Chapter 67: Inspection of the Territorial Capital

Although I ate heartily from the morning—ramen, gyoza, rice, and fried rice—today I plan to lightly tour the territorial capital. Of course, I’ll return by noon and have Curry Rice this time. By the way, since ‘Horakuen’ is left out behind the castle, we’ve opened it to the servants as well. Of course, it’s highly acclaimed. Though there was one Head Chef eating ramen looking overwhelmed with despair… Somehow, sorry. Because the morning ramen got higher ratings than the dinner he put all his skills into yesterday… But I want him not to be discouraged by this and polish his skills further. The tongues of the Ducal House members have become refined. …Though that’s my fault. Well, setting that aside, today is the territorial capital tour. This time, we head to the city in a proper Ducal House carriage. The members are the children group: me, Estelle, Bianca, Elliott, and Jean, plus Tanya and several of Elliott‘s guard knights as guards. Also Kohaku-san. Father is wrestling with piled-up territory reports, and Mother is having a tea party with the Empress and Grandmother. …At the ramen shop. ‘Horakuen’ has not just ramen but also soft drinks, and light desserts like ice cream. And it’s air-conditioned… Since the Empress and others followed us for the air conditioning, I knew they would hang out there… well, it’s fine. Split into several carriages, we started running toward the city area of the territorial capital.

“Riding a normal carriage for the first time in a while, I feel the vibrations quite a bit.” “Indeed. Compared to Lady Sakuraile‘s kitchen car…” “You guys… This is normal, you know. To us who always travel like this, that side is the weird one.”

Jean interjects in my conversation with Estelle as if exasperated. When Estelle comes to my house, she comes in the kitchen car driven by her mother, Teacher Julia. On the way, she stops by the Serenade Viscount House to pick up Bianca, so the two hardly ride carriages recently. Of course, they return by kitchen car too. If training days are off and the date changes, the lent kitchen car disappears, so sometimes they come by carriage the next morning though. On the other hand, when Elliott and Jean come to my house, it’s almost always by carriage. Still, since it’s an Imperial carriage, the ride quality should be far better than a normal carriage. This carriage is also a Ducal carriage, so it should be top class or close to it, but still, gata gata, shocks come through. Not asking for suspension, but at least rubber tires would be nice. If I could remove the kitchen car’s tires, I’d use them, but ‘Stores’ are impossible to disassemble or rather destroy. I have been to a tire specialty store, so maybe I’ll be able to summon one with [Store Summoning] eventually. The carriage goes down the gentle slope in front of the castle. Eventually reaching the main street of the territorial capital, a bustling cityscape jumped into our view from the window.

“I thought this yesterday too, but there are so many people and it’s lively. It cannot be compared to my territorial capital.” “It’s the former Imperial Capital, so that can’t be helped. Estelle‘s place is close to the frontier, and I hear the previous lord messed up various things.”

Estelle and Bianca are having such a conversation while watching the scenery flow by the window. The Euphonium Baron territory governed by Estelle‘s father had its previous lord executed for being riddled with corruption, and I hear that negative legacy is quite severe. Since there is support to some extent from the country and our Ducal House, it won’t be resolved immediately, but some method to rebuild finances must be necessary. As expected, if territory management remains poor for ten or twenty years, it could be deemed insufficient capability and lead to attainder. Thinking if there’s anything she can do for her own territory, Estelle is also here sort of for observation. According to Mother, there are no particular features other than being a tourist spot, but…

“Sakuraile, where are we going first?” “As I thought, first is the market. What kind of things are sold, and what kind of things sell. Without knowing that, nothing starts. Market research.”

I answered Elliott‘s question like that. What exists, and what doesn’t. Without knowing that, I can’t think of new specialties either. For example, even if I want to make hamburgers, it seems tomatoes are hardly grown in our country, so it would become a hamburger without tomatoes. For the same reason, tomato sandwiches, minestrone, and meat sauce cannot be made. Well, tomatoes seem to be grown in the neighboring Prelude Kingdom, so if we import, it’s not impossible. The carriage proceeded along the stone-paved road swaying gata goto and arrived at the market. Getting off the carriage, miscellaneous bustle, various smells, and gazes of attention were directed at us.

“Everyone is looking…” “Well, if you arrive in a Ducal carriage, everyone would look.”

