Volume 5 - CH 2.1

Intermission 2: Researching a Certain Line of Research 

The research institute in the former slums of Parnam, the royal capital of the Kingdom of Friedonia. 

Ginger’s Training Facility, which had been opened with King Souma’s sponsorship as one means of securing talented personnel and making it so that slavery became a thing that existed in name only, now had a great many subjects which could be studied at it. 

With more land being given to the facility, it had come to be called Ginger’s Vocational School. While retaining the elementary school, they had also established schools dedicated to various specialized subjects. If a field of study achieved results here, there would be schools dedicated to it established in other cities. 

There were already a number of fields of study that had gone independent, and specialized schools for them were being built in other cities; but the schools of farming and medicine were still here. This was because the appropriate teachers were here: the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Poncho Panacotta, as well as doctors like Hilde Norg and Brad Joker. It also showed that Souma, who knew that, historically, the production of food and knowledge of medicine were directly linked to the maintenance and growth of the population, placed great importance on those fields. 

Now, there were two man-and-woman pairs facing one another across the threshold at Ginger’s Vocational School’s main gate. The first pair consisted of a rotund man who was almost thirty years old, and an intellectual beauty who was elegant in everything including her appearance. The other pair consisted of a young man whose face was so gentle in appearance that he might be mistaken for a girl, and a beautiful raccoon girl who had an unyielding look in her eyes that left a lasting impression. 

The strange thing was, the woman in each of these pairs was wearing a classical maid uniform with a long skirt. 

The two who were about to enter the school grounds were the Minister of Forestry and Agriculture Poncho Panacotta, and Serina, the head maid of Parnam Castle who was also the personal attendant of Princess Liscia. 

The two who were greeting them at the threshold were Ginger Camille, the principal of Ginger’s Vocational School, and Sandria, who served him as his secretary and maid. 

Poncho and Ginger smiled and shook hands. 

“Greetings, and thank you for coming, Sir Poncho.” 

“S-Sir Ginger, it does my heart good to see that you are in such good health, yes.” 

“Um... There’s no need to be so formal, you know? You’re older than me, and a minister, too.” 

Poncho stuttered, “I-It’s a habit of mine. I just can’t seem to shake it, yes.” 

“He is a timid man, you see. Please, give up on him,” Serina chimed in as Poncho was awkwardly trying to explain himself. “Honestly... Considering that he’s saved so many of this country’s people with his knowledge, I wish he would have gained at least a little more self-confidence.” 

“Um, and you are?” Ginger asked. 

“Pardon the lateness of my introduction. I am Serina, the head maid at the royal castle.” She gave an elegant bow. 

“Th-Thank you kindly for that. I am Ginger, the principal of this school.” 

When Serina bowed her head to him, Ginger panicked. 

Seeing his reaction, Serina chuckled. “Now, Lord Ginger, you needn’t be so formal when addressing a mere maid like myself.” 

“Th-That’s not...” 

“My master has a weakness for attractive older ladies, you see,” Sandria chimed in. 

Ginger was bewildered by what she said. “San?! What are you saying so suddenly?!” 

“When we get back! When we get back, I promise I’ll make one for you, yes!” Poncho hurriedly said. 

The somewhat sad expression disappeared from Serina’s face. 

“That’s a promise,” she said, looking perfectly fine. 

It had apparently all been an act to get him to agree to it. Poncho’s shoulders slumped. 

Ginger wasn’t sure how to react as he watched this exchange, but Sandria was nodding along. 

But... Ginger explained that they hadn’t been able to produce results. 

“We were certainly able to make fast-growing plants. Those plants had two special qualities: growth and proliferation. We were able to eliminate just the proliferation, which meant that the area would no longer be engulfed in green.” 

“You were able to control them? Isn’t that a success, then?” Poncho asked, seemingly mystified: but Ginger shook his head with a wry smile. 

“We were carrying out this research in the hopes of increasing food production and making the deserts bloom, but... from the results of our research, we learned this won’t be of any help with either of those things. Genia’s spell only speeds up the growth of plants. Sir Poncho, do you know what is needed for plants to grow?” 

Poncho thought for a moment, then replied, “Fertile soil and water... as well as sunlight, yes.” 

Ginger nodded. “Yes. Of those, the sun is no problem. With some work, the water issue can be managed well enough, too. The problem was fertile soil. Though we’ve accelerated the plants’ growth, the quantity of water and nutrients they require from the soil hasn’t changed. Madam Genia must have known that, too, because her spell included a function for sucking water and nutrients out of the soil.” 

With that said, Ginger pointed to the dried and cracked field. “This is what the field looks like after we harvested our fast-growing wheat.” 

“...It’s almost like a sandy desert, yes.” 

“No matter how much we can accelerate the plants’ growth, fertilizing the soil takes a lot of time,” said Ginger. “As a result, the plants suck all the nutrients and water out of the soil, leaving it dry and cracked like this. Nothing will grow in soil that’s ended up like this.” 

“Is there no way to provide a steady supply of nutrients to the soil?” Poncho asked.