by Dojyomaru
They were being watched by an exasperated Roroa and a bewildered Tomoe.
“Honestly... Big Sis Ai, what’re you havin’ a speed eatin’ contest for?” Roroa asked.
“Aisha’s eating as fast as ever,” Tomoe commented.
“Tomoe, don’t ya let her beat ya. Eat up. Ya won’t grow otherwise, y’know?”
“If I eat a lot, can I grow up big like Aisha?”
“It must be nice, havin’ room for growth...”
I was pretty sure Tomoe was talking about height, but Roroa was looking down at her chest with dead fish eyes. She must have gotten depressed when she imagined our little sister growing larger than her in the future. I think she’d just chosen a poor person for comparison, and it wasn’t as if she didn’t have any, but...broaching the topic with her too deeply would be suicidal, so I opted not to do it.
Looking to another spot, Hal and Kaede were drinking with Taru and talking about something. Hal asked a question as he poured Kaede another drink.
“Taru, you’re a blacksmith, right? Do you know what sort of weapon would suit me?”
“What kind of weapon do you want?” Taru asked.
“I specialize in wreathing my weapons in fire then throwing them, but with ordinary spears, they burn up after I throw them. Meanwhile, magically enchanted spears are expensive, so I can’t throw them away, and on the battlefield it’s a lot of trouble going to retrieve them.”
“That, and Hal often rides on Ru...a large creature,” Kaede added. “So he’d be best with a weapon he can use from on top of a creature like that, you know.”
The large creature Hal often rode on was Ruby, but she didn’t mention that. If people learned Hal had a contract with a dragon without being from the Star Dragon Mountain Range, they were going to wonder just who he was, so she kept that part vague.
“In that case, there’s a weapon called a Twin Snake Spear.” Taru seemed to think a little as she spoke.
“Twin Snake Spear?” Hal asked. “What kind of weapon is that?”
“Like a twin-headed snake that has a second head on the end of its tail. It’s a weapon with two spears connected at the base. They’re connected with a thin chain, and if you use one as a throwing spear, you can pull on the other to retrieve it. It was originally made so someone riding a large beast like the dumb master’s numoth could attack soldiers at its feet.”
“Hmm, sounds like an awesome weapon.”
Hal seemed impressed, but Taru shook her head quietly.
“It’s just...it’s incredibly hard to use. The length of the chain can be adjusted with enchantment magic, but the longer it gets, the more technique and strength it takes to use it. It’s not widely used, even in our country.”
“I think that should be fine, you know,” Kaede put in. “If there’s one thing Hal can be confident in, it’s his strength.”
“That’s harsh... Couldn’t you have found a more loving way to say that?”
“It’s love that’s making me look for a weapon to keep you two from dying on the battlefield, you know?”
“Urgh...”
Seeing Hal get verbally bested by Kaede, Taru giggled. “If I recall, we have one in stock in the workshop. I think it would be a good idea to test how it works for you first. If you like it, I’ll accept an order for one.”
“Oh! Thanks, I’ll be counting on you,” Hal said.
“We’ll take you up on that offer, you know,” Kaede added.
The three clacked their goblets together. Had a deal been struck? I hoped he’d find a good weapon.
Now then, as for those of us who remained, Juna, who was playing the role of my wife, sat down, and the white rabbit Leporina poured the drinks. In part because we were seated directly on the floor, not on chairs, it reminded me of a Japanese-style reception in a tatami room.
“I’m sorry,” Leporina said as she poured fermented milk into my goblet. “Normally, entertaining our guests would be Master Kuu’s job...”
“No, no, I’m extremely grateful to have a welcome feast like this at all.”
“It helps so much to hear you say that. Oh, let me take care of your wife, too.”
“Hee hee. Thank you.” Juna was having Leporina pour her drinks, too. She looked to be in somewhat of a good mood.
“You look like you’re enjoying yourself, Juna,” I said.
“Yes. We look so much like a husband and wife now.”
