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Volume 5 Chapter 2-1: Departure

I continued to talk with Kuu for a while, and she eventually grew tired and fell asleep. [Peaceful Blessing] puts a strain not only on the child but also on the mother’s body. It’s no wonder Kuu fell asleep.

The procedure was not yet complete; this magic needed to be performed multiple times with a month in between. The magic strengthens the magic circuits by irradiating a specific magic wavelength to mutate and destroy them and later recover them, but without a month’s break, they would break completely. That month is necessary for the magic circuits to heal, and you can’t speed up the recovery with magic. By repeating this process regularly, you can increase the subject’s magical power to its limit.

I covered Kuu with a blanket, enjoyed her peaceful sleeping face for a while, and tried to hear the sound of the heart of my soon-to-be-born children by placing my ear on her belly. After that, I left a letter beside Kuu’s pillow and left the workshop.

「You’re late. Are you ready?」

Erin’s mayor, the blue-haired lady, Azul, asked me wearily.

「I’m a little early, actually.」

I had arranged the meeting time, ensuring there was plenty of leeway after refining the coke and Kuu’s treatment.

「You might be right. But I was bored.」

What a demanding person. Although she had Kurao attending to her, it seemed that wasn’t enough. After probably being bombarded with questions, Kurao seemed exhausted.

「I had to do some preparations.」

I waved my hand and summoned the elves, including Lucy. In their hands, they held sacks filled to the brim with something.

「What is this?」

「These are special products to sell in the Erucy consulate that you prepared for us. This is fertilizer.」

「Fertilizer?」

「Yes, when you sprinkle this on the soil, crops grow well.」

We used magic to reproduce the Haber-Bosch process to extract nitrogen from the air and crystallize it. This time we used it for fertilizer instead of gunpowder.

The demand for this fertilizer should be high. It can supply the essential nitrogen and potassium for crop growth.

Usually, when making farmland soil, nitrogen and potassium were supplemented with manure, but for large farms, it was impossible to produce enough manure for all fields. Therefore, the soil’s quality rapidly degraded. This fertilizer that can easily improve the soil’s quality should be in high demand.

「May I open it for a moment?」

「Please.」

Azul opened the bag, took the black soil in her hand, and sniffed it.

「Does this really work?」

「I guarantee it. Just don’t overuse it. That sack is enough for one field of the size of the one at your right. Sprinkle it, and the wheat’s harvest will increase from 1.5 to 2 times.」

「That’s amazing. What’s the price?」

「Twenty silver coins per sack (24000 yen).」

「That’s less than a quarter of the price of traditional fertilizer. If it has that much effect, it’s quite an attractive purchase… I’ll buy them all.」

「For what purpose?」

「To experiment with it. I’m going to divide my fields in half, with one side using this fertilizer to grow this year’s crops. That way, we can demonstrate its effectiveness. If it works, it will be clear at a glance. If it’s effective, I’ll gather the influential people for a presentation.」

「I’m grateful, but why are you doing all this?」

「Because it benefits Erin. If it’s effective, it needs to spread as quickly as possible. If you sell it normally, it’ll take several years to reach all the fields. That’s a loss for Erin.」

「Do you trust me that much?」

「Yes, at the very least, you’re not a third-rate who would lie in a transaction.」

She returned the words I said to her the other day. I gave a wry smile.

「Erin’s mayor is going to promote it personally. What are you asking in return?」

「Let’s see, can you keep the price the same for three years?」

「A very reasonable request.」

Originally, I planned to sell it cheaply for one silver coin and then raise the price once the effect was recognized. By doing so, I could secure a profit even with low sales. However, if Erin was serious about promoting it, selling it at a low margin would be enough to secure profits.

If this fertilizer were to spread explosively in Erin, the price of food would drop overall, and that would be a plus for us as well.

Nearly 90% of Erucy’s expenses were spent on food. Lowering the price of food would bring in a significant profit. In addition, Erucy’s food purchases were expected to increase in the future. This year, Erin had a good harvest, but there were always years with bad harvests. In such years, Erucy, who depended on buying food in Erin, would be in trouble.

To prevent that, it was necessary to increase Erin’s food production.

「Now, everyone, start loading.」

Elves loaded the carriage with various items, including the fertilizer. This time, I was going to teach them how to read blueprints and explain the workshop’s mechanisms, but we also had another purpose: to visit the Erucy consulate, where we could conduct business freely with Erin citizens.

For that reason, we had also prepared a carriage. Accompanying me were the village’s strongest individual and captain of Nettle, Roleau, along with two Nettle members. Kuu’s mentor, the ash-colored fire fox Rera, would also accompany us. Rera made eye contact with me, and I remembered the conversation I had with her early in the morning.

On my way to Kuu, an ash-colored fire fox in her late teens, Rera, who exuded adult charm, approached me.

「Chief, may I talk to you for a moment?」

「I don’t mind, but we don’t have much time. Can I listen to it later?」

「It’s an important matter. It’s about Kuu-sama.」

「Understood. I’ll hear you.」

If it was something important about Kuu, it couldn’t wait.

「If you were to have a child with Kuu and that child turned out to be ash-colored, would you still love it?」

It was a question about children. Apparently, as her mentor, Rera had noticed Kuu’s pregnancy. Ash-colored fire foxes were looked down upon by their peers, thanks to their lower innate abilities. Rera had come to ask me if I could love a child like that. The response was obvious.

「Of course, I would love the child.」

「Good, it seems you’re different from that man. I hope you continue to think like that. If that was a lie, I won’t forgive you.」