Chapter 6: Tomato Madness

Chapter 6:
Tomato Madness

 

“AAH! Field work sure takes a lot out of you!” Mina stood up straight and stretched her arms high. She was wearing pants today, which was rare. She looked like she’d married a farmer or something.

Before we’d left to weed the meadow, Mina had donned her straw hat and put on trousers, saying, “When in Granad, do as the Granadians do!”

“Yup,” I responded generically as I crouched and weeded the ground next to her.

Mina adjusted her hat and knelt again. “Do you think Noela will be all right by herself at the drugstore?”

“Well, if I keep treating her with kid gloves, she’ll never learn to be responsible.”

Leaving Mina at the store and bringing Noela to the field did make the most sense. However, Noela absolutely

hated the smell of the animal repellent in the meadow, so this was how it had to be.

After pulling the weeds, we watered the herbs that remained in the field.

“Grow up strong! Become useful little herbs!” Mina grinned.

“You seem to be having fun.”

“Ah ha ha ha! I don’t have much experience doing chores outside,” she explained. “When I was alive, I wasn’t your usual energetic child. I was terribly ill.”

“I see,” I replied. A sickly Mina is hard to imagine.

Splash! Mina continued to water the plants nearby. Meanwhile, I harvested the ones that were ready. We grew all kinds of things here, including ingredients for healing and energy potions, deodorizer fluid, and dishwashing soap. It was nice not heading to the woods for everything.

Thanks to my medicine-making skill, none of these herbs would die as long as I took care of them properly. Still, I really needed to thank Zeral for lending us this meadow.

After I’d harvested some herbs, I noticed a group of farmers sighing nearby.

“This might be trouble.”

“They’re growin’ weak.”

“Is something wrong?” I asked them. I knew these gentlemen fairly well.

When they noticed me, they greeted me warmly.

“You see, Mr. Reiji, I’m fertilizin’ and all, but these just won’t grow right,” one farmer explained. “Wonder why not?”

I followed his line of sight. Several lush green plants grew thickly in the field. They’d blossomed, but hadn’t produced any fruit. Apparently, if things went well, they’d grow tomatoes.

“I wish I could help, but I have no idea what the problem is,” I admitted.

“I’ve been at this a long time, so I can tell at a glance that I won’t get many tomatoes this year,” the farmer explained. That meant he’d have fewer to sell.

When it came to raising crops, things sometimes just didn’t pan out. That was literally a matter of life and death for the farmers. It wasn’t like you could wave off the harvest and go, “Well, nothing I can do about it.”

I knew for a fact that these farmers slaved over their crops, so the lack of tomatoes really stank.

“Hmm,” I muttered. “The more tomatoes, the better…but I can’t do much about the weather.”

“Something the matter, Mr. Pharmacist?”

“I was just thinking that I might be able to help.”

“Really, lad?!” The farmers latched on to the hope as if they’d seen God in the field or something.

I chuckled. “I’m just a novice farmer, so I’m counting on you guys to point me in the right direction.”

After we’d discussed the situation with the tomato plants, I had the farmers teach me what to focus on while growing vegetables and how the cultivation process worked.

Yeah. Just like I figured, I can use my own crops and the ingredients in the laboratory to whip something up.

“Are you going to make a new medicine, Mr. Reiji?” Mina inquired.

“Sort of! How’d you know?”

“Hee hee! I could tell by your face. You look like you’re having fun.”

“Do I?” I was surprised. “I’m going back to the drugstore.”

“Right! Good luck!” Mina waved as I headed into town.

When I arrived home, Noela was sitting behind the counter, looking bored as heck. “What wrong, Master? Field done?”

“No, not quite. I’m here to make a treatment. Thanks for watching the store.”

Noela followed me back into the laboratory. Eh, whatever. Things didn’t look busy in the drugstore.

“What treatment?” she asked.

Oh, right. Noela hates tomatoes! I grinned at her. “Something to make growing tomatoes easier.”

“Garrooo?! M-Master, tomatoes no good!” She shook her head. Noela refused to eat tomatoes, no matter what Mina and I said. “All tomatoes rot!”

“Come on. Don’t be like that.” I nudged her. She must see me as some mad scientist helping her mortal enemies.

Noela watched me carefully as I worked, clearly on her guard.

 

Tomatox: Stabilizes germination, ripening, and growth of produce. Not dangerous to humans.

 

All right! It’s done. I think the farmers can expect some tasty tomatoes! Apparently, they could even use the tomatox on other crops.

“No good!” Noela exclaimed, blocking the lab exit. “If need, stop Master myself!”

“I see. That’s too bad, Noela.”

“Arrooo! Won’t lose to Master!”

“No more potions for you, I guess. At least, not for free. You’ll have to use your allowance from now on. You get three hundred rin per week, so I guess you’ll be able to buy one potion a month.”

