Chapter 405 - Backyard of Stray Priest ⑯
This is a sequel to Chapter 14, Episode 3.
"Hey, I heard. You participated in another construction and ate Miana-sama's lunch box, didn't you?"
One day, a man eating a lunch box in a corner of a construction site was spoken to by a man who sat down next to him.
"Well, yeah. I was handed a lunch box that Miana-sama participated in making. Magdalena-sama handed me a clean, washed hand towel."
"That's nice, how was it?"
"She wasn't just cute. She had beautiful blonde hair. Magdalena-sama also had the charm of an adult, which was good."
The construction site is in the eastern part of the Sertoria Royal Capital region, around the fortress where the lord of that time lived before it was incorporated into the current Sertoria territory. The fortress itself at the tip of the cape jutting out into the sea is well-maintained, so there is no need to repair it, but construction to incorporate the flatlands spreading between there and the village at the base of the cape into part of the fortress is being carried out at national expense. Since the construction is large-scale, it was decided to carry it out in stages over multiple years, and this year, work is centered on land leveling, building several large water tanks, and afforestation in the vicinity. It gathered migrant workers not only from nearby but also from all over Sertoria.
The workers naturally eat lunch, but aside from the local people participating as corvée labor, those who cannot prepare their own lunch boxes were using the lunch box service for the needy, which is becoming a staple at construction sites. Among those who buy and eat those lunch boxes, there is a rumor. There was a time when the princess stood in the kitchen of the lunch box service made at the construction site funded by the state. That was when she came to inspect the construction site with the Queen. Royal inspections happen several times a year throughout the country. The previous inspection was in early spring. It wouldn't be strange for them to go on an inspection somewhere soon.
"The construction here is also done with national funds. Moreover, it's multi-year. I wonder if they'll come for an inspection."
"Since it's construction in the Royal Capital region, it wouldn't be strange if they came."
The lunch box service is part of the measures for the needy managed by the Queen and the Princess. That being the case, it is rumored that they might come to check on the state of the kitchen there as well.
When the man who was actually handed one by the princess talked about the situation at that time, the men in the vicinity heard and gathered.
"I ate it too. My turn was fourteenth, though."
"Not bad, I was thirty-fifth. I was unlucky. The man next to me tripped, and because I almost got caught up in it, I was delayed."
"That's a shame."
"Turn? Is there a turn?"
Actually, those who were there talked about how everyone ran to the kitchen at the same time as the signal for lunch. The man who was first was a man who was fast for his build, and he won the first place by shaking off the people trying to pull him down and running while dragging a man who clung to him.
"Can't we somehow call them?"
One man said a word while crossing his arms. In another country, he would be laughed off, or if it reached the ears of the guards, he might be taken away for questioning. However, this is Sertoria.
"The royals? And it's the Princess. They usually don't leave the royal palace, do they?"
"No, you can't say that for sure. Magdalena-sama is the former unit commander of the Central Army Light Cavalry Regiment. The former Eleanor-sama was the Magic Corps Commander. Both have experience fighting as front-line commanders."
"But Miana-sama is a so-called princess; isn't she of the lineage of Jennifer-sama who stays cooped up in the church?"
"Well, she apparently likes cooking."
The gathered people are thinking if there is any good way.
"I wonder if the women of the lunch box service know anything."
"Hmm. I wonder. Are they notified in advance?"
"I don't know. We only found out at the time of the morning break on the day of."
"On the day of?"
"Of course."
Even so, they decided to ask the women, and when they went to return the lunch boxes together, they tried asking.
"We don't know. For the lunch box service, women from nearby towns and villages are called for each location. We've heard rumors that such a thing happened, but that's a story from a site in the suburbs of the Royal Capital, right? They probably won't come as far as here."
"Can't we somehow call them? You all would want to make lunch boxes together, wouldn't you?"
"That's true, but even if you say call them..."
It's not something a commoner can easily do, calling for a royal inspection. Generally, at civil engineering sites, not only human power but also magic and horses are needed. Those are not things that can be covered by corvée labor alone, and the person in charge is inevitably a unit commander-class of the Kingdom Army. Usually, just arranging those matters is enough, but an inspection requires security. It's an honor, but it also takes effort. The person in charge must be involved.
When all those things are considered together, a good idea doesn't come out so easily, and in the end, the men decided to think of something good among themselves, and the women among themselves.
A week later, both sides were able to bring ideas of "how about this."
"Our idea is a local lunch box menu. Until now, grilled things were the center because they go into lunch boxes, but we'll add stew. A bowl of warm stew, bread, and cheese. You all would want to eat such a menu once in a while, wouldn't you?"
"That's good. Stew."
"Yeah. Since the sea is close, it's seafood stew. Apparently fresh fish is available in the Royal Capital recently, but the price is high, right? We can get it cheaply. If she likes cooking, she'll surely want to see a new menu."
