CH 121

Even as Marcus recalled it, he could only find it strange.

“Same could be said with the clothes she chose to wear that don’t have any openings for leeches. Isn’t she just too familiar with mountain traveling?”

Sophie had changed before they left since the one she wore before wasn’t suitable for the situation. It wasn’t a light outfit suited for riding horses but instead one focused on protection and ease of movement.

Luca also thought about Marcus’ question.

“Sophie-sama’s knowledge seems to be diverse, and it is said she has gone to other nations as well, perhaps that is the reason?”

“Other nations, huh… ah, this is tasty.”

When he ate the baked snack he wouldn’t eat normally, he vigorously munched on it when he tasted the sweetness.

As expected of a daughter of an aristocrat. She sure ate good stuff.

Marcus couldn’t help but feel a little sarcastic toward the packed food he would never be able to afford himself.

Although Marcus hated being swept up by emotions and spending time unnecessarily, he still felt indignation at the disparity in the lives of aristocrats and commoners.

“It was great. Thanks.”

However, Marcus knew he would only hurt his own dignity if he said it to the girl in front of him, so he conveyed light gratitude instead.

“I’m glad. It’s a snack I made using an improved variety of rai wheat. It’s not sour and easy to eat, right?” 

“Rai wheat? …This snack is made of that?”

Marcus opened his eyes wide since he couldn’t believe it used the same material as the intensely sour bread he usually ate.

“It’s something similar since it can also be grown on thin land, so I think it will eventually reach the market price of normal rai wheat.”

“Hah?”

“Don’t you think this taste can be firmly established within the town, Marcus?”

“Hah?”

“Bread made out of this variety is delicious, you know? Please try it next time and tell me your impression of it.”

“Hah?”

Hey Marcus, are you listening to me? said Sophie with puffed cheeks. Marcus, whose mind was only cultivated for swordsmanship and physical strength, was unable to catch up with the series of terms that Sophie was using.

“Thin la… what is it again?”

Instead of Marcus, who was already at a loss near the beginning, Lars, who was barely alive, spoke out. 

“Sophie-sama, you’re not only delving into trade with other nations, but also focused on improving local products?”

“Yes. After all, unless we can produce better things, they won’t catch the discerning eyes of other nations.”

“I guess… that’s true.”

“Well, this isn’t improved for foreign trade but to create staple food within the Orlando Kingdom. The bread made using this improved rai wheat has the same color as bread made using normal rai wheat, but it has different levels of sourness and sweetness.”

As she explained, Sophie said, “Ah, that’s right!” as if she came up with something and looked at Lars.

“I’ve been thinking of promoting the seeds of improved breeds of plants. Could I request everyone from the gold star for help? It would take time if I had to visit every territory one by one to introduce them, so if I had the help of everyone from the gold star, it would really be a lot of help.”

“Of course, I would gladly carry it out if it’s Sophie-sama’s order! …However, wouldn’t farmers prefer to use the seeds they are used to planting rather than a more expensive alternative even if it was more delicious?”

Things would be different if the lords of the land felt like buying it using their own money and distributing it to their farmers, but things that lords did varied from person to person.

“I have no intention of selling it at such a high price. We are already past the trial stage, but since I want to allow each lord to compare the results of the improved version to the normal version, I intend to provide it for free instead.”

Lars raised his voice in astonishment when he heard the word “free.”

“If you do that, won’t that make you unable to recover the funds for making the improvement of the seeds to begin with?!”

“There’s no need to recover the funds at all. This was made out of a hobby of mine and my employee after all.”

“H-hobby… is it?”

She might say it was just a hobby, but even if Lars wasn’t a silver star, he could understand how much money, knowledge, and time was involved to improve just a single breed of a plant, as he was a gold star.

“I’ll introduce him to Lars later. My employee Eric is more capable than a decent silver star in my eyes. He researched every day so he could make a stable supply of crops that could withstand unreasonable weather and natural disasters.”

“…Since he is that capable, wouldn’t it be possible for him to receive an exception and become a silver star himself?”

Although the present silver star students were all aristocrats, there was a special spot reserved for commoners. However, there has never been a case where a commoner enrolled in the silver star until now.

“I asked him whether he was interested before, but he isn’t a person who wants to be in the limelight, and he didn’t seem to care about stars or fame to begin with.”

Luca, who had been listening silently, ruminated over Sophie’s story.

In the first place, the special spot reserved for commoners in the silver star was created by Lorenzo, out of worry due to the lack of personnel in the silver star, which was proposed to the king and approved. To be honest, it was hard to think it would be possible for a silver star candidate to appear among the commoners, who were often illiterate, but it seemed that exceptions existed everywhere.

Since it is a person that Sophie-sama herself admitted as capable, I guess elder brother would be interested in him.