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The Reincarnated Thirty-Something Woman’s Otherworldly Reform Life

Praising the Goddess of Wisdom

Translated by: ME

Treat me to a Ko-Fi to give me more motivation!!!

*****

It was early summer.

While there were still moments when a chill lingered in the air, glossy paprikas were ripening all across the fields.

It was the first harvest of the year.

「Alright! We’we going to hawwest the papwikas that have grown big! But befowe that, let’s listen to what the fawmer-shenshei has to sh-ay!」

「「「「「「Yes!」」」」」」

Magnolia raised her voice energetically, and the children from the slums, the farmlands, and the orphanage all nodded in unison. They replied with a thunderous shout.

Magnolia made it a point to let the children from the slums and the orphanage experience various kinds of work. This was to broaden their future career options. If their individual circumstances allowed, she did the same for the children of the farmers.

...Though, in a world where children often simply inherited their parents' trades, it was quite difficult to suggest other paths to those who already had a family business.

Regardless, she believed that entering a profession one actually wanted to do would surely lead to the best retention rates and skill improvements.

They could stay where they were now—which would likely become a formal trading company in the future—or they could become farmers. They could even take it further and choose to be gardeners. Becoming fishermen was an option, as was becoming chefs or craftsmen. If they were interested in the service industry, it was perfectly fine for them to work at a different trading company.

Of course, they could also become knights who protected the territory and the kingdom. For instance, the Gilmore Knights kept their doors open even to commoners, provided they passed the examination.

There would be various constraints, and some things would be practically difficult. Even so, she wanted them to know that the options before them weren't the only ones available. It wasn't impossible that someone might discover an unexpected talent once they gave something a try.

Not just Magnolia, but Servas and Claude felt the same way.

With the help of the farmers, the children were given a simple explanation of the series of tasks involved, starting from the initial sowing of the seeds. Watching the immense time and effort required, the look in the children’s eyes grew increasingly serious.

「—And sh-o, what ish befowe youw eyesh now are the pwecioush papwikas we all made togethew. Let’sh pick them gently and tw-eat them with cawe! And then, let’sh sh-ay thank you to the sh-enshei who taught ush. Thank you vewy much!」

「「「「「「Thank you very much!」」」」」」

The farmer uncle, looking both bashful and humbled, called out to the children, telling them to do their best.

And so, the children were now picking paprikas right before her eyes, looking joyful and occasionally cautioning one another. Dean, Lily, and Gai were each positioned in different spots, keeping an eye on the children while moving their own hands to work.

「...Really, thank you, My Lady.」

「Dan...?」

After saying so with a sigh, he scratched his head vigorously.

「To be honest, I’m jealous of those kids! I think if I were younger, my life might have turned out differently.」

Those casually spoken words likely held a mix of various feelings and emotions.

...It was bitter.

Nothing she could say would serve as comfort, and time would never come back.

「...I shupposhe sh-o. Time can’t be wound back...」

「...Yeah.」

「I heard a doctow sh-ay befowe that even when you’we an old man, you can grow evewy day.」

「...Huh?」

Dan tilted his head as if he didn't understand the meaning.

「Youw body won’t gwow and it might sh-tawt bweaking down, but insh-ide youw head, thewe awe thingth called 'cellth' in youw bwain. They go bad with age and lifestyle, but appawently you can incweath-e them no mattew how old you get. You can sh-till gwow.」

She was referring to neurons, but explaining such complex concepts would probably sound like a fairy tale to the people of this world.

...One might ask, "So what?" but she wanted to convey that possibilities actually expand beyond what one might think.

Both "youth" and "growth" are, in a sense, possibilities—opportunities.

He was frustrated that his possibilities had narrowed and lamenting that his chances had decreased. He was sad that the growth he might have had was lost.

Time is finite. Because it's invisible, one feels impatient.

He was too young to give up, yet he couldn't stand in the same position as the children.

—Even though the length of one's remaining time is invisible.

