Episode 116

Selective breeding.

Plant hoarders and environmentalists claim that this is an act of humans artificially breaking nature’s laws for their own greed, but that’s only part of the story.

In humanity’s long history, selective breeding has always been a part of it.

Human prosperity itself could not exist without selective breeding.

The practice of crossbreeding edible plants to obtain more crops can be found in ancient Egypt, one of the oldest civilizations, and it was undoubtedly a practice that had been ongoing for far longer.

Without it, grains that were no more than doggrass.

Fruits with seeds that were larger than the flesh, and even those were small.

All the way to plants that were never intended to be eaten in the first place.

It was proven by the fact that cabbage, broccoli, kohlrabi, and a variety of leafy vegetables, which seem unrelated, all originated from one mustard family plant.

Not only that, but chili peppers are of the same family as bell peppers, and tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants are cousins, making selective breeding far from unfamiliar to humanity.

Of course, it’s true that even though it’s artificial, breeding takes a long time, as mentioned in ancient history.

Even corn, which is an unusually fast-breeding crop, took over a thousand years.

Karem only recalled this fact after arriving at the greenhouse.

“But what is this?”

Karem rolled the red fruit he held in his hand back and forth.

The plump, ripe fruit.

The red fruit, which seemed rich in juice just by looking at it, had a curved shape, starting from the thick stem and bending toward the tip of the fruit.

Is this the result of breeding the Red Witch’s Finger?

Well, of course, Karem knew of similar cases.

The thick, short variant that tasted like bell peppers or paprika.

But that was merely a change in flavor and aroma; the species itself didn’t undergo a significant change.

So what is this, then?

Even though Karem knew how to cook with plants, he also knew that breeding something required time and knowledge, something he didn’t possess.

Let alone without the various strange pharmaceuticals and tools of modern civilization. That’s why it made even less sense for this fruit, which vaguely resembled a tomato, to exist in its current form.

“Is something wrong?”

A clicking sound was heard.

Karem’s reaction wasn’t what he expected; Corvus was tapping his beak.

“Hmm, I thought you, being a chef, would like it.”

“No. It’s great. How could I not be happy?”

If this is what Karem thought it was, as a chef, it would be impossible for him to dislike it.

With this, the number of dishes he could make would skyrocket!

Of course, it would take some time to prepare and make it into paste, but that was only natural.

“But is plant breeding usually this fast? I mean, it hasn’t even been a full season, just a few months.”

“Hahaha, you’re still so naïve, Karem.”

“Yes?”

“Of course, it’s impossible through normal means, right?”

“So what did you do? Use some mysterious crow monster’s blasphemous magic?”

“Hmm.”

Corvus shrugged his shoulders and scratched his beak with his talon.

“Well, there are similar kinds of spells.”

“Really?”

“But if I used those, the product wouldn’t be edible, so it’s irrelevant. They’re originally used to curse or attack hostile creatures.”

“Then what?”

Then, Corvus inserted his talon into his feathers.

There was a rattling sound for a while as his talon moved through his now denser feathers.

Finally, a clear emerald-colored sphere the size of an adult’s head appeared at the tip of Corvus’s talon.

“All problems, in the end, are caused by a lack of money.”

“Uh… a magic tool?”

“Yes, it’s called the Orb of Life.”

Corvus nodded, confirming.

“I borrowed it from Duchess Elizabeth. It’s a gardening magic tool. It’s enchanted with druid magic to accelerate plant growth.”

“Druid magic?”

“Of course, that alone wasn’t enough. I had to set up several conditions to achieve optimal results and find the variant with plump fruit.”

As he said this, Corvus pointed his talon to one side of the greenhouse.

Next to the field where the Red Witch’s Finger grew and the field where bell pepper variants grew, there was a small patch of land.

From that patch, the fruit in Karem’s hand grew in a thick, bush-like cluster.

“By the way.”

Corvus, placing the Orb of Life back into his feathers, turned his head as if searching for something, his black eyes scanning everywhere.

“I don’t see the princess. Is something wrong? I thought she was with you.”

“What could have happened?”

“Oh, I see?”

Corvus looked down at Karem and tilted his head.

Karem, meeting his gaze, closed his eyes and nodded slowly.

“I knew it.”

“Mm, should I say it’s Lady Poppins after all?”

“Wouldn’t it be easier for Alicia if she just quietly attended her lessons?”

“Even though she’s doing well in her studies, you don’t seem to like the fact that she’s sitting quietly in one place, do you?”

After all, Alicia is only 6 years old.

And Winterham is a huge castle.

A young child at an age where vitality is bursting.

Not to mention her curious, free-spirited personality; Alicia was the youngest daughter of the Duke.

With her environment, status, and personality aligned, Alicia becoming the freest spirit in Winterham seemed almost natural.

This assessment was widely recognized throughout Winterham.

“Alicia seemed to like it too, she ate a few before leaving.”

“Can I take this?”

“Are you asking right now?”

“Yes. If possible, I would like to receive it regularly—”

“Hmm, it might be difficult right now.”

