The Abandoned Duchess Seems to Want a Peaceful Life - Chapter 121

Chapter 121: Kitchen Garden and Experimental Field

From beyond the open window, I can hear a voice calling my name.

When I look up, I see Marie walking toward me, accompanied by two tall men halfway along the path to the lord’s residence. She waves lightly, and Melfina, stopping her work, comes out of the house she’s been using as a workshop, accompanied by Cedric.

Spring has deepened quite a bit. The harsh cold of the mornings and evenings has eased, and today, warm sunlight is pouring down.

“Marie, thank you for your hard work. Duke, I’m sorry I couldn’t greet you properly.”

“No, it’s fine this time since you’re not really a guest.”

With his usual unreadable expression, Alexis casually says this and shifts his gaze to the house where Melfina was working and the fenced field.

“I heard you were in the kitchen garden, but it’s quite secure.”

“I was made to change my shoes and clothes, after all.”

“Changing clothes and shoes is very important. If there were any diseases in the soil you stepped on before coming here, it could quickly spread to this field.”

That said, Melfina doesn’t think it’s likely that the demand to change shoes every time one enters a field will become a habit in this world. It’s probably only something she can enforce in this experimental field she manages.

“So you’re growing potatoes here as well.”

“Yes, how is the situation in the duke’s field?”

“In the field I treated as you instructed, I have a limited number of gardeners taking care of it. So far, it seems to be growing without any problems.”

At those words, Melfina nods in satisfaction.

“The biggest issue after a famine is whether the weather is favorable that year and whether we can secure seed potatoes. Corn is an excellent crop, but when it comes to yield per unit of land and nutritional value, potatoes take the lead.”

“Weather is beyond human control, but we can prepare seed potatoes even now, right?”

“Yes. Fortunately, as long as we keep a sufficient distance from other fields and are careful about bringing in diseases, we can grow potatoes like this without any problems. All we can do now is pray for the disease to leave as soon as possible.”

While that will likely be resolved by next summer. There’s nothing to be done about the disease, but preparations can be made for things that can be solved through politics.

While Marie prepares tea, I guide Alexis to the terrace added to the workshop. It’s roofed, well-ventilated, and today a particularly pleasant breeze is blowing.

“I’m glad it’s sunny. The knights and soldiers will be happy as well.”

“Even though it’s noble’s protection, being stationed in the countryside isn’t particularly honorable for the knights and soldiers. I appreciate you creating an opportunity for me to express my gratitude.”

I had been discussing with the knights and soldiers stationed in the Enkar region as guards for Selene since the beginning of winter about holding a martial arts tournament once it warmed up, and now the preparations are finally in place.

Knowing Alexis was busy, I invited him to observe with the expectation that he might decline, but when I got his response saying he would adjust his schedule to show up, I was surprised along with Marie and Cedric.

“I’ve heard you’re very busy as well; you didn’t push yourself, did you?”

Using a carriage, it takes nearly a week for a round trip from Soarasonne to the Enkar region. Even while inviting him, I find myself worried if it’s really okay for the duke’s household to be left vacant for so long.

“It was looking like I would have to send August in my place until the last moment, but the officials worked hard. When I stay cooped up in the duke’s residence, I suppose they feel stifled.”

“Everyone wants you to get some sun, Your Excellency. Even if they’re struggling with their heavy workloads, everyone knows you’re the one working the hardest.”

Alexis snorted in response to August’s words, but it seems he genuinely thinks it’s unnecessary for him to push himself.

Alexis’s emotional expressions are simple, and his face is hard to read, which makes him seem oddly intimidating just sitting there, so he ends up suffering quite a bit from that.

Looking at it this way, having someone like August nearby to lighten the atmosphere has been a truly fortunate encounter.

“Lady Melfina, please.”

“Thank you, Marie.”

As Melfina sips the tea that Marie made for her, she gasps at its refreshing aroma and smiles.

“It’s the promised black tea, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s the best one you can get through the duke’s connections.”

“Hehe, I rarely had the opportunity to drink tea of this quality even in the royal capital.”

It feels like a waste to add milk; the floral aroma lingers in my mouth.

With the good weather and the pleasant breeze, I’m in a very good mood.

“I was surprised to see how much the area around the lord’s residence has changed in just a few months.”