In contrast, the men's proposal was a new entertainment.
"Entertainment? What's that?"
"Well, don't be surprised when you hear it. Actually..."
When the men began to explain, the women began to listen with great interest.
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"We are honored to receive the inspection of the Queen and the Princess..."
The construction at the cape is also corvée labor for the villagers. For the villagers, the renovation of the fortress, which could be called the symbol of the village, was as they wished, and they were actively participating in the corvée labor. To that construction site, the Queen and the Princess came from the royal palace for an inspection of the entire village, including the construction site. The season is late autumn, and it's also chilly.
The village head, wearing clothes he splurged on to have newly made, was welcoming the Queen and the Princess who arrived by wagon.
Magdalena conducted the inspection of the site. Miana went to the kitchen of the lunch box service and helped with the cooking in an apron. In a corner of the kitchen, Beowulf, wearing Eleanor's armor and helmet, stood as if for security.
Miana, who stood in the kitchen, exchanged greetings with the women who were cooking together. She is wearing a yellow apron with rabbit embroidery. Usually, she wears an apron with the Class of 175 embroidery and manages Shop No. 4, but since it would be bad if it were discovered she is the manager of Shop No. 4, she is wearing one that they started selling for young mothers.
The women felt a sense of closeness to Miana, who was handling the ingredients more skillfully than they had expected.
"We hear Miana-sama likes cooking, but what kind of dishes do you usually make?"
She makes them in the royal palace. It must be a luxurious menu.
"I bake bread and make sweets. Also, lunch box menus. This is my first time making the sea fish stew you are teaching me."
It's what she sells to the farmers and silica diggers in the Flatlands, and she just said it as it was, but it's not hard to imagine that there was a large gap between the lunch boxes the women imagined.
Even so, while being taught the types of sea fish and cooking methods, she began to make seafood stew.
When it's lunch time, the princess hands out the lunch boxes, and the queen hands out hand towels that have been washed clean and warmed for November. The workers formed a line with excited faces.
"This time, it's not a competition."
Last time, there was a fierce struggle for the turn. Magdalena, who thought everyone was happy to that extent, looks a bit bored.
"Yes. This time, after much thought by everyone to realize the inspection, it seems they decided the order by drawing lots to ensure fairness."
"I see."
Both the Queen and the Princess do not forget to say words of appreciation for the hard work when handing them out. Seeing the two of them say various words to each person, some of the men were moved and knelt to look up at the two with the lunch box and hand towel in hand.
After successfully finishing the distribution of lunch boxes, they finished lunch with the women and moved to the afternoon schedule. It proceeded to the consideration of plague countermeasures at the church, the inspection of the orphanage whose operating costs are effectively covered by the royal family in the name of a donation, and then to the place for discussion with the village head and others at the village office.
The schedule also has a second day. After all, the fortress is a royal retreat. The next day, the contemporary King and the former kings also arrived on an ultra-high-speed bowl. The entertainment the men thought of is to be held with the royal family watching.
"Is this the right place?"
"Indeed."
Henry, who sat on a temporarily set up special viewing seat on a hill, asks the village head. In front of him is the flatland between the fortress and the town, which had been overgrown with shrubs and weeds, but now it is leveled, and there are only low weeds growing here and there. It's quite wide. It's wider than the field spreading to the east of Nakanohara Town. They had dug ditches in that field to make a field that looks like two rectangles joined vertically.
On the left and right sides of the field, about twenty men each are lined up. Everyone is wearing leather armor and a leather helmet, and wearing what looks like a leather neck guard. In the middle is a single priest, perhaps a referee. He has something like a white ball in his hand.
"They use that ball. It has an interesting shape."
The ball the priest has is oval.
"Yes. It was originally a lunch box, but it breaks immediately. While wrapping it in cloth and stretching leather over the surface, it became that shape."
While listening with a "Hmm, hmm," a single magic signal was fired, and as soon as the priest standing in the middle placed the ball on the ground, he ran away. The men on both sides ran toward the center while raising angry shouts.
Naturally, the men who ran out all at once cannot run at the same speed. As a matter of course, the fast ones ran at the front of both camps, and the slow ones were at the very rear.
"Hmm. The ones in the back lined up horizontally."
"Yes. Please look at their builds. They are all large, aren't they? Those are the defenders. And the fast ones running toward the ball are the attackers."
As soon as the leaders of both sides approached the ball, the struggle for the ball began.
"The left and right ends are the respective main camps. If you bring that ball into the enemy main camp three times, you win. At that time, you must be holding it in your hand."
Actually, the village head began to explain that they referred to the famous Nakanohara Water-Splashing Festival.
