kscans

Chapter 259 - Episode 4: Part 2, The Place for Vegetables

"The temperature is set, but. Hmm, there's still a problem," I muttered as I closed the refrigerator. To be honest, I was worried about having moved the dial by three whole notches, but there was a bigger issue.

"They're wilted after all."

The next problem was the leafy vegetables. The inside of the refrigerator was not just cold. The circulating air made it dry. It was even worse near the vent that blew out cold air. To put it bluntly, it was like making dried fish in winter.

So, I tried covering them with a damp cloth. It helped a little, but the cloth itself dried out quickly, and more water collected in the drip pan. I thought my heart would stop when I saw the overflow soaking the floor.

Of course, I was not worried about the floor, which could simply be wiped clean.

"Do you really have to be so particular? Just being able to properly store some things is already a huge difference, isn't it? Dad would flip if he saw this."

"I know, but. My responsibility is the salad. I can't just accept the leafy greens going bad."

I believe leafy vegetables are what make vegetables what they are. Flowers and fruits only exist because of the leaves.

"And even if I say the temperature is set, that's still a problem too."

Yesterday was our usual gathering. I asked Dalgan-senpai and Rilka, but it seemed they were not having much trouble with storage. They did not seem to be adjusting the temperature either. In fact, they were full of praise for the initial settings.

It looked like everyone was struggling to develop menu items using the refrigerator, though. I was getting anxious, knowing I was the only one still stuck at the storage stage.

◇◇

"This is not good. These vegetables here should be under the same conditions, but the results are different from last time."

I compared the vegetables to my notes. Was their shape different?

"Oh, I see. The root vegetables next to them are blocking the airflow."

Temperature and dryness. Those two factors intertwined, making the conditions more difficult. As long as I insisted on using living, fresh ingredients, it was a problem that would always follow. But they were essential conditions for a salad.

"In that case, maybe a box or something. But space is precious. The refrigerator isn't just for vegetables."

I desperately tried to think of how I could make the vegetables work with the refrigerator. Ah, why am I the only one struggling so much.

"Sis, I'm done recording the data for the boxes on the upper shelf."

Kite spoke to me as I lay facedown on the desk with my arms stretched out. I had asked him to handle the frozen vegetable preservation. Thanks to him, I could focus on the lower section. Kite, who had once joked about marrying into the family to take over, was gradually becoming more cooperative.

Well, it seemed he was starting to understand what was happening in this city. This was especially prominent in the Empire, but the threat of monsters was decreasing, production itself was rising, and transport capabilities were improving. And now, the refrigerator would extend storage life. A great change in food production and distribution was coming. He had apparently realized he was on the very front line of it all.

Production, transport, and storage would all expand in tandem. Honestly, I had no idea how far ahead that Vinder fellow was looking. But what if vegetables held everything back. That would not just affect this one event, but.

"There's something I'm a little worried about."

"Worried? Tell me."

I nodded at my brother's serious expression.

"It's about our business. You know, this refrigerator is going to be sold widely from now on, right?"

"That's right. It's expensive, of course, and you need magic crystals to run it, so it'll be for nobles and great merchants."

Even so, Vinder was planning to make hundreds of them.

"That means meat and dairy products and things like that will become much easier to eat than they are now, right?"

"Yes. Oh, I see. I'm glad you're starting to understand, as your older sister."

In short, my brother was worried that the status of vegetables would decline in relative terms. I understood, because I had worried about it a little myself when I first heard. But.

"It'll be fine."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because vegetables are important. Especially fresh vegetables."

I had asked Vinder once. What would happen to vegetables if meat and honey became much easier to eat than before. "They will become even more important than they are now, at least for humans to live healthy lives." That was Vinder's answer.

Normally, I would not believe something like that so easily. Well, I suppose you could call it trust, in a sense, built up over time. In a very specific sense. Compared to the glittering sweets from Plural Company, the rich meat from Dalgan Company, and the cheese and eggs from Tritt Company, Vinder had never once looked down on our products.

I remembered when Maytyl-sama had just arrived in the kingdom. Vinder had tried so hard to get her to eat vegetables.

I did not really understand all the talk about vitamins and dietary fiber. But vegetables have a role that only they can fill. I believe that is certain.

"So, it'll be fine. Well, as long as I do my part."

