Chapter 37

When they entered the third plot, inside, apricot demon trees were slowly walking around, bearing fruit. Each apricot demon tree had about ten fruits.

The apricot demon trees, seeing a large number of unfamiliar people entering, all fled at once. However, the third plot was narrow, so they quickly stuck to the walls.

Antonio caught one apricot demon tree and called out to Serge and Pamela.

"Look, this is the demon tree that bears fruit."

Pamela plucked a fruit and sniffed it.

"Wow, it smells good. Can we eat it?"

"We don't know yet. We'll have to investigate."

Antonio patted Pamela's head. Pamela smiled happily.

"That's not fair. I want one too."

Serge, not wanting to be outdone by his sister, plucked a fruit.

Incidentally, the fruits of the olive demon tree were edible. They are now pickled and used as ingredients in cooking.

"Let's start harvesting."

When Ricardo called out, his mother Julia joined in, catching the apricot demon trees and harvesting the fruits.

Serge and Pamela laughed and chased the apricot demon trees. The apricot demon trees, having shed their fruits, seemed to move faster.

They harvested about fifty fruits in total. The part that acts as a catalyst is inside the seed, so they separated the seeds from the flesh. The flesh, which spoils quickly, was made into syrup with white wine and honey and preserved.

After checking that it was safe to eat, they tried it and found it to be very delicious. Not only Serge and Pamela, but also Dario, Eric, and Fred, who worked at the experimental breeding ground, were delighted, saying they had never tasted anything so delicious.

The next day, Antonio and Ricardo went to Bernardo's shop.

"Oh, welcome."

Bernardo greeted them with a smile. He was in a good mood because the magic rods made from the branches of the demon tree Tamir, which he had purchased from Ricardo, had sold for a high price.

The magic rods made from the demon tree Tamir were slightly lower in quality than those made from the demon tree Damir, but they were still third-grade magic rods. Since they could be used for lower-level advanced magic, court magicians and skilled magicians competed to buy them, and they sold out immediately after restocking.

When they were led to the reception room, Monta, who had been hiding in the shoulder bag, climbed onto Ricardo's shoulder.

"Would you like tea? And a Rasta for Monta?"

Rasta is a fruit similar to a loquat.

A servant brought tea and Rasta. Monta happily pounced on the Rasta.

"Kyakya, Kyakyakya" (Bern, you're nice)

For Monta, anyone who gives him food is nice. Ricardo sighed, wondering if this made him a wise beast.

"So, what brings you here today?"

Ricardo took out the seeds of the apricot demon tree from the storage crystal and showed them to Bernardo.

"These are the seeds of the Shuram tree... harvested from the demon tree grown at the experimental breeding ground."

Ricardo nodded, and Bernardo called one of his servants to check the quality of the seeds. After a while, the servant returned and reported that they were of high quality.

"Excellent. I'll buy all of them for one gold coin and five silver coins. Is that okay?"

"Yes, I look forward to doing more business with you."

Ricardo smiled. Antonio stared at the one gold coin and five silver coins he received, probably because it was the first time he had earned money on his own.

Bernardo turned to Ricardo.

"What are your plans for the experimental breeding ground?"

The experimental breeding ground was about to undergo significant changes. After the construction of the utility shed was completed, Ricardo had commissioned Romano the foreman to build a proper breeding ground. He asked to enclose a plot of about one hectare and divide it into five plots.

Currently, two plots were completed, and they planned to grow about a hundred apricot demon trees that bear catalyst fruits in these plots.

When he told Bernardo this,

"I see, a hundred. That's twenty times the number in the third plot. So, you'll make more than twenty gold coins per harvest... Oh, what about the flesh?"

"We made it into syrup."

"Hmm, the syrup of Shuram tree fruits is popular, so that will sell too. Excellent."

Bernardo calculated in his head. There was still plenty of land left from what Ricardo had purchased, and there should be room to expand the plan fivefold.

And the same should be possible on the land Bernardo had purchased. However, there was one obstacle. If he did this, he might upset Ricardo, a genius with whom he had a good relationship.

His business instincts warned him to avoid that.

"I also bought land in the outskirts."

