The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living - Chapter 41

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 41

 

A maid came chasing after me from behind in alarm.

 

“Young Lady, your shoes are getting dirty!”

 

In fact, when looking at various crops in the territory, getting dirt on them was unavoidable.

 

The maids wailed as they accepted this fact. They realized that otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to eat potatoes.

 

However, getting dirt on my shoes in front of other nobles seemed to be something they couldn’t bear to watch.

 

“Brisa? Is there something you want to see? What should we look at?”

 

Alpheus, who had approached in the meantime, picked me up.

 

I spoke slowly.

 

“It would be good to dig up some soil. Is there a shovel nearby?”

 

“There might be one at that farmhouse nearby! Just a moment!”

 

Alpheus quickly put me back down and ran off like the wind.

 

It was something he could have ordered a subordinate to do, but Alpheus still wasn’t accustomed to such things. In fact, all this time, whenever I suggested something, it had become his habit to move his own body.

 

‘It’s my mistake.’

 

I thought with a feeling of regret.

 

‘I should have taught him that a marquis shouldn’t personally fetch a shovel even if his sister mutters that she needs one.’

 

Even after teaching him how to handle about 100 different situations, it was still insufficient.

 

A leader who led by example would have been popular in a mercenary company, but a marquis running to find a shovel was bound to be criticized.

 

The maid pretended not to notice with a face that said ‘Well, it’s not our Young Lady,’ and Wendy looked like she didn’t even know what was wrong.

 

Only Gillab chuckled with an understanding expression. He had surely heard rumors about Alpheus, who had suddenly become the Marquis of Sears.

 

Soon after, Alpheus returned with a shovel.

 

“Phew, the owners weren’t there! Just in case, I left a coin. I did well, right? Well, it could be a precious shovel with some story behind it, you know?”

 

I was certain that among everyone here, Alpheus was the only noble who had actually seen a coin.

 

Gillab’s mouth fell open with a face that said ‘He carries… coins?’

 

Alpheus cheerfully exclaimed.

 

“Alright, let’s dig!”

 

It would have been even more ridiculous for me to step forward and tell Wendy to dig the ground.

 

Alpheus scooped up a shovelful of soil.

 

When Leopold and Gillab muttered ‘What are you doing…,’ Baron Forman firmly raised his hand.

 

“Just watch.”

 

Baron Forman warned ominously.

 

“Trust the Young Lady.”

 

It was when Gillab frowned and was about to retort ‘What?’

 

I touched the soil that Alpheus had scooped up without hesitation. As expected, it was just as I had anticipated.

 

I immediately turned my head and spoke to Gillab.

 

“First of all, the tomato becoming like this isn’t because of monsters.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Come here and touch it.”

 

“…Dirt? Me? What if there are microorganisms in that dirt that could penetrate my body?”

 

Gillab was horrified.

 

“Move aside, then.”

 

Then Leopold stepped forward and touched the dirt in the shovel.

 

He fell silent for a moment, then spoke.

 

“It’s cold.”

 

“Right. It’s cold. Even though it’s midsummer right now.”

 

The dirt was extremely cold. It was almost like ice.

 

I looked at Gillab and said.

 

“Tomatoes are crops that are very sensitive to underground temperature. Even if the air temperature is warm, physiological disorders occur immediately when the roots get cold. The ground here is extremely cold right now.”

 

As soon as Gillab heard that the tomatoes had changed color, he issued an evacuation order. So the farmers definitely didn’t have time to examine them carefully.

 

If they were farmers who had been tending to the tomatoes continuously, they might have noticed it was cold damage after looking here and there.

 

Since they kept approaching it only as a monster issue, they didn’t even think to directly examine the condition of the tomatoes.

 

Naturally, Leopold and the other western knights had no knowledge about crops either.

 

“Isn’t that an even bigger problem?”

 

Gillab jumped up and down.

 

“It’s midsummer, so why did the ground suddenly become cold overnight? Huh? That’s way too strange!”

 

“Right, it is strange.”

 

I nodded readily.

 

“And fortunately, there was one strange phenomenon.”

 

Gillab was still frantically agitated.

