Raising the Grand Duke of the North as a Farmer Behind Dad’s Back - Chapter 35

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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 35
A few months ago.
“……I’ve heard that this mushroom must endure extreme conditions in order to grow. That’s why it only appears in limited places.”
Slaan came from a western minority people who drifted from place to place, so he’d seen and heard quite a lot.
‘He even said he’d met people from other continents from time to time.’
That too was information I’d learned from them.
“Really? So that’s why you were looking at it so carefully!”
“Yes. I didn’t know this mushroom could grow in the Northern Region. I thought it only grew in foreign lands.”
“Hmm.”
“And I certainly didn’t expect it could be harvested now that the Northern Region has become warmer……”
A boy holding a tan-colored mushroom.
In that moment, watching his profile——
For some reason.
My head gave a sudden jolt.
‘……Wait. Hold on.’
A forgotten memory surfaced.
“Extreme…… conditions? Limited regions?”
A single line from an agricultural newsletter I’d read in my past life flickered past.
That is—the contents of a newsletter that would come out three years from now.
Zetan Kingdom’s first diplomatic relations; will the Empire’s food crisis be resolved?
An eastern crop disease spreading unchecked.
The food shortage growing steadily worse.
Finally, the Imperial Court decides to import food from abroad.
One of the first imports is none other than this:
A mysterious mushroom with healing properties
Why had I forgotten this?
It was definitely……there in the text.
This mushroom secretes a protective substance when it senses danger
——a Detoxification Secretion.
The more it endures extreme conditions,
the more of this secretion is produced, according to their findings……(abridged)
Currently, the Imperial Court’s experts are researching the
healing properties of this newly imported
mushroom.
Meanwhile, Zetan Kingdom is a mysterious nation with unique flora located beyond the Southern Sea on the Itess Continent. (continued)
A mushroom with no picture printed in the newsletter, only its name listed.
‘Healing properties! Detoxification Secretion!’
It was a mushroom with a very, very important role.
So why hadn’t I realized it was the Pig-Nose Mushroom?
‘Because……the name was different!’
The official import name was
the ‘Golden Button Mushroom.’

There was a risk of confusion with the domestic ‘Golden Button Pattern Mushroom,’ so the Imperial Court and agronomists were deliberating over a new name.
‘They were the same thing!!!!’
After that, I ran away from home and met the ‘Prince.’
Even when the Prince I met after running away handed me a mushroom, I never dreamed it was the Golden Button Mushroom equaling the Pig-Nose Mushroom!
‘I just thought it was a new species I didn’t know about!’
I hadn’t seen a picture of it.
And the name was different.
‘So I only thought of it as a mushroom with a meat-like flavor, just as the Prince had told me. One with no special properties!’
Of course, later the correct picture of the mushroom and corrected name would appear in the newsletter.
But after that, Mucoerosis broke out in me, and I couldn’t properly read any newsletters at all.
‘Plus, it’s highly likely that the newsletter never mentioned it was the main ingredient in Soil Contamination Treatment. They would have kept it secret.’
Because if that became known, Zetan Kingdom would likely raise the mushroom’s price.
In any case, right now no one knew this fact yet.
My heart pounded frantically.
“Gasp! Wait—so that was it?”
The forest god’s collection errands that came every day without fail……!
The errand I always thought was ‘generous’ because it offered fifty Merit Points as a reward compared to the collection difficulty.
‘What if… this wasn’t just mushroom gathering, but an errand to procure the main ingredient for the Soil Contamination Treatment?’
I was going mad.
I rushed straight to the Grand Duke.
“Your Highness! These mushrooms might actually work on the Eastern Region’s soil contamination!”
“What?”
I hurried to explain to him, who was in the middle of weeding.
Of course, I was vague about my memories from my past life, making it sound as though I’d received some revelation in a dream.
“The true efficacy of this mushroom is healing?”
“Yes! The more extreme the environment it endures, the more Detoxification Secretion it produces! Though we’ll need to process it properly, of course!”
“…Extreme environment, you say.”
Thump-thump.
“This one did survive both the Northern Region’s bitter cold and the contamination.”
“Exactly! It’s definitely going to have some really, really powerful detoxification secretion!!”
We immediately commissioned the mage Noah to run experiments.
Noah threw herself into the work all summer long.
And after numerous trials and errors, she finally developed the treatment.

