High Hopes for Potatoes

Princess Tianis studied the parchment in her hands for a while, lost in thought.

At last, she spoke.

"I see… Yes. This narrows down the candidates for the next emperor considerably. That's the real takeaway here."

"Glad to hear the Empire is finally settling down."

"Indeed. When the Empire sneezes, the kingdom catches a cold. If Crown Prince Kelves succeeds without incident, that's the best outcome."

A bit dramatic, I thought, but she had a point.

"You don't know what happened after you repelled them?"

"No. Crown Prince Kelves didn't pursue, and nothing else happened as far as I'm aware."

"Perhaps there was no need to strike the final blow. A failed assassination followed by a failed night raid. This royal's influence will have plummeted. They're probably trussed up like a parcel and on their way to the duke as a gift right about now."

Duke Dantarg had mentioned pressuring the surrounding nobles.

So that was how it looked from a royal's perspective. Instructive.

"And you brought back iron ore as a souvenir."

"Yes. I'm planning to take it to Alsarm."

"Do as you like. That's not my area."

She'd said earlier it was outside her jurisdiction, so she seemed uninterested.

"Is that everything you wanted to ask?… A decent haul for what amounted to a minor food-aid deal. It was small enough that if anyone raised a fuss, we could write it off as a private transaction."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Princess Tianis had merely given permission.

If something went wrong, she'd cut me loose without hesitation.

"Let me remind you: the wheat you shipped was meant for our reserves. When the next harvest comes in, make up the shortfall. Anything that keeps will do."

"Understood. That was the condition for your permission, after all."

"Good. Stay out of trouble and stick to being a merchant."

That concluded our discussion. We left her chambers.

Unavoidable as it had been, considering everything we'd done, getting off with just a light scolding was fortunate.

She probably half-believed it at best, or maybe didn't take it seriously at all. If she thought I'd embellished the story, that was fine by me.

"The cake was delicious."

"It was."

You couldn't find cake like that in Kassad.

Either you made it yourself or you came to the capital.

"Mind if we check out the market?"

"Oh, may we?"

Elza's face lit up.

Apparently it had been on her mind.

Since I wanted to pick up souvenirs for Finn and Alexia anyway, we headed for the market we'd passed earlier.

The Royal Capital lived up to its name.

The market was enormous.

Stalls packed the entire plaza.

The crowds and energy were something else.

The buzz was infectious, making me antsy. Selling things here would surely be exciting.

We browsed casually, eyeing the wares.

Standard street-food stalls gave way to dubious medicines, handmade accessories, and even monster-derived materials.

To my surprise, those were selling too.

With this many people, demand emerged for everything.

I'd considered a simple accessory, but I'd already given them hair ornaments and such.

So this time, I opted for something a little different.

"What's this…?"

I bought ear cuffs for everyone.

Handcrafted silver, but well-made.

Azu looked puzzled as she received hers.

"A good-luck charm. Wearing it on your right ear is said to keep misfortune at bay."

"I see."

"Does it suit me?"

"Looks good."

Elza put hers on right away.

Half-hidden by her golden hair, it suited her nicely.

Orleans and Azu followed her lead and put on theirs.

"You don't have to wear it all the time. Apparently just putting it on occasionally is enough."

"I'll treasure it."

"Me too."

It hadn't cost much, but they seemed happy. That was what mattered.

I also bought a pile of doughnuts for snacks, then we headed to Luido.

Arriving in Luido, we first made for the provided house.

It was empty. The two of them weren't here.

Documents about crops lay scattered on the desk.

They were probably at the fields.

When we walked over, sure enough, there they were.

Towels draped around their necks, the look suited farmwork.

"Good work."

"Oh, finished already?"

Alexia responded to my call.

She was holding a hoe instead of her battle-axe.

She'd changed into clothes that didn't matter if they got dirty.

"I already delivered the payment. He was visibly thrilled, so no need to worry."

"Good to hear."

The people of Luido had to keep at it.

If they didn't feel their hard work was properly rewarded, they wouldn't stick with it. So this was a relief.

"Tired. Break time."

Finn wiped her face with a towel and plopped down on a nearby rock.

Young as she was, she looked strangely at home doing this.

Maybe this kind of work suited her.

Alexia had no objections and took a break on the spot.

Orleans pulled a sheet from her supply bag, spread it on the ground, sat down, and set down the mountain of doughnuts.

We all washed our hands and dug in.

Wooden skewers had been included, so we speared the doughnuts. A thoughtful touch.

"Oh, right. Here."

I handed ear cuffs to Finn and Alexia as they enjoyed their doughnuts.

They seemed to like them.

Finn's stood out especially against her black hair.

Her line of work probably didn't leave much opportunity to wear them, but it was the thought that counted.

"So how are the potatoes looking?"

"They've already sprouted."

"Growing fast. We might get a decent yield."

"That'd be great."

Even with the Earth Elemental Stone, wheat yields wouldn't skyrocket overnight.

Meeting Princess Tianis's quota depended partly on these potatoes.

Plus, they were incredibly sweet and delicious.

Once production stabilized, they'd make an excellent local specialty.