"You seem to really trust him."

Kite said with a pout.

"No, he puts me through a lot of trouble. He really does. Thanks to him, I'm stuck with this."

I looked at the refrigerator. The more I understood, the more problems I discovered. To begin with, some vegetables are easier to preserve than meat. This means the advantage provided by the refrigerator can be quite small for them.

And yet, their requirements are different from other foods. There was no way we could get another unit just for vegetables.

"I hear that lord of disaster you're supposed to trust is soaked in alcohol every day, though."

My brother's face looked like he wanted to say something.

Come to think of it, I had heard that Vinder was chilling white wine and drinking it. According to Natalie, he was even adding sugar to the wine. That itself was not unusual, apart from the fact that it was an outrageous luxury.

He is in charge of the aperitif. He must be planning to pull something.

"Kite. I'm telling you this for your own good. You'll be in for a world of hurt if you underestimate Vinder."

◇◇

"Sigh, I knew this would happen."

"Sis."

I was pressing my forehead against the desk again. At a temperature suitable for vegetables, other foods spoiled faster. In addition, vegetables that were already easy to preserve became casualties.

And then there was the dryness. I looked at the yellowed lettuce.

"Looks like we're having this stewed for dinner again."

Kite gave a wry smile. I looked down at the massive pile of notes. I felt like I was trying to untie a knot that could not be untied.

"You need to start thinking about the recipe soon, or it's going to be bad, right?"

"I'm not satisfied."

"No, normally, you'd give up by now."

"I'm not satisfied."

"..."

I glared resentfully at the refrigerator. It was certainly an amazing device. That was exactly why I was not satisfied. Why did my lovely vegetables have to conform to the refrigerator. Vinder said vegetables were important, didn't he.

"That's it. It's not the vegetables' fault."

"S, Sis. What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"

"The refrigerator should conform to the vegetables. Or if not that, then there needs to be a place inside the refrigerator for vegetables. A place for vegetables, not for meat or cheese!"

I brought over a large wooden box from the kitchen.

"Sis, what are you doing?"

I removed a partition in the lower part of the refrigerator to make space.

"That imperial princess said something about air circulation being important, right? Besides, if you do that and it breaks..."

My hand froze with a jolt. I had heard Maytyl-sama say she had worked hard to make the airflow on these shelves uniform. But uniform was not good enough.

"If it breaks, it breaks. I'll just tell Vinder to bring me a replacement."

I steeled myself and pushed the box I had brought into the refrigerator.

"That's completely different from what you were saying before. And your eyes look scary."

"Hmph. Vegetables are important. Since he said so, he can just take responsibility for his words."

◇◇

"Alright."

I nibbled on a lettuce leaf I had taken from the box within the box. The lettuce had kept its crispness. I had finally figured out the conditions. Next was the all important salad recipe. But I halfway had the answer to that already.

"Kite!"

"Y, yes."

"Write a letter to Dad and have him get everything I'm about to list. It's cutting it close for the season, so tell him to hurry."

I made a list of the ingredients I wanted him to procure for the coronation ceremony and handed it to Kite. If the leaves were fine, then these ingredients should work too.

"O, okay. But what about you, Sis?"

My brother asked, seeing me take off my apron.

"I'm heading to the university for a bit. Right, I have to call on Vinder too. I need him to come with me. And I'll probably have to ask Maytyl-sama to come as well."

I needed them to improve the refrigerator.

I had to have them change the refrigerator's design, for the sake of my cute vegetables. And it was Vinder's responsibility.

"The Lord of Disaster, the Court Magus, and an Imperial Princess of the Empire. You're going to tell people like that to change something they decided just for your convenience?"

Hey, my brother is pulling away. Even though he was fawning over that last person at first.

"Th, this is normal. I, it's fine. He pushed this on me knowing it would involve things like this. Besides..."

I gathered up the notes scattered across the desk.

"With this much data, I won't let them say a single word against it."

"Sis. I really don't think you're getting married anytime soon."

My brother said, looking exasperated. I told you not to say such unlucky things. I'm still just as fresh as this lettuce.

Oops, I should think about happier things. Right, when this is all over, I'll go eat some of Plural's ice cream. I have to give myself a little reward. Alright, I feel like I can do this.