NOVEL WEB Chapter 22 - The Emperor Seeks to Monopolize Potatoes! (1)
✦ Chapter 22 – The Emperor Seeks to Monopolize Potatoes! (1) ✦
「Translator – Creator」
It’s been two years since I ascended to the throne.
A rebellion might be brewing in the empire.
And my fiancée Somnia’s Paimon family is at its center.
“Somnia, is Paimon really planning a rebellion?”
“Well… this isn’t the right place to discuss it. We don’t know where the imperial spies might be. Information concealment is crucial for this operation.”
So we can’t talk about it here.
Indeed, the imperial family—more specifically, Barbatos—had spies scattered everywhere.
I’m practically a spy myself, in this place.
In that sense, Somnia was quite capable.
Should I be glad my fiancée is so competent or sad?
At this point, it was almost laughable.
“Phoebe Dantalian, I wish to speak with you. Not as your new sister-in-law, but as Somnia Paimon, head of the Paimon family. Daniel, can you leave us for a while?”
“You want to talk to my sister? Go ahead.”
“What? No! I don’t have anything to say to you! Don’t drag me! Noooo! Noooo-!”
Somnia dragged Phoebe off somewhere.
Probably something important to be discussed between nobles who lead their own houses.
Maybe I should eavesdrop a little? I have superhuman hearing, after all.
━The prolonged food shortage across the regions has made people’s sentiments quite unfavorable.
━I know that, but starting a rebellion….
So that’s the situation.
The public sentiment was deteriorating because of the food shortage.
Food was a critical issue.
After a few days of hunger, nothing else would matter.
Would people care about the Emperor or nobles?
‘Even after the war, the world still has many problems.’
I was the Emperor, but I had no interest in the world’s political landscape. Many criticized me for being a powerless emperor, manipulated by Barbatos’ influence.
That was true.
I had little interest in the continent of Pandemonium.
Even becoming the Emperor was somewhat forced upon me.
If not for the appearance of the 「Tutorial」, I would still be a puppet on the throne, slowly dying.
‘The Tutorial, huh.’
Lately, I’ve felt truly alive.
I’ve started to take an interest in the Pandemonium continent.
Everything seemed new and unfamiliar, making me look forward to each new day.
“A rebellion doesn’t really scare me.”
This world wasn’t about the Emperor’s “「Imperial Tycoon」 , but a 「Hel World 」 filled with adorable Hel creatures. Doing the Emperor’s duties was less productive than understanding and training the game system of ‘Hel World.’
But I couldn’t neglect my duties as Emperor either.
Can’t I do both?
“Maybe the ‘Hel World’ system could help prevent the rebellion? If there’s a magical way to solve the famine, that would be great.”
Am I indulging in wishful thinking?
Still, just in case, I’ll establish a “Hel Base” here.
With a crafting level of 3, Barkie should be able to build it quickly.
“Come out, Woofy.”
Swoosh, Pop—!
━ Barkkkk! Barkkk!
“Barkie, build the base.”
I commanded Barkie to build the Hel Base.
But the proud and haughty Emperor Wolf Spider, Barkie, let my command slip in one ear and out the other, then enthusiastically started digging the ground with its six stubby legs.
Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch—
It dug with great enthusiasm.
Wasn’t it digging too much?
“No, Barkie. What are you doing? I said to build the base, not dig the ground!”
Daring to disregard the Emperor’s orders? I was momentarily angry but realized it was pointless to get mad at a Hel that couldn’t understand my words.
Then it hit me with curiosity.
“Why is it doing this?”
Emperor Wolf Spider.
Wolf spider. Wolf belongs to the canine family.
Maybe, like dogs love digging, Emperor Wolf Spiders do too?
━ Barkkk! Barkkk!
Barkie, now covered in dirt, jumped out of the fairly deep hole it had dug and approached me. In its mouth was a peculiar crop, something that looked remarkably familiar to me.
“Wait, is that…”
⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆
「Hel Potato – Eating this slightly increases Hel vigor. It can be grown in fields created through the crafting window. It is also used as an ingredient in Hel Bread. It becomes incredibly delicious when roasted.」
It had been a long time since I last saw potatoes; the people in Pandemonium didn’t eat potatoes.
I even wondered if potatoes existed on this continent.
What mattered was that this was an ingredient for the「Hel Bread」I wanted. Why did Barkie bring this…oh, could it be?
Barkie’s 「Gathering」 level was 4.
It had quite the talent for gathering various things.
“Did you bring this potato because you were trying to help me solve the food shortage? As if you read my mind?”
━ Barkkk! Barkkk!
With a bit of hope, I opened the crafting window.
My Hel World level was currently 10.
Capturing Somnia and Barkie had leveled me up, unlocking many things in the「Crafting」section. One of them was a ‘Farm.’
「Potato Farm – A farm where you can harvest Hel Potatoes. Having a Hel skilled in farming and gathering dramatically increases work efficiency.」
「Stones 0/5」
「Hel Potato 0/1」
「Estimated Work Time – 25:30:15」
“Why is the estimated work time so long?”
25 hours? Does creating a farm really take that long?
I pressed the Farm option in the「Crafting」section and placed the blueprint on an empty plot of land.
━ Barkkk! Barkkk!
Barkie immediately sprang into action, started gathering stones, and haphazardly began constructing the farm.
Scratch, scratch—clank, clank—
「Estimated Work Time – 5:06:03」
“The work time is almost cut to one-fifth.”
Is this the power of a crafting level of 3?
I liked the idea of delegating tedious and time-consuming tasks to another Hel. After all, an Emperor shouldn’t engage in cumbersome work.
“Barkie, build the farm quickly!”
━ Barkkk! Barkkk!
But when the work time had about 2 hours remaining, Barkie suddenly disappeared somewhere. Where did it go in the middle of work?
