Raising the Grand Duke of the North as a Farmer Behind Dad’s Back - Chapter 7

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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 7
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And so I suffered a glorious defeat.
“Farming?”
Basil’s dismissive scoff echoed in my memory, clear as glass.
“You’re too weak to exert yourself like that. You’ll do yourself serious harm.”
“Oof!”
“Camilla, take care of it.”
The supposedly frail Grand Duke plucked me away with arms corded muscle, then left the room without a backward glance.
‘Why?’
Had I rushed in too hard?
‘Probably…….’
A complete stranger spouting nonsense about farming, this and that—no wonder he’d dismissed me as a fool who didn’t know the world.
But my heart was pounding with urgency!
‘He keeps trying to throw me out!’
And I’ve got that Paul fellow attached to me outside!
Beyond that, I couldn’t just sit idle. Because…….
I glanced sideways. White text bloomed into view, right on cue.
‘It arrived!’
A Divine Quest. And not just any quest—a massive one!
[Divine Quest from the God of Earth has arrived!]
[Analyzing quest details…….]
Pop!
[Challenge! Hoeing! (0/5)]
[“The first step to self-sufficiency. Farming is the foundation of all things.”]
Just hoeing? What could be so massive about that?
‘Heh.’
Wait till you see the reward!
[Quest Reward: Pure Non-toxic Holy Power Sticker
200 sheets
]
‘Gasp!’
No matter how many times I read it, my breath catches.
Not two sheets. Not twenty.
Two hundred sheeeeeets!
How could I possibly let this slip?
And yet something nagged at me.
‘Is hoeing really that hard? I only need to do it five times, after all.’
I thought it through and reached a conclusion.
A reward this generous meant one thing: hoeing in this Northern Territory must be no simple task.
I’d tried it earlier, sitting on the floor and poking at the ground with a fork, but it had done nothing—only earned me a round of applause from Camilla beside me.
‘Maybe this…….’
I stared at the white text intently.
[“Farming is the foundation of all things.”]
‘If I farm here, does that mean I can earn Holy Power hand over fist?’
My heart thrummed with excitement.
I couldn’t wait to rush outside and try the hoeing again.
‘But first…….’
I worked my jaw, chewing thoughtfully.
“That’s right, it’s quite good.”
Let me finish this stew first!
A large spoon full appeared in my mouth almost before I could open it.
I’d somehow become Camilla’s devoted stew-consumption specialist.
Truth be told, I’d been starving since yesterday, having gone without food.
I gulped down the stew and launched into a bow of gratitude.
“Thank you so much, Camilla! For the warm water, for sharing your stew, for your care—I’m truly grateful in every way……!”
“Of course, of course. Here—”
“So, about that—would you happen to have a hoe, by any chaaaaance—”
Another spoonful found its way into my mouth before I could finish.
Munch, munch.
I was a splendid child who could handle a bowl of stew on my own, yet for some reason, the butler refused to surrender her spoon to me.
“Hmm, it feels like I haven’t seen such a charming creature in about three thousand years…….”
Well, since she looks happy, I suppose I can set aside my magnificent appearance for now.
I accepted the food eagerly while my eyes swept across the room.
It was a bedroom kept immaculately tidy.
Structurally, it resembled a fairly respectable two-story manor, but still. It hardly seemed the sort of house a war hero like the Grand Duke of the Northern Territory would inhabit.
“But…… Butler, why is His Grace staying here? I naturally assumed he’d be at the Grand Duke’s Castle.”
“Mm.”
“And there don’t seem to be many people around either.”
“The Grand Duke’s Castle has yet to complete its repairs. The servants were sent away almost entirely some time ago.”
“Really?”
“It’s a matter of necessity to cut labor costs. Only the knights remain.”
I blinked. The situation seemed worse than I’d imagined.
‘I could have sworn he received a good sum as a victory reward.’
Where could that have gone? Had he spent it all on managing the territory over these past two years?
Yet Camilla showed no inclination to elaborate further, merely tapping my cheeks a few times.
“More to the point, does the soup suit your taste?”
“Yes! The potatoes are so fluffy, and the potatoes are so tender, and oh, the potatoes are wonderfully savory!”
“Hehe, I’m sorry. Since there’s nothing but potatoes left in the larder, I’m afraid. If you’d come by next week, you could have had meat pie instead.”
