Chapter 459 – Rice Field Creation

Now then. With the greenhouse construction reaching a temporary stopping point, the next task was rice paddy construction… but before that, I needed to sow the rice seeds and grow seedlings.

I would have to proceed with that parallel to the paddy construction starting tomorrow. With the paddy construction plan settled, I returned home and moved on to the seedling cultivation stage.

“Like this, we put them in salt water… and select the good ones.”

We filled a bucket with salt water and added the rice seeds, using the ones that sank to the bottom.

“Are the floating ones no good?”

“It seems they don’t have enough substance inside.”

Marceska answered Sheila’s question. Apparently Sion and the others had helped with rice cultivation before too.

At their explanation, Marlene nodded seriously with a thoughtful expression. Since this might involve her own territory someday, Ashley was listening to Forset’s explanations while taking notes.

Additionally, since it would be good for the servants to know how to handle rice seeds and seedlings too, Cecilia and Mihaela, along with several other key staff members, were also listening to Forset’s explanations.

“After rinsing off the salt water, we soak them in hot water to prevent the rice from getting diseases. Not boiling hot… but significantly warmer than body temperature, I’d say.”

This is… countermeasures against mold and bacteria. As expected, they have substantial accumulated knowledge. Forset seemed to be controlling the water temperature using a Magic Circle deployed at his fingertips.

If necessary, I might need to create a Magic Tool for this… But anyway, Forset appeared quite experienced with rice cultivation. He counted the time, and after a while lifted the seeds from the hot water, then placed them in cold water to cool.

“After this, we soak them in water for a while to encourage germination. Once sprouts appear, we sow them in seedling trays and grow the seedlings.”

Even as he said this, Forset and Sigritta began drawing some kind of Magic Array on the bucket containing the seeds with a brush. I could sense magical power from the brush tip, so they had probably crushed a Magic Stone into the pigment or something similar.

This time it was water magic-based too… seemingly to maintain a constant water temperature. The reason they weren’t using a Magic Circle was probably because they needed continuous temperature management.

None of the steps so far strictly required magic… but Forset seemed to prioritize using spell formulas to reduce labor while maintaining precise control to build a stable environment. As Rosemary, who had grown various things in greenhouses, perhaps this work scene gave her food for thought too, as she nodded slightly behind her feathered fan.

“I’ll leave some notes for reference,” Forset said. Hmm. Probably so others can handle things in his absence.

“Shall we place Noble Leaf potted plants nearby?”

“I’ll keep an eye on things too,” said Ashley and Floria respectively.

Forset said germination would take several days… but with this cultivation environment, it might happen faster than usual. Well, considering we’ll be growing them outside eventually, I should make sure to understand the procedures that don’t use magic.

Anyway, germination would still take a few more days. We’d likely keep them indoors for management while monitoring their progress. In parallel, we’d start paddy construction tomorrow.

And the next day. After breakfast, I first headed to the greenhouse. I wanted to check if the greenhouse environment maintenance had worked properly overnight.

I toured the greenhouse interior with Floria and everyone. A floating Noble Leaf was beside Floria. When we showed our faces, Flower Fairies peeked out from various places throughout the greenhouse.

When I waved in greeting, they giggled and waved back too. Now then. How was the situation inside the greenhouse?

“How is it?”

“Yes, seems fine,” Floria nodded cheerfully after looking around.

If it was a comfortable environment for the plants, they should grow well. The Noble Leaves we’d brought specifically for the greenhouse were also floating around cheerfully.

“Can Flower Fairies understand plant emotions too?”

“Yes. It seems those children can understand too. They can operate simple Magic Tools, and I think they might even be able to water plants.”

Floria answered Grace’s question.

“…I see. In that case, it would be best for us to focus on checking that the Magic Tools aren’t malfunctioning,” said Rosemary.

“Mm. That seems good for role division.”

I should probably later compile notes about the suitable environment for each plant – temperature and humidity, soil acidity and nutritional status, watering methods, etc.

Now then – let’s head to prepare the underground paddy field.

