The Abandoned Duchess Seems to Want a Peaceful Life - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Barley Tea and the Witch

The wooden box, resembling a giant sprouting from the ground, emitted a gentle warmth of fermentation as it was dug up with a hoe. It carried a slightly sour scent, reminiscent of yogurt yet akin to beer.

“Yeah, the initial mixture seems to be ready by now. Could you dig it into the soil where we’ve plowed and make furrows?”

“Yes, understood!”

Upon receiving instructions, the serfs began working briskly. Over the past two weeks, they had almost completely burned the wasteland near the settlement, cutting down any thin trees and removing their roots, then mixing in ashes and lightly plowing the soil.

Cultivation was urgent, and the larger the cultivated area, the better.

But I think everyone is working too hard.

I’ve been urging them to take breaks as needed and return home when the sun begins to set.

Despite my warnings about not overexerting themselves and how pushing through exhaustion would only decrease efficiency in the long run.

“We’re okay! We can still go on!”

“Compared to clearing the forest, this is a piece of cake!”

“I could swing this hoe forever! I want to plow even more!”

This is how it is.

Despite making them promise not to push themselves and to keep an eye on others nearby, forcing them to rest if they seemed unwell, based on Nid’s words that it’s better not to forcibly make those who want to work rest, their enthusiasm was overwhelming.

“Is this the ‘fertilizer’? It doesn’t smell bad even though it’s made from garbage.”

Marie peered curiously into the compost. She seemed intrigued, though hesitant to touch it.

“The fermentation heat kills off the odor and insects. But this is the successful batch. If there’s too much moisture, it can emit a putrid smell.”

“What do you do in that case?”

“There are theories that it can be used directly, as well as theories that it’s not good for the fields. Either way, since it will decompose after being spread on the soil for about two weeks, it’s best to mix it into the freshly plowed land.”

As she looked up, the serfs had begun plowing the surveyed farmland. Mixing straw, barley husks, vegetable scraps, and crushed bones fermented together as fertilizer, completing the initial fields.

Once the container was emptied, more straw would be laid out. Since there was a limit to the straw collected from Enkar Village, they would have to switch to distributing dead leaves brought from the mountains once it was used up. The women and children of the settlement had helped with this.

“I want to start using manure compost from livestock as soon as possible. I’ll consult with Lutz to establish a system for managing the livestock in the village collectively…”

“Milady, you’ve been on the move since morning. Please take a break for a bit.”

While staring at the compost and muttering to herself, Marie interrupted with concern.

“It’s true. Everyone, please stop working and take a rest.”

Since beginning the new cultivation centered around the serf village, they had rigorously implemented breaks in the morning, lunchtime, and afternoon.

It was revealed that they had been working without rest except for lunch until Milady asked if they had taken breaks besides lunch. There was hardly any surveillance over the serfs’ work, but strict quotas were imposed, and failure to meet them resulted in fines. Serfs had no assets to pay fines, so they would be recorded as debts and almost all of the barley they had taken would be confiscated, or they would have to pay from the harvest of the following year onwards.

Serfs were those who, for some reason, had taken on debts and sold their rights to the lord. The lord would assign serfs to lands in need of development, treating them as the communal property of the people living on that land.

While violence and abuse were prohibited, aside from being guaranteed the basic necessities of life, they were treated like industrial animals.

And so, since serfs’ children were also born into serfdom, settlements formed naturally, composed of serf families.

There’s a path for serfs to become commoners. If they can buy back their status from the lord for three gold coins, they can return to being free citizens.

However, cultivation is done by their own efforts, and half of the harvest is taxed, with another sixty percent taken by the landlord, leaving only enough crops for a family to eat. They work from morning till night, barely managing to scrape by, and yet, due to failing to meet quotas, their possessions, even their families, are repeatedly taken away.

Eventually, there will need to be changes to this system.

Even if parents are serfs, having their children born into serfdom is akin to increasing the debt with each child.

The average annual income of commoners living in the capital city is said to be around five and a half gold coins. Even if it decreases to less than one gold coin in rural areas where barter is more common, the system of keeping impoverished people working for wages equivalent to virtually nothing, from their children to their grandchildren, with a starting capital of three gold coins, is unhealthy.

Incorporating the basic human rights of the past life into this world is difficult with one’s own power. However, at the very least, it can be changed within one’s own territory.

… If taking people as punishment, then returning human rights as rewards should be a matter of course.

“Milady, please rest not only your body but also your mind.”

“Yes, Marie. Thank you.”

As spring fully blossomed and the days grew warmer, there was a slight sweatiness in the air. Before summer arrived, she wanted to emphasize the importance of staying hydrated.

As she rested while drinking the tea poured into a wooden cup by Marie, the village children approached with quick steps. At first, they had kept their distance, perhaps wary of Cedric, but lately, it seemed they had finally come to see him as harmless.

