The Baddest Villainess Is Back - Chapter 96

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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 96
Sprinkling this powder wouldn’t make the territory bountiful by tomorrow.
Sansar had explained long ago that the Emerald Stone of Plenty needed time for its power to seep into the earth.
Just as bears need winter sleep, the land too requires periods of dormancy and rest.
Only then would abundance sink deep into the soil, yielding increasingly rich harvests with each passing season.
The Duchy was honestly all but abandoned when it came to farming these days—most of the territory’s people worked in mining and similar trades.
“It’s strange, though. Crops like potatoes, sweet potatoes, buckwheat or beans, corn or kudzu or taro, yacon or cassava should grow well enough here.”
“Kudzu, taro, yacon, and cassava? I know potatoes and corn, but what’s a sweet potato?”
The Kalutas looked bewildered at Cherti Bellion’s words.
‘So there must be separate staples unique to Kaluta.’
Kaluta had long practiced isolationism, living almost entirely cut off from the outside world, so its culture had never been shared beyond its borders.
‘That’s why I suspected they must have their own food sources.’
It seemed Rozelin’s intuition had been correct.
The Kalutas, apparently caught off guard by her unexpected question, exchanged glances, scratched their heads, and opened their mouths.
“The items you mentioned are part of Kaluta’s staples, but the Empire has none of these?”
“We produce potatoes and beans, but I’ve never heard of the rest. I thought corn was difficult to cultivate since we import it from abroad.”
“Ah…….”
The men let out a low sigh at Cherti’s words, looked around for a moment, then broke into smiles.
“Miss Rozelin mentioned needing help with food and farming, and now we understand why…….”
A man who’d spoken softly nodded readily.
“We happened to bring some of our Kalutan crops just in case—lucky for us. Come along, and we’ll show you.”
“Have a good trip, Papa.”
Rozelin waved her hand languidly.
‘Thank goodness for that.’
She’d grown rather tired of the constant stream of worry beside her—urging her inside, telling her to wait, a perfect symphony of concern and nagging.
“What, you’re not coming along?”
“No, I’ll look around a bit longer.”
“……You’ll catch a cold.”
“Surely not.”
“Daughter, you always say ‘surely not,’ and then you fall ill.”
……
He had her there.
In truth, Rozelin did tend to take to her bed at the slightest exertion.
“I’ll be fine, really.”
Before Rozelin had finished speaking, Cherti Bellion removed the jacket he was wearing and draped it over her shoulders.
Rozelin’s eyes widened slightly.
“Rozelin.”
“Yes?”
“If you become ill, I want to die too.”
Cherti Bellion buttoned the jacket around her as he spoke. Rozelin regarded him with a composed expression and opened her mouth.
“That’s rather extreme.”
“Somewhat.”
Cherti looked at her with displeasure.
“Thank you, Papa.”
When she was younger, Rozelin had always wanted to run and play outside.
“I always wanted to receive something like this.”
……
“I was always sick, so I could never go out…….”
Rozelin spoke at an unhurried pace, then bit her lip gently.
“Father would suddenly appear whenever I tried to do anything, stare me in the eyes, scold me to stop being careless, and rage about how much trouble I’d cause if I moved recklessly…….”
“……Daughter.”
“Yes, Papa?”
“You’ve had a lot bottled up, haven’t you.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry. From now on, I’ll take a breath and listen. I didn’t realize.”
When Rozelin burst into laughter, Cherti’s eyes widened, and then he laughed in return, running his hand gently over her head.
“Be careful on your way, little one.”
“……Yes, Papa.”
Rozelin’s eyes grew wide, and she nodded with a faint smile.
After sending off the Kalutas and Cherti Bellion, Rozelin continued through the Duchy, sprinkling the green powder as she went.
The bead was small, so she’d only scattered it in a few key locations, but she’d been told the abundance would spread. Given a few years, the Duchy would have more than enough crop harvests.
‘For now, it’ll be emergency crops, but….’
Once farming began to thrive, people would start researching how to obtain better crops even in barren conditions, and agriculture itself would develop.
