I Raised the Northern Grand Duke as a Farmer Behind My Father’s Back Chapter 31
Chapter 31
“I sleeept so well!”
My eyes snapped open.
Hehe.
I woke up neatly in the exact position I’d fallen asleep in!
How did I end up sleeping in His Grace’s bedroom again?
To commemorate the occasion, I rolled across the bed about five times, then sprang up and ate breakfast.
“Good morning, Lady Haniel!”
“Good morning, Big Sis Lucy!”
Lucy greeted me.
She was one of the maids at the Grand Duke’s residence whom I’d grown close to over time.
After exchanging morning greetings with Butler Camilla too, I brushed my teeth, got dressed, tied up my hair, and prepared to go outside.
[Errand completed!]
[Brush your teeth for 3 minutes, 3 times a day — Morning (1/1)]
[Connections Are My Strength! Exchange morning greetings with your family! (7/7)]
[5-Minute Morning Stretch for Children! (1/1)]
Pop!
[Would you like to receive your rewards?]
“Yes!”
[Haniel’s Sticker Book (For Children)]
Divine Power Stickers in Storage: 1,876
Hehe!
I had collected quite a lot of divine power by completing everything from small daily errands to gathering quests and major errands like Harvest Northern Crops!
Especially harvesting the barley, wheat, and oats……
[Challenge! Harvest Northern Giant Potatoes! (5/5)]
And the potato harvest was huge too!
That one involved a little trick.
We hadn’t officially planted potatoes in the farmland, but I had secretly planted a few seed potatoes by myself in the garden in front of the manor!
I only had to harvest five, so it was super easy.
Ehehe.
It had been a fun experience.
And the mushroom errands have been really profitable too.
[An errand from the God of the Forest has arrived!]
[Gather Pig-Nose Mushrooms (0/5)]
[“……I’ll give you something good……”]
[Reward: 50 Pure, Pollution-Free Divine Power Stickers]
The mushroom quest came almost every day, and the gathering difficulty wasn’t very high.
The only problem was that the forest was dangerous, so I always had to go with His Grace.
Still, even once a week was more than enough.
I finally have enough divine power to purify the pillar connected to the Veil River region!
Now it was just a matter of timing.
Once a new region opened, we would need more people.
It was almost time to put my plan into action.
“I’m off!”
I hurriedly put on my shoes and headed out.
“Have a good day, Lady Haniel! Don’t fall over!”
“Okaaaaaay!”
The instant I opened the door, a huge shadow fell over me.
A knight so tall I had to bend my neck alllll the way back to look up at him.
Sir Brad smiled down at me.
“Let’s go, Hani!”
“Sir Brad! Good morning!”
“Indeed, a fine morning! Want to climb aboard? The bread pile.”
“Yes! Yeeeees!”
I immediately climbed onto Sir Brad’s shoulders.
Even though I’d gotten quite a bit heavier over the months, Sir Brad lifted me effortlessly and settled me behind his neck.
Over the spring and summer, I had slowly grown closer to him.
Now that I’ve seen him so much, he doesn’t look like Grandpa at all!
I had no idea why I’d been nervous before.
“Sniff. An ordinary man like me getting to walk around with a child…… I’m blessed……”
Most importantly, Sir Brad’s complete lack of self-awareness made him one hundred percent different from Grandpa.
Yay!
What a wonderful day!
Today is finally…… the first shipment of northern barley!
“Sir Brad, is everything ready for the sale?”
I whispered to him.
Brad—the man in charge of promotional materials—answered shyly.
“Mm. I did write something, but…… I’m just not very good at advertisements……”
“……?”
“As you can see, I’m rather plain and dry by nature. I’m not good at writing catchy promotional lines……”
Sir Brad awkwardly tapped his feet against the ground.
I lightly ignored him.
Anyway, over the last few days, we had all put our heads together and seriously discussed how to market northern agricultural products.
Fortunately, we came up with a pretty good idea.
The village was overflowing with energy.
“I’ve lived this long and never seen a harvest this huge!”
“Good heavens! How much money is all of this worth?!”
“We’ve already stored more than enough food for winter, and there’s still this much left!”
“This is insane!!!”
Everyone’s faces were filled with excitement and delight.
Because the autumn harvest had been absolutely enormous.
Is it because the crops grew on dragon veins?
Not only had the seedlings come up so densely that they covered the fields, but they had grown at a terrifying speed all summer.
