8 You reap what you sow
The carriage was passing quietly along the new roads of the duchy. From the window, I could see a group of workers at work, a sight that comforted me. Last year, Milccery almost fell backwards when I told him I was proposing to build more than 200 kilometers of roads.
His argument against it was apparent. Such a large project requires a great deal of money to get it going, and more workforce than the duchy can provide. However, after I made my case, he realized my motives. These roads would better connect the north and south of the territory, shortening the trip by less than half, which greatly favours trade. In addition, as a bonus, it would generate a large number of jobs, which in turn attracted many people from outside the duchy. Many of these people would bring their families with them. I know from experience that many small working-class communities would become new towns, paying taxes.
I looked out the carriage window at the farm fields. It was already harvesting season, and many people were cultivating each of the four different types of crops.
This season they were growing corn, onions, rye, and the star product of the duchy, beets.
Generally, in this world, they plant whatever they feel like regardless of soil type and climate. As there is a magic unique to nurture and grow plants, it's "easier" to hire many mages than to experiment with cultivation or fertilizers. While it's technically "easier" and faster to grow using magic, it is more expensive than the low number of specialized wizards. All that alone makes many field-derived products extremely expensive. Now, I, who have no magic, but an immense amount of time, developed a different method.
My memories of my original life are fuzzy. Still, I must have been a middle school student, so when I heard of the food problems of this world, I had no better idea than to propose crop rotation. Still, the problem now lies in the fact that I had no idea how crop rotation worked. Since who pays attention to those classes anyway?
The carriage was still rattling lightly, and a memory of past lives came to me. Even if I'm unable to remember how many lives it took, I can't forget the sleepless nights while conducting experiments with compost. Don't even mention the times I was murdered by a mob of angry villagers who blamed me for ruining their crops.
In the end, I was able to rediscover the 4-stroke crop rotation, which worked as follows. You planted four plots at a time in which you put high stock crops, medium stock, low stock and so-called green manures, which were crops that bring more benefits to the land than what they consumed from the ground.
The crops of high existence are those where their fruit is consumed. These require a good amount of fertilizer.
On the other hand, crops of medium existence give good results after those of high fact, without adding much additional fertilizer and are mostly those whose leaves are consumed.
Low demand crops don't require any fertilizer to give good results. Those are the crops whose roots are consumed.
On the other hand, green fertilizers help the soil rest since they provide it with more nutrients than those consumed and are mostly made of grains and cereals.
One crop of each type is chosen and planted in a plot. In the end, plot of land is rotated. That way, the field is constantly producing.
The carriage had finally stopped, and Irma helped me out of it. For personal reasons, Therrion had asked me for the day. Although it would have been better to leave her in charge of the mansion in my and Therrion's absence, Irma has unique qualities that make her perfect as a travelling companion.
As we descended, the sound of jubilation and laughter washed over me. This was a city of well-fed people with quiet, stable lives. Nothing like the city full of misery and hunger it used to be.
After getting off, we started walking through the streets of the small town. I had put on a simpler dress, to at best, look like the daughter of a wealthy merchant and not the daughter of the dukes who rule the area.
In silence, we walked through the market stalls. All around us, we could see how people were decorating the town preparing for the festival. Town festivals can be a lot of fun, but I have more things to do, and I want to concentrate on my goal.
A small stall caught my eye, and I stopped for a moment in front of it. After a moment's consideration, I decided it was the perfect bait for the elusive animal I had set out to hunt. I finally approached the stall and bought two cotton candy.
Cotton candy was not my invention. Like any good otome game, this world was incredibly advanced in all things candy. Be that as it may, I approached a nearby bench and slowly, slowly began to eat my cotton candy. As I did so, I began to think about the absurd amount of candy that existed, considering the high price of sugar. And although sugar used to be something exclusively used by the nobility, I changed that paradigm since I came to power. Incidentally, I created the star product of my duchy.
I don't remember who was the one who told me this, but I know that someone once said to me that beets grow pretty well in the Croiss duchy, even without magic. While beets are a low-demand crop and therefore don't require much to produce, the beet crop in the duchy can reach huge numbers under the right conditions.