Rozelin finished scattering all the powder and brushed off her hands.
The Bellion Duchy lay fairly close to the boundary of the forest commonly called the Monster Forest. Consequently, the Duchy was constantly engaged in combat with monsters emerging from it.
The reason the Duchy’s mineral and weapons industries were comparatively advanced had much to do with that.
In the process, the blood of monsters and the miasma of the forest had seeped into the very soil of the Bellion Duchy.
That was why harvests were so poor.
The Bellion Duchy, standing like a gatekeeper at the front line, held back all the corrupt things emerging from the Monster Forest, shielding the territories behind it from serious harm.
‘And yet they didn’t know that…… and went around threatening with food supplies.’
Rozelin herself hadn’t known until recently.
But the moment she unfolded a map some time ago, she’d learned the truth. The Bellion Duchy bore all the burden alone, while other territories used food as leverage for coercion.
“…….”
Indeed, when the Bellion Duchy had collapsed in the future she’d seen, chaos had swept through the north.
Monsters crawling out of the Monster Forest had set their sights on the neighboring territories near the Bellion Duchy as their next target.
A faint smile settled at the corners of Rozelin’s mouth.
‘Come to think of it, the banquet is coming up soon.’
The Moonlight Festival.
Once a year.
An autumn celebration held in the Bellion Duchy, meant to pray for abundance and to wish for safe passage through another winter free from monsters.
And held a few days before that festival was the Moonlight Banquet, held within the Duchy itself.
Comically, its stated purpose was to strengthen the bonds between the Duke’s household and other noble families before praying for safety from monsters and abundance.
But in reality, it was a gathering where everyone came with various demands for the ducal family.
Grandfather conducted trade simultaneously with multiple territories.
Dealing with only one territory for food supplies was risky—if that territory fell into trouble or relations with its lord soured, it could spell disaster.
But importing from afar came with its own problems: shipping costs were steep, and food risked spoilage in transit.
‘The real issue is that these fools were colluding behind the scenes, joining hands with each other.’
Rozelin had come to understand this after leaving the Duke’s Estate and gathering information about trade with other households.
The food supply problem had caused Grandfather considerably more headache than she’d realized.
The other lords knew of Devon’s fiery temperament and his sense of responsibility that wouldn’t allow him to turn away his people.
That’s precisely why they’d conspired, using the territory’s food as collateral…….
‘This time, that won’t happen.’
Rozelin had decided to sever all trade agreements between the Duke’s Estate and other territories at this banquet.
‘……Didn’t those Kaluta people say they’d brought food from their homeland?’
He was one of the advance members Batar had brought into the Empire alongside Rozelin.
Even setting that aside, the fact that food from several months ago was still remaining meant……..
‘The food stores must have extremely good preservation.’
Thinking of how potatoes and beans kept well, it was reasonable to assume these foods were of a similar nature.
Which meant that if she established trade only with Kaluta, she could resolve the food shortage for this year and next.
‘It might even be worthwhile to shift food suppliers entirely to Kaluta.’
This would be better discussed with Batar.
Still, in a year or two, the territory’s people would at least have enough to survive on.
“Hmm? Rozelin! What are you doing here! Hey!”
“Batar.”
“The others went ahead earlier, so why are you alone! Hey? Where’s your escort! I’ve said it over and over—Rozelin is fragile and needs protection……..”
The boy stomped his foot with a heavy thud, his round eyes narrowing to sharp slits.
His bright eyes looked ready to bolt out and beat someone senseless that very instant, so Rozelin hastily spoke up.
“I asked Father to explain something to me. I said I’d look around the territory alone.”
“……No matter what, what if you die on the road! Either way, from now on I’m your escort, hey.”
Batar declared this firmly, clapping his two fists together with determination.
Rozelin let out a small laugh. At that, Batar’s cheeks flushed red.
The flustered Batar kicked at a stone on the ground.
Whiiiine!
Thud—!
The stone, which she’d thought kicked lightly, flew at an invisible speed and embedded itself deep into a tree trunk.
“…….”
Rozelin decided not to provoke him further.

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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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