“Many people have been working hard. The magicians are truly impressive. The irrigation ditches for agriculture are being dug by laborers, but the much deeper moats are being dug rapidly, so I look forward to seeing them from the lord’s residence every day.”

“Ah. They also work well on the maintenance of the city walls. They’re indispensable for development. —By the way, is the magician from the Ivory Tower still in the village?”

“Yes, it seems he recently hunted a bear.”

“…A bear?”

Alexis repeats this with a puzzled expression, and Melfina chuckles lightly while holding her cup.

“It seems a bear that had just woken from hibernation wandered in. While sending a messenger to the lord’s residence, the villagers all went to hunt it down, and Lord Julius apparently took it down with a single blow.”

I’ve heard that the bears in the northern regions are quite large, similar to the brown bears from my previous life.

It seems their stubbornness is akin to that of brown bears; once they establish a hunting ground, they often reappear. While larger towns and villages might send knights and magicians to deal with the threat, small rural settlements sometimes have to hunt as a village to survive or even abandon their homes.

Even such a threat seems to be something Julius can deal with as casually as yawning after waking up.

I couldn’t help but feel relieved that I didn’t have to make Julius stay in the tenement.

It seems that Alexis, as the lord of the north, understands the terror of spring bears, as a mix of admiration and disbelief crossed his face.

“I’ve heard that magicians belonging to the Ivory Tower surpass human understanding, and it appears to be true.”

“Yes, it seems everyone made a stew from that bear, and they’ve completely warmed up to Lord Julius.”

“A stew, huh? …That’s delicious.”

As Alexis speaks with a hint of nostalgia, I turn my gaze to him.

“Have you ever eaten bear stew, Duke?”

“During expeditions to hunt monsters, I sometimes stop by villages threatened by denless bears. After the hunt, the villagers served it as a treat for the knights.”

The term “denless” refers to bears that have failed to hibernate. I know, at least in theory, that they are extremely aggressive and dangerous.

Even without the threat of monsters, it seems the knights face a significant burden.

Alexis sets down his cup and gazes at the field.

“Nonetheless, this is an impressive field. I heard it’s your personal property.”

“Yes, but it’s an experimental field. I feel bad using the village’s fields for my experiments, as the results can vary.”

The area around the lord’s residence, which is being surrounded by moats, has a diameter of three hundred meters, making it quite large.

Originally, there were houses and residents within that area, but before the construction began, arrangements were made to provide alternative plots and homes of similar size to facilitate the acquisition.

Eventually, I plan to encompass the entire administrative district of the Enkar region within this site, but for now, part of it has become my experimental field. It is surrounded by a fence, and only a few, including myself and those who care for the field, are allowed inside.

I ask Cedric to retrieve something I left inside the house and then glance at August. Once I confirm August nods in response, the knight-guard steps away.

“I’m sorry. Since my free time is precious, I’ll work while we talk.”

Alexis nods without appearing to mind. He probably isn’t very interested in others; his light blue eyes, much like Marie’s, remain focused on the field.

“That over there is the wall-mounted fruit tree cultivation.”

“Yes, it promotes the cultivation of fruit trees by utilizing the heat stored in the walls warmed by sunlight during the day. If successful, it will eventually be repurposed when constructing fortifications for Enkar village and Melt village.”

“It seems it could also be applied to the abundant walls of Soarasonne.”

“If you’d like, I can tell you later which types of fruit trees are suited for this, so you could try it out.”

Even though Soarasonne is somewhat distant, it’s not far enough for significant differences in conditions compared to the Enkar region.

If there are particularly effective fruit trees to be cultivated using the vast walls, feedback would also benefit Melfina.

“You still don’t try to hoard knowledge, do you?”

“It’s pointless to keep secret things that can be easily imitated just by looking at them.”

The techniques for digging irrigation ditches or planting fruit trees along walls are very easy to replicate upon seeing them once. Any development requiring secrecy is conducted underground at the lord’s residence, and it will continue to be so, even if the scale changes in the future.

As Cedric spreads the seeds contained in a container on the plant paper he brought, I notice him tilt his head slightly in curiosity.

“What are you doing now?”

“I’m using Appraisal to sort the seeds.”

Right now, I’m sorting beet seeds.