Opening the door leading underground in one corner of the greenhouse and descending the stairs brought us to the planned construction site for the underground paddy field. I floated several magical lights to illuminate the entire underground section.

Building materials were piled in the stark, square-cut space. The underground section was already prepared to draw water immediately and allow drainage… we’d completed that much yesterday. Water would flow through conduits, with some being purified and recycled, while what couldn’t be processed would be drained to Termwills’ underground section.

“Well then, shall we begin?”

“Yes. Then first – we should start by digging the floor area, I suppose?”

Nodding at Forset’s words, we moved to work. We had Golems transform the areas that would become paddies and move them to dig out squares all at once.

The Golems moved to the perimeter of the dug-out areas, then sank and lost form as if assimilating with the ground. They were reforming the paddy perimeters to be one level higher using Golems.

Even though I was doing it myself, the scene was like watching clay animation. The raised sections would later become the paddy ridges.

From there, we hardened the bottom and sides of the paddy to make them less prone to leakage when filled with water.

We transformed the remaining Golems into soft soil and clay-like states, floating them in the air while mixing them with water, then had Forset check if it was suitable for paddy conditions.

“As soil for the paddy… how about this consistency?”

“…Um, well… yes. I think this softness should be fine.”

Forset’s mouth twitched momentarily, but he nodded after checking the mixed mud’s condition.

“There’s no… waste. Well, I understand the logic since it’s all made from soil.”

Sion nodded with rounded eyes, looking impressed.

“…This magic is interesting. I like it.”

“Yeah. Theodore’s magic is fun,” said Sigritta matter-of-factly. Marceska watched the scene before her with shining eyes.

Grace and the others seemed accustomed to it, watching Sion and the others’ reactions with amusement.

Now then. Using the mixture ratio decided earlier, we transformed Golems into mud to fill the paddy, filling the dug-out areas to a certain level.

We formed irrigation channels alongside the paddy. The channels connected directly to the drainage outlet. We hardened the formed channels to prevent water leakage.

Installing a sluice gate made from materials in part of the paddy meant the first paddy was essentially complete. We released water drawn from aboveground, letting it flow into the irrigation channels. Once water had sufficiently spread, we opened the sluice gate. Water flowed into the paddy.

After filling it with some water, we closed the gate and mixed the water and soil, turning it into mud as we’d done before.

“That should do it.”

While normal paddies can incorporate natural nutrients by drawing water from rivers etc… according to Floria, the spring water was good for us too, and apparently could supply considerable nutrition without us doing anything special.

Therefore, if using hot spring water for cultivation, we’d need to be somewhat conservative with normal fertilizer application, but we could adjust that by consulting Floria and the Flower Fairies.

“I think that’s fine. Then we should also adjust the underground section’s temperature and humidity, and prepare the environment with light, wind, etc.”

Saying this, Forset flew toward the ceiling area of the underground section carrying a crystal-like Magic Tool. That Magic Tool was something Forset had brought from Halvaronis.

Sion and the others also followed Forset, carrying Magic Stones from the materials. Starting with light, it seemed. That served as lighting for Halvaronis while also assisting plant growth.

Apparently they’d adjust daylight hours, temperature, etc., according to the rice’s growth progress later.

They said they’d teach me the spell formulas and management methods in detail later… so, right. I should make two or three more paddies similarly. Considering the amount of seeds waiting to germinate, it would be better to have some extra capacity.

“So this is a rice paddy…”

Ashley murmured while looking at the completed paddy. Flower Fairies and Noble Leaves from the greenhouse seemed to have come to peek too.

“The sound of flowing water is quite pleasant.”

“If we did this outside – it would probably be peaceful and beautiful like the Labyrinth Village, wouldn’t it?”

Irmhild spoke in response to Claudia’s smiling words.

“That’s right. Halvaronis’ were beautiful too.”

Ashley nodded quietly at their conversation and closed her eyes.

Since I was considering this for the Barony of Silun in the future, she might be imagining when paddies would be built in her own territory.

At any rate, although tasks like transplanting rice seedlings remained, as facilities, both the aboveground greenhouse and underground paddy were essentially complete for now.