To my mutter, Jean replies with a tone saying, ‘What are you talking about?’ Uumu, I came by carriage because the kitchen car stands out, but it was meaningless… In the market, various products were lined up like mountains, and trading was taking place with buyers visiting one after another. The heat and vitality of the people seemed to transmit even here. At a glance, food is plentiful as expected. Red, green, yellow—colorful fruits and vegetables are lined up in heaps. Cabbage, carrots, apples, strawberries—things I see often, and things I’ve never seen at all. Huh? Isn’t this cacao? It seems to be sold as a fruit, but don’t they sell just the seeds? Maybe chocolate can be made?

“Ah, Lady Sakuraile. There are fish too.” “True.”

At the shop Estelle pointed out, fish likely just caught were placed. Since they are raw things. Probably caught in the morning. Fresh… probably, but still smells fishy… Naturally, there are no large fish like tuna; fish about twenty to thirty centimeters are numerous. There are fish served at yesterday’s dinner too. Not just raw fish, dried fish were also hanging from pillars. Preserved food? At the shop next to it, something dried seemed to be hanging too. Reddish-brown and round, something shriveled.

“What is this?” “Dried Pashimo. It’s Pashimo fruit dried for long-term preservation.”

My guard Tanya answers my question. Pashimo…? Ah, that fruit resembling a persimmon. I see, this is dried persimmon. It’s a sweet. We look around the market this way and that. The market people who were buzzing about us at first just glanced at us from a distance now.

“I wonder what this is? It has a strong scent…” “Spices. These here are herbs.”

To Bianca‘s question, the bearded shopkeeper sitting on an empty box answers. Spices… But types are few. No pepper; what I recognize are hemp seeds, chili peppers, star anise, and maybe sesame. Pepper is expensive so maybe it’s placed elsewhere. For herbs, I only recognize mint, lemongrass, and rosemary. Is this one chives…? Huh? Maybe garlic chives…? I thought I could make curry if spices were available. But since I don’t know the mixing ratio, I’d end up throwing it all to the Head Chef. Spices aren’t grown much in our Empire, and apparently it’s normal to import from the Minuet Queendom where Princess Tifa is. If it’s Tifa’s country, maybe curry can be made. Maybe I should have the main residence’s Head Chef eat ‘Horakuen’s’ curry and research it.

“Over here, flower seedlings are sold.” “Over there paintings are sold.”

As Elliott and Jean say, various things besides food seem to be sold. With this much, just looking is fun.

“Oh, meat is sold here.” “Ugeh…”

Turning there at Jean‘s voice, I involuntarily let out a weird sound. Because something pig-like is hanging from the eaves with its head cut off… Uumu, unlike meat sold in packs, having the whole shape remaining is raw… In the slums era, I rarely ate meat, and even after coming to the Ducal House, this is the first time seeing such things. Estelle apparently hunted often in her territory, and Bianca and Jean seemingly dismantle game caught in Knight Order exercises, so they were unperturbed. The one making a slightly repulsed face like me is Elliott. This can’t be helped, he’s the Crown Prince. Probably seeing this for the first time. So it’s not strange for the Crown Prince and a Duke’s daughter to be slightly repulsed together. It’s not, I say. Something that looks like a dog no matter how you look at it is also hanging, but let’s try not to mind… Birds plucked naked are also lined up hanging by their necks—deron. Why do birds have heads attached when pigs don’t…? I thought heads are cut off to drain blood? But there are cuts on the necks so they must be drained properly. Can chicken combs be eaten? Maybe that’s why the heads are attached… I recall my senior saying they are good as snacks with alcohol. But this bird doesn’t have a comb…

“Is this bird not a chicken?” “This is a goose. It has more fat than chicken and is quite delicious.”

Estelle taught me in response to my question. I see, a goose. Speaking of geese, foie gras? I wonder if foie gras exists in this world.

“Do they not force-feed the goose, make it fat and round, and then take the enlarged liver?” “Do you have some grudge against geese…?”

Jean, hearing my story, is totally repulsed. Fumu, it seems there is no foie gras in this world. Are they raising them simply for meat? I saw on TV that geese were kept in ancient Egypt too. Since they’ve been eaten as meat for that long, there must be demand. But there are a lot of geese. Maybe farmable geese sell better than boars or deer that have to be hunted in the forest. If I make delicious dishes using goose, will people come from other territories? But the only goose dish I know is foie gras… Roast whole? Eating just the skin luxuriously… that’s Peking Duck. No, Duck is Ahiru. Totally different. Goose is… Guusu. Huh? Guusu means…

“What is the matter, Lady Sakuraile?” “Nn? No, it’s nothing.”

I returned a smile to Estelle who asked suspiciously, and resumed the market inspection.