Episode 56

* * *

“Wow… It’s real!”

Following Doctor Gordon to his herb garden, I spotted the delicate pink leaves nestled in a corner of the expansive plot.

The old man had successfully transplanted the stems.

Now that we knew the environment where the fairy herbs thrived, propagating them was just a matter of time!

As I alternated my gaze between the garden and the old man with wide eyes, he shrugged his shoulders.

“Ahem! Of course! Who do you think I am? I graduated top of my class from the academy and even double-majored in herbalism…”

“But… is this all?”

“Is this all?”

Cutting off the old man’s self-praise, I muttered, making his white eyebrows twitch.

“Yes, is this all? There isn’t much here.”

That’s right.

Although we had succeeded in transplanting the fairy herbs, only less than half of what I had originally gathered had survived due to several failed attempts.

Seeing my disappointed expression, Doctor Gordon spat as he scolded me.

“You fool! Be thankful that we managed to keep some alive! Do you have any idea how difficult and monumental this achievement is?!”

“Ew, gross! Don’t spit on me, Grandpa! If you need to spit, do it on the ground!”

“Ahem!”

The old man cleared his throat, speaking more calmly.

“Just wait a bit longer! The seed pods burst just yesterday, so they should sprout by the day after tomorrow.”

“But it still takes three months for them to fully grow.”

“Three months? How do you know that?!”

Doctor Gordon turned to me, clearly surprised by my knowledge.

I quickly tried to cover my slip.

“I-I read it somewhere!”

“Is that so… There are books with such rare information in the temple?”

“Yes, lots of them!”

“Is that so? Hmm…”

Doctor Gordon tilted his head, looking puzzled.

‘It’s not a lie!’

The temple’s library was indeed filled with books of all kinds, from ancient forbidden texts to stories of all sorts.

“What’s the name of that tree?”

I quickly changed the subject before the old man could probe further.

There was a single tree planted where the surviving fairy herbs were growing.

“It’s an ash tree.”

“Ash tree…?”

“Yes. Thanks to the piece of wood you brought, I found it quickly.”

I nodded, recalling the old tree at the place where I first discovered the fairy herbs.

‘As I thought.’

Since it was all within the same duchy, the tree played a more crucial role than the soil.

“But it only grows from young saplings, not old trees. There were some setbacks in figuring that out.”

The old man explained calmly, recounting the reasons for the earlier failures.

Hearing that, I felt a bit dizzy.

‘It’s a good thing Grandpa succeeded.’

The herbs were already scarce, and it was a miracle they hadn’t disappeared completely.

The old tree at the original location of the fairy herbs looked like it was on the brink of dying.

‘No wonder the original heroine didn’t do anything significant with this.’

As I came to this realization, Doctor Gordon continued speaking.

“Moreover, it only parasitizes on trees grown in this duchy’s forest. Fascinating, isn’t it?”

“Wow, that’s amazing,” I replied, trying to ignore the guilty feeling in my chest.

‘Of course, it’s set to only grow in the duke’s estate…’

“So, if we plant a lot of ash trees, they’ll grow rapidly, right?”

“Exactly! From here all the way over there, it’s all ash trees!”

The old man gestured enthusiastically across the herb garden.

‘So, it’s all… trees.’

The scale of his ambition was evident from the rows of saplings planted across half of the expansive garden.

As I felt a bit overwhelmed by the sheer size, the old man asked excitedly.

“So, what will you do with these? Will you tell the Duke and negotiate with the nobles? Or sell them on the black market?”

“No!”

I replied cheerfully.

“We’ll sell them through the Belze Trading Company!”

“What?!”

The old man was taken aback.

“Are you seriously thinking of setting up a stall on the street?”

“No! Not on the street!”

“Then where do you plan to sell them?”

“That’s… a secret!”

“Bah!”

The old man turned away, disappointed, just as I had been earlier.

“It’s hopeless! Trusting a five-year-old was a foolish idea.”

“You called me foolish.”

“What? You little brat, making fun of adults…”

“Anyway, we can’t do much with these right now.”

I pouted, mumbling in frustration.

“……”

The old man fell silent, seemingly agreeing.

‘This amount isn’t nearly enough to make incense.’

Incense was the best way to maximize the effect with the limited quantity we had. But with only a handful, we’d be able to make two or three at most.

However, it was too early to be discouraged.

