Chapter 14

"Is there a way to distinguish between the edible and inedible Tuberosum?"

Shake, shake.

Beatty shook her head to indicate it wasn’t the correct answer.

Now, the people who had followed the young master and lady began to speak.

"Ah! Then, it must be something special about you, Lady!"

"Your beastkin abilities! Squirrel beastkin must have the ability to digest even Tuberosum!"

Shake, shake.

Again, Beatty shook her head, signaling that wasn’t the answer either.

What could the answer be?

The curious gazes of the people turned toward Beatty.

‘Now’s the time.’

As they moved toward the medical room, Beatty quickly pulled out the Tuberosum she had kept clutched in her hand, her eyes shining with excitement as she prepared to reveal her secret.

"The answer is this—this stem!" she declared proudly.

"The stem...?"

Everyone’s gaze shifted to the thin stem above the Tuberosum fruit.

"Normally, you’d cut off the stem when getting rid of the leaves."

It was common to cut the entire stem off to avoid the dangerously sharp leaves that could harm with just a slight touch.

"But in fact, this stem is the antidote for Tuberosum’s poison."

"Antidote?"

The people were taken aback, their eyes widening in surprise.

Beatty pulled out a portion of the stem that she had separated earlier from her pocket and showed it to them.

"Before I brought the Tuberosum here... I first chewed this stem."

As she demonstrated by chewing the stem again, Beatty continued explaining.

"This stem contains a substance that neutralizes Tuberosum’s poison."

This was something that would be discovered two years later, in the future.

When the stem and fruit of the commonly known poisonous Tuberosum were consumed together, one could avoid the stomach issues caused by the poison.

‘Ironically, it was thanks to a person who tried to die by eating an entire Tuberosum root that this was discovered.’

The detoxifying effect of the stem was so strong that even the most poisonous part of the plant, the leaves, could be neutralized and used as a spice when boiled together with the stem.

‘Though it’s only an antidote for Tuberosum’s poison, it’s good enough for now.’

The simple solution was to eat the stem before the fruit.

This revelation had a profound effect on the people who had gathered around.

"The stem has such a function...?"

"I’ve never heard of it."

The boy, who had stepped forward, immediately grabbed some of the Tuberosum and followed Beatty’s method, popping it into his mouth.

"Hmm, as expected."

He nodded and glanced around.

"See?"

"…The fact that you’re a lion beastkin may mean you’re fine, but I should check it on my own body as well!"

"I’ll try it too!"

‘If we can use this as food, it might solve the problem of the burnt supplies!’

The faces of the people, now filled with a glimmer of hope, eagerly lined up to try it themselves.

A short time later, after no one experienced any ill effects, Beatty proudly puffed out her cheeks and spoke.

"You see? I was right!"

"Yes, normally, if we swallowed the fruit even just a little, we’d immediately have to run to the bathroom."

Normally, even a small amount of the fruit would send someone running with stomach pain.

"My stomach’s sensitive, so I would have felt something right away, but I’m perfectly fine!"

"That’s amazing. To think something that was supposed to be poisonous…"

Beatty stood tall, her chest puffed out with pride.

"This is exactly the solution I was talking about!"

The only solution to replace the lost food supplies!

‘If it’s edible, we have plenty of Tuberosum growing everywhere. We can use this as a replacement food source and solve the problem in one go.’

Ah-ha! Yes!

Everyone’s faces lit up with a sense of clarity.

"This groundbreaking discovery...!"

The amazed people spoke up.

"Lady, you should write a letter! If you inform the command on the frontlines of this method...!"

"Yes! I’ll do it. And for the soldiers waiting for supplies—"

"Ah! We can send these! There are plenty of them everywhere!"

"That’s right!"

They exchanged excited plans.

As Beatty and the others worked in perfect harmony, Count Zelot watched with a sour expression.

"Lady."

Beatty, glowing with the accomplishment of her success, turned to him.

"Now, Count, you understand, right? The benefits of Tuberosum!"

"...Yes, you’re quite clever, Lady."

With a forced smile, the Count replied to Beatty’s bright words.

"Hahaha! As you said, it’s truly a plant full of benefits!"

"A blessing!"

"No, the true blessing is you, Lady."

"Hehe, yes, you truly are the great fortune of our territory."

The people surrounded Beatty, showering her with praise.

‘This can’t be resolved so easily...!’

Count Zelot felt a cold sweat run down his neck as his anxiety peaked.

‘Damn it! How am I going to report this to...?’

As the surrounding people celebrated, the Count’s stomach churned with frustration.

"Count, you almost made a big mistake this time."

"Excuse me?"

"If you hadn’t listened to the clever Lady and dismissed her as just a child, how would we have solved this enormous problem?"

"Hahaha. Yes... I was wrong."

"Exactly! This time, the Count made a mistake! If we hadn’t listened to the Lady’s clear solution, we would have missed out on it!"

"That would have been terrible!"

"Hah... hahaha... Yes."

The Count ground his teeth to hide the growing anger within him.

Seeing the people around him so jubilant, Beatty smiled with satisfaction.

‘With this, there will be no more "First Retreat," right?’

A deep sense of satisfaction filled her chest, something she had never felt before.

This was the joy of her first successful accomplishment.

‘And there won’t be another ten years of a prolonged Great War either.’

With newfound confidence, Beatty straightened her back.

‘I’ll make sure to use this accomplishment to get the Duke to let me stay in the Duke’s estate until I come of age!’

With ten years until her coming-of-age ceremony, the timing would work perfectly as a trade-off.

No, she had just nipped the roots of the Duke’s decline in the bud.

‘If I negotiate well, I might even secure future business funds!’

"Heh heh heh."

Beatty laughed just like the clever strategist she had read about in books. Her tail swished behind her like a fan in the joy of the moment.

***

Caw, caw—.

Crows were always flying near the battlefield.

They knew that after human battles, their feast would soon follow.

"Damn those corpse-eating bastards."

The soldiers, sitting idly and muttering curses, didn’t even have the energy to shoo away the ominous crows.

"Ugh… I’m hungry."

The soldiers were from the Aslan family, and the royal family had been in charge of supplying food for the kingdom’s defense.

But the royal family had been sending just enough food to keep them from starving, often with tight budgets.

The food supply, which had been sparse to begin with, had suddenly stopped arriving for the past few days.

With only the remaining food to survive on, their meals had been reduced to one a day, making the soldiers weak and listless.

"I’m starving..."

"Shut up about being hungry. We’re already starving, and you’re making it worse by complaining."

"...You’re the one who keeps saying 'I’m starving' more than me."

Growl.

The quarrel ceased at the sound of a stomach growling. Some of the soldiers began chewing on grass they had pulled from the ground to quell their hunger.

Then, a sound they had been waiting for reached their ears.

Clink, clink.

"Eh? Do you see what I see?"

"That over there!"

In the distance, a cart appeared.

"Wow!"

The soldiers, their faces filled with anticipation, shouted loudly across the plains.

"Does this mean the rations will return to three meals a day?"

"Please, meat! Please, meat! Please, meat!"

"Big dreams. I don’t ask for much. Just enough to fill me up, even if it’s dry rations."

As they gathered around the cart, eagerly discussing what food they might get, their faces fell in confusion.

"Eh?"

On the carts, stacked high, were piles of Tuberosum.

"What is this, poisonous plants...?"@@novelbin@@

Murmurs spread among the soldiers.

"Maybe there’s something good at the bottom?"

"No way... would they send only inedible poisonous plants? There must be real food hidden under it..."

As the soldiers nervously rummaged through the cart,

"..."

The Duke was reading a letter that had arrived with the cart.