It had been an absolutely incredible summer.
‘Now all that’s left is to sell this treatment well!’
Of course, there was no problem with the supply of Pig-Nose Mushrooms, the main ingredient.
The Northern Region’s contamination and cold were merely the conditions necessary for the mushroom to first take root.
After that, thanks to the mushroom’s ability to reproduce via spores, the same variety continued to grow even after Bedel Village’s environment improved.
‘This is looking like quite a profitable year, actually.’
I covered my mouth with my hand and giggled.
“Another strange laugh….”
Slaan shook his head as he organized supplies.
“More importantly… carts have been arriving one after another since earlier. What is all this?”
Slaan peered out the window and asked.
“Hmm?”
Snapping out of my reverie, I turned my head to follow Slaan’s gaze.
My eyes widened of their own accord.
“Special Hay for livestock that Redermic sent, and timber to build the cattle sheds!”
“Ah, so you arranged to receive livestock from Redermic’s stock, then.”
“Yep!”
I grinned widely.
“Tons and tons of it!”
Due to the carts rolling in and raising clouds of dust, the floor was covered with wheel marks.
‘Redermic may be tiresome, but the livestock bred on his lands are famous for their superior bloodlines!’
I’d been wanting to introduce oxen into the farming next year anyway, so this worked out perfectly.
“Please! Please sell me some Barley Seeds! Even just ten bags would be enough!! If word gets out that I don’t have a single grain of backup seeds…! I really…! It could spell disaster for me. My house could crumble…….”
I recalled Redermic’s face as he clung to the Grand Duke’s trousers.
In case seeds fell ill, each territory in the Empire kept backup seeds on reserve.
‘Even if it’s not a plague, sometimes monsters attack and crops become contaminated.’
Yet he’d used them all up.
‘How pathetic.’
It was laughable.
Well, at least the Grand Duke looked delighted about it.
“Thank you, Count.”
“Pardon?”
“Thank you for being so selfish and foolish. So…… you’ll meet all my conditions.”
“Yes, of course! I’ll do everything! But…… my uncle, I mean, Duke Rowen…… if you could keep this matter confidential from him…….”
The Count seemed desperate to handle this mess without the Duke’s knowledge.
The Grand Duke, after a moment’s thought, grinned like a devil.
“Fine by me.”
“No reparations, receiving livestock consistently, and the new cattle shed…. How much Special Hay for the oxen did you agree to provide?”
Slaan asked.
I confidently held up my fingers in a V.
“…Two months’ worth?”
“Hmm.”
“You don’t mean… two years’ worth?”
A nod.
Slaan exhaled sharply, twice.
“Stripping it all bare with just a few pouches of Barley Seeds.”
Then his expression turned cold.
“Yet the Grand Duke decided to give up the seeds. After that fellow demanded payment for killing the monsters, you’d think he’d refuse — even a small amount of such carefully cultivated Barley Seeds…”
“Oh, it’s fine!”
I beamed. Slaan’s head tilted slightly.
“Besides, Count Redermic won’t get his hands on those seeds anyway!”
“…?”
In the distance, Count Redermic’s carriage was receding from view.
I’d deliberately dragged out his departure for days before finally sending him off.
I watched him go with satisfaction, then turned away.
“Oh, right. Look at the time! Slaan, let’s go!!”
I set down the pouch containing the Pig-Nose Mushrooms at the cottage and turned to leave.
“Where to.”
Eyes like the deep sea rolled to follow me.
“The Town Square! They’re putting up the Harvest Festival decorations!”
The village square was already buzzing with activity.
Wood and bundled straw were stacked neatly, and a large decoration had been built in the center!
“I need to pray to the Goddess of the Land for another bountiful harvest next year!”
“Ah, well, I’ll pass on that…”
“And Helen said she’d make you a scarf out of Red Yarn! To commemorate your first earnings in the Northern Region!”
In the Empire, there was a custom of gifting something red to a dear person when they received their first wages or first earnings.
‘They say it brings greater fortune, or something like that?’
The recipient was said to be blessed with luck and happiness.
“A scarf~ a scarf~ Come on, Slaan, let’s go get yours too!”
Slaan looked thoroughly unenthusiastic.
“Come ooon! Yes?”
Bursting with excitement, I reached out to grab the boy’s arm. But then—
Tap.
He stepped back lightly.
A chill descended instantly, wrapping the air around us. The blue gaze fixed on me held something unmistakably hostile.
“Don’t.”
……
“I’d prefer it if you wouldn’t touch me.”

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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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