The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living - Chapter 70

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

Chapter 70

 

9. Summer Wheat Showdown

 

Grand Duke’s Castle reception room.

 

After Dahlia and I verbally agreed to the summer wheat showdown, a meeting was arranged to discuss the official procedures.

 

“A showdown…”

 

Alpheus, Dahlia, and I sat in a row.

 

In front of us sat Hilberry and Duke Dibostane.

 

Duke Dibostane, the hegemon of the Eastern Region, was an indecisive person.

 

While unable to oppose his wife’s opinions, he was simultaneously swayed by his mistress, who was a merchant leader.

 

So even when an atmosphere supporting his illegitimate Second Son, who couldn’t bear his surname, prevailed among his retainers, he couldn’t maintain his center well.

 

“Well, that is, ah, this is really…”

 

Duke Dibostane let out a deep sigh.

 

This matter was entirely caused by the Duchess of Dibosthan. Therefore, Duke Dibostane looked extremely troubled.

 

“So Miss Dahlia and Miss Brisa are having a showdown…”

 

“No.”

 

I immediately corrected him.

 

“My brother and I versus Dahlia.”

 

I could never win alone. Alpheus absolutely had to help me.

 

This was similar to war. No matter how clever an advisor might be, there had to be a general they could use. In that sense, Alpheus was the finest commander.

 

“Brisa…”

 

Alpheus looked at me with eyes filled with emotion.

 

I glared at him fiercely and secretly stepped on his foot. To prevent him from saying something useless like “We really are precious family, just the two of us under heaven.”

 

Alpheus couldn’t be harsh toward Dahlia. Because Dahlia was young.

 

The protagonist consistently advocated for protecting the elderly and weak. Therefore, I, an equally weak person, had to step forward.

 

“To see who can harvest more summer wheat… is that right?”

 

“Yes. The conditions are equal.”

 

I explained calmly.

 

“We’ll plant summer wheat on land that was considered unsuitable for growing wheat and compare the harvest rates.”

 

In the past, farming wouldn’t even have been a topic of conversation among nobles. But after enduring the past two months when Warp wasn’t working, people had changed.

 

Just look at Baron Forman – didn’t he immediately abandon the Western Region custom of leaving a little food on the plate?

 

“Would that… be easy?”

 

Duke Dibostane frowned and clicked his tongue.

 

“Farming isn’t something that happens overnight. And how could noble young ladies…”

 

Then Dahlia smiled brightly and said,

 

“I’ve manifested my special ability. So I can do it.”

 

“Sears’ special ability, 【Taming】… Hmm…”

 

Duke Dibostane stroked his chin.

 

Indeed, he was truly a man who made his entire family miserable with that frustrating attitude.

 

I raised my eyebrows and asked, thinking this was the perfect moment.

 

“Ah, and by any chance, did you hand over all the magic stones to the Magic Tower?”

 

“Ah, yes.”

 

Duke Dibostane spoke as if he had just remembered.

 

“I had forgotten for a moment. I heard you negotiated with Gillab to receive 10% of the magic stones. I’ll naturally provide them.”

 

I clicked my tongue inwardly.

 

‘He was obviously planning to just swallow it all.’

 

There was no way he had ‘momentarily forgotten’ about an incident involving the excavation of such a large quantity of magic stones.

 

It wasn’t for nothing that I had previously dragged even the Western Region people to Duke Dibostane’s Estate to get a firm promise about compensation.

 

Of course, his promise to ‘give’ them right now wasn’t because Duke Dibostane was honest either.

 

‘He wants to ask about that day.’

 

The day when a monster making strange sounds appeared at Duke Dibostane’s Estate, and water unexpectedly rose.

 

He was undoubtedly trying to quickly silence me in case I might mention that day.

 

Of course, being poor, I was willing to keep my mouth shut if he paid me as promised.

 

“Thank you. You can give them to me as magic stones. The commission fees would be a waste.”

 

“The magic stones have already been sold to the Magic Tower… There are also legal issues, so how about receiving cash instead?”