Since it’s something I can do in my spare time, I’d prefer to do it in my bedroom before going to sleep, but after collapsing once during an experiment with Separation, Marie and Cedric have strongly discouraged me from doing that.

Even though it’s said that Appraisal uses very little magical power, it seems I won’t budge on this.

“I’m selecting seeds that will yield larger fruits and provide more sugar content—picking seeds with high potential, planting them, and then extracting seeds from those to select the ones with even higher potential. By repeating this process, we can develop new varieties that yield larger fruits and more sugar.”

“That sounds like an incredibly tedious task…”

“Really? It’s not that complicated. Without Appraisal, I’d have to plant all the seeds, harvest only the large fruits, extract the seeds, and plant them again, repeating that dozens of times.”

In fact, since the discovery of sugar production from beets until the time Melfina lived in her previous life, the sugar content in beets had increased more than twenty-fold.

Considering that it took two hundred years of breeding starting from a time without a sugar meter, using a method like this with Appraisal is nothing short of cheating.

“If someone shows talent for Appraisal in our territory, we must welcome them warmly.”

“That’s certainly what we should do, and we should provide appropriate education as well.”

As I use my fingertips to perform Appraisal and select promising seeds, I place them into a folded bag made of plant paper.

Though the size remains the same, I separate seeds with a higher potential for sugar content from those that will yield larger fruits, planning to crossbreed them so that both traits can eventually appear.

“The accuracy of Appraisal greatly depends on the knowledge and experience of the user. For example, my Appraisal is somewhat effective for cooking and crops, but it’s nowhere near the level of the Appraisal held by specialized merchants when it comes to jewels or artworks.”

What makes Melfina’s Appraisal feel like a cheat is ultimately due to her memories from her previous life.

When Melfina uses Appraisal, she can select yeasts that produce tasty ales or rise bread well, and even determine the protein and vitamin content of food. However, the concept of nutrition is still in its infancy in this world.

Without that knowledge, even if one appraises the same item, they can only discern what type of meat it is or, if they have dissected that creature before, which part it comes from.

“If you want someone with Appraisal to engage in breeding, they must work alongside farmers to till the fields, understand how the crops grow, what troubles arise before harvest, and how much individual variation occurs at harvest depending on conditions.”

Ironically, those who awaken to Appraisal are overwhelmingly people in positions far removed from farmers, such as nobles who have opportunities to see diverse goods or children who serve merchants from a young age.

“I’ve also sorted the corn during the winter, so I think this year’s yield per field will be higher than last year. If we keep this up for five years, it should increase several times in size, and I believe the taste will improve significantly as well.”

“That sounds like a dream. Is that also possible with wheat and other crops?”

“Of course. In the future, large grains of wheat will be born that can produce white, soft bread less prone to disease during droughts or heavy rains.”

Even just the rice that was a staple food in her previous life had at least a dozen varieties readily available in Melfina’s memory.

Crops easily hybridize with other traits, and there’s also the risk of seed contamination from viral infections, so if you want to ensure good crops, it’s more efficient to buy seeds for that year from a reliable seed company rather than relying on home-grown seeds.

It will likely take a long time for the profession of seed companies to establish itself in this world. It might even be impossible while Melfina is alive.

However, establishing the concepts of breeding and reliable seeds should be achievable.

“If we can obtain a greater yield from the same amount of labor, people’s lives will surely become significantly richer. If many people can live happily, wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

“Indeed.”

Alexis nodded seriously and slightly lifted the corners of his mouth. If one did not look closely, they would hardly notice it was a smile.

“I like your way of thinking. If someone with the ‘talent’ for ‘Appraisal’ has no plans to inherit the family, I would encourage them to pursue that path.”

Though he appears stubborn and rigid, Alexis surprisingly has a flexible way of thinking. He has no resistance to adopting new ideas and can make an effort to keep promises once made.

—If only he would show a bit more emotion, people wouldn’t be unnecessarily scared of him.

In the game, Melfina likely would not have understood what Alexis was thinking until the very end.

Though even now, she finds herself full of questions about him.

As their conversation paused, a quiet time passed until Melfina finished selecting the seeds.

The spring breeze was warm, and the silence was not awkward; Marie, Cedric, and August nearby all wore somewhat serene expressions.