Chapter 21

When I returned to Ivalice, I sent all the documents I had obtained to my superior, Cefiro.

I did make copies of everything using the *Duplication* magic, but especially with the map, it’s beyond my expertise.

I’m more skilled with offensive magic, and I’m not particularly good at detection spells.

I can’t identify the person who drew the map from the faint magical traces left on it.

That kind of work is more in the domain of the mad alchemist, our leader.

So, I decided to focus on the other task assigned to me.

I called for the maid, Sati, and handed her something.

“What is this? This little white thing?”

Sati was puzzled by the object she had never seen before.

“Master, what is this?”

“This is something called rice.”

“...Rice?”

She seemed unfamiliar with it.

It’s probably not popular in this world.

Of course, I didn’t know about it either until I went to the capital, Lezas. I only found out about rice when I saw it in a corner of a merchant’s shop.

“Do you remember when I talked about doubling the city’s tax revenue?”

“Yes, I believe you mentioned trying the four-crop rotation method.”

“Right, I did some quick experiments using magic behind the scenes, and it seems this world’s soil and climate are suitable for the four-crop rotation method.”

“So, we’ll be able to eat turnips every day!”

Sati beamed with childlike joy.

“Well, not every day, but we should be able to eat them to our heart’s content.”

“So, the task of doubling the tax revenue is a success?”

“More or less. Agriculture takes time, so the effects won’t be immediate, but we’re on track.”

“I’m sure the leader will be very pleased.”

“Yeah, but I haven’t reported it yet.”

“Why not?”

“Well, if I achieve it too easily, he’ll just give me even more impossible tasks. It’s better to report it with a bit of a struggle, saying, ‘I managed to succeed after a lot of hard work.’”

“I see, he’s that kind of person.”

“He’s not a bad guy... or maybe he is. He’s a witch who’s lived for centuries and has a rather nasty disposition.”

“...Is it okay to speak ill of your superior?”

“This room is enchanted with *Anti-Eavesdropping* magic. Besides, even in a dictatorship, subordinates have the right to complain about their superiors.”

—But only when the superior isn’t around.

Anyway, complaining won’t get us anywhere, so let’s get to the point.

“To get back to the topic, this is rice, a rare grain from an island nation in the south.”

“...Is it expensive?”

Sati asked hesitantly.

“It’s quite expensive.”

I replied with just that.

I didn’t give the exact price because if I did, this girl would faint.

Besides, I’m going to ask her to cook this rice, and I don’t want her to do it with trembling hands.

Even if she’s a cooking expert, she won’t be able to cook calmly once she knows the price of the ingredients.

“...It’s quite expensive, but to be fair, the things I usually eat are also high-end.”

I prefaced it this way.

For reference, the value of rice in this world is probably about the same as copper of the same weight.

It’s a luxury item for nobles.

If we can mass-produce it, the tax revenue will skyrocket!

—Or so I think.

Luxury items are luxury items. If they become widely available, the price will drop accordingly.

However, even then, it will still have added value as a rare grain, and rice has its advantages.

‘Rice is several times more productive than wheat.’

The amount of rice that can be harvested from the same area of land is overwhelmingly greater than wheat.

To put it bluntly, from an efficiency standpoint, growing wheat is foolish, whether in the modern world or in this fantasy world.

Rice also requires less fertilizer.

If everyone eats rice, we can support several times more people.

When I explained this to Sati, she widened her eyes.

“So, we can eat several times more rice than before? Sati can’t eat that much.”

She said something completely off the mark.

It might be too difficult for the uneducated Sati to understand. Let me try to explain it in simpler terms.

“That’s a very Sati-like way of thinking. But no, if we can produce several times more, we can support several times more people.”

“Do you mean the population will increase proportionally?”

“In simple terms, yes. Of course, it won’t actually increase that much, and there’s no need for it to. If we can support a large number of people with a smaller workforce, more people will be freed from agricultural work, right?”

“Hmm, indeed, but not working sounds like something only nobles do.”

“It’s not that they won’t work at all. People who were engaged in agriculture will take up other jobs, like becoming weapon makers, bricklayers, or even street performers.”

“There are already people like that...”

“There will be more of them.”

Using terms like primary, secondary, and tertiary industries would probably be beyond Sati’s understanding.

“...In short, farmers who are freed from agricultural work will take up jobs in production, and more people will provide services to those in those jobs, like cooks, actors, and writers. This will naturally make the country richer.”

“...I don’t fully understand, but I know that you’re working hard for the people.”

She said this and rolled up her sleeves, declaring, “I will support you with all my might, Master.”

“I appreciate that.”

I thanked her and asked Sati to cook the rice.

I have a lot of knowledge from my previous life, but when it comes to cooking, I’m a complete novice. I don’t even know what to do in the kitchen.

It’s best to leave it to the expert.

I did, however, pass on the one piece of cooking wisdom I remembered from my previous life.

“When cooking rice, remember the saying: ‘Start with a gentle simmer, then a strong boil, and don’t lift the lid even if a baby cries.’”

She repeated it, looking confused.

She didn’t seem to understand at all.

Maybe I shouldn’t have told her that.

As I watched Sati start to cook the rice, I wondered if I had just made things more complicated.