A Pre-wedding Trip in the Name of a Field Investigation 2
The road connecting Earl Hadren's territory to the royal capital
is well-maintained, with post towns dotted at regular intervals.
Because the flow of goods would stagnate if the security on this road
was bad, knight guardhouses that also serve as checkpoints are scattered along
the highway, and they patrol it daily. Therefore, we have no guards this time.
Though, the coachman is a former knight, and Ashren-sama has a sword at
his feet.
「Is this the last post town?」
「Yeah. If we go a little further, there is a large river, and beyond
that is Earl Hadren's territory. Over the rugged mountains behind it is
the Tarteria Kingdom. Due to that topography, the Hadren
territory is also called an isolated island on land.」
The carriage stopped in front of a large inn in a corner of the post
town. Thanks to Claude-sama's arrangements, it seems we have an abundant
budget this time, so the level of the inns is consistently high.
「This is quite a luxurious trip, isn't it. I am grateful to Claude-sama.」
「You are too good-natured, Layla. To begin with, why did we have
to come here? The root of all this evil is my brother.」
「He is very good at hiding his true intentions, filling in the outer
moat, and guiding his opponent, isn't he. I thought you two are truly brothers.」
「No, no, wait a minute. Compared to my brother, I am as pure as an
angel.」
「...」
Look who is talking. When I glared at him with
suspicious eyes, he raised one eyebrow and smiled back.
Because he is so beautiful that even making such a face leaves one
captivated, I feel like I can't win. After placing our luggage in our
respective rooms, we left the inn.
We could eat at the inn, but the more luxurious the inn, the more they
tend to arrange the local flavors into something people living in the royal
capital are accustomed to. It is easy to eat and delicious, but we, who wanted
to enjoy the local flavors even if they were a bit peculiar, looked for a diner
where the locals seemed to eat their everyday meals, looking forward to what
would be served.
「Shall we go with this place?」
「Yes.」
The place Ashren-sama chose was a small but cozy restaurant. It
was bustling with families and people who seemed to be on their way home from
work; there were tables with alcohol lined up, but no terrible drunks.
We were guided to a two-person seat in the corner and peered into the
menu together. A soup with plenty of vegetables looked delicious.
「You want this soup, right, Layla?」
「You understand me well. And you want this meat on the bone, right, Ashren-sama?」
「Yeah. Also, a salad, ale, and lemon water should be fine? Let's ask for
sharing plates and split the food.」
When I nodded, Ashren-sama called a clerk and placed the order
for us.
「Come to think of it, you were schoolmates with Her Royal Highness
Princess Stira and Earl Hadren's eldest son, Ethan-sama,
weren't you, Ashren-sama?」
「Yeah. What about it?」
Ashren-sama tilted his head slightly with a
"Hm?"
Actually, when I went to the General Affairs Department to submit
documents at the Director's request the day before our departure, I met
a civil official who looked very much like the person Princess Stira was
having a secret meeting with. He seemed to have come to submit documents just
like me, and the shock I felt when I saw the red-haired civil official talking
to the person at the counter with a familiar demeanor! I almost wanted to turn
on my heel, pretend I didn't see him, and walk away right then and there.
However, I couldn't do that, and as I was watching the situation from
the entrance, the red-haired civil official noticed me and yielded the counter.
As he narrowed his brown eyes slightly, bowed lightly, and was about to
leave, I heard the person at the counter call out to him, "Lord Ethan
Hadren, please resubmit the documents by the day after tomorrow."
I was so bothered by that, I wanted to casually ask Ashren-sama
about it, but I can't deny that my way of bringing it up was a bit abrupt.
「I-I just happened to hear the person at the counter call his name in
the General Affairs Department by chance, and I simply thought that, including Mark-sama,
you have many schoolmates in the castle.」
「Hmm. It's true that I might have many schoolmates around. Mark, Ethan,
and though she was in a different grade, Princess Stira and I have even
conspired to skip classes together.」
「You skipped classes?」
「Layla, life needs a balance of tension and
relaxation.」
You say that sounding plausible, but it is not something to be praised
for.
But I understood that Princess Stira and Ethan-sama had
been close since their academy days. Which means, as expected, that secret
meeting partner was... I was convinced, but it's better not to pry any further.
Because Ashren-sama has sharp intuition, he would notice.
While I was thinking about such things, the food arrived with perfect
timing. Steam rose from the soup containing plenty of potatoes, turnips,
cabbage, and bacon, and the meat on the bone was very voluminous.
It was a long journey, but we will arrive at our destination tomorrow.
Clinking our glasses with a "Good work," I immediately brought the
soup to my mouth, and Ashren-sama did the same with the meat.
The translucent soup was delicious with the umami of the bacon and the
natural sweetness of the vegetables seeping out, and the thoroughly stewed
vegetables melted softly in my mouth. Next, when I stuffed my cheeks with the
meat, the glossy, sweet-and-spicy sauce was well entangled, and it was very
satisfying to eat.
「The sauce used for the meat is not honey, is it?」
This kind of gloss often means honey is mixed into the sauce, but the
taste is different. The sweetness is more subdued than honey, but the flavor is
stronger.
「It's the sap of the Kachi tree native to this area. If you make a cut
on the trunk with a knife and hang a bucket under it, it fills up about half a
bucket in two days.」
「That is handy and nice.」
「Because every house has at least one growing in their yard. If you go
to a nearby forest, they grow in clusters everywhere. Perhaps because of that,
there is absolutely no beekeeping done around here. It seems this is used
instead of sugar for black tea and cookies too.」
If you can easily get such a delicious thing close at hand, there is no
need to go out of your way to do beekeeping, is there.
「Is that Kachi tree unique to this region?」
「I suppose so. It would probably grow in other regions if planted, but the
trunk is thin and unsuitable for timber, so they don't seem to go out of their
way to afforest and grow them.」
Since it's this delicious, even if it can't be used as timber,
collecting and selling just the sap seems like it could be a good business.
When I asked that, Ashren-sama shook his head while chewing the meat
deliciously.
「This sap apparently contains more moisture than honey and doesn't last
long. It is unsuitable for selling.」
Ingredients with more moisture spoil faster. Drying medicinal herbs is
sometimes to enhance their efficacy, but other times it's simply to make them
last longer. That is why liquid medicines have an expiration date of a few
weeks even when applied topically, and in the case of oral medicines, five days
in the summer.
「I hear they are considering various processing methods, but they
haven't succeeded yet. Recently, they are apparently looking into whether they
can extract it from other trees.」
If the tree changes, the moisture content will also change. If they can
find a sap from another tree that can last long, it will be easy to transport
it to the royal capital as well. Since the roads are well-maintained, after
all.
Having thoroughly enjoyed the delicious meal, we took a short walk around the town and then returned to the inn. Just like the inns up to now, before entering our adjacent rooms, Ashren-sama placed a goodnight kiss on my cheek. The kiss before going to sleep is one of the things that has completely become a habit.
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