Satou's here. I hadn't think about it when I was in the former world, but I didn't think just how the things I usually ate were made or from what ingredients they were. It feels very real after I come to another world.
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"Hello, it has been a while."
"Ou, if it isn't young master Satou. Long time no see."
"It's been a long time, chevalier Pendragon-sama."
The head chef-san who welcomes me while smiling is bad with polite speech like usual. He looks fit to be someone who's wearing an armor and wielding a great sword on a battlefield, but he's one of the five people in Shiga kingdom that can make the delicate imperial dishes. Another one of them is that head chef's support, the slender young man chef.
The maid-san who's guided me to this room is waiting close to the wall with face full of expectation, today I'm not here to cook though.
As souvenirs, I take out the dragon spring liquor and brownie wine from my bag. The brownie wine isn't something that rare in the market, so I probably won't be find out. On the other hand, the dragon spring liquor is completely unknown in the market, so even if it's analyzed, they should think that it's made in a minor sake brewery.
"Are the wine and the other one both Shiga liquors?"
"I'm sorry chevalier-sama, please don't mind him."
"No, it's alright. I found some unusual liquors during my journey, so I thought that I should bring some to everyone."
Actually, in exchange for tempura jelly recipes, they taught me various things like the way to decorate vegetables, or make shaped candies. The character bento for Pochi and the others are some of the result.
I get down to business after we're done with the pleasantry.
"Red pickles huh? I don't know no soy sauced pickles, but pickled peach and salted lulu should be red, they are."
"Let's see, pickled carrots and fruits that are related to gabo are also red, but they're more like orange if I have to say."
Unfortunately, neither of them are aware of soy sauced pickles.
They're mentioning various red pickles, but I've never come across Japanese radish in the duchy capital in the first place. Due to that, I'm out of radish stock since I've been using them for the Japanese-style hamburg steak. I've also made grated radish too many times for the grilled fish dishes, so I guess it's not strange for me to run out of stock huh?
"If you know the ingredient, why don't ye' make some yerself?"
"I understand that it uses Japanese radish, and lotus root, but there's some flavoring that I'm not sure."
I think it uses salt and vinegar, but I don't remember what creates that red color at all. It's not from coloring agent right?
"There's no one who cultivate radish round here 'fter all."
"There's a legend from long ago that says orcs will come if you plant radish, though it's just a superstition. It should be cultivated around the territories of earl Kuhanou, and earl Seryuu."
It's hopeless if there's no radish.
I thanked the two, and decided to go back. The maid who was waiting near the wall looked really disappointed, but I secretly gave her one bag of baked sweets while saying, "It's a secret okay." I've been giving them to the pixies and the elves everyday, so I don't have many in hands.
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It'll be too conspicuous to go to the territories of earl Kuhano or Seryuu if it's not in the night, so I've decided to pay my acquaintances some visits.
I came to the airship workshop before I got out of the duke castle, and presented some brownie wine to the workshop head. This was not because I skimped the dragon spring liquor of course. Even though his red face looks like someone that can hold his liquor, he's not good with strong liquor, so I didn't give him that one. The brownie has only 10-30% alcohol degree on top of being sweet and easy to drink.
While being careful as to not make it unnatural, I ask about the way to control the aerodynamic engine, but it seems the engines that are in the duchy capital all only use fins that have identical output. He grumbled that because of that, sometimes new aerodynamic engines aren't made even after there are monstrous fish that have been subjugated. Even the second-hand aerodynamic engine that's been serviced from the other day is being keep as a spare for the engine in operation today.
"Is Satou-dono familiar with a country called Talbia."
What's with that beer-loving-like country name.
"It's a country southwest of the Parion holy country that's located past the desert of death on the western part of the kingdom, they make small airships called floating pot that a person can ride."
The workshop head moves his pen on a paper, and draws simple structure of the thing.
It looks like a hanged caterpillar falling from sea of acid. How do I say this, if we leave out the landing legs, it looks like a sake jug. There are small fins on the bottom of that pot, those fins rotate along with the pedestal, and equalize buoyancy it seems.
Shiga Kingdom seemed to have tried to imitate them, but it ended up just like it did for me in the other day; it couldn't even fly, and did serious damage instead.
It seems they had investigated that the thing might be convenient for scoutings, but concluded that the birdkin were better for it.
The workshop head isn't thinking about the floating pot, but whether the mechanism of the pot can be applied to the big airship.
"Oh right, has Satou-dono heard the thing about the prince from before?"
The workshop head-san who knew about my quarrel with the third prince told me about various news concerning him casually. The third prince seems to have retired from the holy knight with illness as an excuse, he has also lost his right to the throne, and got confined in the imperial villa at the back country that's under direct control of the royal family.
Honestly, I had forgotten the things about the prince, but I thanked the workshop head-san's kindness nonetheless.