Chapter 52
Interlude

Raised in the Capital vs Raised in Meissen

“It’s milk, milk.”

“What the heck is that? ‘Meelk’…”

“I’m talking about milk, you know, from a cow.”

“Cow…?”

“There’s no way it could be possible that… you don’t know what cows are?”

“Targes. There is no record of cows having ever been brought to Meissen fief. Cows are creatures which resemble horses. A cow is wider than a horse, and the sound of its call is also different.”

“It’s ‘cause you never went outside of Meissen that you don’t know such a thing. When I went out of Meissen to go work, I saw tons and tons of cows.”

“I see; if you don’t leave Meissen, then you won’t know what cows are… So that’s how it is. You won’t be able to cross that Linz Valley while carrying a calf on your back, either.”

“Similarly, it’s also difficult to bring any cross the Bastelis River.”

“How come? There’re boats ‘n stuff, right?”

“Quite so. Ships are able to cross the Bastelis River two times a year. The only problem is that there are no cows in the Caprix fief in Lux Kingdom, either. If someone wanted to bring cows to Meissen, they would have to go as far as the Dies fief in Lux Kingdom.

“Speaking of, how far way is Dies fief?”

“Humm. I would say 20 days of walking on foot. Lux Kingdom is not a particularly agricultural country, so they do not raise many cows or sheep there.”

“That’s… that’s so far away, it’d be better to just give up.”

“Yeah, agreed.”

“Then, Captain, that meel… that thing, what can you do with it?”

“It’s milk. Well, if you have milk, then I think you should be able to make cheese.”

“Chee…?”

“It is a type of food processed from milk. The flavor is good on its own, but it is better accompanied by wine.”

“Aah, I agree. It’s good like that, too. On my end, I also enjoy adding it to stew.”

“Humm. So it can be done that way, as well.”

“I wonder if there is anything that Lord Ernst prefers not to eat?”

“I suppose there might be, but I had been taught to stay quiet and eat whatever had been presented to me.”

“Aah… I suppose that might be for the best. If Lord Ernst had ever asked any questions about his meals, all hell might have broken loose within the royal palace.”

“…Why would something like that happen if Lord Ernst asked anything?”

“You, all you’d have to do is think about it to understand. The person who carries the meals to present before the Esteemed Crown Prince is a maid, right? But that maid doesn’t know a single thing about the dish she’s carrying. When the chefs plate up the food, they put a lid over it. The maids can only see that silver lid while they carry the dish. Then, the inner palace maid delivers this dish, and she respectfully presents it to the Esteemed Crown Prince. As she does that, she lowers her head, then quietly retreats to stand and wait beside the wall. After checking that the maid has placed her back to the wall, the head butler will silently remove the cover from the plate.”

“That is exactly how it goes. Targes knows quite well, it seems.”

“Eh? Is that, truly what happens? I had only spoken that earlier from my imagination…”

“What’s the point in doing somethin’ so troublesome? I feel like it’d be fine if the maid who brought your food just put it in front of you normally.”

“Humm. Although I also don’t quite know why, that is simply how the rules are.”

“Exactly. In the royal palace, there are tons of rules and regulations that can’t be easily understood. If you guys were working there, you wouldn’t even last half a day. You’d commit some kind of discourteous or insolent behavior and get punished straight away.”

“We’d be fine. After all, the Captain got out alive.”

“…The hell do you mean by that.”

“But even then, how’s that supposed to explain why everyone’d go crazy?”

“Alright then, listen up and I’ll explain. Let’s say Lord Ernst asks what the ingredients in his meal were. From there, the head butler will communicate this to the inner palace maid, who will tell this to the outer palace maid, who will finally deliver this message to the chef. But at the same time, speculation will start flying about how they had sent in something that had displeased the Crown Prince.”

“Aah, I understand that. Back when I had lived as a servant in a wealthy merchant’s mansion, there was a time where I was nearly beaten because there had been a bug in the food we served him, or something. But it wasn’t even a bug, it was just a seed, though.”

“It isn’t just the wealthy merchants. The nobles are also the same way. As for me, I got told that he didn’t like the color of the coat I had brought out, so I got punished by having my meals taken away.”

“For me, I heard from the women of my village, y’know, that if the peasants who served at their employer’s place got told that the food they made was bad, they’d get hit with a bunch of hot soup, yeah?”

“Of course that would happen. That’s ‘cause the peasants are all stuck-up. They’re not like us at all.”

“I guess that’s true, but I’m talkin’ about the peasants from Rimied fief.”

“Whoaa! No way, that’s amazin’! You can set a high price for serving in Rimied fief, right?”

“The peasants there’re completely different from Meissen’s. Even if they’re still called peasants, the houses they live in are made outta brick.”

“Ooooh! That’s a frickin’ mansion, ain’t it. That’s even fancier than our Lord’s estate, right?”

“And on top of that, the cutlery they use is different. It’s made outta silver, y’know? Silver!”

“Ooooh! That’s frickin’ amazing! Doesn’t our Lord only use dishes made outta wood?”

“It’s ‘cause Lord Ernst sold ‘em all off.”