 

At this point, Duke Dibostane glanced at Dahlia.

 

I answered confidently.

 

“Grand Duke Nogen said he would resolve those legal issues.”

 

“But he can only resolve them if he wins the duel, can’t he?”

 

“He’s going to win. If you permit it, I’ll handle sending a letter to the Magic Tower myself.”

 

“Well, go ahead.”

 

Duke Dibostane nodded. From his perspective, there was nothing particularly to lose.

 

Extremely satisfied with having secured the magic stones, I now shifted the topic to the duel.

 

“I’m planning to plant wheat in the herb field near Seldoche Plains. Wouldn’t Dahlia need land too?”

 

Naturally thinking it would be fair to duel under the same conditions, I was planning to request land in the Western Region for Dahlia from Hilberry.

 

But Dahlia quickly spoke up.

 

“Ah, then how about the tomato field where magic stones were recently excavated?”

 

“What?”

 

“They uprooted all the tomatoes to look for magic stones, right? You have to uproot the herbs too, so aren’t you in similar situations?”

 

I blinked and asked back.

 

“Dahlia, now that you’re twelve years old, isn’t it time you tried thinking, even if just occasionally? The Eastern and Western Regions have completely different environments and climates. Do you really think a duel held in different regions would be fair?”

 

And after sighing once, I added.

 

“The Western Region has traditionally been the granary region. Moreover, what we’re planning to plant is summer wheat, a special seed variety from the Western Region.”

 

I was too fair-minded to just let this slide.

 

“It would be absolutely advantageous for me. Besides, how are a field where tomatoes were uprooted and a field where herbs were uprooted similar?”

 

“Kids who lack confidence always obsess over trivial things.”

 

Dahlia spoke with a sneering expression.

 

“How can I trust the Western Region and compete there? All the farmers in the Western Region would be on your side, and who knows if they’d secretly sabotage my field!”

 

When Dahlia openly expressed her distrust of the Western Region people, Hilberry frowned with displeasure. I raised my eyebrows and tried to persuade her once more.

 

“But Dahlia, this puts you at a complete disadvantage from the start…”

 

“My special ability has nothing to do with that. It’s so great that trivial things like environmental factors can’t affect it.”

 

At this point, me trying to persuade her to ‘please compete fairly’ felt like I was certifying myself as a complete pushover.

 

I wondered what exactly this ‘special ability’ was that made her so confident.

 

That’s when Duke Dibostane interjected.

 

“Well, if you really think the Sears young lady’s side has the advantage, how about letting Miss Dahlia choose the summer wheat seeds first?”

 

I frowned slightly. Letting her choose the seeds first would definitely give Dahlia an extremely advantageous hand.

 

“I don’t know the details, but I’ve heard that with summer wheat, the Western special variety, the larger the seeds, the taller they grow and the more wheat grains they bear.”

 

Duke Dibostane added.

 

“Well, that’s a correct explanation.”

 

As I slowly nodded, Dahlia quickly said.

 

“Oh, then let’s do it that way.”

 

Then Hilberry, who had been silent the whole time, spoke up.

 

“Then we have a conclusion.”

 

He seemed to judge that there was no need to negotiate conditions any further.

 

“The Western herb field, the Eastern tomato field. Growing summer wheat there. The right to choose seeds goes to Dahlia Hawin.”

 

In fact, it wasn’t a losing deal for anyone.

 

The herb field had already been replaced with hydroponic cultivation, and the tomato field had already earned all the money it could from magic stones.

 

In a way, it looked like the Eastern and Western Regions were providing unused land for the Central Region’s gossip.

 

Hilberry summarized cleanly.

 

“Unofficially, this becomes a matter of whether or not to acknowledge Sears’ special ability that Miss Dahlia claims to possess.”

 

It was a perfect summary.

 

“For fairness, we’ll make the land area, number of wheat seeds, and manpower invested exactly the same. You must decide everything yourself without asking local farmers for opinions. The cultivation period will be about three months.”

 

Everyone agreed.

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