I Raised the Northern Grand Duke as a Farmer Behind My Father’s Back Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The handwriting was a complete mess……

“……Good grief.”

A laugh slipped out of him.

This—this handwriting was ridiculously cute too—

Basil shot to his feet.

“No, wait. What is this?”

Why……

“Why is she gone again?!”

The bed was empty.

He bolted outside like a madman.

Then stopped dead.

Before him stretched an impossibly clear spring morning.

He had expected it……

but seeing it with his own eyes was even more astonishing.

“Ah……”

Basil stood blankly in front of the manor.

Then a dangerous laugh escaped him.

“F***……”

Was this really happening?

His red eyes slowly swept across his land.

The blazing sun.

Drip, drip.

Water falling from the roof.

Sweat beading along the back of his neck.

Camilla taking off her outer coat with a bewildered expression.

And most importantly……

Tiny, brazen footprints running tap-tap-tap across the muddy ground.

The sight made something snap inside him.

“……brat.”

“Yes?”

“Where is that brat?!”

Was she actually insane?!

She hadn’t even eaten breakfast!

Work, my ass!

I swung the hoe high into the air.

It was sooo heavy, but……

using every last bit of strength I had from eating bread—

Thud!

“The sound is different!”

No way!

[Challenge! Hoeing! (1/5)]

“Kyaaaaaaaah!”

It finally went up!

I looked down at the tiny patch of earth I had managed to dig into.

“So satisfying!”

Sparkling morning sunlight!

Warm wind!

Soft, thawed soil!

That was right.

The moment I woke up at dawn, I had run straight to the village farmland.

Honestly, I was a little surprised when I opened my eyes and saw His Grace asleep on the sofa.

There were damp towels lying around too.

Surely he hadn’t personally taken care of me all night?

Anyway, I had politely left him a note, so it should be fine!

Maybe because I had slept so deeply, my body felt amazingly light.

“La-la-la-la~”

“Kid. It’s slippery!”

Sir Luden, who had been nervously watching me from behind, had already stepped away.

“Sir Luden! Hurry! You need to gather the rest of the supply team! We have to start working right away!”

“……!!”

That one sentence had apparently been enough to send him running.

“Oh! And you sent the letter I asked you to send, right?”

“Of course!”

Sir Luden was a good ally!

And he was going to become insanely rich someday too……!

Maybe this time he’d become a happy rich person?

Hmm? Wait.

But if Sir Luden never left the North……

wouldn’t that lower the chances of him becoming rich?

I blinked.

Well. I remember pretty well what investment made him successful and how it happened!

I could help him later!

“Hehehe.”

I hoisted the hoe again with a grunt.

Because the formerly frozen ground had thawed, my feet sank deeply into the mud.

“Hoe the ground~ earn divine power~”

Thud!

[Challenge! Hoeing! (2/5)]

“Sweet bonus reward~ divine-power rich~ self-made success~ here I coooome~”

But can five swings of a hoe really cultivate this whole field?

The wide stretch of land wasn’t even properly divided into plots yet.

There were huge rocks scattered everywhere, and the soil was all tangled and uneven.

Honestly, calling it farmland was generous.

It was basically……

a wasteland.

When was I ever going to cultivate all this?

“Can I really…… feed myself……?”

Being independent wasn’t easy……

“Just keep going!”

Feeling depressed wouldn’t magically produce bread.

I raised the hoe energetically again.

Poke!

“Hyah!”

Poke!

[Challenge! Hoeing! (3/5)]

[Challenge! Hoeing! (4/5)]

Four swings complete!

Labor…… is beautiful!

Then—

DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU!

“Hm?”

Something was approaching in the distance.

A cloud of dust?

No.

The ground was wet now, so there shouldn’t even be dust.

Maybe it’s a monster!

Of course it wasn’t.

“You little hippo……! How dare you perform unauthorized labor!”

Grand Duke Basil came charging toward me with his red eyes blazing.

“Get inside and lie down right now!”

“But, but! Timing is important in farming! And this is (probably) my land!”

Overwhelmed by a sudden sense of danger, I worried he might steal my hoe.

So I hurriedly stabbed it into the ground first.

Poke!

“You little brat!”

Basil’s expression became even more terrifying.

[Challenge! Hoeing! (5/5)]

Done!

Saaaaaaaah—!

“Who told you to start hoeing…… Give me that right now!”

The Grand Duke strode toward me.

I stared at him—

then suddenly widened my eyes.

Ah. Wait.

Maybe because the weather had grown warmer, he was only wearing a light shirt.