“Still… that sure is a long way off. My village had to fight real hard, and there was a woman who gave her all when she set off on her own. But because she kept on going for 50 years, we were able to buy three hoes, y’know? And what’s more, they were made outta iron.”

“Oooooo!!!”

“Really, if ya gotta go somewhere to work, it’s better to go work in the house of a peasant who’s like us. At least you’d understand the way they do things.”

“That’s right. Just try and go to a rich merchant’s or a noble’s mansion. They’ll have weird rules, and tons of things you’re not supposed to look at.”

“Yeah, yeah. When I worked at a noble’s place, they had a rule that the manservants weren’t supposed to walk to the south part of the mansion.”

“Hah, the hell is that? For me, whenever the noble passed by and walked in front of ya, the servants had to lower their heads and bow to their backs.”

“That’s just ‘cause your face is too hard to look at. At the place where I served, they had a rule that the servants should just stay silent and listen to the butler’s orders. Even if you wanted to fight back against what they told you to do, you weren’t allowed to open your mouth when the butler was speaking, and you weren’t even allowed to move.”

“Aah, I was told to do that kind of stuff too. At my place, I was even told that I wasn’t allowed to breathe.”

“…You’d have died, though…”

“No, I’m not kidding. He was a real nasty guy, and when he was speaking, he’d hold up his hand in front of me, yeah? To check if I was breathing.”

“What happens if you were breathing?”

“He’d shout, ‘Impudent!’ and beat me.”

“That’s horrible…”

“But when it comes to that, if it’s just a butler then they’ll stop with just a beating, right? If it was a noble, then they’d bring out a sword, wouldn’t they?”

“But Lord Ernst is a noble, too, y’know? D’you think he’d shout ‘Impudent!’ and wave a sword at you?”

“Lord Ernst would absolutely swing a sword around. If he doesn’t cut his own fingers first.”

“If it’s only his fingers, he’d still be fine. If he’s too clumsy, the sword might fall on his own neck.”

“Besides, before Lord Ernst could go swinging it around, Ganche would come flyin’ at ya.”

“Ah, you got that right. Wahaha!”

“Y… you guys, what in the world are you saying in front of Lord Ernst. Lord Ernst? A, are you angry?”

“No. Though I am surprised.”

“If we had milk, we could add it to some black tea.”

“Aah, that would be nice. Especially with the tea leaves which come from Sourrier fief.”

“Lord Ernst prefers the tea leaves which are very fragrant, I see. I tend to like ones which are refreshing, so the ones from Corra fief are to my taste.”

“Corra fief’s… humm, theirs are certainly delicious. Even within Corra fief, the subtle differences between the teas from the east and the ones from the west are very interesting. The east side’s tea has a mellow flavor, and one can perceive a deep forest fragrance in its aftertaste. The tea from the west side, however, has a meadow fragrance.”

“I like the teas which come from the west.”

“Humm. If the tea from the west side of Corra is to your taste, then you probably also enjoy the ones from Kleda in Tonell fief.”

“That’s very impressive, Lord Ernst. It is as you say. Although I especially enjoy the tea produced by Kleda, it is a bit hard to come by…”

“Very true. The Kleda mountain where the kleda tea is harvested is very severe, and it is difficult to cultivate the leaves, as well. However, the primary reason why it is difficult to obtain kleda tea is because of Tonell’s quantity regulations.”

“Eh… So that was the case.”

“The majority of teas considered to be precious often have their quantity adjusted during their growing period. Because the tea leaves are lightweight after being preserved, they are easy to transport to the capital no matter where they had been cultivated. For that reason, they are a good source of income.”

“Somehow, after hearing that, I feel as if I won’t be able to purely enjoy it anymore…”

“Mm, I suppose not.”

“Then, is the white dew from Loury fief uncommon for the same reason?”

“No; for that one, it truly is difficult to cultivate. It requires a fixed climate and amount of rain throughout the entire year. It allows very little room for error; as such, one can hardly expect a plentiful harvest.”

“I see, so that’s how it is. Although I was only ever able to drink white dew once, I could never forget its taste and fragrance.”

“I agree. White dew is wonderful. Its taste and fragrance are so full that there is no need to add in anything else, but if you were to mix in some newler from Tonn fief, it would have a completely different, yet still splendid taste.”

“When it comes to newler… I feel that it goes well even with coguio from Bur fief.”

“Humm. Adding newler to coguio tastes quite good, though I think adding leunille from Kyge fief is also delicious.”

“Ah, I agree. Leunille is amazing. When it comes to leunille, Kyge fief’s and Taique fief’s taste different, don’t they?”

“That is a result of their climates. Between Kyge fief and Taique fief the only difference is in the taste, but in Lucas fief, the appearance also changes. The leunille in Kyge and Taique is brown, but it becomes black in Lucas.”

“Hee-h, I had no idea.”

“Hey, captain. What’re you talking about?”

“? You were listening from the very beginning, so shouldn’t you know? We’re talking about tea leaves and cows.”

“…Up ‘til where did you guys talk about tea and when did you start talking about cows, is what I totally don’t get at all…”