The Fake Wife of the Strongest Husband Wants to Survive - Chapter 18

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 18
In the end, Io revealed her abilities and made her mark, and thanks to her, they weathered the food crisis—earning Owen’s gratitude and attention. But that was Owen’s emotional trajectory.
What troubled Pesha was that his confinement posed a problem for her as well.
True, the false accusation would be cleared soon enough, but if Owen were transferred under guard, Swamp would face winter without provisions—and she would have to shoulder that burden in his stead.
Io had awakened her Purification Power at precisely that moment and cleansed the land, but without it, the only way to prevent disaster was to head off any incident before it took root.
“Unrefined grain can be eaten even after years have passed, so if the stock we purchase now has any surplus, we should be able to deplete it entirely by next year.”
Owen nodded at the adjutant’s words.
He seemed inclined to approve an additional grain purchase.
That was when Pesha spoke up first.
“That won’t work.”
Both men’s eyes turned toward her at once.
“Beg your pardon?”
“I said it won’t work. We can’t buy grain right now.”
When Pesha spoke without hesitation, cutting the matter short, the adjutant frowned abruptly, while Owen’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“Do you have a reason?”
“This year’s weather isn’t particularly better than last year’s, and the soil hasn’t changed, so it’s odd that rumors are spreading about a sudden increase in yield, don’t you think?”
At that, the adjutant—who had treated Pesha as though she didn’t exist until now—addressed her directly for the first time.
“What exactly strikes you as odd? Grain prices naturally fluctuate from year to year.”
“When the price drop is abnormally steep, there’s always a reason. If an Abundant Harvest is the reason you mentioned, then we should first examine why rumors of an Abundant Harvest started in the first place. Adjutant—what’s your name?”
“…Penrose.”
“Good. Lord Penrose, the three main agricultural regions in the Eastern Region are Purdens, Hexster, and Speider. I would formally request records of grain shipments from those places to verify them. To confirm the quality of grain we want to purchase, we need to know at least which region produced it, yes? And my guess is that despite all the rumor-mongering, there actually aren’t any regions where shipment volumes have increased.”
“Why… would that be?”
“Because those three regions have likely been restricting production or sales to maintain stable grain prices. But if supply suddenly flooded the market and prices dropped, wouldn’t that grain have come from somewhere other than those three regions? And what is its source? Can we be certain of its quality?”
……
“Moreover, it’s odd that predictions of an Abundant Harvest are spreading now, when it’s not even harvest season yet. Has a large volume of grain recently entered the trade market? If so, why? There must be an intention behind it. Don’t you think it’s premature to urge a purchase simply because the price has dropped, without understanding that intention?”
Penrose’s face looked as though the ground had opened beneath him.
‘Well, I’ve practically spoon-fed him the answer.’
As Pesha finished speaking with an expression of mild disgust, Penrose flinched and quickly asked a question.
“Are you saying we shouldn’t purchase grain even knowing we’ll face a food shortage come winter?”
“I never said that. Only that now is not the time.”
“Then when would it be appropriate to buy grain?”
At those words, Pesha let out a hum and placed her hands on her hips.
That was precisely what she’d been wondering herself.
“I’m about to look into that right now.”
* * *
Io needed to eliminate the trap Owen was about to fall into.
To do that, she couldn’t stop at simply not buying grain—she had to ensure that Earl Tomkins’s market manipulation failed entirely.
‘In the original story, Tomkins’s domain was said to consist of wasteland. So the grain released onto the market definitely won’t be legitimate goods.’
First, she needed to verify the quality of the grain.
Pesha ordered Penrose to purchase one sack of the cheap grain circulating in the market.
“I did as instructed and purchased it, but…”
The next day, Penrose arrived carrying a grain sack, muttering under his breath as he opened the mouth of the bag.
“To my eye, it’s ordinary grain. There are no signs of spoilage or insect damage.”
Pesha took a handful of grain from inside the sack and examined each individual kernel.
The contents looked like ordinary grain, just as Penrose said.
To prove his point, he gave Owen a handful as well.
“The kernels are large and plump—the quality looks excellent!”
While he proclaimed this triumphantly, Pesha stared silently at the grain in her palm.
Then Owen, who had been barely glancing at what Penrose offered, spoke to Pesha.
“Madam, it seems…”
He was about to say nothing appeared amiss.
But Pesha abruptly extended both hands toward Owen.
Both palms held grain.
“The kernels really are large. That’s what makes them easy to tell apart.”
“What…”
Owen alternated his gaze between the grains resting in Pesha’s small palms.
At first the difference wasn’t clear, but looking more closely, the left side was thicker and larger than the right, and its color was darker.
“The right is ordinary grain. And the left is Triticeale.”
“Triticeale?”
“It’s very similar to grain, isn’t it? Since it’s actually a cross-breed of grain and Rye, it has to be.”
Penrose sensed something amiss as well and drew closer to Pesha.
“Are you saying what I purchased isn’t wheat?”
“No, it is wheat. The problem is that it’s been mixed with Triticeale to inflate the quantity.”
The two men seemed unable to perceive any real difference between wheat and Triticeale.
That much was understandable—all grains looked more or less the same.
Unless one had studied plants and herbs as deeply as Pesha, or worked as a professional farmer, distinguishing them by sight alone would be nearly impossible.
“When a poor harvest strikes and wheat becomes scarce, people usually get through that year using barley or rye, which are cheaper and grow quickly, yes? But if we could capture both the nutritional value of wheat and the rapid growth of rye, we could minimize the impact of crop failure. That’s the thinking behind Triticeale’s creation.”
As Penrose listened to Pesha’s explanation, his brow furrowed sharply. “Then wouldn’t that be better? It grows faster than wheat and yet possesses wheat’s nutritional value, as you say.”

“Bread is wheat’s primary use, as you know. But bread made from Triticeale doesn’t rise well—it’s tough and tastes considerably worse. So it never established itself as a wheat substitute; it’s only been used as animal feed. One can’t say Triticeale is entirely worthless, but calling it wheat would be a stretch.”
At those words, Penrose’s alarm was unmistakable.
Had he purchased this false wheat without suspicion simply because of its low price, he would have suffered a grave loss.
Then Owen, who had been listening to the entire exchange, spoke up.
“But this troubles me. If problems arose when making bread, a scheme like this would be exposed quickly.”
Pesha nodded in agreement.
“Exactly. The deceiver meant to use this fake wheat only briefly, then abandon it. His real goal isn’t to profit from the false wheat itself—it’s to purchase the genuine wheat once its price has collapsed.”
Owen’s eyes sharpened as he absorbed Pesha’s words.
“Hoarding and Price Manipulation. But market tampering is a serious felony carrying imprisonment. Who would dare attempt something so brazen?”
“If we alert the Merchant Guild to this, an investigation will commence, but….”
Pesha poured the false wheat back into the sack, her mind working.
‘Tomkins wouldn’t have used his own name so openly. I’ll need to find another way to draw him out.’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————