Raising the Grand Duke of the North as a Farmer Behind Dad’s Back - Chapter 32

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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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Chapter 32
I stared blankly at the upside-down face, then broke into a wide smile.
“Hello!”
At that, eyes like blue seas trembled faintly before he withdrew his gaze.
Beneath the robe’s hood, fine ash-gray hair caught what little light there was.
Sharp, distinct features half-lost in shadow. Height a touch above his peers. A well-mannered voice. Posture that was upright and composed.
Which meant his name was…….
“Good morning, Seullan!”
“……Yes. Good morning.”
Seullan set me upright, then withdrew without hesitation.
“Master. I’ve brought the bottle.”

That was right.
Seullan was one of the new migrants who’d come to the Northern Region around summer.
Nine years old, if I recalled correctly.
He’d lost his entire family and companions to a monster attack, wandered alone, and ended up here—a truly tragic story.
‘Hmm. How do I put it…….’
I watched the back of Seullan’s figure as he moved busily about.
‘The atmosphere……? There’s something familiar about it, like I’ve seen it before somewhere.’
No, surely not.
No matter how thoroughly I ransacked my memories of my past life, I’d never met anyone like this boy.
In any case, Seullan possessed a modest talent for Magic, so he’d agreed to become Noah’s apprentice.
‘I think he said he was from a minority ethnic group at the Western Border.’
In fact, since several tribes mixed together at the Western Border, there was no way to know exactly which one he belonged to.
Regardless, Seullan knew a great deal for his age—whether because of that or not.
He knew many things I didn’t. Knowledge he’d picked up from wandering, as he called it.
Of course, thanks to the information Seullan had shared…….
I gazed at the sack containing Pig Nose Mushrooms.
‘I finally learned what this mushroom’s real properties are!’
Such a curious twist of fate…….
In my past life too, it was a boy with that same feel who’d told me this mushroom tasted like meat when roasted.
“This mushroom tastes like meat if you roast it properly in a fire. Didn’t you know?”
Could it be……?
‘No, that’s impossible~’
That boy from my past life…… well, he was…….
The Fourth Prince of the Empire.
It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but…… I’d met him when we ran away from home together.
After that, I died not long after, so I only met him that once.
‘Besides, his appearance is completely different!’
The prince had dazzling golden hair.
Seullan had subtly silvery-gray hair.
Of course, his facial features were also somewhat different.
If anything, the only real similarity was temperament, perhaps? Because the prince had been as composed as Seullan.
Seullan was a quiet child. So it was a bit difficult to grow close to him. Even now, he wouldn’t spare me a glance, absorbed entirely in tidying the house…….
‘Well, we’ll get closer in time!’
Once this matter settled, maybe I’d ask him to go fishing with me?
Just then, Noah looked up.