Ricardo gave Bernardo a wary look.

"No, no, I don't intend to copy you. To be precise, I don't plan to grow apricot demon trees."

"Then why did you buy land in the outskirts?"

"As you know, the catalyst for [Fire] is soaring in price. I want to research whether it's possible to grow demon trees and obtain high-quality catalysts."

"But I don't think turning the demon tree Kumiri into charcoal will yield high-quality catalysts."

The stronger the demon tree, the higher the quality of the catalyst. Turning the demon tree Kumiri into charcoal would only yield a sixth-grade catalyst, which is only slightly better than ordinary charcoal.

Ricardo remembered thinking about the content of black eggs in catalysts. At the time, he couldn't come up with a way to concentrate black eggs and gave up.

Later, as he deepened his knowledge of magic and studied magical power, he made a discovery. When magical power is excited by a catalyst, it emits a color unique to the catalyst. For example, the catalyst for [Fire] emits red, and the catalyst for [Water] emits blue.

However, while experimenting to see if it was possible to cast magic without a catalyst, he accidentally turned his magical power black.

No matter what catalyst he used, the black magical power did not excite the attribute. Upon investigation, he found that black magical power had the ability to repel black eggs.

He thought this could be used to concentrate black eggs, but it required delicate control of magical power and concentration, and it was impossible to maintain black magical power for a long time.

However, while learning the techniques of a magic craftsman at the Emilia workshop, he learned about the existence of the Radiant Dragonstone. There were many types of Radiant Dragonstones, the most common being red and blue, but black ones also existed.

When Ricardo heard that Bernardo wanted to research how to obtain high-quality catalysts, he had a flash of inspiration about using the black Radiant Dragonstone.

However, it was unclear whether the black Radiant Dragonstone could be used to concentrate black eggs until he conducted an experiment.

While Ricardo was thinking about how to concentrate black eggs, Bernardo continued.

"I heard that you plan to grow the demon tree Trill in the breeding ground in the future. The charcoal from Trill can be used as a catalyst cartridge for magic cannons."

It seemed that Bernardo was not planning to research the concentration of black eggs. Instead, he aimed to grow the demon tree Trill as the next step after growing the demon tree Kumiri.

"I was also planning to grow the demon tree Trill, but since it's a dangerous demon tree, I think we need a facility to prevent it from escaping."

"I thought the same. So, I plan to start by growing the demon tree Kumiri and accumulate knowledge. I would like Ricardo to help me..."

"Sure. You've been very helpful to us."

Ricardo decided to provide his knowledge on how to grow the demon tree Kumiri. As long as he kept the grafting technique secret, they wouldn't be able to create apricot demon trees.

"Thank you. I'll arrange for the construction of the breeding ground right away."

Bernardo smiled happily.

On their way back from Bernardo's shop, Antonio asked,

"Is it okay to cooperate with Bernardo?"

"Are you worried about him taking over the business?"

"Bernardo is a shrewd businessman. Father said to be careful of businessmen."

Ricardo shrugged.

"Don't worry. Bernardo values his reputation. Besides, let's buy a pear tart to celebrate our first sale."

"Pear tart?"

He had accidentally said pear tart. In this world, there was a fruit similar to a pear called Poloa.

"I meant Poloa tart. It's a delicious dessert."

"I've never had anything so fancy."

"I think you'll like it too."

Ricardo stopped by a bakery and bought tarts for the family and the servants.

When they got home with the tarts, his mother, Serge, and Pamela were weeding the vegetable garden in the yard.

Serge and Pamela noticed Ricardo and Antonio. Serge ran over and tackled Antonio, while Pamela, running unsteadily, hugged Ricardo.

"You two, that's not good. If you hug with dirty hands, you'll get their clothes dirty."

The two of them separated at their mother's words. Ricardo took out the Poloa tart from the bag he was holding.

"I bought a very delicious dessert. Let's eat it."

The children cheered and followed him to the faucet to wash their hands. The house had a water supply system that drew water from the Crem River, so there was no need to draw water from a well.

They gathered in the dining room, cut the tart into pieces, and served it on plates. For Monta, they placed a small piece of tart on a small plate on the table.