We could make the incense later when we started full-scale cultivation. For now, it was more important to let the nobles know about this rare herb and its effects.

‘In that sense, incense isn’t suitable.’

After all, incense needed to be burned to release its scent, making it hard to demonstrate its immediate effects.

‘Something that shows immediate effects with just a small amount.’

After a moment of thought, I decided to ask for the old man’s knowledge.

“Grandpa! What about applying it to the face?”

“Hmm. Small amounts might be okay, but it’s extremely bitter. If it gets into the eyes or mouth, it’ll be very unpleasant.”

“Ah.”

Skin lotion was out.

‘Is it really only products related to fragrance?’

Fragrance-related products were quite obvious.

‘Perfume?’

But perfume was usually applied to the body or clothes, making it too far from the face to show effects.

‘A fragrance-related product, with a small amount, not touching the face, but indirectly effective…’

“Grandpa! Can perfume be applied to hair?”

“Tch, who in their right mind would spray perfume on their hair! It’ll just make it greasy.”

Using the old man’s knowledge again, I grinned.

Fortunately, it seemed that hair products weren’t common in this world yet.

‘Great. Product decided!’

However, there was one downside.

No matter how much we diluted the current amount of fairy herbs, it was impossible to sell them at a low price and still make a profit.

I wanted to get rich quickly, but it seemed I’d have to rely on the old man again.

“Grandpa, is there something similar to Rellius Grass that’s cheaper and more common that we can use to make medicine?”

“Hmm? Like a stamina recovery tonic?”

“Yes!”

“Hmm. There is something I’m researching, but…”

As expected, the old man was the best business partner.

After stroking his chin in thought, he finally shook his head.

“It’s not something I’ve tested on anyone yet, so I’m not sure if it’s ready to be sold.”

“That’s okay! I’ll make sure it’s ready to sell this time!”

The old man was momentarily taken aback by my confident declaration.

“And how do you plan to do that?”

“If lots of people take it and there are no side effects, it’s fine, right?”

Isn’t that what clinical trials are for?

But the old man laughed in disbelief.

“Hah! If it were that easy, everyone in the world would be selling medicine!”

He grumbled some more, but I chose to ignore him.

“And, Grandpa. One more thing.”

“Stop! From now on, you’ll have to pay for my advice! You think you can keep using me for free…!”

“It’s not that…”

I extended my hand toward him.

“Give me what you’ve stashed away!”

“W-what… stashed? I haven’t stashed anything away!”

His overreaction was telling.

I grinned mischievously, like a villain.

“I know you’ve dried and hidden some fairy herbs!”

“H-how did you…!”

“Your desk, third drawer!”

In the original story, this was where Doctor Gordon kept his collection box.

At my whispered words, he looked at me as if he’d seen a ghost.

“N-no, you can’t! That’s…!”

“Then how am I supposed to conduct experiments? We have so little of it here!”

“Experiments…?”

The old man repeated the word as if he had never heard it before.

I nodded energetically.

“Yes! The first product of the Belze Trading Company!”

“……”

“And that is…!”

* * *

I obtained the necessary materials to create the sample product through the butler.

Of course, there was a budget allocated for my expenses under the pretext of sponsorship, but unfortunately, I was still too young to use it freely.

‘Face water, hair oil, empty bottles, droppers, a child’s lab coat, and safety goggles…’

The butler, who had meticulously brought everything in the requested quantities, looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“But, miss. What exactly are you planning to do with these?”

“Um, I’m going to play beauty salon!”

I gave the prepared answer, and the butler’s eyes lit up with understanding.

“In that case, I shall arrange for a professional to create a children’s cosmetic set…!”

“No, no! Actually, I’m playing hairstylist!”

“Then I shall procure a children’s hairdressing kit…!”

“No, no!”

I don’t need that!

Sweating nervously, I barely managed to stop the butler.

“Thank you, butler! You’re the twelfth best person in the world!”

I tried to change the subject with a compliment he would like.

For some reason, the butler’s face darkened.

“You said Mister Gordon was the tenth. So, who is the eleventh…?”

“The kitchen uncle!”

“…I will strive to do better.”

With a strange determination, the butler left my room.

‘Isn’t eleventh or twelfth pretty much the same?’

Puzzled for a moment, I turned my attention to the materials on the desk.

Putting on the white lab coat that fit my small frame, I muttered resolutely.

“Researcher Belze, proceed!”