Chapter 23: Jaga ②
“Young Master Dee, is this good enough?”
“Mhm. You’ve done well.”
“Not at all, this was a piece of cake.”
I was in the backyard of the Baumgarten Mansion, which could fairly be described as a rundown estate. Next to me was Cornelia, looking extremely curious.
Under the blue sky, before Cornelia and me, lay a small, tilled plot of land. Achim and the other four standing soldiers, as well as the children, had tried them, but since no one reported feeling unwell, I planned to start cultivating potatoes.
We ate some, so the number has decreased, you see. From now on, we have to work hard to grow and increase them. In the future, I’m thinking wheat can be collected as tax, and the domain’s people can eat potatoes. At the very least, it should improve their nutritional state compared to now, where they barely have anything decent to eat.
“Onii-sama, have you suddenly awakened to gardening? But why not do it in the main garden instead of a corner like this?”
“It’s not flowers I want, but the roots. So here is fine.”
“Eh? Hmm?”
“Ria, you heard the merchant’s story, didn’t you? We’re going to grow and eat Jaga roots.”
“Ehh!? But, they said those have poison… Are we going to eat them even if our stomachs hurt…?”
Her reaction was just as I expected, which felt good. I told Cornelia, as if revealing a trick.
“It’s fine if you remove the sprouts from the Jaga roots. Only those parts are poisonous. Ria, you ate some too, but your stomach doesn’t hurt, right?”
“I ate them!?”
“Look, remember those white fruits covered in goat cheese we had for dinner yesterday? That was it.”
“Oh, I see…”
Perhaps shocked to learn she had eaten them too, Cornelia worriedly rubbed her stomach.
“But, my stomach doesn’t hurt. Is it really okay?”
“It’s okay. Has Onii-sama ever lied to you?”
“Nuh-uh, never!”
“Then it’s okay, right?”
“Yup!”
Cornelia nodded energetically. Her innocence was such that I worried she might be deceived by some bad adult someday.
Well, not that I’d ever forgive anyone who tried.
Still, first things first is potato cultivation. I have absolutely no knowledge of agriculture. If you ask why I sought potatoes, it’s because they were the only food I could think of that’s resilient in barren land. There’s no particularly big reason.
“Then there’s the issue of continuous cropping failure…”
Continuous cropping failure is one of my few pieces of agricultural knowledge.
“Ren-saku-sho-gai? Onii-sama, what’s rensakushogai?”
“To put it simply, it’s various problems that occur when you keep planting the same crop in the same land. Like insects appearing, or the crops not growing well.”
However, it seems there are some crops that don’t suffer from continuous cropping failure, but I don’t remember if potatoes were one of them.
Things like that can be tested in this small, experimental field we’ve made here. And if something does happen, the damage can be contained to a limited extent.
“I don’t want bugs!”
“Well, this is the first time, so it’ll probably be fine.”
I lightly patted Cornelia’s head as she raised her hand as if to protest to me.
◇
“Cough, cough. Well then, to the Margrave-sama, this letter… please, see to it…”
I handed the letter to the Margrave’s messenger, politely declining to become a friend to the Margrave’s heir.
The messenger, while looking at me suspiciously, accepted the letter and left.
Invitations from the Margrave still came periodically.
It just goes to show how valuable and in-demand possessors of the Healing Gift are.
It’s a pain to skip meals for two or three days and pretend to be sick every time a messenger comes. The messenger seems to be vaguely aware of it too, so what should I do?
It might be about time I came up with a new reason to refuse.
“Onii-sama, are you okay…?”
The door opened just a crack, and Cornelia peeked her head in quietly.
It’s extremely cute, but it’s bad manners. It would probably be best to start Cornelia’s etiquette lessons soon too.
I gave a wry smile and beckoned Cornelia over with my hand.
“I’m fine, Ria. Come here.”
“Okay!”
“You weren’t seen by the Margrave’s messenger, were you?”
“Nope, Old Man said it was okay now!”
“I see.”
I gently stroked the honest Cornelia’s head. Cornelia narrowed her eyes, looking pleased.
My hand, as if with a mind of its own, slowly stroked and massaged Cornelia’s left ear.
I know Cornelia’s ears are sensitive. As I gently kneaded her small, soft ear, it gradually turned red and grew warm.
“Ah.”
Finally, I gave her ear a light flick, then traced my hand down along Cornelia’s jawline and gently stroked her neck.
“Aah…”
Without any particular meaning, I continued to stroke my hand downwards, and it reached Cornelia’s still-flat chest.
Touching her chest was definitely out of line. When I pulled my hand back, my eyes met Cornelia’s, who had a puzzled look on her face.
“You’re not going to touch my chest…?”
“That’s… not really okay, is it?”
“For me… if it’s Onii-sama, it’s okay…?”
Saying that, Cornelia puffed out her chest as if offering it. Her face was bright red, but her tear-filled eyes were fixed on me and wouldn’t look away.
“You should save that sort of thing for your future husband.”
“I’m going to marry Onii-sama!”
Is this that famous “When I grow up, I’m going to marry Daddy!” line…?
Gah!? The destructive power is immense…!
But, I know. Cornelia is already ten. She’ll be eleven soon. Once puberty hits, girls change their attitudes so much you’d wonder what all their previous behavior was about.
“That’s right. If Cornelia still doesn’t have a fiancé when she turns twenty, let’s get married then, okay~?”
I don’t want to leave a time bomb for the future.
“Hm? Okay! It’s a promise, absolutely!”