kscans

Chapter 253 - The Grand Spring Market ~Last Day of Bargains~ 2. The Edibility of Horticultural Species

The 'horticultural species' being sold at a bargain price that had caused Yuri to freeze in confusion were...

(...That looks just like asparagus. And the one over there looks like a Lupinus... Is that edible, too...?)

According to Professor Appraisal's teachings...

《Broom Grass (also known as Aspartes): Equivalent to the asparagus of the other world, Chikyuu. Like Chikyuu's asparagus, it is a perennial, but this one is monoecious. Unlike on Chikyuu, here it is cultivated as an ornamental foliage plant, but its young shoots are edible. Its roots and stems also have a diuretic effect.》

...it stated. In his actual world of Earth, a different species in the same genus as edible asparagus was cultivated as an ornamental plant, so perhaps it wasn't so strange for this world's asparagus-like plant to be treated as a horticultural species.

(I heard asparagus spoils easily and it's hard to keep fresh... but well, it should be fine if I'm just eating it at home.)

Putting the asparagus aside for a moment, the other thing that bewildered Yuri was a potted plant blooming with vivid purplish-blue and rose-colored flowers.

《Climber Flower (also known as Wiltar): Equivalent to what is cultivated in the Andes region of the other world, Chikyuu, under the name Tarwee. Its relatives on Chikyuu are called Lupinus or Noborifuji, and are cultivated as ornamental species for their flowers. This species is also treated as an ornamental, but its seeds are high in amino acids and fats, particularly unsaturated fatty acids. However, like the Tarwee from Chikyuu, the seeds are bitter, so they must be soaked in water to remove the bitterness before eating. The bitterness can be removed in a shorter time than with Chikyuu's Tarwee. Due to the symbiosis with Rhizobium in its roots, it has a high capacity for Nitrogen Fixation and is also excellent as green manure.》

(Lupinus is edible... I mean, it's a legume, but...)

He had seen Lupinus several times in his past life, but he hadn't known that a related species was cultivated as a crop. Yuri was ashamed of his ignorance, but for now, there were more important things to do.

("This Climber Flower and Broom Grass... both of them are edible.")

Mindful of the warning from Baron Darren, Yuri whispered to Old Man Audel. The old man replied in an equally low voice.

("What? Is that true?")

("Yes. The beans of the Climber Flower need to be soaked in water for several hours to remove the bitterness before eating, but they are nutritionally excellent. They also enrich the soil like Soya Beans and the Alfalfa Mimic, so they can be used as a substitute for green manure. It doesn't seem to be well known here, though.")

("My goodness... that is a serious matter.")

("As for the Broom Grass, the young shoots are edible. This also doesn't seem to be widely known here.")

After hearing Yuri's story, Old Man Audel judged that this was a matter that could not be overlooked and joined Yuri in buying up all the seedlings of these two plants. Fortunately, there weren't many on display at the stall, so they didn't attract any attention...

"...Yuri-kun, we can have these delivered to the storage depot and then brought to Adon's mansion later. (So don't put them in your Magic Bag.)"

"Ah... right."

Seeing Yuri about to put the seedlings directly into his Storage, Old Man Audel hastily advised him. Yuri was disguising his Storage skill as a Magic Bag, but the fact that both Storage, as it was generally known, and Magic Bags 'could not store living things' seemed to have completely flown from his mind. Of course, the others watching him no longer even bothered to point it out, thinking, 'Well, that's just Yuri'.



After that incident, Yuri started paying close attention to ornamental plants as well, and his efforts were soon rewarded.

"Um... what's this?"

"Oh, sonny, this is a plant from a faraway land. It looks like this, but it blooms with beautiful flowers, you know."

Yuri, or rather, Isarai Yuuri from his past life, recognized the plant with its bizarre appearance.

(...It's a cactus, right? It looks like a thornless prickly pear cactus...)

The ever-versatile Professor Appraisal answered Yuri's question.

《A species of Apentio: Equivalent to what is called a prickly pear cactus in the other world, Chikyuu. While it can withstand drought and produces beautiful flowers, its resistance to low temperatures and frost is low, so it is often cultivated in pots. For this reason, thornless varieties have been selected, and this species has also lost its thorns. Although only the flowers are of interest, the fruit is also edible, similar to the dragon fruit of the other world, Chikyuu. However, the fruit spoils easily and is not suitable for long-term transport.》

(Wow... now that I think about it, I heard that dragon fruit is the fruit of a cactus. But I don't think it was from a prickly pear...)

Whatever the case with Chikyuu's dragon fruit, the fruit of the Apentio here was apparently edible. If it was similar to the dragon fruit Yuri knew, there was no doubt it would be presentable as a food item. However, it also said it was weak to cold, so in a country like this where greenhouses were not well developed, commercial production would likely be impossible. Even in Yuri's village, they had only just begun working on a greenhouse.

(There's little hope for it as a cash crop... but there's no harm in growing it for myself.)