At that point, I wondered what I could do. I could grow beets, lots and lots of beets, so how could I improve the duchy's economy with a good vegetable for little more than a salad? That's when another moment of brilliance came to me. Thinking back to my original life, I remembered that it was possible to make sugar. This product is extremely scarce and expensive in this world, using beets, a crop I could produce in industrial quantities.
When I concluded, I was pleased. However, my smile was short-lived, as I quickly realized that I had no idea how to make sugar from beets, just like agriculture.
Experiments, failures, lives, deaths and a long time later, I finally rediscovered how to create sugar from beets, being very easy to grow, and can even be grown in winter, make it the perfect raw material, which has turned beet sugar into the cornerstone of my duchy's economy.
Sitting on the bench, eating as slowly as I was able, I began to think about my past lives and everything I have done to get to the point where I am now.
Hundreds of attempts, hundreds of failures, hundreds of other attempts sooner or later lead to success.
I finished my cotton candy while thinking how wonderful it was that sweets were now available to everyone, and not just the nobility. Besides, usually, the whole sugar market and sweets, in general, are controlled by that woman, and anything that ruins her monopoly is good.
At the reminder, I clenched my fists and frowned.
That woman, one of my greatest enemies in this world, has been the only one who has caused me a wound from which I have not yet been able to recover.
Although of my three enemies, she was undoubtedly the weakest, she was a person who achieved everything she has through hard work. I know better than anyone that those types of people are the most dangerous.
I couldn't help but grimace at the thought of my three enemies, and more so when I realized that the most unpredictable of the three and the reason I had come to the city today were standing in front of me.
Before I stood a small girl with short blonde hair, covering one of her eyes with a lock of hair, showing that her only visible eye was bright blue. I had it on good authority that the other was the same. She was wearing patched clothes, somewhat old, it was accurate, but at the same time with well-concealed seams, which made the patches look like ornaments. At the same time, she was wearing shorts that could barely cover knees full of scrapes, making it evident that the girl in question hated to stand still.
Looking at her out of the corner of my eye, I sighed. Simple cotton candy was the perfect bait to lure her in. What a simple person.
The little girl looked at me with puppy dog eyes and hardly had any qualms about the fact that my social standing was much higher than hers. Heedless of that fact, I motioned for her to come closer and handed her the other cotton candy. And without even a second's hesitation, she sat down next to me happily and began to eat.
Unlike a pig, the girl started eating the cotton candy so fast I wondered if she was even enjoying it. Between grunts, she thanked me, but I couldn't understand her words.
(Leonora) It doesn't matter.
I said, interpreting the sounds coming out of her mouth. When she finally finished eating, she lightly licked her fingertips that still had some sugar on them and wiped her mouth with the collar of her clothes. I was not surprised by her total lack of manners, as it was typical of her; instead, I just watched her. When she finished "cleaning herself", she focused her attention on me, and Irma, who was standing like a statue behind me, started looking me up and down and introduced herself.
(Celes) I'm Celestia, but everyone calls me Celes. What's your name?
(Leonora) I am Leonora.
(Celes) Leonora is very long, can I call you Leo?
(Leonora) As you like.
(Celes) Tell me, Leo. You seem to be rich. Does your family have a lot of money?
(Leonora) You could say yes.
At that, she focused her attention on Irma and stared at her for a moment.
(Celes) Wow, is she for real?
(Leonora) you're asking if she's human?
I still have my doubts, but I guess so.
(Celes) no, I mean, is she a servant? I had never seen one, but my mom keeps in a box in the closet clothes very similar to hers, and she just told me that it's a servant's report.
As she said those words, she got up and stood in front of Irma, who was still standing there staring straight ahead, in such a stoic position, it seemed like she weren't even breathing.
(Celes) wow, so the maids are statues of women? But why do they put clothes on them? And how do they make them look so real?
(Leonora) not precisely... look at them.
