No Regression for the Victor - Chapter 18

Meanwhile, before Mikhail arrived at the Ice Lake exile, Hyun was facing his first failure in the second act of his newly started life.

“……”

Why? What went wrong? The seeds themselves should be fine.

Having already failed at sprouting them for the third time, Hyun stared at the moldy gauze and what had once been an ‘Osbrandt pumpkin seed’ and let out a sigh.

Though he was an entrepreneur who had succeeded in countless projects and turned everything he touched into a massive hit, this was his first time actually cultivating something with his own hands.

As the heir who would one day oversee a company, Hyun had never once grown even a kidney bean himself, told all his life that such menial tasks were beneath someone in his position.

‘Who knew this was such a difficult thing…’

Until now, Hyun had only ever eaten crops grown by professionals, cooked by professionals, and served at his table. All the things ordinary people enjoyed as hobbies were utterly unfamiliar to him. As Isaac, a criminal who couldn’t leave the exile as he pleased or request resources as he liked, even gardening—the easiest hobby available—was no different.

A seed… shouldn’t it just sprout if you give it water? It had been easy enough to ask the caretaker for some leftover seeds to plant in the spring, but after that, it was nothing but one failure after another.

Only now did Hyun realize the hard way just how much work real farmers did, as he repeated his failures. Cover the seed with soil; no sprout. Water it; rots and dies. Don’t water it; dries out and dies. He’d even tried the supposedly ‘easy’ wet-tissue germination method, but all that produced was a party of mold.

‘How does anyone ever grow these into those huge vines?’

Every time Hyun thought to ask the caretaker, the man would just watch him from a good ten steps away with a suspicious look in his eyes, as if to say, ‘He’s definitely up to something.’

It didn’t seem like he’d get any help from the caretaker. So, what other options were left…? After a moment’s thought, Hyun remembered that the Duke’s study was rather spacious, and headed there.

Sure enough. With the vast study being big enough for over a dozen people to hide without being noticed, it was filled with books Hyun had never even heard of, not even as traces in Isaac’s memories.

As a person of modern sensibilities, whenever Hyun found a field that interested him professionally, he would devour every book written by the experts in that field.

Once he’d gained enough basic knowledge from books, he’d move on to academic papers, reading and analyzing them thoroughly. After mastering the papers, he’d attend lectures by those same experts, even inviting them for discussions. That was the method by which Hyun had always satisfied his curiosity and solved his problems.

If only he could solve things the same way this time… But even after following everything the books said, he still couldn’t figure out what ‘just enough’ meant, or how many variables he had to control, so he was stuck repeating his fruitless efforts in frustration.

‘You can’t exactly call in a professional here.’

There wasn’t even Y**t*be, the treasure trove that satisfied every casual curiosity. Just as Hyun was getting exasperated, news came from the imperial family that another inspector would be dispatched for surveillance.

Fine, let them search all they want. Anything problematic (the Duke’s suspicious magical artifacts) had already been disposed of long ago. Even if the inspector searched the very bottom of the Duke’s wardrobe or under his bed, all they would find were Osbrandt onions and pumpkin seeds for planting.

And so, Hyun’s frustrating and dissatisfying convalescence continued to grind on. Until, unexpectedly, he encountered a new teacher.

“If you’re new to farming, would you mind if I helped out a little, just until you get used to it?”

What an odd fellow. He’s supposedly the attendant sent along with the inspector from the imperial family, and likely busy enough just waiting on them. Yet, he was volunteering to give up his own time.

For Hyun, there was no reason to refuse such help.