Chapter 187

The day passed.

Claire did not come, and after obtaining the seeds, my action power for the Shatren field was completely consumed, so I had to spend a day resting.

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▶I obtained the Shatren Strawberry Seed and the Shatren Grape Seed.◀

▶You can plant them in the desired field and grow crops.◀

▶However, depending on the growth conditions, the results at harvest may vary.◀

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The land was acquired through various choices and the Clue and Prove Event, and some of the acquired land was easily planted with seeds provided by Trisha.

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Now, all that’s left is to plant these seeds in the land and proceed to the next step. To prove the flawed farming methods of Shatren and trigger another Clue and Prove Event.

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But before that, there was one thing I needed to confirm.

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“Still no sign.”

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I felt something was off since yesterday, and this feeling wouldn’t go away.

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So, as soon as I returned, I carefully examined my status window, but it seemed my suspicions were correct.

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“There’s nothing popping up for choices on how to proceed with the plan even though I have everything prepared with the land and seeds.”

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This choice would usually appear right after acquiring the seeds, indicating what actions to take next. I expected it to appear now, but it didn’t.

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This is quite a serious problem.

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“And it doesn’t seem like a coincidence either.”

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I’ve had this experience once before; the unease from the crop settings window not appearing was hard to shake off.

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Yeah. When the same thing happens repeatedly, it’s not a coincidence.

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“Geez. Now that I know for sure, it just makes my head hurt more.”

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Not having UI or choices popping up feels like the game is warning me.

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The episode of the game, the system, and the settings within the game are telling me:

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Find the problems in Shatren and solve the plan yourself. Solve the farming method issue alone and clear this episode. Prove everything falsely accused.

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Accept all the settings inside the game with mouse clicks and directional keys, ignoring them as before.

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That’s what they’re saying.

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“Hmm. Let me think again. Is it possible to proceed with the plan as it is?”

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Even if the UI and choice windows don’t pop up, my memory is still intact. It should be possible to solve it the same way, but…

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That’s impossible.

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From this point on, the direction of the plan is entirely determined by choices. The costs and returns for each step have been optimized through dozens, hundreds of retries.

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I only needed to follow those steps, but if the choices don’t appear here, this optimization won’t continue.

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Because I already saved two weeks’ time. This means variables increased, and given the game’s environment where small actions can lead to different outcomes, the same process can’t be repeated.

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Ultimately, I have to solve it myself.

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To put it bluntly, it’s a situation with no answers. The method of skipping parts and ignoring game settings after necessary actions were found and acted upon is barely a skeleton and practically unusable.

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Because there are no choices.

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My plan relied on making choices, but now I can’t make any.

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Considering I need to learn new knowledge under the game’s settings, time might be tight.

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But…

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“This is seriously underestimated. If I don’t let the choices dictate me, my range of choices will broaden.”

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While the functional UI window is gone, the absence of choices has significant meaning.

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Free from the constraints of existing choice ranges, I can directly solve the problems in Shatren.

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Flawed farming methods? There are more things I can prove.

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Not following the system’s path, but my own way.

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This freedom can’t be ignored.

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“Yeah. Maybe I should try applying some of the modern knowledge I have.”

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From here, the result will purely depend on my abilities, not on choices or systems. The original plan is back to square one.

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But, I think it’s worth trying.

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No, it might even be better.

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Since I can finally use the modern knowledge I couldn’t use before.

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***

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The first week of the Symposium is generally used as a foundation for information about the territory, policies, and plans. Starting from the second week, it’s mandatory to attend lectures for at least one day.

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Today was the day Claire applied for the lecture, and she was listening to the speeches of good examples of lords with her sisters in the conference hall.

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But Claire’s ears weren’t picking up the useful lectures.

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She remained lost in thought from the beginning to the end of the lecture.

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When the lecture ended, Flora tugged at Claire’s sleeve.

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“…”

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“Little sister. Little sister.”

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“Huh? What is it?”

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“The lecture is over.”

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Claire raised her head at the mention of the lecture ending.

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She realized how much time had passed and sighed deeply when she saw the empty notebook, realizing the time wasted.

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“Little sister. What’s going on?”

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Flora asked worriedly at Claire’s deep sigh.

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“I’ve been deep in thought.”

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“Thoughts?”

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“Yeah. It’s a bit complicated.”

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She couldn’t say it was nothing. After all, it involved an incident that almost harmed Carsein.

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But during this time, a solution came to her.

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Flora went to find Harneier, thinking that despite the bad rumors she spread, her fiancé, Harneier, could still be helpful.

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Whether it actually helped or not, the decision was right. The relationship between them wasn’t too bad, and as his fiancée, she wouldn’t betray Carsein.

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That was the weak point.

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“Big sister is meeting someone else for a moment. Can you go back with big sister?”

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“Yeah, I’ll do that.”

