
The Imperial Court, of course, wasn’t sitting idle either.
They quickly identified the poison and developed a new Soil Treatment with their Magical Engineers.
But.
‘That won’t be much use, I’m afraid.’
It wasn’t the real treatment.
‘Unfortunately, I don’t know exactly what ingredients the true treatment requires either.’
I only know that come autumn three years from now, the Imperial Court will distribute a new soil treatment.
Until then.
‘A massive famine will sweep across the entire empire, starting with the Eastern Region.’
An unprecedented catastrophe: the wheat and barley that comprise most of the empire’s production will wither in the Eastern Region.
Eventually, the Imperial Court and regional lords exhaust their grain reserves, yet even that cannot stave off starvation.
Of course, the price of all food skyrockets beyond measure.
I squeezed the mushrooms tight in my fist.
‘I wish the treatment would come sooner!’
Knowing the future and yet unable to prevent disaster—it stung a little.
Regardless, I need to do what I can now.
‘Which is why we absolutely must harvest barley in the North. If possible, wheat too!’
That way I could dodge the famine, earn money, and accumulate Divine Power all at once.
I stuffed the Pig Nose Mushrooms I’d been holding into a large sack.
“Off you go now.”
The soft, round mushrooms rolling away to market.
Meat-flavored mushrooms we could only harvest thanks to Bedel Village’s warmer climate.
I’d appealed to their nutritive and tonic properties, and a small apothecary in the countryside agreed to buy them.
With that money, I’d purchase more grain seeds.
‘Come to think of it, I never did roast any.’
“These mushrooms taste like meat when you roast them properly. Didn’t you know?”
A boy’s face rose unbidden in my mind whenever I thought of mushrooms. I shook my head to banish it.
‘It’s not like I’ll have a chance to meet him again in this life anyway!’
I waved toward the mushroom cart as it receded into the distance.
“Come back as fine wheat and beautiful oats.”
A few days later, our Northern Region successfully completed planting. We sowed barley across most of the farmland and carefully seeded wheat and oats in smaller quantities.
Beneath a clear blue sky, I patted the moist earth gently.
“Grow strong and tall.”
The planting season, fierce as war, had ended.
What would the first shoots look like, breaking through the rough northern earth?
‘The shoots will come in nicely, won’t they?’
Thump-thump. My heart raced.
The first spring in the North.
We’d done nearly everything we needed to do.
‘Now all that’s left.’
Is to wait.
Time flew by.
Especially for amateur farmers like me and Basil, it passed even more swiftly.
We learned many things about farming. The biggest lesson among them was.
That agriculture was surprisingly the most spicy, thrilling, and stimulating activity imaginable!
“Sprouts! They came up! Real sprouts are here! Your Grace!”
“…Hah.”
The rush of joy when the first shoots appeared!
“Insane.”
Basil, who’d been quietly observing the sprouts, suddenly swept me up and tore through the fields like a madman—that’s how intense it was!
Of course, it wasn’t all joy.
“…What is this? Weeds…?”
“Why are you just standing there? Get a sickle! At this rate, all the crops will die!”
When colossal weeds, fed on the tremendous power of the Dragon Vein, grew thick and tangled—a sight I’d never seen before in my life.
I wielded a child-sized hoe (which he’d actually purchased for me), while Basil grabbed every tool he could find and tore through the weeds like a man possessed.
Even with the entire village rushing in to help, the weeds were impossibly stubborn!
<>
If not for the special Herbicide that the mage Noah had concocted and brought—we’d have been in real trouble.
Once the weeds were somewhat under control, came the battles with birds of every kind, the occasional monster that prowled the area, and wild beasts.
Of course, this was also the Knights of Bertus’s specialty, so they made short work of it!
Still, worried as I was, I secretly affixed Divine Power Stickers to the fence that kept monsters out and to the scarecrow.
[Fence with a trickle of Divine Power flowing through it (x1)]
[Scarecrow with a trickle of Divine Power flowing through it (x1)]
– Divine Power flows through it
– Perfect for blocking the intrusion of wicked things!
– Divine Power is maintained for as long as the object’s durability lasts (Durability 5/5)
Tiny stickers in all sorts of bright colors.
Except for Basil, everyone probably thought I was just playing around sticking them on…….
‘Hehe.’
But I really was helping, you know!
And so spring and summer, two seasons, passed by.
In summer, settlers arrived yet again, so I was busier than busy.
And then.
Before I knew it, autumn.
The barren wasteland that had once stood empty was now packed so densely there was barely room to set foot.
I stroked the sturdy crops with glistening eyes.
“Wow, so plump…… the grain is so incredibly plump…… what do I do? They’re so adorable…….”
The grain, nourished by everyone’s affection and concern and hope, bowed heavy heads.
When golden waves began to ripple across the fields.
Pop!
[Challenge! Harvest Northern Nourishing Barley! (5/5)]
[Challenge! Harvest Northern Plump Wheat! (5/5)]
[Challenge! Harvest Northern Black Oats! (5/5)]
[Congratulations! You have completed the task!]
[Will you receive your reward?]
Our Northern Region…….
“Barley…… and wheat—!”
“Crops have come to the North!”
We had harvested the historic first crop!
* * *
That year, May.
A certain village.
The footsteps of a boy in a long grey robe came to a halt.
“……Why is this here.”
He picked up something sitting on a stall.
<Mountain Valley Rare Mushroom~ Great for gentlemen~>
A soft, pig-nose-shaped mushroom.
“……It’s here, isn’t it?”
Eyes as deep blue as the abyss. Hair the color of ash.
Despite his young age, the boy had something arresting about him.
Perhaps it was the feline slant of his eyes? Or maybe the mature expression that belied his nine years, the perfect posture.
“……This isn’t an ordinary mushroom.”
He fingered the soft mushroom.
This mushroom was definitely…….
‘According to the dream’…….
‘……It shouldn’t appear for another three years.’
When famine struck, when foreign merchants imported crops in bulk—only then, for the first time…….
His grip tightened on the mushroom.
“Ugh.”
A sharp headache washed over him.
It was always like this.
‘Recalling the dream’ made his head throb.
But he couldn’t stop recalling it.
“Did you run away too? I did…….”
To remember that girl, whose face remained blurred, he had to keep calling back the dream.
His name was Ruslan Aspelian.
He was the fourth prince of this empire.

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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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