CH 20

Ritone and Gold went together to a certain warehouse.

Inside of it, there was a mountain piled high made up of incomprehensible things.

「This is…?」

「Gold-sama, this will be the first time I’ve told you about this. My special ability is to summon “another world’s garbage”. None of this trash exists in this world, so there could be something that should be of use; that’s why everything is kept in storage.」

「So it was like that…」

Getting to know what Ritone is capable of, Gold was sincerely intrigued.

「And then, in that world, they produce a lot of food products. Those goods aren’t consumed completely, so some of it should’ve been thrown away. I’m thinking of summoning those right now.」

Ritone, as he said that, closed his eyes and concentrated.

「The “crops” that have been thrown away in another world, come forth!」

As Ritone swung the wand, there appeared lots of plants lying around on the floor.

「This is…」

When Gold saw that, he was speechless. There were grain, barley, and much like those already cultivated in this world, there were also many streamlined yellow grains that were beneficial to the body. There’s also a round, brown one that looks like it’s grown in clusters, but most of them he’s never seen before.

「This cereal is the same as the one commonly harvested in this world, but this has been improved through selective breeding.」

「Certainly, this one is shorter.」

Seeing the cereal in Ritone’s hands, Gold blurted out his opinion. The height of the cereal ear* was shorter.

[Tach: grain-bearing part of the stem of a cereal]

「To tell you the truth, shortening its height is a point of improvement. Gold-sama, aren’t we using fertilizer for our territory?」

「Yes, as the condition to make them magistrates that oversee each of the villages, we promoted magicians who could use intermediate or higher tiers of earth magic as opposed to basic earth magic. They are going to visit each village, decomposing organic waste to use as fertilizer.」

Gold nods in response.

「However, if it’s given too much fertilizer, the soil can’t support the roots, causing the crops to collapse.」

「It’s as you say… Eh, are you saying that the reason why it is so short is… ?」

「That’s right, this cereal is purposely made shorter through selective breeding. By doing that, the crops won’t collapse because of the added fertilizer, and it will be possible to produce more grain.」

The thing that Ritone is stating proudly– is about the period of improvement on crops for mass production around the 1960’s, the so-called “Green Revolution”. To exponentially increase the production of crops, there was an increase in fertilizer mixed into the soil, however, since the cereal ear became heavier than before, all crops collapsed. With that, the stem and the root couldn’t send nutrients to the ear properly, and the ear sunk into the water, dropping the quality and quantity of the grain production. To solve this problem, the stem was shortened and everything was resolved.

This lead to an exponential increase of crops made for mass production.

「Th-this is amazing.」

Hearing the explanation, Gold was deeply moved.

「If we use this, we could expect a higher yield even if we use less area than before. And taking advantage of that, we could use the remaining arable land to cultivate other plants.」

Saying that, Ritone explained the remaining crops.

「This is corn. These are suited for dry lands.」

He explained the yellow grained crop that Gold was holding in his hand.

「Aside from that, I have summoned “Rice”, “Potatoes”, “Quinoa”, and other types. Rice is cultivated in wetlands. Although potatoes have poison on their sprout, if the sprout is removed then it can be eaten, and by replanting the seed potatoes we can expect to have much larger harvests. And “Quinoa” are grown on mountains or rough terrain; in addition, it can grow on nearly barren lands and still produce highly nutritious grains.」

Grabbing them one after another, he talked about them.

Even though Gold was admiring Ritone, he still had doubts.

「However, can we sell this?」

「If you have doubts about it, shall we eat them?」

As Ritone suggested that, he grinned widely.

Several days later, Gold responded to Ritone’s call with several of Ritone’s subordinates and gathered together.

What awaited them was a meal party.

「Well, go ahead!」

With the help of the maids, Ritone gathered Gold and other influential subordinates and treated them to a meal with all the cooked crops.

Even though they fearfully reached out for food at first, as soon as they had their first bite, they smiled.

「This is delicious!」

One of the bureaucrats, who was bald, was eating the corn aggressively–dropping quite a few kernels.

[Daily: The raw actually states “spilling the kernels like it’s raining”]

「Even though we just boiled it in salt water, don’t you think it is delicious?」

「Yes, this is the first time I have eaten such a thing.」

Corn kernels littered the edges of his mouth.

「This is… really soft.」

Gold was eating the freshly cooked rice, and was extremely pleased.

To people who mainly eat bread as their staple food, rice is a completely new flavor.

「Now please try this. This is “Nikujaga”, which is a combination of meat and potatoes boiled together until it softens. It goes well with rice.」

Upon eating Ritone’s recommendation, Gold suddenly shed a tear.

「I don’t know why, but I’m remembering old times. Like when my mother cooked her handmade food for me– that nurturing flavor. Since I was really preoccupied with work, how much time has passed since I have seen her…」

[Tach: Nikujaga usually known as wife’s cooking or motherly cooking, but I can’t understand it here… They are nobles that eat servant cooked food… ( :P) I know that the author wanted to make a joke about it, but I just wanted to mention it.]

Leaving Gold, who was starting to cry, Ritone went towards a well-rounded female subordinate and recommended her a dish with plump grains.

「I recommend you this. By only eating this “quinoa”, you could easily lose weight and become extremely beautiful.」

This woman, hearing that she could go on a diet with this, changes her perspective completely.

「I-is that true?」

「Yes, it is also highly nutritious, so you can have a balanced diet and healthy body.」

Hearing that, she timidly eats.

「It’s delicious… This can be cultivated on rough terrain, can’t it? My territory is cold, and is a plateau zone where it rarely rains. Can it be cultivated even there?」

「Yes, that is perfect.」

Hearing that, tears trickle down the woman’s eyes.

「Young master Ritone… Thank you very much.」

She expresses her thanks as she grabbed hold of Ritone’s hands.