Why!?

But Corvus was equally perplexed.

“It was forced growth, so I can’t use the Orb any further. It’ll be difficult to obtain seeds for the time being.”

“That’s really unfortunate.”

It’s often said that the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

Caught off guard by an unexpected problem, Karem felt a deep emptiness in his heart.

No, Karem shook his head.

“But that means, with time, we can still secure the necessary amount, right?”

“Yes. If we can secure enough seeds in a few months, we’ll be able to freely export them outside the castle by then.”

Karem closed his eyes for a moment, calming his disappointed heart.

It would only be a few months ahead.

Compared to the 10 years wasted in his past life, it was nothing.

After understanding the situation, Karem took the small basket full of the variant of the variant—meaning tomatoes—and stood up.

It was about time to prepare Catherine’s snack.

Corvus, who followed Karem as he rolled the plump tomato in his palm, asked,

“Are you just going to roll it in your hands?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“The fruit you’re rolling in your hand.”

“I like the soft texture.”

“Why don’t you try it first? It’s juicier than you can imagine. Quite sweet too.”

Well.

If Corvus was right, it seemed that it did taste good.

But ultimately, the most important thing was for Karem to recognize that taste.

Karem wiped the skin on his sleeve and, without hesitation, bit into the second end of the Red Witch’s Finger variant.

Thunk! Crunch!

The first impression was, surprisingly, the texture was firm.

It was much firmer than what Karem remembered from his past life.

The second impression was that it was far less juicy than he imagined.

For a tomato Karem was familiar with, the flesh would normally be filled with juice and seeds, bursting with flavor as soon as it was bitten.

Even the taste itself was rather unique; even in his past life, Karem, who wasn’t picky, still hesitated to eat tomatoes raw.

But the variant he had just eaten was completely different.

No, it was just that it was low in juice.

Instead, the taste was much richer than the ones from his past life.

Compared to the tomatoes from his past life, it had a rich umami flavor and a subtle sweetness, like condensed paste in fruit form.

The high-density flesh, which cracked and crunched with every bite, broke under his teeth, filling the spaces between particles with umami and sweetness.

Had it not been for the expected umami flavor from his past life, the sweetness would have spread so much that it could be mistaken for a fruit.

Yes, at least it was familiar yet unfamiliar to Karem.

It was such a paradoxical, remarkable taste.

It was different from the raw tomatoes and tomato sauce he had eaten in his past life.

It was more similar to imported paste or sauce, if anything.

Considering that foreign tomato sauces and pastes were tastier, this was a very pleasant surprise.

Karem, savoring the taste for a while, felt his breath quicken.

He had forgotten to breathe while tasting.

“Ha! Wow, this is amazing.”

“Do you like it?”

“Do I like it?”

Karem, gasping for air, looked between the half-cut fruit and Corvus, then cut the fruit again and ate it.

“With this, I could easily make at least ten different dishes!”

“That’s high praise.”

Karem was sincere.

If you were to pick sauces that represent the East and the West, soy sauce and tomato paste would stand at the two extremes, with tomatoes being widely used in Western cuisine.

Well, given the circumstances, making soy sauce was inevitable.

Just as there are yin and yang, plus and minus, light and dark, Karem couldn’t accept the idea of making tomato paste without being able to make soy sauce.

Anyway, peas are also beans, plant-based protein.

Straw is, when you think about it, still just straw.

So, I can make soy sauce! But first, I’ll need to experiment with making meju (fermented soybean paste)!

And just in time, Karem had a magical tool that would drastically reduce the time needed for experimenting with meju and soy sauce.

“Now, I just need to give it a proper name—”

“Let’s call it tomato.”

“Tomato?”

“We didn’t name the other variant from last time, did we?”

“Yes. For now, it’s just being called the variant Red Witch’s Finger. But now that there are two variants, it would be good to give it a name.”

“We can call it bell pepper—”

Karem chatted briefly with Corvus.

As Karem was on his way back after the chat, Corvus handed him a basket as a gift.

Corvus tapped his beak, looking uneasy.

“I feel like I’ve forgotten something. Hmm, what could it be?”

Crossing his arms and tapping his beak with his talons, Corvus walked past the nest, stepping through the fields where the fireweed and its variants, bell peppers and tomatoes, grew, before he suddenly realized something.

He stopped.

“Ah, right.”

Corvus scratched his head feathers and looked at the entrance to the greenhouse.

He had originally planned to show the beans he had left earlier.

Seeing Karem leave, Corvus realized it had been quite a while since he’d left the greenhouse. If he wanted to call him back, he would have to ask the guards to send a messenger…

“Well, it’s not fully grown yet anyway. I’ll show it to him later when it’s bigger.”

Corvus crossed the field where the magic tool was set up and moved to a small plot behind it—more of a hobby garden than a real field.

The dark brown, rich soil.

On it, there was a lone flower bud shaped like an egg.

Corvus scratched beneath his beak with his talons and tilted his head in confusion.

“I thought it was a bean. Was it not a bean?”