RNFB 11

Chapter 11

Ch. 3 Purification

“La-la-la-na~”

If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s giving up quickly when something seems impossible.

Like extending my lifespan, for example. Or meeting Dad again.

But put another way?

It means I’ll find a way to accomplish anything that seems possible!

“La-la-la-la~”

I held back from clapping my feet and walked as quietly as I could.

But I can’t hold back the humming!

My clothes were light. But I wasn’t cold!

When I looked up, I could see the blue sky.

Two years since the mad dragon died.

The thick clouds that had hung over us all this time had finally cleared, and the sun was finally showing its face.

Sizzle-! Heat haze rose gently from the ground, and the melted earth became muddy here and there. But I didn’t care.

Because now I can do it!

‘Five strokes of the hoe!’

I puffed out my chest as I looked at the completely thawed farmland. I was just about to head down when,

“Kid. It’s slippery.”

Someone right beside me grabbed me firmly by the scruff of my neck.

“Sir Luden!”

“…”

The knight with dark blue hair, who looked rather strict, glanced at me.

Still dangling by the scruff of my neck, I gave him a polite little bow.

“Hiya?”

“Hello…”

There was a troubled look in his eyes. He seemed rather uncomfortable about becoming my accomplice in mischief.

That’s right.

Sir Luden and I are accomplices in today’s little scheme.

To be more precise, you could call it an alliance based on mutual need.

‘Because I went to see Sir Luden last night.’

Grand Duke Vasily had given me seven loaves of bread from the food storage, but that was all. The bread storage was huge, but you could say the man himself was extremely stingy.

‘Would it have killed you to take me to the northern mountains?’

But I didn’t get discouraged.

Because I had another way!

Yesterday evening.

I pretended to be asleep and carefully slipped out of the mansion.

The grand duke and Camilla, the housekeeper, were doing something on the second floor, so since I was alone on the first floor, I managed to sneak out without anyone noticing.

Knock knock! Knock knock knock!

The house belonging to Sir Luden, which I’d made a mental note of while sightseeing around the village.

When I secretly knocked on the front door, a familiar face appeared.

“Sir Luden! Hello!”

“…? You…?”

“Upsy-daisy.”

I squeezed my body between the door and Sir Luden’s legs.

“I’m gonna let myself in for a little bit.”

If Grand Duke Vasily caught me, there was a 100% chance I’d be launched out of the north like a slingshot! Hide, hide!

“What? No, wait, what? No…”

Sir Luden seemed completely at a loss, but he still let me inside.

Looking at the bewildered knight, I held out my hand.

“Sir! I’ll get straight to the point! Would you like to form an alliance with me?”

“…Huh?”

“If you form an alliance with me, then… I won’t tell His Grace the grand duke about your secret!”

“My secret…?”

“Yeees.”

I covered my mouth with my hand and whispered.

“You lied to His Grace today, didn’t you?”

Sir Luden’s eyes widened.

“What does that even mea…”

“What that means is…”

I rummaged through my bag and pulled out a container of salt, holding it out to him. It was the very same salt container the grand duke had complained about because there was sand mixed into his stew.

After meeting Sir Luden in the storage room, I’d investigated it just in case, and sure enough, it was exactly what I thought.

“This salt, along with the other things you bought this time.”

My voice came out clearly.

“They’re not from the south at all!”

“…!”

Clatter! Sir Luden reflexively grabbed the hilt of his sword.

I smiled smugly at the sight.

* * *

Luden Price.

The owner of the Price Merchant Company.

A man who became a tycoon after succeeding with a certain investment.

A gold-worshipping capitalist who believed money was both his creed and his religion.

‘…That was before I turned back time, though.’

The fact that the head of the Price Merchant Company had once been a knight of the north was known only to a select few.

He occasionally came to House Klein to conduct business. I’d never spoken to him because of his cold appearance.

‘According to Dad, I heard he probably left the north of his own accord.’

Somehow… I had a feeling that turning his back on the north wasn’t unrelated to what was happening now.

‘Whatever the case, I can’t let this future tycoon slip away!’

Of course, even if he wasn’t destined to become a tycoon, I couldn’t let him go here.

Because he has everything I need right now.

From the means to take me to the northern mountains to supplies that would help with my first farming attempt!