“Y-You think...?”
That was kind of embarrassing. Leporina watched us with a big smile.
Juna scooped something that was in a nearby pot into a wooden bowl and offered it to me. “The dishes here are all so new to me, too. This soup is delicious.”
“Oh, yeah? From the looks of it...it’s like dumpling soup.”
There were root vegetables and thin, white dumplings floating in a broth similar to miso soup made with red miso.
I took a sip, and an unexpected flavor spread through my mouth. This wasn’t miso soup, it was pumpkin stew. The dumplings were dumplings, but they were thin and stretched out. It was like... How should I put this? It was like a cross between houtou and pumpkin stew.
“It’s not the taste I expected, but...it’s good.”
“Yes,” Juna agreed. “It makes your body feel warm, somehow.”
“Hee hee! That pumpkin stew is an old standard in our country, you know?” Leporina eagerly explained as Juna was smacking her lips. “It’s hard to get your hands on leafy vegetables in our country, but you can get a lot of pumpkins. That’s why we have a wide variety of pumpkin dishes. Many of our sweets use pumpkin filling or pumpkin cream, too. They use sugar liberally, though, so they may taste too sweet to those from outside the country.”
“Oh? You have a lot of sugar?” I asked.
“Yes. Like with the pumpkins, we have a lot of beets, too.”
Beets. She was talking about sugar beets.
Like their name suggested, they were one of the plants from which sugar could be made. Most of the sugar circulating in our country was made from sugar beets, too. There was also maple sugar, which could be harvested from maple trees. Because sugarcane could only be grown in some places in the north of the kingdom, there wasn’t much cane sugar in circulation.
They could harvest a lot of beets in this country, huh...
“Food is one of the places where a land really shows its character,” I commented.
“You’re so right,” Leporina agreed. “But it was only just recently that we began putting dumplings in pumpkin stew, you know? We started putting them in after we heard from an Amidonian merchant you can eat the root of the beguiling lily plant.”
“Wait, these were lily root dumplings?!”
“Yes. It seems a deity known as Lord Ishizuka, the God of Food descended on Amidonia, and taught them they were edible. Thanks to that, we were able to eat a soup that was once a side dish as our main course. We have to give our thanks to that god.”
““...”” We were all silent.
To think the food culture we were spreading in Amidonia would reach this country, too.
What was more, Poncho was ascending to divinity as the God of Food; not just in Amidonia, but here, too... Rumors tended to blow things out of proportion, but at the rate things were going, I wondered if someone might actually build a temple to the god Ishizuka eventually.
Oh, Poncho, where are you going? Well, he probably didn’t know it himself.
Kuu came over, patting his belly. “Hey, you two. Having fun?”
“We are, thanks,” I said. “And you? Is the eating contest over?”
“Oookyakya! That girl’s tough. Speed eating is one thing, but I never stood a chance against her when it came to quantity. I’m shocked she can pack that much away and still eat more.”
Aisha had won the contest? Well, in retrospect, that did seem like a foregone conclusion.
Kuu took Leporina’s goblet from her, and plopped himself down next to me. “I’ll handle the rest, so you can go join the
others, Leporina.”
“Okay.” Leporina waved and went over to where Aisha and the others were.
Juna said, “I’m going to go check in on Aisha and the rest, too,” and vacated her seat.
It looked like it was going to be just us guys, drinking one-on-one from here. We poured out drinks for each other, then had a toast.
Kuu downed his drink in one gulp, then laughed cheerfully. “Whew! Booze you drink at a feast just tastes extra special.”
“Isn’t that line a little too old-man-ish for a fifteen-year-old?” I commented.
“Oookyakya! Don’t worry about it. Setting aside age and rank is the only way to party.”
“...Oh, yeah?”
I poured Kuu another drink. Kuu sipped at his drink this time, and then slapped his hand down to rest on my shoulder. What? Was he looking to argue with me? I was thinking that, but...
“So, how is it, Kazuma?”