He simply assumed it should naturally be a certain way.

「...Even at the age of those hags in the handicraft team?」

「Of couwth-e. Moving youw handth and body maketh it eashew fow them to incweath-e. shince Gwan-ny ith moving hew handth evewy day, hew bwain might be bwu-th-ting with them!」

It was said that moderate exercise made it easier for neurons to increase. It was also commonly said that moving one's fingers was good for the brain.

Seeing Magnolia’s un-ladylike smirk, Dan chuckled from deep in his throat.

「Well, that’s good to hear!」

「...sh-o, no mattew how old you get, it’sh okay. Even if it’sh late, ow fwuth-twating, ow if it won’t come back, that can’t be helped. But, you sh-hould change when you want to change, ow when you *can* change.」

Even if things turned out differently than expected, who decided that it was worse than expected?

One can only truly know what has actually happened. If the goal is still ahead, there’s no telling what kind of major upsets might happen along the way.

Sweet talk? Perhaps.

She understood common sense and logic, but wasn't he narrowing his own possibilities by being too trapped by them?

Wasn't he making assumptions?

Magnolia asked herself the same questions in her heart.

Dan remained silent for a while, staring at the horizon beyond the fields.

「...My Lady, you’re amazing. It’s a waste to keep you as a toddler.」

「Hmph!」

To Dan, who laughed as if troubled, she muttered in her mind,

(That's because I'm around thirty on the inside.)

****

The paprikas, successfully harvested and washed clean, were cut raw and placed into sterilized jars, soaked in seasoning liquid, and then heated in hot water along with the jars. For the other batch, paprikas roasted to perfection in the oven were packed into sterilized jars, soaked in seasoning liquid, and likewise heated in hot water jars and all. They used thermometers and hourglasses to heat them accurately and consistently.

It was a mimicry of the deaeration sterilization and airtight upright sterilization methods.

Fortunately, the Vitamin C in paprika was supposed to be heat-resistant, so it wouldn't be destroyed much even with some heating.

Since it was a food item that could be heated, she was grateful it could be properly sterilized. ...That said, compared to modern lids, the ones here were unreliable, so there would be a limit to the airtightness. They were using cork stoppers, but she was debating whether to apply a wax seal as well.

The reason for making two types—raw and roasted—was the difference in texture and sweetness. Both were delicious, but people could choose the one they preferred.

She cautioned the health food production team not to get burned and explained the process up to the point of wearing gloves and tightening the lids.

「Make th-uwe to use gloveth and wowk cawefully!」

If they ever found the time, she definitely wanted to create jam jars... twist caps or screw caps. That would greatly improve the shelf life.

While creating products, Magnolia always thought that she must only adopt things that wouldn't result in "over-technology," or things that would be acceptable even if they did.

While Magnolia didn't have any grand expertise in her head, she did have a general overview of dangerous or problematic things.

Making sauerkraut with the vegetables available in this world wasn't that big of an issue (putting aside the rights of the person who was originally supposed to invent it...), but she believed making bombs was out of the question.

...She felt that explaining things like "vitamins" might be a bit of a gray area, though...

For example, weapons, tactics, and drugs—some have value or benefits, such as using certain drugs for anesthesia—but she believed it was better not to utilize them. Even if she didn't fully understand them herself, if she explained them to someone well-versed in the field or someone intelligent, things that should have existed in the future or things that were never meant to be born in this world might be created.

What if that hurt people? What if it dragged them into the vortex of war once again?

...Therefore, she felt it was better to avoid things she couldn't handle herself.

Those things should be left to the progress and discoveries of this world.

Daily necessities and simple food. Things at the level of a general elementary school student's independent research project from her previous life.

The scope of products one could buy at a 100-yen shop, home cooking, and simple science experiments was the limit for Magnolia.

Essentially, she wouldn't change the maturation speed of this world. She would only adopt things that made life a little more convenient, delicious things, or things that made living easier—or so she thought. Mostly.

