Chapter 41: Evolve! The Hanging Garden!

Bruno slowly unfolded the topmost piece of parchment. On it, the method for making cement was recorded in detail using the language of this world.

Although Bruno was quite familiar with the word cement from his previous life, if he had to prepare it from scratch without any reference, he wouldn't have been able to do it.

After briefly scanning the parchment, Bruno carefully unfolded the other pieces.

Each of the three parchments had the name of a crop written on them, along with a location somewhere in the Idar territory.

For example, the parchment labeled "potato" had the following description: "Twenty kilometers south of Idar City, inside an abandoned thatched hut along the road."

The other two descriptions were similar: "Five hundred meters west of the Hanging Garden, by the lakeshore." and "Four kilometers north of Salt Field, under the first pine tree."

One had to admit, this system's setup was quite decent.

Discovering some new and interesting crops while out hunting seemed far more natural than suddenly pulling out several sacks of seeds from the study.

But the only concern was…

What if someone else picked them up before he got there???

With that thought, Bruno suddenly flung open the door and shouted:

"Lister, prepare the horses! We're heading out of the city!"

"My lord… it's already getting late. If we leave now, we might not return until very late… The old steward will be worried…"

"Just get the horses ready! As for the old steward… let Shabi inform Old Ford. Anyway, he's already got so many fleas that he doesn't care about a few more bites. Old Ford has been busy these days, so he might as well use this chance to vent his frustration." Bruno said with a mischievous grin.

"Understood!" Lister immediately agreed.

…

Finding all three crops wasn't an easy task, as they were scattered in different locations. And if he just took them outright, it would seem too deliberate.

Luckily, he had brought Lister, his clueless but obedient personal valet. The one thing Lister was good at being easily fooled!

In the end, after spending a night at a house near Cape Salt Field, Bruno returned to Idar City the next day with dozens of sacks full of potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes.

One had to admit, the system was quite generous this time—it had provided an entire cartload of each crop.

If it weren't for the ox carts used for transporting sea salt at Cape Salt Field, Bruno wouldn't have been able to carry everything back.

As soon as he arrived back in the city, he saw Shabi with a swollen, bruised face—and instantly burst into laughter.

"Shabi, what happened to you?" Bruno asked, feigning ignorance.

"My lord… Yesterday, you told me to inform the old steward that you were going hunting… The old steward wasn't pleased… so he… he beat me up… and… and humiliated me quite badly…"

"Old Ford is still as strong as ever!" Bruno exclaimed in admiration.

Then he pointed at the large pile of ragged sacks on the carriage behind him and said:

"Reserve a large piece of land for me. These sacks contain seeds of new crops—high-yield crops that will provide a bountiful harvest."

"High-yield crops?"

At that moment, Old Ford suddenly approached, looking puzzled.

"That's right…" Bruno said as he personally opened one of the sacks. "This is corn… this one is potatoes… and that one is sweet potatoes…"

"These… I've never seen these before. My lord, are you sure these are grains? And that they can be grown on a large scale?"

"Of course! The other day, while I was… diligently reading books in my study, I happened to come across some old botanical journals. They mentioned these crops, and let me tell you—they are incredibly high-yielding, like a mother pig… Uh, I mean, they can yield over a thousand pounds per acre!" Bruno confidently claimed.

"That's impossible!" Old Ford said in disbelief. "I've lived my whole life and never heard of crops like these. This is the first time I've ever seen them!"

Then, after a brief pause, Old Ford asked: "My lord… what kind of books are you reading?"

"Just some old books. Perhaps… these crops are unique to Idar territory and were simply never discovered before? It's all thanks to my vast knowledge… Otherwise, these exceptional crops might have been lost to history!" Bruno sighed dramatically.

Old Ford: "…"

"Mark out a large plot of land for these three crops. In a few days, I'll write down the key points for their cultivation."

Old Ford hesitated for a moment before advising cautiously: "My lord, due to the construction of the Hanging Garden, our territory's grain consumption is already quite high this year. If we set aside land for these unknown crops, it will be fine if they succeed—but if they fail, we'll have to spend a huge amount of money to buy extra grain…"

In truth, Old Ford was still skeptical about these so-called "crops" Bruno had found.

After all… the recorded history of this world spanned thousands of years.

And now, his young lord had suddenly pulled out three completely unknown crops, claiming they could produce a thousand-pound yield per acre—anyone would find that hard to believe.

"In that case…" Bruno pondered for a moment before suggesting:

"Old Ford, you make a good point. So how about this… We remove all the flowers and plants from the Hanging Garden?"

"What?!"

"My lord… what did you say?"

"I said—let's pull out all the flowers and trees in the Hanging Garden. That way, we won't have to use farmland." Bruno said with rare seriousness.

"But why…?" Old Ford was utterly stunned.

"It would be a bit of a waste to remove the flowers and plants, but… we only have these crops. If we don't plant them this spring, we might never get another chance. As for the flowers… we can always buy more later."

Old Ford suddenly felt dizzy.

The Hanging Garden was completed only two days ago!

And now, his young lord was already planning to rip out all the expensive flowers?!

Many of those plants had been specially purchased from other regions through Cario, costing a fortune!

"My lord… please reconsider…"

"It's settled! As a noble lord who loves his people like his own children, I always put my people first. Once these crops are planted, the commoners and serfs will finally have enough food to eat. For the sake of Idar's people, I'm willing to sacrifice my flowers! Only by transforming the Hanging Garden into a Hanging Vegetable Garden can I truly show my benevolence as Bruno Stuart!" Bruno declared passionately.

Old Ford: "…"