“How is what?”
“This country, I mean. You enjoying it?”
I thought about that for a little bit before answering. “Yeah. I think it’s a good country. There are hot springs, and the local dishes and fermented milk are delicious. You have capable craftspeople, too, so I think it’s an attractive country.”
“Oookyakya! Yeah, you bet it is. I love this country, too.” Kuu let out another cackling laugh, then took on a more serious expression. “I honestly... think it’s a good country, you know? We put our livestock out to pasture in the summer, and make excellent handicrafts indoors in the winter. It’s cold, but the people huddle together to survive in this country. There’re some hardheaded old folks who seem bent on expanding to the north, though.”
I was silent.
I had heard the Republic of Turgis had a national policy of northward expansionism. In fact, during the time our country had been shaken by internal issues and a conflict with the Principality of Amidonia, this country had massed troops on the border showing their intent to invade us. While there was no direct conflict between our nations, I was surprised to find someone in the Republic of Turgis who thought like Kuu.
“Besides, even if we take land to the north, we can’t hold it,” Kuu continued, crossing his arms and nodding. “In the outside world, air power like wyverns is the most effective, right? A cold land like ours isn’t suited to breeding wyverns. That’s a plus when it makes it difficult for others to come to invade us, but it’s impossible to slice off part of a neighboring country’s territory without wyverns. No matter how hard we tried, we’d take maybe a city or two at most. Besides, when winter came, the snow would shut down contact with the mainland, so it would be hard to maintain them.”
His dumb behavior made it hard to see, but he had an incredibly precise grasp of his country’s situation. Talking to him, I felt a charisma that would draw people to him, too. If Kuu had been born into the royal family of a kingdom with a better territorial situation, he might have become a rare hero.
Kuu gulped down his fermented milk in one gulp again. “Listen, Kazuma, I seriously think this country has its own way of becoming prosperous. We don’t have to go north. This country has the underlying power to develop itself. That’s how I feel.”
“I feel like I understand,” I said soberly.
“You do, huh?” he laughed. “I’m glad you get it! Here’s hoping the negotiations between my old man and your king go well!”
“Yeah. I’m sure... the meeting will be meaningful for both parties.”
With that, we clacked our goblets together once more.
Chapter 4: To Know a Person
When negotiations were finished, it was decided that a meeting would be held ten days from now, with the utmost secrecy, at the inn where we were staying in Noblebeppu.
The reasons for the secrecy were the issue of security and the fact that to hold open talks would require the approval of the Council of Chiefs. If we took our time, that permission would likely be given, but we didn’t want to go to the trouble.
Regardless, a date was set, and Hakuya and Kuu’s father would hash out the rest of the details between themselves.
As for us, we had nothing in particular we needed to be doing until then, so we decided to explore the country as planned. Kuu had already volunteered himself as a guide, after all.
That was why, today, we had come to Moran, a fishing port near Noblebeppu.
The seven members of the group included me, Aisha, Juna, Roroa, Tomoe, Kuu, and Leporina.
Hal and Kaede said they would be at Taru’s workshop, checking out a weapon for Hal to use, and they went off on their own.
Now that he was a dragon knight, Hal was the ace of the Defense Force. Because there was great meaning in Hal having a weapon that would let him exercise his valor to its fullest, I was happy to give him permission to break off from the group.
“Wow...” Tomoe cried out as she walked through the town of Morlan. “Big Brother! There’s a really big person!”
It was true. As we walked through the town, we would occasionally see extremely large people. They might have been over two meters tall.
In addition to a height that would cause their head to burst through the roofs of the average house, they all had a roly-poly physique, like they were heavyweight sumo wrestlers.
Anyway, even just walking around, they made a strong impression. It made me worry they might crush little Tomoe underfoot.
Seeing how startled we looked, Kuu laughed in amusement. “Oookyakya! It’s a surprise, seeing them for the first time, huh? They’re members of the walrus race.”
The walrus race, huh...
