I Raised the Northern Grand Duke as a Farmer Behind My Father’s Back Chapter 32

Chapter 32

I stared blankly at the upside-down face for a moment, then broke into a bright smile.

“Hi!”

The ocean-blue eyes trembled slightly, then quietly pulled away.

Tousled ash-gray hair peeked out from beneath the hood of his robe.

Clear features half-hidden in shadow.

A little taller than most kids his age.

A polite voice.

Straight, neat movements.

So his name was……

“Good morning, Slan!”

“……Yes. Good morning.”

Slan set me upright, then moved away without hesitation.

“Master. I brought the bottles.”

<Yeah. Put them over there.>

That was right.

Slan was one of the new settlers who had arrived in the North sometime during the summer.

He said he was nine, I think?

Apparently, he had lost his entire family and traveling companions in a monster attack and wandered alone until he reached this place……

It was really sad.

Hmm. How should I put it……

I stared at Slan’s back as he busily moved around.

His atmosphere……? Something about him feels weirdly familiar.

No way.

No matter how thoroughly I searched through my memories of my previous life, I had never met a kid like him.

Anyway, Slan had a little talent for magic, so he decided to become Noah’s apprentice.

I think he said he came from one of the minority tribes near the western border.

There were many different tribes living together along the western frontier, so I didn’t know exactly which one.

Maybe because of that, Slan knew a lot for his age.

He even knew plenty of things I didn’t.

Apparently, he’d picked it all up while wandering around.

And thanks to one of the things Slan had told me……

I looked quietly at the sacks filled with Pig-Nose Mushrooms.

I finally learned this mushroom’s real effect!

What a strange connection……

In my previous life too, the person who told me this mushroom tasted like meat had been a boy with exactly this sort of feeling.

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

Could it be……?

No way~

That boy from my previous life was……

well……

the Fourth Prince of the Empire.

It was a little embarrassing to admit, but……

I had met him after both of us had run away from home.

Not long afterward, I died, so that was the only time we ever met.

More importantly, they look completely different!

The prince had dazzling blond hair.

Slan had unusual silver-gray hair.

Even their facial features were slightly different.

If I had to name one similarity, maybe their personalities?

The prince had been just as calm as Slan.

Slan was a quiet kid.

That made it a little difficult to get close to him.

Even now, he wasn’t looking at me at all and was focused entirely on tidying up the cottage……

Well, we can become friends slowly!

Once this whole thing was over, maybe I could ask him to go fishing with me.

Just then, Noah raised his head.

<Someone’s coming.>

“Someone? Ah!”

I hurried over to the window.

Only then did Slan’s gaze quietly turn toward me, but I was too busy looking outside to notice.

Hmm. I figured it was about time!

Far in the distance, Count Ledermeck’s carriage was racing toward us with a—

Rattle! Bang! Crash!

“Please…… please!”

The count came running toward us, practically rolling across the ground, tears and snot everywhere.

“Please sell me the northern barley! Even a single grain! Please!”

A bad harvest had struck the East.

The cause was an unknown contamination spreading through the soil.

A new infectious crop disease.

Of course, around spring, the imperial family had distributed a so-called treatment in preparation for it.

At the time, no one knew how far the disease might spread, so they prepared a generous supply and distributed it throughout the Empire.

But……

in the end, the treatment proved ineffective.

At first, it seemed to work.

The crops grew normally, lush and healthy.

But that was only temporary.

“Oh heavens, what are we supposed to do?!”

“Barley prices are as high as gold!”

“And wheat too! Good heavens! How are we supposed to survive now?!”

“Did you hear? Even the potatoes are already gone! The South bought everything up……!”

Cries of despair erupted everywhere.

“So the treatment didn’t work after all!”

“It’s strange. The crops were growing perfectly fine!”

“I even took an advance payment already…… I’m ruined. Completely ruined! Aaaagh!”

“When is the new treatment going to be ready?!”

Yes.

The crops really had grown well.

The grains filled out properly.

The fields seemed to overflow with abundance.

But that was as far as it went.

Rustle……

No one had expected the wheat and barley, just before harvest, to suddenly blacken and dry up.

