abcnovels
Chapter 390
Chapter 390
Chapter 390
I Talked To Sebastian About The Herbs
After tea time was finished, and everyone dispersed, Mr. Ekenhart, Tilura, and I went to the garden in order to train… Or rather, I was about to, but was intercepted by Sebastian.
What could it be?
“Mr. Takumi. There is something I wish to tell you regarding the herbs.”
“About the herbs? Did something happen to them?”
He looked a little serious, so perhaps something had happened.
Mr. Ekenhart seemed to have heard already, as he continued to walk to the garden with Tilura.
And so I had Leo and Liza follow them.
Liza would be bored if she listened to us anyway.
But if it was about the garden, wouldn’t it be better to go out and take a look?
“Well, it is quite dark now, so it would not be easy to see. Regardless, I wanted to talk to you about it first.”
“I see. Very well.”
We had decided to not use any magic light near them, so it might be difficult to see them well at this hour.
“In any case, the newly increased herbs have withered. It happened shortly after midday.”
“I see.”
I expected something like this to happen.
While they grew more slowly compared to the herbs made directly by me, they were still fast compared to ordinary herbs.
Considering all of that…it seemed about time that they withered away.
“The new herbs…we will call them the second herbs. The speed varied…but they started to wither at around midday, and then it only took an hour after that.”
“So then…what happened to the third herbs?”
“The third herbs have now grown to a point where they can be picked. As for the fourth herbs, they have just started to sprout.”
“There are fourth ones now…”
As it seemed that the effects of Weed Cultivation were weakening, I thought that it would end after the third herbs.
“The fourth herbs are growing particularly quickly since sprouting. I think they may be close to ordinary herbs. Of course, they will still need to be observed…”
“Indeed. If the effect lessens, then we should get unaffected herbs soon. Uh, how about the numbers?”
“Yes. And so it is important to keep an eye on them. As for how many…there are slightly less than the third herbs.”
So it’s just a little less… Since they seemed to be decreasing by half every time, I thought it would be the case again. But I was wrong.
I suppose that showed that it really wasn’t being affected by Weed Cultivation.
“Now, it is from here that things become serious…”
“Yes.”
So, that wasn’t what he had actually wanted to tell me.
But what could it be?
“It is about the soil being used in the herb gardens… Apparently, it is definitely being depleted of nutrients.
“I see…”
“The plants that grow nearby are being affected as well. They are starting to wilt.”
“Because the soil has grown poor.”
Obviously, plants needed more than water and sunlight to grow. They received nutrients from the ground as well.
I didn’t know how much they were absorbing, but I had made a few herbs on an orc once, and it had died. So considering that, they must require quite a lot of nutrients in order to grow at such a speed.
If anything, it was a surprise that we didn’t notice the change in the garden’s soil sooner.
Well, I didn’t always grow them in the same spot, and the herbs were small. And I also didn’t make that much at once.
Also, they required water, which would have also been absorbed from the orcs body. So the circumstances were different in various ways.
These were all things that I intended to research little by little.
Obviously, I would not be performing experiments on living creatures.
“Fortunately, the herbs do not increase without limit, so I doubt we have to worry about it getting any worse. But we will have to be careful when making fields in the future.”
“Yes. I will not be able to do it over and over in the same location.”
“Exactly. Because they increase in such a short amount of time… You should decide on different locations and alternate between them.”
Have one garden where you grow the first herbs, and when they increase, move onto the next garden. That way, you could avoid impoverishing the soil.
As for the size and number of these plots of land, I would have to decide on that later. However, adding fertilizer might be another way to maintain the state of the soil.
After all, the state of the soil was very important when making a garden.
Regardless, thanks to Weed Cultivation I could quickly be able to tell if the soil or climate was right for it.
“And so you may have to hire more people than initially expected. People to manage the fields and tend to the soil… Otherwise, there will be a lot of work for you, Mr. Takumi…”
“…Indeed. There does seem to be a lot more to do than I thought. And I’m not very confident…”
Apparently, I would have to hire even more people now…