Now that he mentioned it, the large people who happened to be men had two tusks growing out of their mouths. With the women, I only ended up thinking, Their canines sure are long.
“Members of the walrus race make their living in the fishing industry,” said Kuu. “Members of the snow bear race like Taru are good swimmers, too, but they’re no match for the walrus race. These are people who, when the water’s frozen over in winter and they can’t take the boats out, break through the ice to dive in and go fishing, after all.”
Diving in the frozen sea?! That was incredible. Nobody had dry suits in this world, so it was amazing they didn’t freeze to death...
Oh, wait, I get it. That’s why they’re built like that.
The blubber beneath their skin provided increased insulation, making them a race specialized for acting in frozen water. Was that a result of evolving to adapt to their environment, or did only races that were adapted to the environment manage to move forward? The question fascinated me.
When we followed Kuu over to the beach, we could see a group of walrus race people gathered around a fire.
Kuu walked over and called out to them. “Hey, you guys! Having a cookout on the beach?”
“Oh! Young master,” a man said. “Yeah. We brought in a big haul of shellfish, shrimp, and the like today, so we were just saying how were gonna let loose and party all day.”
On further inspection, there was a net laid over top of the walrus men’s campfire, and a variety of shellfish were roasting on it. There were clam-like bivalves that had opened wide, and bubbles escaping from the valves of a spiral-shelled variety that resembled the turban shell. Combined with the scent of the sea, they looked incredibly delicious.
Looking at them, Kuu laughed happily. “Oookyakya! That’s nice! I’m actually showing some guests from abroad around right now. We’ll provide the booze, so let us join you.”
The men cheered when they heard Kuu’s proposal.
“Oh, you mean it?”
“All right! We can drink lots now!”
Kuu turned back, pulled a pouch from his pocket, and tossed it to Leporina. It was apparently his wallet. “Leporina! Get us a barrel of potato vodka with that.”
“Whaaaaaa?!” Leporina blinked at Kuu’s order. “A barrel...? That’s too much! It’ll be too heavy for me to carry back by myself!”
“If it’s too heavy, roll it.”
“No faiiir...”
Leporina was at the mercy of Kuu’s sudden ideas.
I felt bad seeing her run ragged by her boss, so I decided to offer a bit of help. “Aisha. Sorry, but could you go with Leporina and carry the barrel for her?”
I felt bad making someone else do it, but Aisha could probably lift a barrel or two with ease.
She pounded her breastplate proudly. “Leave it to me. Now, let’s go, Madam Leporina.”
“Whuh?!”
Aisha dragged off the still-dumbfounded Leporina.
Watching them go, Kuu chuckled. “Yeah, I’m sure that dark elf girl can heft a barrel of liquor or two without any trouble.”
“You can tell?” I asked.
“Well, yeah. I think even I could put up a good fight against your red-haired buddy, but... that girl feels like she’s in a different dimension.” Kuu spun his arm around in circles. “At the very least, that’s not a level of power an ordinary adventurer has. Is she a military commander in the kingdom, or something?”
“...No comment.”
“I want her as a vassal myself...”
“You can’t have her.”
“Oookyakya! Oh, yeah?”
While we were talking, the shells kept roasting. Then one of the walrus fishermen took something that was a milky white color out of a jar and put it on the seashells.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Butter made from the same yak milk we use to make fermented milk,” the man said. “When we eat seafood around here, we pour alcohol over it as it cooks, then put this stuff on top when it’s done.”
That made sense. Butter, huh. Like with butter-fried scallops or short-necked clams. Shellfish and butter were a good match.
The fisherman went on to chop up some shellfish that were probably scallops with butter on them. He offered them to Kuu and me. “Go ahead, young master.”
“You visitors, too,” another man said. “Don’t hold back. Eat your fill.”
“Sure thing!” Kuu cried.
“Thank you,” I added.
We thanked the fishermen and accepted them. Immediately, the scent of the sea and the aroma of butter tickled my nostrils.