A letter arrived.
The sender’s name was unfamiliar to me. The envelope had already been opened—likely due to the standard precautionary measures to check for any poisons hidden inside.
For letters from middle-tier nobles and below, such safety measures are standard practice. The butler is always responsible for opening the letter, with two knights standing by as witnesses. For high-ranking nobles, I personally oversee the opening process.
The content of the letter turned out to be nothing special. It was an apology letter from the owner of Lilunfolk Zide, a restaurant that had previously refused entry to me and my mother.
After that incident, my grandfather learned about it and issued a directive to many nobles, advising them not to hold any meetings at Lilunfolk Zide.
Considering that the Duke of Bayerlein’s family, one of the most prominent noble houses in the country, essentially branded Lilunfolk Zide as an enemy, it was only natural that nobles would avoid the place.
Furthermore, the temple received a report from Captain Susanna, and the priests also stopped using that establishment. On top of that, the supply of Affelpopp—which the restaurant used to source through the temple—was completely cut off.
I didn’t feel any guilt about how things turned out. If they wanted to claim that all tables were by reservation only, they should have said so upfront and refused walk-ins regardless of who they were. If they wanted to be selective about their patrons, they could’ve been honest about it from the beginning. For instance, saying outright, “We’re refusing you because of your shabby attire,” would have been offensive, but at least I could have accepted it.
In that sense, Lilunfolk Zide’s current predicament seemed like nothing but the natural outcome of their insincerity—a case of reaping what they sowed.
For that reason, I decided to ignore the apology letter. However, a particular idea popped into my mind. I decided to act on it immediately.
Today, I conducted medical examinations for nobles again. Among all the people I’ve examined so far, this was the first time I encountered someone completely healthy.
“You are in excellent health, Count Gerlach. Currently, there are no signs of illness.”
“Is that so?! Thank you very much for your thorough examination!”
Count Gerlach, a forty-year-old man in his prime, didn’t even have common issues like athlete’s foot or cavities.
“Thank you, Sir Toma!”
“Not at all. Please continue maintaining a regular diet and lifestyle.”
Count Gerlach left the room, mentioning that he had a meeting with my grandfather afterward.
Since I didn’t have to prepare any medicine today, I found myself with extra time.
I heard that the sales of Horse King Wine, Affelpopp, and the three medicinal liquors, all produced in my father’s Ashud territory, were thriving. Despite repeated expansions of production, they still couldn’t meet demand.
I was considering starting alcohol production in the Baldo territory, but then I remembered something from a few months ago.
Baldo territory used to be a major wheat-producing region. However, over the past twenty years or so, wheat production has been gradually declining. My grandfather mentioned this to me.
I received a report after looking into it: they had been planting wheat in the same fields year after year. This was likely causing soil exhaustion, known as continuous cropping failure.
If fields aren’t allowed to rest and wheat is grown repeatedly, diseases become more likely, and harvest yields decrease.
I asked my grandfather to switch the crops to barley and soybeans. As a result, this year’s harvest would consist of half barley and half soybeans.
Soybeans are highly nutritious and can be used for various dishes, so they weren’t a concern. The problem lay with barley.
While barley is edible, it doesn’t fetch as much money as wheat since its value as food is relatively low in this country.
In the past, Baldo territory alternated between planting wheat and barley every two years, but the former lord of the domain had ordered them to produce only wheat. That person really did nothing beneficial.
Fortunately, even if the barley produced in Baldo territory is used for brewing alcohol, it won’t cause a food shortage in this country.
This nation has a remarkably high self-sufficiency rate for grains, so as long as there’s no widespread crop failure, it’ll manage. The country even exports a significant amount of grain.
While the lack of wheat in Baldo territory might reduce the residents’ income, that could be addressed with tax reductions.
The former rulers, the Lightstar family, had heavily exploited the residents, so even with barley production, things should improve compared to last year.
For the Marquis of Roxfall’s finances, it might be a blow, but since I’m naturally frugal and avoid reckless spending, we’ll manage somehow.
I planned to create a barley-based liquor this time, but before that, fertilizer needed to be prepared.
The fertilizer would restore some strength to the soil that had been depleted from continuous wheat cultivation.
“Grandfather, could you send fertilizer to the Baldo territory?”
“Fertilizer, you say? Leave it to me.”
Grandfather agreed without hesitation and deployed the ships owned by the Marquis of Roxfall and the Duke of Bayerlein to transport fertilizer to Baldo territory.
The fertilizer wasn’t only delivered to Baldo territory but also to my grandfather’s Axel territory.
It seemed effective; barley in Baldo territory was growing well, with no signs of disease so far. Axel territory also appeared to be seeing healthy crop growth.
A small portion of the fertilizer was sent to Ashud territory as well, although grain production there was minimal to begin with. Still, I hoped it would lead to even a slight increase in production.
- Transform 1 kg of monster materials into 10 tons of universal fertilizer: Mana cost: 500 points
- Universal Fertilizer: Created by Toma, Apostle of Deuro. It restores the vitality of even the most barren fields.
The raw materials for the transformation could be almost anything, from horse barley to weeds, but monster materials worked best.
Monster materials were easy to acquire in bulk during dungeon expeditions. Thanks to my Conversion (Level 6) ability, I could bring them back using my subspace storage, which eliminated concerns about carrying capacity.
The materials were divided into three shares between Ben, Charmy, and me, so one-third always remained unused. I decided to use that portion.
As a marquis, I didn’t need to sell monster materials to make money. Additionally, I was already earning an abundance of money by selling gems created through Conversion.
Thus, the monster materials remained untouched in subspace storage. Using them as raw materials for fertilizer reduced mana consumption, making mass production easier.
It also had the bonus of clearing out my storage and restoring my stamina.
Regarding dungeon exploration, I still haven’t found the item I’m looking for. My level has been steadily increasing, and it’s currently at 285.