“Hey, hey, Lady of the Manor. Are you a witch?”

The girl, about five years old, with sun-kissed skin and straw-colored hair, asked innocently.

“Oh, little miss, what’s your name?”

“I’m Rena!”

“Rena, I’m Melfina.”

“Melfina-sama!”

It was adorable, with a slight lisp. Rena said it with such confidence and an innocent expression that Melfina couldn’t help but chuckle.

“If it’s hard to say, you can just call me Mel. Nice to meet you, Rena.”

Rena giggled as if tickled, but one of the women who had been serving tea hurried over and grabbed Rena’s shoulders from behind to stop her.

“I apologize, Milady! Please forgive the child’s playful words!”

She was a young woman, with a beautiful face marred by a large scar running from her temple to her jaw.

While many serfs spoke with a distinctive dialect or were not proficient in polite language, she spoke with clear articulation.

“It’s alright. What’s your name?”

“I am Ellie… I mean, Eli.”

“Eli, it’s break time, so please have some tea too. Here, Rena, have a seat.”

Melfina gently stroked the back of the open cart, and Rena, who had slipped away from her mother’s hand, agilely hopped on. Eli, looking flustered, said with a slightly trembling voice, “I’ll stay like this.”

“Mel-sama! This brown water is delicious, isn’t it?”

“This is barley tea. Do you like it?”

“Yeah, it’s better than water.”

As she watched the little girl holding the wooden cup with both hands and drinking, Melfina also took a sip. Barley tea made by roasting barley had a mild flavor, though it wasn’t cold.

… How nostalgic. Melfina had never drunk barley tea before.

It would be even better with ice, but since there was no one who could use ice magic, they drank it naturally cooled after boiling, before it spoiled.

“In this world, getting food poisoning is quite life-threatening. I made sure to thoroughly inform the serfs in the settlement and the people of Enkar Village that leftover barley tea would become toxic over time, so they should either finish it or dispose of it.”

“So, Rena, why did you think I was a witch?”

“Because you do weird things! Like gathering straw and mixing it, pouring water, or burning bones.”

“Rena!”

I stopped Ellie, who was about to scold her, with a hand on her palm. The women who had been working didn’t engage in their usual chatter but watched us instead. Even if they didn’t voice it, they must have been curious about what this was all about, what they were being made to do.

“Rena, do you see how hard our fathers are working in the fields right now?”

“Yeah, I was worried if vegetables could grow well in such barren land.”

“Exactly. But as it is now, the vegetables might not grow big and healthy enough because the soil lacks nutrients. So, we’re doing this to revitalize the fields.”

“Can this make the fields healthier?”

In my previous life, there was a similar method called slash-and-burn agriculture, and what Melfina was trying to do this time was similar in principle. However, that method was unsuitable for permanent settlement as it required vast amounts of land for farming, and the land took nearly a decade to recover after each cycle of cultivation and abandonment. This type of colonization, which is based on the assumption of settlement, is not suitable.

To cultivate and sustain crops, proper soil preparation is necessary. The soil in uncultivated land is hard and nutrient-poor. Simply tilling the ground is not enough to expect consistent and bountiful yields.

“Rena, what do you think we should do to make the crops grow strong and big?”

The girl looked up at the sky, pondering. Unconsciously, her dangling legs swayed, which was adorable.

“Give them lots of sunshine and water?”

“Well, Rena, you’re very clever.”

I stroked her small head, and she beamed proudly, “Hehe, thanks!”
“What else? Do you think there’s something more?”

“Is that not enough?”

“If just giving them sunlight and water were enough, then cultivating barren land would yield plenty of crops, wouldn’t it?”

Rena pondered for a while, then eventually held her small head and hummed. For a child… in a world where even adults have limited knowledge of fertilizers, it was probably too complicated.

“Well, for example… Just like how humans become skinny and small if they don’t have enough food, plants are the same. They grow strong and big when given plenty of food. I want to make that food for the crops.”

“Lady, are you making food for the crops?”

“Yes, and when there’s plenty of crops, I want you, your mom, Rod, and everyone else to have plenty of food too. But I can’t do it alone, so I need everyone’s help. Will you help me too, Rena?”

“Yeah! I’ll help Lady Mel!”

“What a kind child. Thank you.”

I ruffled her head again, and Rena beamed brightly like the sun.

Before I knew it, the surroundings had fallen into a serene silence. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, I quickly finished the remaining contents of my cup.

After the break, they worked even more energetically.

“Marie, you’re doing great.”

I said with a soft smile.

Since the day she expressed her desire to change jobs, Marie had been smiling more often. It made me happy, even though I didn’t quite understand why, and I replied with a smile.

“Yes, indeed.”