Chapter 23

When I invited Jiron, the orc's advisor, to the mansion, I had him taste the rice that Sati made.

First, it was white rice.

With a face that was half curious and half fearful, he tentatively took a bite and exclaimed, "It's delicious!"

"Sir Ike, it's delicious. This rice is really good."

"…Is it really that good?"

I scratched my head, saying "Hmm."

Honestly, orcs are gluttons, so their opinion isn't very reliable.

But I knew that, so I just tried it on a whim.

"The rice I ate in Japan was even better."

"Japan? What is that? Is it some place?"

Oops, I shouldn't have said that. I let my guard down.

It was absolutely essential that no one discover I was a human, and it would be equally unwise for them to know I had memories from my previous life.

If they found out I was a heretic, they might start an investigation, which could lead to the discovery that I was human.

Even without that, it would be foolish to boast about having memories from my past life.

That would just make me look like a weirdo.

To cover up, I decided to tell a plausible lie.

"It's a small island in the south. No one even knows its name."

"I see, so you've been to the south, Sir Ike."

"Yeah. By the way, the rice there was even better. It's called 'short-grain rice,' and it's delicious even when eaten on its own. It's a bit sweet, chewy, and not dry at all."

"…Hmm, I think this is quite good already."

Jiron laughed and said, "You're quite the gourmet, Sir Ike."

Well, that's true.

I guess my love for rice as a Japanese person showed, but at this stage, this might be enough.

After all, the delicious rice from Japan is the result of centuries of selective breeding. It might not be fair to compare it with the rice from this world.

"Let's just make do with the taste for now. This is long-grain rice, which is adapted to the southern climate, so it can't be grown in Ivalice."

"I see, so you're going to make 'short-grain rice'?"

"Yeah, that's the plan. 'Short-grain rice' has the advantage of being slightly more cold-resistant. With selective breeding, it might become even more delicious and yield more. Anyway, we need to start by creating paddy fields."

"Paddy fields? What are those?"

Jiron let out a surprised cry.

"Rice can't be grown just by planting seeds in a field. Well, technically it can, but like wheat, if you grow the same crop year after year, the soil will become depleted due to continuous cropping."

"Will creating these paddy fields solve that problem?"

"Yep, once you have paddy fields, you can produce large quantities of the same crop every year. It's far more efficient than crop rotation."

"Wow! That's amazing. Let's start building these paddy fields right away."

"Sure, do that. But keep in mind that building paddy fields requires a lot of water. We'll also need to gather more humans and get the trolls to help with the heavy machinery."

"Juki?"

"…I mean, we need the trolls to take the lead in the construction."

I forcefully convinced him and immediately ordered Jiron to start building the irrigation channels for the paddy fields.

"Will we use a rotation system like last time?"

"No, there's no rush this time. But we'll still pay the humans properly."

After saying that, I told Jiron I was going out for a bit.

"Where to?"

"To the captain's place."

I replied succinctly.

By now, the demon who received the map should have been identified. Sefiro may be a joker, but he works fast.

He might even be in the middle of casting a teleportation spell to summon me again, as is his usual habit.

It would be fun to surprise him by showing up unexpectedly this time.