‘The problem is that Sir Luden won’t lift a finger for anything that doesn’t benefit him.’

But I had a pretty good card to play.

My memories and knowledge from my previous life.

“…The things aren’t from the south. What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

I looked at Sir Luden, who was glaring at me menacingly, then squatted down on the floor.

“Sir Ludeeen, did you know?”

Then I turned over the salt container I was holding.

Rattle! Coarse salt poured out.

“Back in the slums where I lived, we always got salt mixed with sand as part of our rations!”

“…What?”

“I heard the adults talking about it. They said if you look closely at the impurities mixed into salt, you can roughly tell where it came from! Like this!”

I gently rummaged through the pile of salt and felt bits of foreign material with different textures.

I pressed one with the tip of my fingernail. The grain of sand revealed a pale yellow cross-section before crumbling with a crunch.

“But… huh? That’s strange. The adults said the sand from the south is white and has a hard texture… So why does this sand crumble yellow?”

“…!”

“It’s just like the impurities from the western salt mines!”

“…!!”

Sir Luden visibly faltered.

“H-How did you even…?!”

Actually, the part about the adults telling me about sand was only half true.

‘This is knowledge I picked up from reading encyclopedias in my previous life.’

It was true that salt mixed with sand had made its way into the slums. One of the daily jobs of the residents of District Z was sorting out the impurities in salt.

Then, when Dad took me to House Klein.

I was watching the kitchen cooks make bread when I was shocked.

“Gasp! Why aren’t you straining the salt? There’s sand mixed in it, so eating it like this might upset your stomach!”

“What? Oh my.”

The maids giggled before telling me,

“My lady, that’s cheap rock salt that only commoners eat.”

“…?”

“At House Klein, we only use the finest sea salt from the south. Of course, we have all the impurities removed before it’s brought in.”

“Oh…”

“Who would dare tamper with the ingredients of a noble house? It’s not some beggar’s table. How disgraceful.”

“I-I see…”

For some reason, my cheeks suddenly felt hot.

I was even determined to study salt thoroughly once I returned to my room.

I hadn’t fully learned how to read yet, but I also decided that instead of carelessly asking about things I didn’t know, I should look them up in books myself.

“Oh dear. Our young lady. I hear you spent six years in the slums, so I suppose there’s still a lot for you to learn. We seem to have gotten all the grime off your body already… What are we to do?”

“…”

“When you go see His Lordship, it’d be best if you just smile. Don’t worry! We’ll help you along the way, our sweet little lady!”

“Okay…!”

The maids patted me with bright smiles. Their hands were so kind and gentle that I couldn’t help but smile along with them.

‘Huh?’

That’s strange.

I was only thinking about the maids who had always been so kind and affectionate toward me.

So why did my mood suddenly sink?

‘Let’s not think about it anymore.’

I shook my head.

At the same time, Sir Luden’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

“You figured out that I didn’t go to the south from something as trivial as that?”

His tightly clenched fist trembled.

I tilted my head as I looked at him.

‘Hmm, I’ve been thinking about this for a while.’

Sir Luden right now seems a little… sloppy, just like you’d expect from someone so young.

‘The tycoon Sir Luden I remember was much more meticulous.’

Maybe after leaving the north, he truly embarked on the path of becoming a cold-blooded money-grubber.

So I decided to go all in while he was still like this.

“The spice pouch was strange too, wasn’t it?”

“…!”

“Actually, I had to switch carriages sooo many times to get here!”

“What does that have to do with anything?!”

“The traveling merchants I met told me something. They said the west recently succeeded in developing a new spice blend. It’s slowly making its way into circulation, so spices from the south will soon drop in price!”

In other words, the spices Sir Luden had bought were now items that could easily be obtained anywhere.

If he used this properly… he could easily pass goods from the west off as goods from the south.

I smiled sweetly.

“The north is an isolated territory, so you hadn’t gotten the latest information yet, right?”

“You… you…”

“Oh, but wait! I have a question!”

Before he could snap back at me, I hurried over and grabbed onto his sleeve.

Then I said casually,

“I never said that Sir Luden ‘didn’t go to the south.’”

“…!!”

“I only said that ‘the goods weren’t from the south…’”

“…”