Though I tried to call Barkie back using a 「Hel Ball」 and summon it again, it kept wandering off on its own.
It must be an issue with its low loyalty.
“What should I do?”
If I worked on it myself, there were only about 10 hours of crafting time left.
At this point, there was only one solution.
“Somnia! Come here! Somnia!”
How long did I wait after shouting loudly?
Somnia emerged from the gravesite with Phoebe.
“What’s the matter?”
“I need you to help me make this.”
“This is… a farm?”
“Yes. Please.”
Somnia seemed like she had many things she wanted to say, but she started making the Farm as per my request.
Clank, clank—
Watching her work, Phoebe clicked her tongue.
“A Farm? And you’re making the Lady of Paimon do such menial work?”
“More importantly, Phoebe, look at this instead. Do you know what this is?”
“That’s a potato, isn’t it? It’s poisonous! Why are you showing me that? Are you planning to grow it in the farm? Only desperate animals eat that. Are you planning to raise animals in Ardan?”
From Phoebe’s reaction, it was clear she knew about potatoes.
Indeed, potatoes do have toxins in their sprouts.
So they were used as animal feed, not human food.
“Are there many potatoes like this around here?”
“I don’t know. During the last war, the invaders might have scattered them. There were potatoes growing around here lately, although they weren’t originally in Ardan. I’m not interested.”
Not interested? Suddenly, a great idea flashed through my mind like lightning.
“What if we grew these potatoes to feed the starving people?”
“Ugh. Gross. Who would eat that?”
“Anyone who doesn’t want to starve would eat it.”
“People would rather starve than eat animal feed. They have their pride, you know.”
Phoebe scoffed.
Meanwhile, Barkie, who had wandered off nearby, came back.
Barkie joined Somnia in the farm-making process.
Can Hel creatures work together?
“Brother! Look at that spider! It’s cute! Look at that spider!”
“That one? That’s Barkie.”
“Barkie?”
“Yeah. It has the same name as the squirrel you raised. Somnia named it.”
“Hmm…, she’s good at naming. Or maybe my naming skills were noble and high-class enough to rival those of a great house?”
It seemed that Phoebe’s evaluation of Somnia was rising.
The name Barkie. To think her evaluation was rising because of that.
My sister sure has some peculiar aspects.
⋆༺𓆩☠︎︎𓆪༻⋆
After hard work from both Somnia and Barkie, the farm was finally complete.
I planted a potato with sprouting buds in it, and an amazing transformation occurred.
「Sprouting」
「Estimated work time 15:05:01」
It seemed like the potato would grow in 15 hours.
Fifteen hours was short.
It was a time I can wait for.
………….
……….
…….
….
I take back what I said.
Fifteen hours were simply far too long to wait aimlessly.
As I was thinking of a way to kill time, I noticed Somnia fidgeting.
“What?”
“I have a feeling that if we infuse some mana, the potatoes could be harvested faster. But since I possess the Ice mana of the north, the potatoes might freeze before they even sprout.”
Using mana to accelerate crop growth?
It sounded like a fantastical idea to someone like me, who couldn’t sense mana. Besides, Somnia’s mana wasn’t suitable for farming, making it difficult to try.
Naturally, our gaze converged on one person.
“Why, why are you looking at me? You want me to waste my mana on something as trivial as growing potatoes?”
In the end, Phoebe reluctantly infused her mana into the farm.
“Ugh, why am I even doing this for some potatoes! It’s almost dinner time! Can’t we wait till after dinner?”
“No. Just a bit more effort. We’re almost there.”
「Estimated Work Time 3:05:01」
The work time had significantly reduced.
In three hours, could we harvest a large amount of potatoes from the field? The anticipation filled my heart, and by the time the moon rose high, the job was done.
Pop—!
The potato sprouts grew impressively.
The finished farm was a bountiful harvest that didn’t seem like it had been made in just half a day.
“If we had done this normally, it would’ve taken days, not half a day.”
I marveled as we started the harvest.
With Barkie, who was talented in 「Gathering」, assisting, the harvest didn’t take long.
「Estimated Work Time 1:00:01」
One hour later.
We managed to collect almost a boxful of potatoes.
「Hel Potato (36) – Consuming it slightly increases Hel’s vigor. Can be cultivated by creating a farm in the crafting window. Also used as an ingredient for Hel Bread.」
36 Hel Potatoes. For a first harvest, that should be satisfactory, right?
Even Phoebe seemed in high spirits, humming a tune.
“What kind of animals could we raise with this? How about sheep? Or pigs? We can have meat side dishes every day now! Hehe! There’s so much feed! It reminds me of when we used to raise chickens.”
“Well, how about we taste it?”
“Taste? Huh? What taste?”
Nom—
I grabbed a 「Hel Potato」 and took a bite.
Phoebe’s expression turned utterly horrified, almost surreal.
“Hey! Why are you eating animal feed?”
“Daniel! What in the world! What are you doing!”
Even Somnia looked shocked and horrified.
From a 21st-century perspective, it was probably like I had taken a bite of dog food or cattle feed.
“It tastes good even raw.”
“Sister-in-law Somnia! How much did you starve my brother? He’s eating animal feed!”
“Sta…Starved? Daniel! Eating animal feed! Why?”
“Why don’t you two try it too?”
— End of Chapter —
⚘ ⚘ ⚘
Translator’s Notes :-
Don’t forget to RATE and REVIEW the Novel on ⟿ NOVEL UPDATES. A BONUS CHAPTER FOR EVERY MULTIPLE OF 10 RATINGS ON NU…
If you cannot wait to read what secrets lie ahead, you can now read ⟿ ADVANCED CHAPTERS of this series either on this website or on [Ko-Fi Membership]