Monta climbed onto his special platform near the table, stuck his upper body out, and waited for Ricardo and the others to start eating.

"Thank you to the gods of Aurebas."

After reciting the prayer of gratitude to the gods, they all started eating the tart.

Antonio, who rarely smiled, said with a smile,

"This is delicious."

"Really delicious."

"Pamela, I like this."

"Kyakya, Kyakya" (Monta likes it too)

Julia, looking worried, asked,

"Was it expensive?"

"Don't worry. Look at this. This is the money we got from selling the seeds of just five apricot demon trees. We plan to increase our breeding ground to a hundred, so it will definitely be very profitable."

Antonio laid out the money from selling the apricot demon tree seeds on the table.

Julia looked relieved.

A few days later, construction of a similar breeding ground began on Bernardo's land near the experimental breeding ground.

The experimental breeding ground, having completed the experimental stage of harvesting apricot demon tree fruits, was renamed the Unius Breeding Ground.

The fourth plot, which was one hectare in size, was completed, and a hundred demon trees Kumiri were released into it. The newly born demon trees Kumiri, no bigger than onions, were running around energetically in the weeds.

Their appearance was so captivating that one could watch them all day. Sometimes, when two Kumiri collided, they both jumped in surprise and ran away, which was amusing.

It took only five days to grow a hundred demon trees Kumiri from seeds, an impossible speed without magic.

However, it was a lot of work to bring nutrient-rich soil from the nearby Crem River forest.

This was because Antonio and Dario were responsible for the task.

The plan was to create plots from the fourth to the eighth and move a hundred demon trees Kumiri from the fourth plot to the seventh plot in sequence.

First, the demon trees Kumiri in the fourth plot would eat all the weeds, then they would be moved to the fifth plot. After the demon trees Kumiri were moved, the plot would be plowed and grass seeds would be sown and left to grow.

By the time the demon trees Kumiri had completed one cycle, the grass in the fourth plot should be lush. It should work well in warm seasons, but it was unclear how it would work in winter when the grass grows slowly.

The current season was early autumn, so there should be no problem with the grass growing.

Incidentally, the eighth plot was intended to be planted with millet or a potato-like plant called Mor potato after the demon trees Kumiri had eaten all the weeds.

Around this time, suspicious people began to appear near the Unius Breeding Ground. There were about three of them, and they seemed to be taking turns monitoring the breeding ground.

When Ricardo noticed the suspicious people and tried to call out to them, they quickly fled, leaving him puzzled.

"Maybe we should consult the experienced Bernardo."

So, they went to Bernardo's shop to seek advice.

Bernardo, who listened to them in the reception room, looked serious.

"I see, suspicious people monitoring the breeding ground... It seems that someone has noticed the business of the Unius Breeding Ground and is trying to copy it."

Ricardo frowned. He understood that people would try to copy a successful business, but it was hard to accept that they were being copied before the name was widely known.

He told Bernardo this.

"I'm sorry. It might be my fault."

Bernardo suddenly apologized.

"What do you mean?"

"When I bought the land in the outskirts, I asked a few nobles for help, and I might have attracted the attention of other businessmen."

Ricardo finally understood. Bernardo had started building a breeding ground to copy the Unius Breeding Ground, and when he bought the land in the outskirts, it was known that he was starting a business to grow demon trees, leading to an investigation into the demon tree breeding business.

"We should probably take some action."

Bernardo said thoughtfully.

"However, there's no way to prevent people from copying us."

"But among unscrupulous businessmen, there are those who try to crush new businesses and monopolize them for themselves."

This was something Ricardo, who had never been involved in serious business, had never even imagined.

"What should we do?"

After thinking for a moment, Bernardo said,

"Ultimately, we need a noble to back us up."

Ricardo remembered a scene from a period drama where a corrupt merchant bribed an official.

"Do you mean someone like the Marquis Boniperti?"

"Yes... From the recent developments, it seems our enemy is a formidable businessman. A marquis might not be enough."

"What do you suggest?"

Ricardo had one acquaintance among the nobility. He remembered Remigio.

"Would you like to meet the Crown Prince Gaius?"

Ricardo was surprised to hear an unexpected name.