“Someone? Oh!”
I quickly peered out the window.
Only then did Seullan’s gaze fix on me, but I was watching through the window and didn’t notice.
‘Hmm, I thought it was about time for this.’
In the distance, Count Redermick’s carriage was barreling toward us with a thunderous clatter.
“Please…… please!”
The count came rushing over, tears and snot streaming down his face.
“Please sell me the barley from the Northern Region! Even a single grain! I’m begging you!”
* * *
Famine had struck the Eastern Region.
An unexplained Contamination had spread across the land.
A New Crop Plague.
Of course, come spring the Imperial Court had distributed “Cure” in preparation.
Since no one could predict how far the plague would spread, they had prepared generous stores of the remedy and scattered it throughout the empire.
But…….
Ultimately, the Cure proved ineffective.
At first, they thought the remedy was working.
The crops grew vigorously, as they always did. Yet it was only a temporary reprieve.
“Oh, what am I to do!”
“Barley prices have become astronomical!”
“And what of wheat! Dear gods! How are we meant to eat now!”
“Did you hear? Even the potatoes are gone! The South swept them all clean……!”
Cries of despair erupted from every corner.
“So the Cure was useless after all!”
“It makes no sense. They were thriving!”
“I already received all my advance payments……. We’re ruined, completely ruined, I tell you! Oh, gods!”
“When will they release a new remedy, for heaven’s sake!”
Yes, the crops had grown well indeed.
The grain ripened full and heavy, and the fields seemed to overflow with abundance.
But only to that point.
Whoosh—
No one had anticipated that the wheat and barley, mere days from harvest, would wither black.
The crops withered before anyone could intervene.
Overnight. In an instant.
Alarmed farmers rushed to harvest what they could, but it was for nothing. The gathered crops blackened just as swiftly.
The Eastern Region descended into chaos.
Wheat and barley yields plummeted to half—no, less than ten percent—of normal years.
Even the surviving crops were of poor quality.
Yet prices skyrocketed beyond reason.
Since the empire’s wheat and barley production had depended almost entirely on the Eastern Region, the damage was catastrophic.
But what truly seized people with terror was…….
“Wh-what is this……the very earth has blackened! The soil is contaminated!”
It was land that had lost all vitality.
What seed could ever be planted in a cursed field?
Priests and holy knights alike poured forth Purification on the Eastern soil, yet nothing availed.
“A famine is coming…….”
People were gripped by dread.
Meanwhile, at Rowena Market, where the largest grain trades of the Eastern Region took place.
Though always bustling, the atmosphere here too had grown gray and heavy.
With nothing to sell, no trade occurred. A market without commerce ceased to be a market at all. The merchants’ faces had turned ashen with despair.
“But there’s nothing left to sell!”
“Heavens……I have never seen this market so lifeless…….”
“What on earth is happening…….”
Just as all had fallen into despair.
Thud!
A stall was set up.
“……?”
And upon it, click-click-click, came plump, full grains of…….
……barley?
[Nutritionally Complete Northern Golden Barley]
[Limited Quantity Now Available!]
[Commonly Known as ‘Dragon Barley’]
[Order Now~]
[Origin: Bertus]
“What in the world am I seeing.”
People rubbed their eyes.
“Northern Region? Could it be……Nostein?”
“It says Bertus right there.”
“B-Bertus……? That place I know of? They’re growing crops there too?”
“Wh-what is this Dragon Barley, anyway? Some new variety?”
“Remarkable! Look at the quality of this barley! It’s magnificent!”
All eyes turned toward the stall in an instant.
Never mind that barley grew in the Northern Region.
How long had it been since she’d seen barley with such a lustrous golden sheen!
“This—this is healthy barley! I have to buy it right now. Shopkeeper! How much is this?!”
“Move aside! I’m buying it first!”
“It’s mine! I was in line first!”
In moments, chaos erupted in front of the shop.
“Wait, wait! Does anyone even know what the price is before buying?!”
“That’s right! Healthy barley in times like these? It’s got to be outrageously expensive!”
“Oh, now that you mention it, the price tag hasn’t gone up yet…….”
The attendant promptly posted the price.
[Price: 100 Gold per bundle]
Madness. Utterly insane.
One bundle—including the chaff and every last stalk—at 100 Gold? Normally, seed barley cost 1.5 Gold, maybe 2 Gold at most…….
“Under normal circumstances it would have gone for 1.5 Gold, maybe 2 Gold even at a premium…….”
A bundle was measured by how much straw an adult could cradle in both arms. You’d need to thresh roughly ten such bundles just to get one sack of barley seed.
The crowd’s faces fell.
“I’ll just go buy diseased barley instead…….”
“At least if we can find any at all, we should be grateful…….”
Then, just at that moment.
Thunk!
A sticker was plastered over the price tag.
[50% Flash Sale!]
[Price: 50 Gold per bundle]
Fifty percent off!
And yet…….
‘It’s still too expensive!’
“Sigh.”
The crowd turned away. Only a handful opened their purses to check what they had.
Then, moments later.
Thunk!
[Thump-thump! First Purchase Special!]
[Price: 1 Gold per bundle]
“I’ll take it!!!!”
The crowd surged forward like a swarm of locusts.
Of course, the quantity was limited, so the actual sales volume wasn’t huge.
But the crowd’s attention was certainly captured. Market-goers spread the word like wildfire.
“They’re selling barley that costs 100 Gold at a special price of just 1 Gold!”
“Where?”
“The Northern Region!”
“The Northern Region…… can grow crops there?”
“If they can grow them, why else would they label it Northern Region product and sell it? And if the harvest is that abundant, why would they sell barley for 1 Gold?”
“So the North is the only place that survived in times like these?”
“What in the world is happening up there?”
And one merchant, watching all this uproar unfold, found himself thinking.
Northern Region barley—the very combination of words made his head spin.
But this chaotic yet undeniably effective sales method…….
‘Whose mind could have dreamed this up?’
An irresistible curiosity stirred within him.

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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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