 

“What? Why is that fortunate? Are you talking nonsense because it’s not your territory?”

 

“It’s fortunate because we have as many clues as possible. Of course, I won’t ask if I need to explain even this. You were a student who understood one thing when taught one thing at the Academy too.”

 

I pointed to the warp and explained.

 

“The warp malfunctioned, didn’t it? Warps are greatly affected by magical fields… which means the magical field in this area is extremely abnormal.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“What could make the magical field abnormal overnight and also make the ground cold?”

 

“A magic stone.”

 

Leopold’s answer was faster than Gillab’s.

 

“As expected.”

 

I shrugged my shoulders.

 

“A student who understands two things when taught one is different.”

 

“You have no eye for talent, Brisa.”

 

Leopold replied indifferently.

 

“I understand about three things when taught one. Watch carefully.”

 

He gestured to his knights.

 

“Dig the ground focusing on areas where the tomato colors are particularly strange. There should be magic stones buried there.”

 

The knights followed his orders and went to the empty farmhouse to get shovels. Then they began digging the ground.

 

Alpheus watched this scene with a continuously worried expression. Then he declared he would leave coins at each farmhouse.

 

“What if it’s a shovel they vowed to use only a hundred times in their lifetime!”

 

The literary youth had a remarkable imagination.

 

“Someone’s precious keepsake, or, um, irreplaceable memories contained within…”

 

“Then just leave some silver coins behind.”

 

“That won’t do. We’re struggling to make ends meet too.”

 

Fortunately, the literary youth was also good at compromising with reality.

 

Leopold and Gillab were watching this scene side by side.

 

Alpheus might not realize it, but the boys were obviously evaluating his every move.

 

The newly emerged heir of the First Five Families.

 

The young man who would represent Sears in the future.

 

‘Wow.’

 

I sighed inwardly.

 

‘This is a disaster.’

 

I had done my best to teach him etiquette for visiting mansions, but I never expected to face this kind of situation.

 

Who would have thought we’d suddenly drop into a field.

 

I shook my head and muttered.

 

“It’s now impossible to pretend that Alpheus is a natural-born noble despite his upbringing.”

 

Then the maid whispered.

 

“Young Lady… that was impossible from the start… If you really wanted that, your dreams were too big…”

 

The corrupted Alpheus from the original story was somewhat decent.

 

Since he hadn’t turned dark, his self-esteem was still intact, making it difficult to cure his protagonist syndrome.

 

“Oh, it’s real! It’s a magic stone!”

 

Soon the knights began pulling up blue stones with their shovels.

 

“It’s a magic stone!”

 

“Congratulations, Gillab.”

 

I shrugged my shoulders at Gillab.

 

“To find so many of those rare magic stones. You could make quite a bit of money selling them to the Magic Tower.”

 

“Huh? Uh…”

 

Gillab looked somewhat dazed.

 

In contrast to his earlier frantic behavior, he rolled his eyes with a bewildered expression.

 

“But why did… why did the tomato field become a magic stone field in just one day? Is that even possible?”

 

“Would that be possible? It’s not like magic stones have seeds that scatter like dandelions.”

 

I shrugged my shoulders.

 

“Someone buried them and ran off. They’re all processed stones.”

 

Then Gillab’s eyes widened as if he had realized something.

 

“Aha! Not knowing that tomatoes are sensitive to cold damage?”

 

“No.”

 

I pointed out firmly.

 

“Not knowing that you have a tendency to make a fuss.”

 

While it was true that the tomatoes had wilted somewhat, they hadn’t turned completely green… it was something that could have been dismissed as just being hit by frost.

 

But Gillab, who was already timid by nature, had judged it as an emergency situation as soon as he heard the report.

 

“Wh-who? Who on earth could have buried it and run?”

 

“You know that while the Magic Tower suspended Warp services, the Dark Mages were operating illegal Warps, right?”

 

Leopold said, crossing his arms.

 

“They were trying to move using illegal Warp, but when the Magic Tower restored Warp services faster than expected, they got stuck. So it seems they temporarily buried it in a nearby field. If they just left it without burying it, the cold air would spread into the atmosphere and they’d be caught immediately.”

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