I Raised the Northern Grand Duke as a Farmer Behind My Father’s Back Chapter 29

Chapter 29

“We’re going all-in on barley.”

“Pardon?”

Camilla blinked.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. And…… buy more oat and wheat seed too. Plant those as well.”

“……”

“There’ll still be some land left over after we sow all the barley in the fields I cleared. Use that.”

“……Your Grace. You do remember Count Ledermeck came here, right?”

“You think I’d forget?”

That bastard count who hurt my little hippo……

Even after he dies, I’ll beat him up if he shows up in my dreams.

Camilla spoke cautiously.

“Then…… wouldn’t it be better to plant potatoes or turnips on about a third of the land instead?”

“No. If we’re going to spend money on potatoes and turnips, we might as well buy more wheat and oat seed.”

“The problem is…… we don’t actually have enough money left to buy wheat and oats.”

“We can sell the mushrooms.”

He jerked his chin toward the small forest behind the village.

The Pig-Nose Mushrooms he had gathered with Haniel.

They were rare enough, and there were plenty of them. Selling them should cover at least part of the cost.

“Anyway, this is what we’re planting this year.”

“……”

Camilla couldn’t argue any further.

She knew that once the Grand Duke made a decision, he never backed down.

Basil cleared his throat and patted the round silver head sitting beside him.

Haniel, who had been scribbling furiously in her sketchbook this entire time, quietly met his gaze.

The hand stroking her hair trembled—

just a little.

Barely.

Hey, baby hippo. This is right, yeah? This is really right?

Good job.

The child’s eyes sparkled brightly.

In truth, this had been Haniel’s plan.

On the way back to the manor after encountering the brawl in the square, Haniel had been deep in thought before finally speaking.

“Your Grace…… actually…… lately, my dreams have been……”

“What about your dreams?”

“……I keep…… seeing things in them……”

Basil had immediately panicked, wondering if the child was sick.

Haniel shook her head.

“I think…… maybe because I’ve collected so much divine power…… I can see…… a little bit of the future.”

“What?”

Very little was publicly known about divine power or the Temple.

Naturally, even less was known about what special abilities a child with divine power might possess.

“So…… soon, in the East……”

“All the wheat and barley…… are going to wither and turn black……”

A chill ran down Basil’s spine at her whisper.

He stared at Haniel’s round, puffed cheeks.

It was difficult not to believe her after everything miraculous that had already happened in this village.

So Basil had no choice but to listen.

And if what she said was true……

Jackpot.

Maybe this could become their proper debut.

Squish, squish.

I calmly played with a Pig-Nose Mushroom while recalling information from before the regression.

It should be around this year.

The eastern crop disease incident.

The strange poison created in District Z spread throughout the East.

The soil became contaminated, and every crop growing there withered away.

Before the regression, Dad had been so busy dealing with the incident that he barely had time to breathe.

Even now, he was probably somewhere in the East investigating the contamination and poison.

Unfortunately, there was no way to prevent the soil contamination at this point.

The District Z village chief had probably already released all those tiny bug-like organisms that carried the strain.

They never found out why he did something like that.

Because all the culprits died before they could be properly captured.

Of course, the imperial family didn’t just sit around doing nothing.

They quickly identified the nature of the poison and worked with magitech researchers to develop a new soil treatment.

But—

That treatment won’t really work……

It wasn’t a true cure.

Unfortunately, even I don’t know what ingredients are used in the actual treatment.

All I knew was that about three years later, around autumn, the imperial family would begin distributing a newly developed soil remedy.

Until then……

The East—and eventually the entire Empire—will suffer an enormous food shortage.

The East produced most of the Empire’s wheat and barley.

When all of it dried up, it became an unprecedented disaster.

The imperial family and every territorial lord eventually released all of their stored food.

But even that wasn’t enough to stop the famine.

Naturally, the price of food in general skyrocketed.

I squeezed the mushroom tightly.

I wish the real treatment would be developed sooner!

Knowing the future……

but having no way to stop the disaster made me feel frustrated.

Still, I had to do what I could right now.

That’s why we absolutely have to harvest barley in the North. And wheat too, if possible!

That way, we could avoid the food shortage, make money, and earn divine power.

I dropped the Pig-Nose Mushroom into a huge sack.

“So…… goodbye……”

My squishy mushrooms were being sold away.

These meat-flavored mushrooms could only be gathered because Bethel Village had become warm again.

We advertised their mild restorative effects, and a small rural medicinal shop agreed to pay a decent price for them.

We decided to use that money to buy more grain seed.

Come to think of it, I never got to roast one……

“If you roast this mushroom properly, it tastes like meat. You didn’t know?”

