That Wonderful, Delicious Red One (4)

“Wow, amazing! So this is what it looks like farther in!”

After parting ways with Anne, who had work to do, I walked openly through the farm this time with Agata guiding me, unable to contain my excitement.

The farm was divided into many small sections by type, and all sorts of things I had never seen in this life were lined up before me!

“Whenever seeds from some unusual food drift in from abroad, they get brought to me first. ‘It might be useful for something, so try growing it,’ they say. I wish they’d spare a thought for the person who has to raise dozens of plants she’s never even seen before.”

Agata grumbled, but somehow she looked pleased as she said it.

Her face and hands were thoroughly smeared with dirt. She must have enjoyed working on this farm.

Just as I loved cooking.

“But aren’t you growing things from completely different climates side by side? How do you manage that?”

“Oh, you know about that sort of thing? Not bad.”

When I asked, Agata smiled, crouched down, and pointed at the soil beneath us.

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? I can manipulate soil. Try touching the ground around here.”

“All right, all right. Let’s see.”

At her urging, I crouched down and pressed my palm against the earth.

Then I discovered something shocking.

“What is this!? The soil is really warm!”

Indeed, even though the sunlight was not particularly strong today, the soil itself was pleasantly warm.

It was as though someone had been burning a bonfire over it only moments ago.

Seeing my surprise, Agata spoke with a proud expression.

“That’s my ability. By mixing and adjusting the soil, I can control its temperature in different areas. I can make one place warmer and another colder. That’s how I can grow plants from all sorts of regions.”

Wow. That truly was astonishing.

She altered the soil temperature to suit each crop and created the optimal growing environment for it.

Looking around, I noticed there was even a greenhouse made entirely of glass on the farm.

She probably used that to help cacao and other trees from warmer regions survive the winter.

Amazing. The agricultural technology here was practically modern-day level—or perhaps even beyond it…!

“See this? It’s a vegetable that came from far across the sea. I had a terrible time getting it to sprout. And this tree over here was passed down from the previous witch. I just hope there’ll be another Field Witch around when it’s time for me to retire.”

Agata continued proudly showing me around her farm.

Her explanations were fascinating, but as I looked around, I could not help murmuring,

“So it really isn’t here…”

Yes, the thing I was searching for was nowhere to be found here either.

And by that thing, I meant that. Yes, that. The one food any Japanese person reincarnated into another world would surely start craving sooner or later.

That white, delicious staple food you took for granted….

Yes. Everyone’s beloved rice.

In my previous world, rice had been cultivated throughout Asia.

There were plenty of foods here that seemed likely to have come from that part of the world, and yet no matter how hard I searched, I had never found rice.

I had even kept telling Father to let me know if he ever came across an ingredient like it, but still, I had gotten nowhere.

I had thought perhaps this farm might have some….

But apparently not.

Ahh, I couldn’t stand it. I wanted to cook a huge pot of rice and shovel it into my mouth with side dishes!

I wanted omurice and curry too!

And more than anything, I wanted a proper Japanese breakfast with rice, miso soup, and grilled fish!

If fulfilling that dream required me to sell my soul to a demon, I would do it!

…That was a lie. Even I would not go quite that far. Though I might cut off a tiny corner of my soul and hand that over.

Still, there was no point thinking such nonsense.

So I decided to look around the farm again and think of a snack using something else.

That was when I noticed it.

“No way, is that…!?”

I spotted it in a corner of the farm and immediately ran over.

It was red, plump, and bursting with juice.

Hanging heavily from the vine was….

“Wow, amazing! Tomatoes!”

Tomatoes. They were another ingredient I had been searching for.

I had never seen them at all in the markets in town, so I had begun wondering whether they even existed in this world… and yet here they were!

“Ahh, I can’t resist! Agata, can I eat one!?”

“Uh, sure, I guess…”

Agata answered with a confused expression.

But I had no attention to spare for that. I heard only the “sure,” plucked off a tomato, wiped it against the hem of my clothes, and took a huge bite.

“Mmm… so goooood!”

The fresh, juicy acidity of the tomato flooded my mouth, and I could not stop myself from crying out.

What a wonderful taste!

My first tomato since my previous life greeted me with overwhelming emotion.

“Ahh, I want to sprinkle salt on this! It’d be amazing!”

I kept munching until I had eaten the entire tomato.

Agata had been staring at me in stunned silence, but eventually she spoke with an exasperated expression.

“You… really ate that without hesitation. Nobody wants to put those things in their mouth because they look poisonous.”

“Eh?”

At those words, I suddenly realized.

The tomato was bright red and swollen with juice.

If you knew nothing about it, it really did look exactly like a poisonous fruit.

I had heard that in Europe in my previous life, tomatoes had been known about for a long time before people actually started eating them for precisely that reason.

Even I would never eat one if I had found it growing wild in a forest without knowing what it was.

I mean, obviously something that red would kill you if you ate it.

And yet I, like an idiot, had happily devoured one.

How many times was I going to make the same mistake?

It was all the fault of my gluttonous stomach and equally gluttonous brain. Bad girl. Bad, bad girl!

“…M-my father is a merchant, so…”

“Ahh, so you’ve eaten them before. I see.”

When I instinctively drew my ultimate trump card, Agata accepted the explanation immediately.

Hmm. Father really was convenient!

Still, it was strange that people ate red strawberries but refused to touch tomatoes.

Admittedly, tomatoes did look a bit more ominous.

But if you found strawberries growing wild in a forest without knowing what they were, wouldn’t those look pretty dangerous too?

Well, never mind that.

“Then I know what we’re serving for snack time.”

I grinned as I stared at the red tomatoes.

With tomatoes, I had the strength of a hundred people.

Just finding them was enough to make me glad I had come to the Royal Palace… but as I stood there moved by the encounter, Agata immediately poured cold water on my excitement.

“You’re not thinking of using those for the prince’s snack, are you?”

“Yeah, that’s the plan. Is that a problem?”

“Of course it is. I mean…. The prince absolutely hates vegetables.”

What?