By the end, every grain head was packed so tightly it looked ready to burst.
Even the experienced farmers were shocked by the yield.
They said it was rare to see a harvest this good even in the eastern breadbasket.
Was it about three times the normal yield?
Thanks to that, the entire village already felt like it was celebrating.
Preparations for winter had long since been completed, so we decided to sell the remaining grain outside the territory and bring in cash.
Since about eighty percent of the fields were barley, and wheat and oats were ten percent each……
Barley was probably the only crop we had enough of to sell in large quantities.
Hehe. We started with only two carts of barley sheaves, and now we have dozens of carts’ worth!
Farming really is so, so mysterious!
“Come on, let’s get moving! Anyone have an empty cart?”
“Over there!”
During the growing season, the villagers had worked hard to build warehouses and carts for the harvest.
For timber, they tore down abandoned houses or temporarily sourced wood from the northern mountains.
If we open the great forest to the west, we could probably sell all kinds of timber too.
That part was a little disappointing……
“Ah, I want to stop by the notice board!”
“All right.”
I climbed down from Sir Brad’s shoulders and ran toward the large wooden board in the distance.
The village’s community facility!
The notice board!
It had been abandoned before, but as the population increased, all sorts of papers had started appearing on it.
Looking for someone to manage the communal oven
Anyone free to help repair the village fence? Today, 3–4 PM
Looking for people to bundle barley stalks
Anyone with a spare sickle, contact Colson Nero
Can we please stop making kissing noises day and night?!
← Agreed. We still don’t have soundproofing magic tools. Let people sleep!!!
← Hear, hear!
← House No. 13, we’re talking about you.
Of course, the notice board wasn’t only for job postings.
People also shared everyday information and even recipes.
And among them was……
“Hm?”
Ten Commandments for Successful Child-Rearing
Make eye contact.
Treat the child gently.
Call them by their name properly.
(No animal comparisons. This includes “Hippo.”)Bake their favorite bread.
……
Whoever stole the baby’s note is cursed to stay single for fifty years
At least greet the kid first! She folds herself in half bowing to everyone every day!
The child should probably study too……
Is it because there are more kids in the village now?
There were tons of comments about children!
That was right.
Bethel Village had received another group of immigrants during the summer.
A family of four with children—
and one wandering nine-year-old boy.
Meaning……
I finally had kids around my age!
Of course, I hadn’t become close to all of them yet……
They said we’re having a small party in the village after the harvest is over.
I should try becoming friends with them then!
“Ah, right.”
I pulled a sheet of paper from my bag.
I stretched onto my tiptoes and reached upward with all my strength.
Sir Brad, who had been watching behind me, lifted me up.
“Up we go.”
Looking for someone to go fishing with me
Date: After the First Harvest Festival
My note was posted too!
I looked at it proudly.
Then another notice on the side of the board caught my eye.
“Oh, right. They said they’re lighting the communal oven tonight, didn’t they?”
“That’s right. We’ll finally get to bake bread with our own harvest.”
My eyes went huge.
“Wooooooow!”
This is amazing!
Eating bread made from crops grown in my own field!
What will it taste like?
Thump, thump!
I was so excited I could barely contain myself.
After discussing the possible taste of the bread with Sir Brad for quite a while, I finally continued on my way.
My destination was a cottage located a little distance from the village.
Sir Brad had already left to escort the barley carts being taken out for sale.
Knock, knock!
When I knocked on the door, a boy wearing a black robe appeared.
“Big Brother Noah!”
<Hi.>
Bubble, bubble.
Blub, blub.
The magician’s cottage was always filled with steam from strange liquids simmering away.
I poked my head inside.
“How’s that thing going?”
<Almost done.>
“Can I see?”
<Sure.>
Apparently……
Noah was actually an extremely unusual and powerful magician.
But because he looked about twelve, I just couldn’t bring myself to speak formally to him.
So we had simply decided to become friends.
Noah had been very happy about it too!
I looked around the cottage again.
Beneath walls covered in strange magic-circle drawings stood several enormous sacks.
And inside those sacks—
were piles and piles of Pig-Nose Mushrooms I had worked hard to gather!
I gathered sooo many over the summer!
I kept walking—
and stepped directly on a mushroom lying on the floor.
“Gasp!”
My body tilted.
Just as I started to fall—
“Careful.”
“……!”
Someone caught me from behind.
“……Please.”
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