kscans

Chapter 234 - A Pepper Dream (Part 4)

"...Yuri-kun, my boy, would you mind telling me why you were so set on that ‘piperu’?"

Once they were a certain distance from the section selling piperu, Old Man Audel posed the question to Yuri. While it was Yuri’s money to spend as he wished, hadn't he chosen a rather odd thing to spend it on? The entire group had been wondering the same thing, but Yuri's answer was...

"Oh, I was hoping that by some chance, it might sprout. That ‘piperu’ was different from the others being sold, wasn't it?"

"Sprout?"

"It was certainly different, but..."

It had been disgustingly discolored, and some parts were even moldy. There was no doubt it was "different."

"I think the ones sold through legitimate channels are heat,treated. To prevent them from sprouting."

"Heated... you mean they’re roasted?"

"No... now that you mention it, I have heard a story like that."

Eto had voiced her doubt, but a statement supporting Yuri came from a surprising source, Orban.

"After all, ‘piperu’ is a substance traded for its weight in gold. Apparently, its country of origin is very careful about how it’s handled. Both its cultivation and sale are strictly managed, and unauthorized dealing is strictly forbidden."

"Huh...? But Yuri-san’s ‘piperu’... it was probably stolen or smuggled, right?"

"Yeah, if they get caught, the people involved won't get off lightly."

Hearing Eto and Orban's conversation, Dona and Old Man Audel instinctively turned their gazes to Yuri, but...

"Oh, come now. I'm merely a ‘bona fide third party,’ you know?"

"More like a party with bona fide ulterior motives..."

Yuri smiled with an air of innocence, but why did he somehow look so sketchy?

"...Anyway, it seems the producing country goes to great lengths to keep the true nature of piperu a secret. That’s why they apparently started by selling it in powdered form. But they received complaints that the aroma faded too quickly, so now they trade it as seeds, like we see today."

"Hey Orban-san, did anyone ever try planting the ones being sold?"

"It wasn’t for a lack of trying, but they always failed, I hear."

"I’ve heard that story as well. Someone spent a fortune on piperu only to have it rot uselessly. He became an example of a fool, so they say."

He had thought it was just difficult to germinate due to climate differences, but if it was being heat,treated to prevent sprouting, then it made sense why so many had failed for so long.

"The producing country has no intention of letting piperu, which literally bears golden grains, fall into the hands of other nations."

"...Wait a minute...? But, Yuri-kun’s ‘piperu’..."

"...Ah..."

At that point, both Dona and Eto seemed to have realized Yuri’s scheme.

"Since it didn’t come through legitimate channels, there’s a high probability it hasn't been heat,treated. If so, you can’t say there’s no chance it will sprout."

"For a wager of half a gold coin, those don’t seem like bad odds."

They had been exasperated, thinking it was a foolish act born from a child’s shallow wisdom, but it turned out Yuri had a solid plan. The group greatly revised their evaluation of him.





As a side note, the reason why other Appraisal skill holders in this world hadn’t noticed that "piperu" was because of two things. First, it looked so much like a fake that they were overcome by the preconceived notion that "it couldn’t possibly be real." And, more importantly, because the producing country only exported heat,treated "piperu," it had been ingrained in people’s minds that "piperu" was a heat,treated spice.

That’s right. To the eyes of those who had never seen the seeds of "piperu" as a living organism, raw, untreated pepper appeared to be something entirely different from the "piperu" they knew.

Well, Yuri was unaware of the situation to that extent, and merely thought, "I sure got lucky."