Sweat began to stream down Noela’s face. She quietly moved out of the way.

Seems like free potions every day justifies tomato proliferation. I chuckled. I’ve got nothing to fear from Noela.

Taking several bottles of tomatox, I headed back to the meadow.

“Hi!” I called to the farmers. “Sorry for the wait!”

“Not at all! If anything, you were fast,” said one. The others nodded.

I handed him the bottled tomatox. “With this, you should have your usual tomato harvest!”

“Just by spreading this stuff around…?”

Using too much tomatox could damage the crop, so I told the farmers only to sprinkle a little. They seemed doubtful, narrowing their eyes at the bottles.

“Using it or not is up to you,” I assured them.

“We’ll use it, Mr. Pharmacist. We won’t be able to harvest any tomatoes at this rate. Anyhow, you went and made this just for us.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I’m looking forward to eating fresh tomatoes.”

“You got it.”

That was how I formed a tomato co-op with the farmers, who spread the tomatox immediately. Needless to say, the crop wouldn’t exactly grow overnight, so we’d just have to see what happened.

The next day, I asked Mina to pick some medicinal herbs for me. When she came back, she seemed surprised. “The meadow was all overgrown, Mr. Reiji.”

“Don’t tell me it became a jungle or something overnight.”

I left the drugstore to Noela and Mina so I could go check.

Near the meadow, I spotted three adventurers talking.

“It’s a brand-new dungeon, here in the middle of nowhere!” one said. “There’s no telling what danger lurks. Be careful, team.”

“N-no way,” I muttered. I mean, it’s not like there couldn’t be a dungeon here. And of course adventurers would try to clear it.

My cold sweat wouldn’t stop flowing. My products always work too well, so I made a point of being careful this time. A jungle couldn’t have sprouted overnight.

“Ha ha ha!” I laughed loudly as I walked. “No way.” Where was I? The forest?

Wait. This is the fence I put the repellent on. Which means… “The meadow’s a jungle?!”

The adventurers from before entered the field.

“Let’s do this,” one muttered.

“Yeah!”

They’re trying to explore?! “Um, this is just a meadow!” I yelled as they hiked out of view. “There’s no treasure or monsters!”

After thirty minutes, the adventurers still weren’t back.

“A-all right. I guess I’ll head in,” I muttered, lurching forward. “There are no monsters. I mean, th-there can’t be any! My repellent’s the best there is! If there are, they’ve got no chance.”

I heard sounds within the greenery. What is that?!

Inching closer, I found the farmers and their wives pruning away the foliage.

“Hey!” I called. “Things have gotten crazy, huh?”

“Oh! Hey there, Mr. Pharmacist! They sure have,” an old farmer guffawed. “I didn’t think the tomatox would work this well.”

“What’re you all doing?” I asked.

“Well, if we don’t prune the tomatoes, the other veggies won’t get any sunlight, will they?”

“These are tomato stems?” I panicked as I confirmed that I was the source of the problem. “I’m so sorry! I meant to make the tomatox weaker than usual. I must’ve messed up!”

A farmer patted my shoulder. “Look at this, Mr. Pharmacist.” He pointed at a large red pumpkin sitting in the dirt.

“What is it?”

“A tomato.”

“Nani?!” I was so freaked out, I switched to Japanese. “Are you sure that isn’t a pumpkin?”

“Take a bite. Here.” One of the farmer’s wives handed me a huge tomato slice.

I bit into it. “Ah! This is a tomato…and it’s as sweet as a strawberry! It’s delicious!”

“This is downright amazing, Mr. Pharmacist! Sweet tomatoes at a size we’ve never seen—these’re gonna sell big!”

The other farmers and their wives happily nodded. Apparently, they’d all borrowed cash from Zeral when they rented this land. They were overjoyed that they could pay him back and turn a profit.

I helped prune the tomato stems, reverting the “jungle” to its proper “meadow” state, and received one of the big tomatoes as a thank-you gift.

I hope the adventurers got home okay.

When I brought the tomato home, Mina tasted it immediately. “It’s delicious! Oh, wait. Maybe…”

“Yeah, I had the same idea.” We nodded at each other.

At dinnertime, we carted out the big tomato, infuriating Noela.

“Could you at least take a bite? It’s tasty.” I used that specific word to remind her of her beloved potions.

“Tasty?” Noela narrowed her eyes and took a bite. “Garroo! This tomato?”

“Yup!”

“No. Don’t like tomato.” She kept eating with no problems.

Mina sat across from her with a big smile. “I’m so glad you can eat tomatoes now! Good girl.”

I patted Noela’s head.

Afterward, word of Kalta’s huge tomatoes spread through the nearby towns. They sold like crazy thanks to their sweetness. I diluted the tomatox and then sold it at the drugstore. It wound up being popular among farmers, since it was famous for producing big tomatoes.