The crops withered before anyone could react.

Overnight.

In an instant.

Panicked farmers hurried to harvest whatever they could, but it was useless.

Even the harvested crops soon turned black.

The entire East was thrown into chaos.

Wheat and barley yields fell to half their normal amount—

no.

Not even ten percent.

And even the little that survived was of poor quality.

Yet prices still soared through the roof.

The East produced nearly all of the Empire’s wheat and barley, making the damage devastating.

But what terrified people most was……

“W-what is this……? The ground turned black too! The soil itself is contaminated!”

The land had lost its vitality.

What seeds could possibly be planted in diseased soil from now on?

Priests and holy knights poured purification magic over the eastern lands, but nothing worked.

“A food crisis is coming……”

People trembled with fear.

Meanwhile, at Rowena Market, where the largest grain trade in the East took place—

the atmosphere was just as gloomy.

There was nothing to sell.

And without goods, no trade could happen.

A market where no trade occurred was no longer a market.

The merchants’ faces were dark with despair.

“I told you, there’s nothing left to sell!”

“Good heavens…… I’ve never seen this market this dead in my life……”

“What in the world happened……”

Everyone had fallen into despair.

And then—

Thud!

A stall was set up.

“……?”

Onto it went bundles filled with plump, full grains……

……barley?

[Nutrient-Packed Golden Barley from the North]
[Limited Sale Begins!]
[Also Known As: Dragon Barley Grown on Dragon Veins]
[Order Now~]
[Origin: Vertus]

“What did I just see?”

People rubbed their eyes.

“The North? You mean Northon?”

“It says Vertus right there.”

“V-Vertus……? The Vertus I know? Crops can grow there?”

“D-Dragon Barley? What’s that supposed to be? Some new variety?”

“Good heavens! Look at the quality of this barley! It’s incredible!”

Attention gathered instantly.

Setting aside the unbelievable fact that barley had come from the North—

when was the last time anyone had seen golden barley this glossy and healthy?

“Th-this barley isn’t diseased! I need to buy it immediately! Shopkeeper! How much is it?!”

“Move! I’m buying first!”

“It’s mine! I was in line first!”

Chaos erupted in front of the stall.

“Wait, wait! You don’t even know how much it costs!”

“Exactly! Healthy barley in times like these? It must be insanely expensive!”

“Ah, you’re right. There isn’t even a price tag yet……”

Then the seller casually revealed the price.

[Price: 100 gold / 1 bundle]

Insane.

Way too expensive.

This wasn’t even seed grain.

A single bundle of barley stalks, including all the straw, for one hundred gold……?

Good grief.

“Normally, it’d be about 1.5 gold. Maybe 2 gold at most……”

A bundle meant roughly as much as an adult could wrap both arms around.

You needed to thresh around ten bundles to get one full sack of barley grain.

People looked disappointed.

“I’m just going to buy diseased barley……”

“Be grateful if you can even find that……”

Then—

Tap!

A sticker appeared over the price tag.

[50% TIME SALE!]
[Price: 50 gold / 1 bundle]

Fifty percent off!

But……

Still expensive!

“Ugh.”

People began turning away again.

Only a few checked their purses.

Then, a moment later—

Tap!

[Heart-Pounding First Purchase Special!]
[Price: 1 gold / 1 bundle]

“I’LL BUY IT!!!!”

The crowd surged forward like a swarm of bees.

Of course, the quantity was limited, so the actual amount sold wasn’t large.

But it succeeded completely in drawing attention.

The market erupted with rumors.

“They’re selling barley with a regular price of one hundred gold for only one gold!”

“Where?!”

“From the North!”

“The North…… can grow crops?”

“Obviously! It literally says northern-grown on the sign! And imagine how huge their harvest must’ve been if they can sell barley for one gold!”

“The North was the only place that survived this disaster?”

“What the hell is going on up there?”

And one merchant, watching all the chaos unfold, thought—

Northern barley was already a combination of words crazy enough to make his head spin.

But this messy, ridiculous sales strategy—

while unquestionably effective—

whose brain came up with this?

He was unbearably curious.