I sprang up again.
“Wait, wait! Are you subtly hinting that I’m allowed to come back here next week?”
“No. I mean it in the most literal sense. Regret and lamentation over something that won’t come to pass. That sort of thing.”
“As I thought…….”
Puff. My body collapsed back down with a deflated sigh.
“Butler. Can’t I just keep living here? Give me a house! Give me land! I came all this way just to see this!”
I pulled the Northern Territory Immigration Pamphlet from my pocket. Camilla reached over and stroked my head thoroughly.
“Well, truth be told, I’d like to say yes.”
“……!”
“But as my only superior, I’ve no particular desire to disobey His Grace’s orders.”
“Whimper.”
Seeing my disappointed face, she tapped my cheek lightly.
“Your puffed-up cheeks do look rather adorable. But don’t take it too hard. I’m not sure where you found that discarded pamphlet, but…… you’re not the only one being turned away.”
“Really?”
“Everyone who’s come here for the past several months has been politely sent back.”
“Why?!”
“There’s no way to make a living here.”
It was a devastatingly straightforward answer.
“Monsters prowl the land, the earth is cold and barren. There are mines, a river, forests—true enough. But the contamination is so severe that even approaching them is difficult. Adding residents to such a situation would be reckless, wouldn’t it?”
“Is the contamination really that serious?”
At my words, the butler gazed out through the window.
My gaze followed hers.
In the distance, the towering Snow Mountain of the North rose into view.
And visible alongside it was…….
‘Gasp, how terrifying.’
A colossal, blood-red peak.
I swallowed hard.
“Larger than you’d expect, isn’t it? That’s the corpse of the Radiant Dragon.”
“Yes…….”
That was right. It wasn’t a mountain peak at all, but the carcass of the Radiant Dragon that had perished on the mountainside.
It was so immense that it looked as though a new peak had risen.
It was a dragon five hundred years old, so perhaps it would take another five hundred years—or more—for that corpse to fully decay.
‘How on earth did Basil slay such a monster? Just how strong is he?’
Crackle, ssssssss—
Black smoke writhed from the peak, billowing upward into the sky.
The heat and toxins pouring from the carcass were extraordinary. This was why the Radiant Dragon had become humanity’s burden even in death.
And yet…….
‘……Wow, amazing!’
The black smoke spread no further, dissipating swiftly instead. It was thanks to the white Sealing Pillars arranged all around.
‘Father made those pillars!’
I searched my memory.
When no one could bear the malice of the dead Radiant Dragon.
It was the Holy Knight Dantelion who erected six pillars with tremendous Holy Power, forming a barrier.
He appeared alone out of nowhere… and in a single night, it was done.
Thanks to him, the Northern Territory became a place where people could actually live. It was truly the legendary work of a Holy Knight worthy of being recorded in the history books for all time.
‘And yet such a remarkable Holy Knight he was.’
Father’s Holy Power is, because of me….
“…you should go. Little one?”
“Y-yes, yes?”
“Your cheeks stopped moving. Ah, are you very afraid of that mountain?”
“Oh!”
I started chewing my cheeks again with a soft, munching motion.
“No, not at all!”
“Where was I? Ah yes. Contamination.”
Camilla continued the explanation.
“We’re managing to contain the poison emanating from that corpse well enough, but the contamination that has already spread—there’s nothing we can do about that. Apart from this village and a few trade routes, almost none of it has been purified.”
“I see….”
“If there were a temple in the Northern Territory, it might be different, but there isn’t one yet. …Blast those Imperial Court wretches. They promised to build a temple and then lied….”
Camilla’s voice grew progressively darker.
‘In other words, there’s no one to periodically purify the lands throughout the territory.’
Holy Knights and priests were always in short supply, always being sent where the need seemed more urgent.
And I knew that the urgency was always determined by subjective judgment, heavily colored by the convenience of adults.
‘The situation in the Northern Territory must be worse than I thought.’
Chew, chew.
‘So that’s why the Grand Duke lives here in the village like this.’
I can’t let this stand. I need to do something, fast!
Then maybe he’ll think I’m worthy and let me stay here!
I stared ahead quietly, then blinked my eyes wide once.
As if I’d been waiting for this moment, white letters bloomed before my 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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