Originally it's a race, but that's not interesting. A struggle for a lunch box is fine, but that would be an individual match. As a result of thinking about how to make it a team competition, the idea of bringing the lunch box to the main camp came out. After that, everyone actually tried it after work and made the current rules. With "having the princess watch" as the watchword, they prioritized gentlemanly behavior over victory or defeat.
One man ran out holding the ball he picked up under his arm. His allies gather around him.
"Right now, the one holding the ball is in a state of attack."
A man from the enemy camp attacks the man holding the ball. Then, he handed the ball to the person running next to him. In that way, they are handing the ball over one after another so as not to have it stolen by the opponent. In the meantime, they were running, so they advanced further and further.
"Ah! He dropped it."
Eleanor raised her voice.
The person holding the ball was hit by the opponent's body blow and tripped before he could hand it to an ally. Since the ball has a strange shape, it rolls in a strange way and cannot be easily picked up.
The one who finally picked it up was the side that had been defending until then. Simultaneously with picking it up, he threw it to the person behind. The one who caught it threw it far toward the enemy territory, and both sides ran toward the ball all at once. The side that was being invaded temporarily recovered their territory.
"It's interesting."
"Truly. It's not inferior even to the Nakanohara Water-Splashing Festival."
Henry and Eleanor are excited.
"It's skillful. Seeing that they can't break through with one charge, they throw it far for the time being, but several allies are gathered and waiting there. It's clearly a strategy."
"Yeah. If you look closely, the person in the rear seems to be giving instructions in a loud voice. There seem to be some decided rules, but they are moving flexibly according to the situation."
The contemporary King and Queen are both military personnel. They are watching the movements of both camps, which resemble a field battle, with interest.
"Um, everyone, are the injuries alright?"
Miana asked with concern. They are colliding quite violently. No fistfights have occurred, but body blows are natural, and it's also natural to grab the opponent with both hands and pull them down.
"Since it's being done with the full support of the church, the injured can be treated promptly."
"I see."
She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Violence like punching and kicking is of course forbidden. Those who violate it today will have an amount equal to one day's pay for a village office worker collected as a penalty. The judgment is by a priest, so it's strict."
Looking, a total of over twenty priests are lined up in front and at the back of the field. The village church was originally under the lord who ruled half of the Royal Capital region, and it boasts a scale comparable to a local great church. The church head is an archbishop.
"Are they all workers from the construction site?"
The King asks.
"Half are. But the other half are villagers. When we called for cooperation because we wanted them to receive an inspection and attendance, applicants flooded in, centered on the self-defense corps. Today, we have selected half from each."
"With such a fierce competition, won't there be disputes over victory or defeat?"
"The result of deciding which camp they enter by drawing lots, or whatever it is, both sides have been having a banquet as they are after finishing since the time of practice. On the contrary, their friendship is deepening. It's a mysterious thing."
The back-and-forth battle is tied at two to two. It had continued for over two hours straight, but both sides were in a state where their feet had completely stopped. Even so, the person who worked hard and ran finally succeeded in bringing the ball into the enemy main camp for the third time.
When the magic signal signifying the end of the match was fired, the men on the field all slumped on the spot at once. They must have exhausted their heart and soul.
Cheers rose from the spectators all at once, and applause rang out. The rescue squad of priests entered the field to cast recovery magic, and women holding buckets followed to give them water.
"Village head, it was a spectacular match worth seeing. Everyone did well. As a special reward, I will give twenty barrels of beer to the winning camp, ten barrels to the losing camp, and four silver coins to everyone."
"Your Majesty, thank you very much."
The five royals who descended from the hill also participated in the banquet. Several bonfires were lit on the field, and fish and magic beast meat were grilled. Aside from the lunch boxes, seafood stew that Miana also participated in cooking was made in several large pots and distributed to everyone. Thirty barrels of beer were opened all at once, and it became a grand banquet including those who were just watching.
It was announced that a special reward would be given to everyone, and it was greatly exciting.
"Then, Miana-sama. Please."
Miana stepped forward to the stage set up in front.
"Then, I will perform the awarding of the cup. The winning camp, please come forward."
All twenty people lined up. Miana poured alcohol into a specially made silver cup, and everyone drank it in turn. The winner can have alcohol poured by the princess. This is the greatest honor.
"Iiyaaaa!"
When the captain who drank the last bit held the won cup high with both hands, the remaining nineteen people thrust their fists up all at once and raised a war cry. The spectators applauded grandly, and it showed the greatest excitement of the day.
Later, this competition, called the Miana Cup Competition, came to be held annually with Miana in attendance. Reputation called for reputation, and the number of people staying overnight from the Royal Capital to watch increased year by year, and finally, challenging teams from other villages appeared, making it greatly exciting. The ingenuity of the men and women working at the construction site to call for an inspection gave rise to a business where spectators from elsewhere drop money in the village. It goes without saying that while watching, it is basic to drink beer while eating seafood stew.