At that moment a woman appeared, when she saw Celes next to me, she got nervous and ran to apologize to me.
The woman identified herself as her mother and repeatedly apologized without asking for explanations from her daughter. When I told her there was no problem, she grabbed Celes by the collar of her shirt and practically dragged her away so she wouldn't cause any more trouble. As they both walked away, I stood watching them.
Celestia was the main character in "Under the Blue Moon" and one of the biggest rocks in my shoe.
I could barely see her between the distance and the sea of people in the market. Still, a moment before disappearing from my sight, our eyes met, so she raised her hand to say goodbye. At this gesture, I sighed and looked away.
We have been best friends, sworn enemies, and strangers. I have killed you with my own hands, and you have killed me with your own hands. I've saved your life, and you've saved mine, I've ruined your life, just as you've ruined mine. We have been so many things that it is even offensive that you don't remember any of them.
Celes finally disappeared from my sight, and I made a decision. In this life, I'm going to keep my distance. I'm not going to gain anything from having her around.
I looked at Irma standing next to me. I told her we could leave. I had already seen what I wanted to see anyway, plus it wasn't the only place I wanted to go.
We get back in the carriage and set off.
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The wind was blowing, moving the leaves of the trees. I, for my part, was looking everywhere looking for something. After some rummaging, I saw something that caught my attention. Underneath a log, there was a small burrow in the ground. I fearlessly reached in and pulled out a couple of eggs from there. As I did so, I ran my fingers over them.
Hmm rough.
I checked that they were the ones I was looking for and put them in a backpack I was carrying, where I already had half a dozen similar eggs.
Rummaging around, I was able to find another burrow, and I bent down to check if I also had eggs. Still, when I got up, I saw that a pack of wolves surrounded me.
I didn't think anything of it and went on with what I was doing, and before long, the wolves went on their way. And as I watched them walk away, I told myself that sometimes it's good to be the witch.
Having been satisfied with the eggs I had gathered, I returned to the carriage where Irma was waiting for me. Already in the cab, I indicated to the coachman that we could return to the mansion. With the gentle rattle of the carriage, I gradually fell asleep.
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I was finishing washing clothes in the river, carefully. I put them in a basket almost as big as me and tied it on my back.
Winter is coming, and my hands were red from the cold, but a small smile was on my face. I could buy my father's medicine, and there would be enough left to buy dinner.
On the way, I almost fell because of the basket's weight but managed to keep my balance. Finally, I reached a house, which I went around to the back door, there I give a few knocks to knock.
A woman showed her head, and when she saw me she grunted, she opened the door, and I put the basket inside the house, having finished, the woman gave me some coins.
(?) excuse me.
The woman was about to go back to her house and just stopped without even looking at me.
(Woman) what do you want?
(?) excuse me, but this is not what we agreed.
(Woman) It's already more than you deserve, now leave me alone.
The woman went back inside the house, and I could hear her locking the door.
I clutched the coins to my chest and ran to the herbalist's shop.
When I entered, the manager barely looked at me, so I just placed the coins on the counter.
(manager) is not enough.
(?) I know, this time I only want half.
The woman looked at me with disdain and put some herbs on the counter.
(?) Excuse me. This is not the half.
(manager) that's what you get for buying such small quantities.
I remained silent in front of her.
(manager) What is it? Do you want anything else? If so, get out of here.
I held back the tears and silently walked out.
I know there should be a couple of vegetables and half a loaf of bread. It should be enough to make soup.
I raised my head high and ran home. I know everything will be alright, I don't know how, but I know everything will be ok.
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(Irma) Miss Croiss, we have arrived at the mansion.
I woke up and rubbed my eyes. I wasn't feeling well and told Irma to cancel everything from today.
Dreams always put me in a bad mood.
When I got back to my room, I put the eggs I had collected in an incubator I had prepared. And I stood watching myself. It will hatch in a few days, I declared, just like the others.
I looked out my bedroom window and saw the hedge maze stretching across the intensity of the garden.
Just a little longer, and I'll be ready.
