Chapter 392 - Episode 346: First, Cultural Exchange Through Food
Tuesday
"Woof!"
""Bow!""
As we exited the Ancient Ruins, Lupi dashed off, followed by Leda and Roy. Sweee and the Fairies came next, and finally Raz.
This afternoon, we had farm work behind the church.
Normally, Monday would be farm work, but yesterday we spent it in True's Selkie Village.
Nevertheless,
"Ryuu~!"
"Pan, thanks for yesterday."
"Ryu-ryu."
I patted Pan, who puffed out his chest.
Today, several Urisk were also tending the fields and livestock, so there were no particular issues.
Fairies flew to the fields, helping with watering using [Spirit Magic]. The Queen and Raz went towards the [Grapeful] plants.
"Woofn."
Lupi and the others returned from their patrol around the church, reporting no abnormalities, so I gave them all a good pat.
"Alright, time to plant sweet potatoes."
That's amazing. The stems and roots are already out.
"They're actually supposed to take a few days, but being a game, it happened in an instant."
Before logging out yesterday, I had placed sweet potatoes in a wooden dish with a thin layer of water.
It was to make stems grow for propagation, but after just one day, it was incredible…
And you'll plant those, right?
"Hmm? Er, you don't plant them directly like this. You snap off the stem and stick it in, like that."
Eh?
Mion was surprised, but if you bury the stems grown from the seed potato, roots will grow on their own, and more sweet potatoes will form… it was a form of regenerative cultivation, I think.
That's amazing…
"They'll grow on their own even if left alone, but the leaves will get pretty dense, so that might be a bit of a hassle."
The area would get covered in sweet potato vines and leaves, and if you don't do 'tsuru-gaeshi' (turning the vines), the sweet potatoes harvested apparently become small. My grandma told me, so it must be true.
Still,
"Hmm, the fields are increasing, and I'm running out of space…"
It seems like even more vegetables will be increasing from now on.
"Yeah, that's right. I guess I should clear around that ruined mansion and increase the fields…"
If I could just secure the safety, I'd want to level the ground and make fields right away.
No, but then the Urisk probably wouldn't have enough hands…
"Ryu?"
"Hmm, nothing. Alright, I'm planting them, so watch."
Even so, it was a simple task: snap off a stem that had grown nearly 50cm long, and stick about 30cm of it diagonally into the soil. I spaced them out, planting about 5 stems per ridge.
After that, I borrowed the power of the Water Spirit and watered them thoroughly.
Maintenance would just be pulling weeds and tsuru-gaeshi. Fortunately, there were no pests or diseases. That might be thanks to the Fairies and Urisk, though.
"Grrr?"
"Ryu-ryu."
"Grrr ♪"
Raz hopped onto Pan's shoulder, who was watching the planted sweet potato stems.
What do you think they're talking about?
"Probably Raz asking 'What's this?' and Pan saying it's a sweet potato, but don't eat it until it grows, something like that?"
I see.
Raz seemed to understand and looked forward to them growing big.
Even the wild sweet potatoes were quite large, so cultivated ones promised to be even bigger.
"Alright, what else should I do…"
Was there any task I specifically needed to do? Just as I was wondering, Pan said—
"Ryu-ryu~."
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
One of the Urisk brought a medium-sized jar and handed it to me.
I wondered what it was, set it on the ground, and opened the wooden lid…
"Ah, wheat flour, [Kohaku Flour]!"
"Ryuu~ ♪"
It was from the harvest during the last live stream, and it was incredibly helpful that they had properly dried it, threshed it, and ground it with the stone mill I'd given them.
"Thank you!"
Now you can make bread!
"Yeah. Ah, but the amount might not be enough for everyone to eat."
Still, I really want to make that mansion and the surrounding area a safe zone…
*
"I'm home."
Welcome back.
Returning to the real clubroom, Yata-sensei was grading a pop quiz, I think?
And unusually, Bell-buchou had also returned early.
"I have a small request, or rather, if you could…"
She broached the topic apologetically, saying she wanted to deepen exchanges with the Dragonkin and asked if I had any good ideas.
Um… couldn't the club president talk to them through the Dwarves?
"The NPC Dwarves in Amiera Territory, they know the Dragonkin, don't they?"
They came to investigate the problems caused by the arrogant Winged Folk, which was probably because I tattled to Lord Argenta…
"Yes, I've had Leona-san's Royal Guard approach them. But it's been difficult, you see…"
"Hmm, should I talk to Lord Argenta? Or rather, what's the objective?"
"There's a church in the area controlled by the Dragonkin in the Necropolis, right? Many people apparently want to see Mion-san's goddess statue that you placed there."
Ehh, seriously? It's true I'd been asked about it during the live stream, but Mion next to me also gave a wry smile.
"Hmm, just for that?"
"'Just for that' might be a sore point, but as things stand, it could lead to conflict with the Dragonkin."
If players were to break into the church just to see the goddess statue, it would almost certainly cause trouble with the Dragonkin.
So, to prevent such an explosion, they wanted a formal procedure recognized by the Dragonkin, even if the hurdle was high.
"If trouble breaks out in the Necropolis and it becomes a matter of responsibility for the Game Dolls, then this time, it'll definitely be me or Leona-san…"
"Ah…"
I also wanted mainland players to interact more with the Dragonkin, so I had to think about it.
Um, would cultural exchange through cooking be out of the question?
"That might be a good idea. From what I've heard, they don't seem to have elaborate seasonings or complex flavors over there. And sweets also seem to be rare?"
"So, first, cultural exchange through food, is it?"
"Yes, that's it. Should I ask Lord Argenta if such an event could be arranged? And perhaps at that time, bring up the idea of seeing the goddess statue?"
I'll think of some clever reason… if I tell Lord Vermilion that there will be wine, maybe he'll agree?