Volume 4 - CH 28

Chapter 4-28 : Growing High-priced Herbs Ⅰ

「Sarasa-san, what are you plans for today?」(Lorea)

Because the talk with Lorea-chan’s parents ended sooner than I thought, we were able to open the store at the usual time.

After we opened the store, Lorea-chan asked me about my schedule for today.

「Hmm… First, I’m going to check the herb field next to my house and probably I will give Michael-san and Izu-san some guidance if necessary.」(Sarasa)

「Speaking of them, I heard from Michael-san that their work is going pretty well.」(Lorea)

「Is that so? That’s great. Well, I’m not that worried since they are handling the herbs that are easy to grow, but I still have to check on them.」(Sarasa)

Lorea-chan seems to be more well-informed than me.

After all, she always interacts with customers and often goes out to buy food ingredients while I rarely leave my workshop.

To be precise, I do go to the forest or South Strugg from time to time but I rarely walk around the village because I no longer have to go to Diral-san’s dining hall to eat thanks to Lorea-chan cooking for me every day,

「After that, I’m going to check on my small herb field in the backyard. I’ve been neglecting it for quite some time, so I think I will uproot everything there.」(Sarasa)

「Eh? Are you going to stop growing herbs there?」(Lorea)

「No, no. I’m thinking of growing a different type of herb.」(Sarasa)

「Ah, I see. There’s no point in growing the same herbs as the ones that Michael-san is growing.」(Lorea)

「Exactly. I think I’m going to grow some rare herbs that are hard to grow but can be sold at a high price. Their seeds are expensive though.」(Sarasa)

「So that means…」(Lorea)

「I would lose a lot of money if I failed to grow them.」(Sarasa)

Growing those kinds of herbs is quite risky but I think I have to do it sooner or later because there are some potions that can only be made from them.

You can find those herbs in the Great Sea of Trees, but they are very rare and only grow deep in the forest. I don’t think there are Collectors in this village who are capable of doing this job, not even Andre-san and his team.

I can ask Master to send me those herbs but it will cost a lot of money.

Therefore, I’m thinking of taking the risk and growing them myself instead of buying them or asking Collectors to get them.

「I see. But, Sarasa-san, you won’t fail, right?」(Lorea)

「Umm, I don’t know…」(Sarasa)

「Is there any potions or artifacts that can help you cultivate that kind of herbs?」(Lorea)

「Ah, now that you mention it, there’s an artifact called “Perfect Plants Nursery” that can help you grow plants perfectly from seeds.」(Sarasa)

It’s a very convenient artifact if you want to grow plants. However, you can’t use it on just any plants. It won’t work on plants whose cultivation method is still unknown or plants that can’t be grown even by alchemists.

You don’t need water, fertilizer, or even sunlight to grow plants if you have this artifact. You can even make a small garden inside your house.

It may sound ridiculous, but it’s only natural because their price is also ridiculous.

「What an awesome artifact! You don’t have to worry about failure if you have one!」(Lorea)

「Yeah, IF I have one… Unfortunately, I can’t make that artifact with my current ability. I don’t want to buy one either because it costs almost all of my savings.」(Sarasa)

「Are they expensive?」(Lorea)

「Of course. Not many alchemists are able to make them after all. People who usually use them are nobles who like gardening and rich farmers.」(Sarasa)

By the way, this artifact is listed in volume 9 of the Encyclopedia of Alchemy. That’s why not many alchemists can make them, and that’s the reason why they are quite rare.

Perfect Plants Nurseries are dome-shaped artifacts that are made of glass. You put them on your field and supply them with magical power to use.

They are made-to-order because they must match the size of your field, and of course, the bigger the size, the more expensive they are and the more magical power you need to operate them.

The smallest size of Perfect Plants Nurseries can only cover a small flower pot, even so, it costs you the same amount of money as if you bought a decent house.

I can’t imagine how much it costs for a Perfect Plants Nursery that can cover my entire herb field…

「That’s super expensive…」(Lorea)

「Right? But it can guarantee that your plants will grow perfectly. Well, I still don’t think it’s worth the money though.」(Sarasa)

People who don’t want to waste their money to buy that artifact will choose to grow plants normally by themselves.

「I won’t buy a Perfect Plants Nursery but there’s actually another artifact that can help me grow plants. It’s called “Seedling Growth Aid Tool”.」(Sarasa)

「Are they as good as Perfect Plants Nurseries?」(Lorea)

「Of course not. They’re more inferior.」(Sarasa)

I started explaining to Lorea-chan how they work.

Unlike Perfect Plants Nurseries that can help you grow plants from seeds until they are completely mature, Seedling Growing Aid Tools can only help you grow seeds until they sprout and spread roots.

After I buy the seeds, first, I will plant them in a pot and use this artifact to make them sprout and spread roots. After that, I will move them to my field and cultivate them normally. Of course, I will need to water them and fertilize them after that.

The good thing about using a Seedling Growing Aid Tool is that the success rate for the plants to grow is significantly higher than if you plant the seeds without using that artifact.

The first problem you have if you want to raise plants that are difficult to grow is that they barely grow any roots and usually fail to even sprout, but this artifact can help you with that.

After I finished explaining, Lorea-chan nodded a few times.

「I see. They’re not as good as Perfect Plants Nurseries but they’re quite convenient. Are they expensive too? I think farmers in this village will buy them if they are cheap.」(Lorea)

「Well, they are affordable for most people. However, if you don’t have much magical power, you need some magic stones every time you use them, so in the end, it costs a lot of money for people with little magical power.」(Sarasa)

「Is that so? That’s too bad.」(Lorea)

Seedling Growing Aid Tools can be made by most alchemists so they’re not as expensive as Perfect Plants Nurseries.

However, not many people want to buy them because they cost quite a lot of magic stones for people who don’t have much magical power. Besides, there are not many people who raise hard-to-grow plants in the first place, so not many people need them.

「Anyway, I’m going to check on Michael-san and Izu-san now. I’ll be back soon.」(Sarasa)

「Okay~ You can leave the store to me.」(Lorea)