kscans

Chapter 63 - Past and Future (Part 3)

Wondering what he was about to say, Yuri grew slightly cautious as the old man began to speak.

"Sell our food supplies, you ask?"

"Yes. As I mentioned before, the town is short on food. A merchant should be coming to our village soon to buy our harvest. However, we can't sell off our crops without limit. In fact, we're running short of food ourselves, which is why we've come to the mountains to gather what we can."

"So you're asking if I can release some of what I've stored?"

"That's right. From what you've shown me, your fields produce more than a single person could ever eat. I imagine you have a considerable amount stored away, don't you?"

"Well, a fair amount, I suppose."

Yuri stood up and brought out a small quantity of the naked barley, buckwheat, and soybeans he normally ate.

"Yes, just as I thought. The quality is excellent. What is this?"

"What? They're soybeans. Soya Beans."

"Soya Beans?"

"Huh?"

"Huh?" they both echoed.

To his surprise, the two of them did not know what soybeans, or Soya Beans in this world, were.

"They should have been planted in the fields I showed you earlier."

When he explained this, an unexpected answer came back.

"Oh, those. I completely forgot to ask. I was wondering why you were planting something inedible. Do you have to remove poison from these as well to eat them?"

"What? Well, I suppose you could call it removing poison."

The Soya Beans of this world, equivalent to Earth's soybeans, contained saponins that gave them a bitter taste, as well as proteins that hindered digestion, something common to many other beans. For this reason, they could not be eaten raw. In fact, eating them raw would upset one's stomach. They needed to be cooked to destroy the toxic proteins with heat, but the villagers had been unaware of this and had gotten sick after trying them raw. They had not cultivated them since. In truth, Soya Beans were grown in some parts of this country and circulated in small quantities on the market. However, they were distributed as dried beans, which were soaked in water and cooked before eating, so people were not aware of the toxic components. Some people in End Village had eaten such Soya Beans before, but since they had only ever seen the dried beans, they had not realized they were the same thing.

"So that's how it was."

"Just planting them enriches the soil. They're essential for farming, you know."

It seemed they were also unaware that leguminous plants performed nitrogen fixation, but there was a reason for this too. To begin with, there were not many legume crops in this country, and those that were cultivated were fertilized normally, so the effects of nitrogen fixation were not apparent. They knew that legumes grew in wastelands, but they were simply treated as weeds. For these reasons, Old Man Audel and the others did not know the true potential of beans. Yuri took out the rest of the beans he had sown this year and handed them to Old Man Audel. The ones he usually ate were from his stored supply, which had aged a bit.

"It's a little past the sowing season, but it should still be all right."

"Are you sure we can have these?"

"Yes. You can eat the green beans before they ripen, but please, whatever you do, don't eat them raw."

"That's a lesson we've learned all too well."

Old Man Audel put the beans away with heartfelt gratitude, but then he seemed to remember the main point of their conversation.

"So then, Yuri-kun, your crops are honestly of better quality than ours. It would be foolish to sell them to the merchant for the same price. I was thinking, how about you negotiate with the merchant and have him take you to town? With this quality, you'll get a better price selling them in town. You can just sell the merchant a portion of your crops cheaply as a commission. If you need a hand, I'll find some people for you."

"Oh, no. I can manage the transport myself, but..."

Now, what should he do about this?

Yuri had not been without thoughts of leaving this village. However, that was in the early days. Since his farm got on track, such an idea had never once crossed his mind. He had nurtured this farm to this point. Why on earth would he do something as sad as abandoning it? Besides, even when he had considered leaving, his intended destination had been End Village, not the town. While not a complete social recluse, he was not very good with people. He did not think he could manage well if he suddenly went to a city where people would pull the rug out from under you.

Seeing Yuri with his arms crossed in thought, Old Man Audel spoke up.

"You don't need to worry about the merchant's character. He's a sharp fellow, to be sure, but he's not the type to make money by deceiving people. He's always going on about the path of profit or something."

"Adon-san is fine. We've known him for a long time, so we know what he's like," Dona added.

Encouraged by their words, Yuri made his decision.

He had unexpectedly become a shut-in for five years, but if he was going to live in this world, he would need to learn a little about it. Besides, going to the city did not mean he was abandoning his village. If he was only away for a little while during the off-season, or perhaps spent part of the winter outside, it shouldn't cause any major problems, should it?

"I understand. If it's all right to go after I've finished harvesting my fields."

"Oh, that's fine. That fellow Adon should be coming after the wheat harvest is over. That will be around the end of August. Does that work for you?"

"I'd like to say yes, but I don't have a calendar..."

When Yuri confessed this, the two of them looked as though they had just made a mistake.

"Uh, um, today is July seventh, and July has thirty-one days. And August also has thirty-one days, so..."

From what Dona explained, a little haltingly but with great effort, the calendar used in this world seemed to be the same Gregorian calendar Yuri had used in his previous life. Yuri had created his own calendar based on the date just before his reincarnation, and it turned out he had not been wrong.

I see, so today is Tanabata. The Mao harvest is soon, so maybe I should pray for my weaving skills to improve.

Tanabata, also written with characters meaning "loom shelf," was a day in Japan when it was believed that making a wish would improve one’s artistic skills. However, this was typically for women, a point Yuri had completely forgotten. Well, this was another world, so the form of belief was probably different anyway.

In any case, they said they would let him know when the merchant’s arrival was near, so he could plan his schedule around that.