Kays Translations

Chapter 137: The Mountain Village’s Future

The morning after the feast, Leada was in exceptionally high spirits.

The previous night, she had concluded an exclusive agreement with the village chief. With it, Marches Trading Company secured the right to handle the village’s mayonnaise production.

The company would also manage future shipments of tomate and tomoro once the crops were ready. Tauro had explained that mustard made from karashin seeds could become just as popular as mayonnaise, giving Leada another product to anticipate.

The villagers and Marches Trading Company were also considering opening a stall in O’Circus that specialized in mountain-village foods.

Fried or steamed jagamo served with generous amounts of mayonnaise would be simple to prepare and could sell well wherever enough space was available.

Tauro felt that jagamo alone might not attract sufficient attention, so he promised to teach them another eye-catching dish once they could cultivate a popping variety of tomoro.

Although its kernels looked as though they might explode dangerously, heating them produced a popular snack from Tauro’s former world called popcorn.

The agreement promised considerable profit for Marches Trading Company. Leada wanted to report everything to Marches immediately, but the party had agreed to remain in the village until noon while Tauro taught the villagers how to cultivate the new crops.

With the contract completed, Leada could at least relax while she waited.

Tauro began with jagamo, the crop most immediately important to the village.

Jagamo was comparatively easy to grow, required little space and water, and could be harvested twice each year. As long as the plants were fertilized and thinned properly, even inexperienced farmers should be able to raise them.

The crop couldn’t be planted continuously in the same soil, however. Tauro advised the villagers to divide their land into four sections and rotate the jagamo, leaving each plot unused for that crop for at least three years.

Tomate needed abundant sunlight, so he recommended planting it on the sunny slopes. The high elevation was also helpful because the drier air reduced the humidity that tomate disliked.

Once the harvest became stable, the villagers could preserve part of it as tomate sauce.

Tomoro likewise preferred sunny fields and consumed a great deal of fertilizer. That trait could help draw excess nutrients from heavily fertilized soil, although the plants still needed proper thinning and additional fertilizer during growth.

After listening carefully, the villagers immediately began preparing the ground and sowing seeds.

Tauro was relieved to see how much more energetic they looked than when he had first arrived.

The village would gradually repay the money Tauro had lent after the harvest, with Marches Trading Company handling the payments.

Mayonnaise could be produced sooner than the crops, but it wouldn’t become a dependable source of income until the villagers expanded their supply of eggs and other ingredients.

Tauro therefore decided to invest additional money. Increasing the number of mountain chickens would provide more eggs for mayonnaise, while expanding the dairy herd would allow the village to produce more cheese and butter.

He removed a heavy leather purse from [Magic Storage] and handed it to the village chief.

“Is it truly all right for us to accept this much?”

The chief stared at the weight of the purse in astonishment.

“It’s an investment. Please use it carefully together with the money I lent you earlier, and consult Marches Trading Company before making major purchases. Do your best to rebuild the village.”

Aeris watched the exchange from nearby and once again wondered where Tauro obtained so much money.

Large payments appeared to reach him at irregular intervals, probably from the refrigerator and his other inventions. She had also seen him withdraw money through the Adventurers’ Guild.

The only guild-related business Aeris knew about was the miso produced at the Resting Pavilion, and she doubted that it generated enough profit to explain his finances.

Perhaps Tauro had operated some other business in Saisi, but he had never told her much about his former life there.

“Who exactly are you?”

Aeris finally asked as Tauro suggested that they prepare to depart.

“What do you mean? I told you before. My mother died when I was young, I fled from my violent father, and I became an adventurer in the city when I was eight.”

“I remember that, but it doesn’t explain all of this.”

Tauro had no intention of revealing that he had created Reversi.

Doing so would complicate matters for Mauve, whose name had been used publicly, and for Leo, the head of the Saisi branch who had arranged the agreement.

To satisfy Aeris without exposing that secret, Tauro decided to share something else he had never told her.

“Between you and me, I own a shop in Saisi.”

“You own a shop? What kind?”

Tauro explained that the local guild managed a restaurant on his behalf that specialized in curry.

Aeris was surprised, but the revelation finally gave her a believable explanation for at least part of his income.

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