Very tall.

Muscles everywhere.

A man strong enough to kill a five-hundred-year-old Mad Dragon.

And yet—

Honestly, isn’t he practically half-unemployed right now?

Why hadn’t I thought of this sooner?

Even if I’m independent now, there’s no way I can cultivate all this land by myself.

Besides, this would benefit His Grace too!

I dashed toward him.

His expression darkened further.

“You’re going to fall and smash your nose if you keep running like—”

“Your Grace! Your Grace! You know!”

I shyly held out the hoe.

“Do you perhaps…… enjoy shoveling?”

“……?”

“Would you like to farm with me on my land?”

Sure, he was a very high-ranking Grand Duke.

Sure, he was the terrifying strongest fighter of the North!

But—

“You have to work…… if you want to eat, right?”

In the face of survival, everyone was equal!

“Are you seriously trying to use me as your subordinate farming mercenary?”

Well, I didn’t exactly mean it like that……

Then white letters burst into view.

[Errand completed!]

[Would you like to receive your reward?]

“Gasp! Yeeeees!”

“……”

[Haniel’s Sticker Book (For Children)]

Divine Power Stickers in Storage: 200

Wooooow!

A tiny sprout-shaped sticker slipped straight into the sticker book.

• Collected Sticker Types: Thumbs-Up, Stomp! Footprint, (Not Obtained), [New] Fresh Green Sprout, (Not Obtained), (Not Obtained), (Not Obtained) …

I’m rich!

I’m riiiiich!

I looked up while grinning happily.

Basil was staring at me with an utterly dumbfounded expression.

Why does he look scary again?

The Grand Duke snatched the hoe straight out of my hands.

“What kind of six-year-old even are you?”

“A six-year-old who hoes!”

For now, I decided to keep quiet about the relationship between farming and divine power.

If I explain that, I’ll have to start with my one-on-one meeting with God and then go through my previous life…… and Dad…… one after another like a chain of sausages.

“You little…… I ought to fold you up like paper and……”

Gasp.

I knew this routine.

I immediately clung to Basil’s leg.

“Please don’t kick me out!!”

“I’m going to stuff you in my pocket.”

“……”

Huh?

“Yees?”

I blinked up at him.

Basil set me down and planted one hand crookedly on his hip.

“……You. Make one promise with me.”

“A promise? What is it?”

“You tell someone before you do things.”

“Tell who?”

“Who else?”

The Grand Duke poked my cheek.

“This is a very communication-friendly small territory where the lord receives every report directly.”

I blinked.

“You’re really going to give me a house? And land too?”

“Or you can leave.”

“No! I’m never leaving! I’m living here!”

I couldn’t hide my happiness.

I bounced up and down.

“Wow! I have a house! I have land too! I live here! I live in the Nooooorth!”

Dance, dance!

“Is it really that exciting……?”

The Grand Duke watched me with a complicated look, then turned his gaze toward the distance.

“Hah. So what are we going to grow first?”

Far away, Sir Luden, Butler Camilla, and three supply-team knights were dragging enormous carts toward us at insane speed.

There were bags of lime-based fertilizer, moisture-absorbing magic tools, all kinds of farming equipment, and bundles of straw from some kind of crop……

“Since dragon veins run through this land, crops might actually grow better here than elsewhere.”

“Ah, that is……!”

I abruptly stopped speaking.

Because errands were suddenly flooding in.

Pop!

[An errand from the God of Earth has arrived!]

[Challenge! Harvest Northern Nutritious Barley! (0/5)]

[Reward: 200 Pure, Pollution-Free Divine Power Stickers]

Pop!

[An errand from the God of Earth has arrived!]

[Challenge! Harvest Northern Plump Wheat! (0/5)]

[Reward: 200 Pure, Pollution-Free Divine Power Stickers]

Pop-pop!

[An errand from the God of Earth has arrived!]

[Challenge! Harvest Northern Giant Potatoes! (0/5)]

[Reward: 200 Pure, Pollution-Free Divine Power Stickers]

.

.

.

It was a gold mine.

Out of all these, the thing I had to do immediately was……

Definitely that one!

Honestly, it was also pretty much my only option.

More importantly, if I want to prepare for the huge problem that’s coming soon, I absolutely have to harvest this crop, even if it’s difficult.

I pressed my lips together firmly.

“Your Grace, our first crop is that!”

I tugged on his clothes and pointed forward.

The carts rattled closer.

Clatter!

At that moment, one of the sacks loaded onto a cart slowly opened.

Something inside shyly peeked out.