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← Back to Novel : The Reincarnated One is Naive ~Living a Slow Life with Special Skills! ...What does it mean that the center of the storm is quiet?~

Chapter 98 - The North Market 2. An Encounter




Yuri stared at it in disbelief.

(...A sugar beet... that’s a source of sugar, right? Huh? And... they don’t know this is a source of sugar?)

Yuri was astonished, but even in Europe on Earth, the technology to extract sugar from sugar beets was not established until the eighteenth century. The cultivation of fodder beets with enlarged roots began in the fifteenth century, so considering that, it was not an impossible situation.

"Yuri-sama, is something wrong?"

"Ah, yes. I just saw an unfamiliar crop, that’s all."

"Ah... these are all animal feed. They’re too fibrous for people to eat."

At the word "all," he looked around again and saw a pile of various types of turnips.

"Is that so? Where I come from, we ate relatives of tur... Suzuna too."

"Ah... I’ve heard about that from Mand-san. That there are edible Suzuna somewhere far away. But these are no good. They’re hard, stringy, and have a harsh taste. There’s no way to make them edible."

...It wasn't far away, but rather, they were cultivated at the site of the abandoned village on Salt-Sour Mountain. A pumpkin-like vegetable, which apparently didn't exist on this continent, was also cultivated there, so it must have been a highly experimental settlement. In any case, it seemed that edible turnips were a rarity in this country.

"...You seem to know a lot... have you eaten them before?"

"Eh? Ah, well, out of curiosity, a little."

"Hmm... Now that you say that, I’m actually more interested. I’ll buy a pile and take it home."

"Ehh... I wouldn’t recommend it."

As Eto tried to stop him with a frown, the female shopkeeper, who seemed to have grasped the situation, also joined in to dissuade him. She said it was fine for animal feed, but she wouldn’t recommend eating it himself. But Yuri had no intention of letting go of the sugar beets he had so fortunately come across. He had intended the turnips as a kind of camouflage, but thinking that they might turn into something special depending on the cultivation and cooking methods, he couldn’t let them go either.

"...Eto-kun, Yuri-kun has spoken so firmly. Won’t you let him buy it? He must have something he wants to try."

"Ehh... but Mand-san will scold me."

He barely managed to swallow the words "if you let him buy strange things," but Eto’s aura still screamed that he did not recommend it. In contrast, Yuri was determined to buy them and take them home. The good matchup, however, was settled when Eto gave in.

"...You’ll be sure to tell Mand-san that I tried to stop you, right?"

"Of course. Eto-kun has performed his duties admirably."

"Ehehe... admirable, I’m not so..."

Though he seemed mature, he was still only eleven. Eto, easily won over by Old Man Audel, negotiated with the female shopkeeper and asked her to make sure the purchased pile was delivered to Adon’s mansion without fail. Yuri would have preferred to stash it in his magic bag immediately, but unfortunately, before leaving, Adon had strictly warned him not to use his magic bag carelessly in front of people. So,

"I have various things I want to research, so please make sure to deliver this exact pile, okay? If the contents are different, I may not be able to accept it."

He emphasized this firmly. ...Secretly using the dark magic Suggestion was, in Yuri’s mind, within the scope of necessary measures.

"Hey Yuri-kun, you were quite fixated on the Suzuna. Do you have some idea in mind?"

"No. Suzuna grow even in cold places, don’t they? They’re excellent for both animal feed and green manure, and on top of that, if I can figure out a way to eat even a little of them, I feel like it could be helpful in many ways."

"Hmm...?"

Dona looked at him with a slightly suspicious eye, but Yuri’s statement was not entirely a lie. It was a fact that the relatives of Suzuna, turnips, were rich in starch, and if he could somehow manage the taste and fibrousness, a path to using them as food would open up. Besides ingenuity in cooking, like a pressure cooker, Yuri had something he wanted to try.

Five years had already passed since his reincarnation into this land. During that time, Yuri’s wood magic, which he had continuously used for farm work, had become specialized in cultivation, and now he could even do something akin to tissue culture. He was thinking of trying something like selective breeding by tasting them, choosing the ones with good flavor and less fiber, and applying a cloning process. He knew it would take time, but he had decided to live his life in this world as he pleased anyway. A lifelong hobby also seemed like fun.

(This... looks like I’ll be busy with various things when I get back...)
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