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As Claire walked, she thought:

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“Right. From just seeing those two, it’s clear there are no allies for Carsein in Shatren.”

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If aiming for success in agriculture, the only thing left is farm work, yet the farmers are turning their backs. It’s the worst-case scenario.

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No matter what policy Carsein implements, they won’t move, right?

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Then, allies must be made.

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As Claire approached, the man who had been in conversation crossed his arms and noticed her presence.

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“Hmm. Are you the second princess of the House of Bargrand?”

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A burly man with numerous scars on his body, whom Claire had never met before.

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But.

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“I heard the House of Aiferos has a high standing in the west. I came here because I need your help to talk with the House of Rilfetten regarding that position.”

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Claire had found the person she was looking for.

—

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“Hey, can’t you give me a little discount?”

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A man from Shatren came to negotiate a transaction with another territory.

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The other side protested.

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“A discount? Isn’t Shatren making a lot of money?”

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“But, we had a poor harvest again this time. You know that well, don’t you?”

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“Then, why are you saying this after earning so much from the Shatren Strawberry and Shatren Grape?”

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“We know they’re popular among the nobles!”

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“Still, can’t you give us a little discount? Our situation isn’t good.”

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“Isn’t it because the temporary lord of Shatren is Carsein?”

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“That’s absurd. This price is the fair price.”

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“I understand, but we also need to eat. Without a discount, we won’t make any profit.”

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Despite pleading, the other party refused.

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As they said, it wasn’t an unfair price. It was within market value, and other territories had already purchased at this price.

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Furthermore, orders were given not to accept prices below a certain amount set by the lord, so they couldn’t sell at a lower price.

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Returning to Shatren with food, they showed the transaction details and expressed their difficulty. The residents immediately gathered in the hall for a meeting.

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“How much support money is left?”

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“All the money from the House of Bargrand has been used up.”

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“…So, we only have the money from selling strawberries and grapes left?”

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“Yes…”

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With a powerless affirmative response, the trading results weren’t good either, making everyone feel disheartened.

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“This is bleak… We won’t have enough money to buy fertilizer.”

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“What if we reduce the amount of fertilizer?”

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“No! We need that fertilizer to grow more strawberries and grapes.”

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“If we cut back on fertilizer, we’ll starve.”

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If they reduced the amount of fertilizer, it would affect the production volume of strawberries and grapes.

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But if they maintained the harvest volume, they would starve.

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The meeting dragged on, but no solution emerged from the hall.

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“Instead, what has Carsein done?”

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“Hey!”

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“Seriously, he’s not even here. Do we really need to show him respect?”

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“Exactly. He’s just a commoner who rose to power suddenly.”

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Voices of empathy spread among the residents.

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“Have you heard what he’s been doing for the past two weeks? What would he do if he took our land?”

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“I saw him planting something in the fields.”

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“I saw it too! It looked like he was planting strawberries with Perdi.”

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“What? Trying to farm?”

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“It seems so.”

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News of Carsein farming spread, and negative reactions poured in.

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“Could it be… Is he trying to say our farming methods are wrong?”

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“What if he grows higher-grade crops on that land…?”

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-Bam!

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Map, the village’s action leader, slammed the table.

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“Make sense! How can someone who hasn’t farmed even once in the House of Duke produce better crops than us?”

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“Don’t worry. That won’t happen.”

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“There’s no one in this territory who knows it better than us. At least, it’s a relief if he knows how to farm.”

—

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But then, Bram stepped forward.

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“There is no such thing as ‘never,’ Map.”

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“Village chief…?”

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“Take Perdi, for example. She uncovered embezzlement of festival funds in our territory. Didn’t everyone think she wouldn’t change? But look at the results.”

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“…”

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A heavy silence fell. However, the residents rebutted again.

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“But, this is different.”

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“That’s right. Someone from outside ruined Shatren. This has happened before.”

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As key figures spoke up, the hall quieted down.

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“But, Carsein will surely bring up this topic in the meeting. What happens when he comes back and implements policies?”

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“Mm…”

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“Don’t worry. We received orders before the temporary lord’s commands.”

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“Oh, right?”

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Faces that were previously complex brightened up.

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“After the problems started in Shatren, the second young lady told us not to listen to Carsein. She also sent us support money afterward!”

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“That’s right. That was our order.”

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“At least, we can’t disobey Lady Claire’s command.”

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“Besides, this is the territory of the House of Bargrand.”

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Claire had been furious at the time.

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She shouted at the residents:

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“Regardless of when and how Carsein returns, we must never follow his false commands.”

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“If he tries to cause trouble, we shouldn’t lie, right?”

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Due to this order, the residents agreed to refuse and argue against any commands issued by Carsein when he returned from the meeting.

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But they ended up hearing an unexpected fact from the second-week report.

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As Bram said, “never” does not exist.

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