Don't disturb the territory more than necessary. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

This was what Magnolia thought as a person reincarnated into another world.

***

「My Lady, you might be surprised when you get to Cruz.」

Saying it was to transport more luggage, Magnolia was sitting compactly on the coach box.

It was easier to greet the workshop people and acquaintances when passing through the farmlands, and above all, the early summer breeze stroking her cheeks felt wonderful.

At first, Dean had said he would sit there, but as soon as he realized it was Magnolia's earnest wish, he reluctantly settled inside the carriage.

While one might wonder how it looked for the master to be on the coach box while the servant and maid were inside the carriage... since it was Magnolia, everyone simply felt there was no point in saying anything.

「Shurprised?」

She tilted her head at his usual smirking face, but sensing that her guard, who was only laughing, had no intention of telling her, she decided to stop prying, figuring she would find out once they arrived.

「...Speaking of th-upwith-eth, I heard the othew day... ith it twue that in Ath-kald, plantth gwow like cwath-y even without fewtilizew?」

When she had met Simon of the Campbell Trading Company for the first time in a while and mentioned making fertilizer from raw vegetable waste as part of their recycling discussion, she was incredibly shocked to hear that they didn't use fertilizer in Ascald. It’s an amazing thing to be able to harvest crops to your heart's content (?) without much care.

「That’s right. It’s the blessing of the Flower Goddess after all.」

「Whaaat!? Ithn’t that way too genewouth! Ath-enda ith th-uppoth-ed to believe in hew too, th-o what’th with that diffewenth-e!」

"That's right," he says!!

...Even though it was for the sake of the environment, she wanted to object to the fact that they had to perform extra labor.

「Blessing are just like that, you know? Well, it's fine, isnt it? Thanks to Mylady compost and bone fertilizer, Azenda been having one bumper crop after another.」

「Leftovew compoth-t... then I wondew what kind of bletth-ing Ath-enda hath?」

When she said so sulkily, Gai chuckled deep in his throat.

「It's the Goddess of Wisdom after all, so maybe it's enlightenment?」

「Enlightenment, huh...」

「Well, the people here know what it means to accept things better than people from other countries.」

「Hmm?」

「Even though 'wisdom' and 'knowledge' are different things, it seems to be true that there are many smart people. Like Lord Claude, too, but there are apparently many teachers from the Royal Academy here. Many people have been summoned to their respective mother countries during occupation because their abilities were valued. It’s said that Azenda didn’t perish like other small countries thanks to that.」

「I th-ee.」

At Magnolia’s half-interested attitude, Gai let out a strange "guhehe" laugh and whipped the horses.

「I don’t think My Lady knows this, but lately there’s a rumor going around that Azenda has a strong blessing from the Granny of Wisdom.」

「Ith that th-o? Hath anything changed lately??」

Centered around the town of Cruz, there was a persistent rumor that a tiny Goddess of Wisdom had descended upon Azenda.

Thanks to the sale of sauerkraut since early spring, sailing sickness had decreased dramatically. Now that it was in full swing, it was steadily continuing to decline.

Of course, it wasn't just the sales; parallel to the business, Magnolia had provided information to nearby doctors. The doctors, who were skeptical at first, quickly began to take it seriously after seeing the sketches and interviewing actual cured patients.

And while they were frantically helping out to confirm the treatment of sailing sickness patients found on newly docked ships, the doctors now had full confidence in it and were incorporating it into treatment and prevention.

It had only been a few months since they started selling sauerkraut, but rumors of its existence were definitely spreading among those from foreign countries who sailed. The facts were becoming mixed with rumors that the House of the Margrave was involved and that the inventor seemed to be a woman. There seemed to be movements to investigate, but thanks to Paul, who had heard from Claude, the people in the workshops, the farmlands, and the port town were all keeping Magnolia’s true identity hidden.

They simply said that the Goddess of Wisdom had descended, and everyone was working together as one in activities and jobs to eliminate the disease.

*****

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