The boy’s face automatically surfaced whenever I looked at the mushrooms.

I shook my head hard to chase the memory away.

It’s not like I’ll have any chance to meet him in this life anyway!

I waved gently toward the mushroom cart as it rolled away.

“Come back as wonderful wheat and oats……”

A few days later, we successfully finished sowing in the North.

Most of the farmland was planted with barley.

We also planted smaller amounts of wheat and oats.

Beneath the blue sky, I patted the damp earth.

“Grow big and strong……!”

And with that, the warlike sowing season came to an end.

What would the first sprouts pushing through the harsh northern earth look like?

They’ll sprout properly…… right?

Thump, thump.

My heart raced.

Our first spring in the North.

We had done almost everything we could.

Now all that remained was……

Waiting!

Time passed quickly.

Especially for beginner farmers like His Grace and me.

We learned all kinds of things about farming.

And the biggest lesson of all was……

Farming was unexpectedly the ultimate spicy, thrilling, high-stimulation activity!

“Sprouts! Sprouts came up! They really sprouted! Your Graaaaaace!”

“……Hah.”

The thrill of seeing the first sprout!

“Holy shit.”

His Grace stared at the sprout for a moment—

then suddenly hoisted me onto his back and sprinted wildly through the fields.

That alone said everything.

Of course, it wasn’t all happiness.

“……What the hell is this? Weeds……?”

“What are you standing around staring for?! Grab a sickle! If we leave them, the crops will all die!”

After absorbing the tremendous power of the dragon veins, enormous weeds unlike anything we had ever seen started growing everywhere.

I grabbed my child-sized hoe—

He bought it for me……!

—and Basil took every farming tool he could find.

We weeded like maniacs.

Even with the whole village helping, the weeds were unbelievably persistent!

<LOL, are you guys stupid?>

If not for the special herbicide Noah developed and brewed……

we might have been in real trouble.

Once the weeds finally settled down, the next battle was against every kind of bird, occasional monsters, and wild animals.

Fortunately, that was basically the Vertus Knights’ actual specialty.

They dealt with those threats almost instantly.

Still worried, I secretly stuck Divine Power Stickers onto the monster-repelling fences and scarecrows.

[Fence Faintly Flowing with Divine Power (x1)]

[Scarecrow Faintly Flowing with Divine Power (x1)]

• Divine power flows through it.

• Perfect for repelling wicked things!

• Divine power remains as long as the object retains durability.
  Durability: 5/5

Tiny, colorful stickers covered them here and there.

Aside from Grand Duke Basil, everyone probably thought I was just playing with stickers……

Hehe.

I helped too!

And so—

spring and summer passed.

During the summer, another group of immigrants arrived, making us unbelievably busy.

Then—

before we knew it—

autumn.

The wasteland that had once been completely empty……

was now so densely covered that there was barely room to step.

With teary eyes, I stroked the sturdy crops.

“Wow…… they’re so fat…… The grains are super fat…… What do I do? They’re so, so cute……”

The crops, ripened by everyone’s affection, anxiety, and expectations, bowed heavily beneath their weight.

And as golden waves rolled across the fields—

Pop!

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

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

[Challenge! Harvest Northern Black Oats! (5/5)]

[Congratulations! Errands completed!]

[Would you like to receive your rewards?]

Our North……

“Barley…… It’s barleyyyyy!”

“Wheat! We actually grew crops in the North!”

harvested its first historic crop.

That year, in May.

Somewhere in a village.

A boy wearing a long gray robe stopped walking.

“……Why is this here?”

He picked up something from a market stall.

Rare mountain mushroom~ Good for men~

A soft mushroom shaped like a pig’s nose.

“……Why is it here?”

Eyes as deep blue as the ocean.

Ash-gray hair.

Despite his young age, there was something about the boy that naturally drew attention.

Perhaps it was his catlike, upturned eyes.

Or perhaps the mature expression and straight posture that didn’t suit a nine-year-old.

“……This isn’t a common mushroom.”

He softly kneaded the squishy mushroom between his fingers.

This mushroom……

According to the dream……

……shouldn’t appear for another three years……?

After the food crisis began.

When foreign merchant guilds started importing huge amounts of agricultural products into the Empire.

Only then, for the first time……

Clench!

His hand tightened.

“Ugh.”

A sharp headache struck him.

It was always like this.

Whenever he tried to remember the dream, his head hurt.

But he couldn’t stop remembering.

“Did you run away too? Me too……”

If he wanted to remember that girl—

whose face had already grown blurry—

he had to keep reaching back into those dreams.

His name was Ruslan Aspelian.

The Fourth Prince of the Empire.