Azu's Terrible Diet From Before

I successfully completed the errand for Lady Anatia.

Being an errand boy doesn't end even when you become an adult.

In fact, the number of people I have to deal with has increased, so maybe the opportunities have multiplied too.

Even when you rise in status, you still have to show your face to people. True freedom might just be an illusion.

"Next, I need to go listen to the farmers in Luido."

"Ehh… you're still working? Aren't you working too much?"

"That's right. After everything that's happened, you should take it easy for a bit."

When I mentioned my plans to go to Luido, Finn and Azu spoke up.

"I haven't shown my face there even once since the incident in the Royal Capital. If they're feeling anxious, that could directly translate into distrust toward me. After all, I'm their connection to the Kingdom."

Worst case, I could become the target of all their frustrations.

Building trust requires proper communication.

This was a task entrusted to me by Princess Tianis, so I needed to do it properly.

It was important for them to feel at ease and focus on farming.

"Will you promise to rest properly after this? I'm worried you're pushing yourself too hard."

"Indeed. If Master were to collapse, we'd be the ones in trouble."

"Alright, alright. I don't have any urgent work scheduled after this, so I'll do that."

I listened to Elza and Alexia's concerns.

Azu and the others deserved some time off too, and I wanted to soak in some hot springs.

I wondered what would make a good gift to bring to Luido.

They had more than enough food to sell, and anything impractical would just be a nuisance.

As I thought about it, I decided to ask Orleans, who had experience working on a manor estate.

"If you're bringing a gift, I think alcohol would be best. Not expensive alcohol, but plenty of cheap alcohol."

"Alcohol, huh… but Luido has the raw materials and they probably make their own, right?"

"It was the same at the estate where I lived, but basically anything that can be sold becomes merchandise. Even with vegetables, we'd only eat the ones that turned out poorly. When the Duke gave us alcohol to drink freely, the adults would happily drink it up."

"I see, that's how it is."

For farmers, their crops, including processed goods, were all products.

Thinking of it as cutting into profits if they consumed them themselves made sense.

I was glad I consulted Orleans.

Giving them the cheap ale left over in the warehouse wouldn't be any trouble at all.

Ale was currently sitting in barrels since distilled spirits and wine were more popular in Kassad these days.

After notifying shop manager Kaimol, Yohane purchased the ale from the shop out of his own pocket and loaded it onto the carriage.

I hoped they'd be pleased.

About six fairly large barrels.

That should be enough to go around for the people of Luido.

"That's a huge amount. Even taverns don't keep this much in stock."

"Well, we're a merchant shop that also acts as a wholesaler. We can't do business without being able to provide this much since we support the region's distribution."

"Hmm. Same goes for the everyday food we eat, I guess. That's pretty respectable work."

"Thanks."

"Sir, we can depart at any time."

The barrels were loaded onto the carriage. We set off for Luido immediately.

Though we'd be going through the Royal Capital again. From there, we'd travel by carriage.

Luido was a breadbasket region, and while the territory itself was vast, the number of villagers managing it wasn't that large.

It was more of a village than a city, with no walls, just fences and barriers to keep out monsters and beasts.

However, it was also an important place that supported the Royal Capital's food supply.

If anything happened here, it would affect the capital's reconstruction.

"Once you get past the Royal Capital, there's barely any impact."

"Which means they took concentrated fire."

"It's a relief the roads aren't all torn up. Otherwise, the carriage wouldn't have been able to get through."

The magic that the Church of the Sun God had used to rain meteors from the sky.

While it caused massive destruction, the damage was concentrated on and around the royal castle within the capital.

That was bad enough, but it was fortunate that the roads used by carriages were spared.

It sent chills down my spine to think what would have happened if even some of those meteors that fell on the capital had struck the roadways.

The roads, unprotected by any barrier, would have become impassable in no time, turning the capital into an isolated island. Reconstruction would have been severely delayed.

People wouldn't gather, food couldn't be transported from Luido, and there might have been deaths from starvation.

The capital surely had food reserves, but how long could they satisfy the stomachs of its enormous population?

Greedy nobles would try to hoard everything for themselves, or perhaps merchants would attempt to corner the market.

There would have been incomparably more trouble than now, giving Princess Tianis and Lady Anatia massive headaches.

There's a saying that manners come from satisfied needs.

The people of the capital being able to stay calm was surely related to there being no food shortage.

The journey to Luido, contrary to my worries, was completely peaceful.

A Bull Monster attacked us, but it was extremely weak.

Since there was a river nearby, we even had time to drain the blood and cool the meat.

Finn handled the butchering.

Her knife skills were impressive, as expected. She had the hide peeled, organs removed, and the meat cut into chunks in no time.

Since food poisoning from organs could be dangerous, we buried everything except the heart.

"If I left it to you lot, you'd be too sloppy and ruin a lot of it."

"Ahaha… I certainly couldn't do it this quickly."

We cooled the meat in the river while grilling the heart and some of the meat to eat.

The only seasoning was salt, but the thorough blood-draining made it delicious.

"This takes me back. I used to eat like this with my master all the time. She was careless with money, so we'd run out of food funds."

"I feel nostalgic too. We'd hunt and eat while camping in the field."

Finn and Alexia seemed to be reminiscing about the past while eating the meat.

"Before Master bought me, I'd never even eaten meat. It was always rotten bread or some kind of porridge where you couldn't even tell if there was any grain in it…"

"That's… Azu-sama, please have my portion as well."

"I'm eating properly now, so it's fine. Thank you, Orleans-chan."

It was amazing Azu had survived in those conditions.

That's precisely why she was sold as a slave and I was able to buy her, but I couldn't help feeling sympathy.

We decided to bring the leftover meat as a gift for Luido.

We arrived without incident, but the people of Luido seemed completely unchanged.

"Oh my, isn't that Yohane-san? What brings you here? It's not harvest season yet."

"Hello. I just came to check on things. A lot happened in the Royal Capital recently."

"The capital? Has something happened there? The only unusual thing lately was seeing a lot of shooting stars."

"Shooting stars…"

To dismiss that scene as mere shooting stars.

Whether to call them unconcerned or carefree.