3 bar menu

Chapter 242: Veggies That Should be More Widely Known

「Auro and Faramir are the ones in charge of snacks, so please negotiate with them — I’ll be discussing planting trees and working on the fields so can you call Charles and get the map for me? 」
I smoothly passed Kiel’s matter to Auro.

Kiel grudgingly left the room to call Charles and Faramir spread the map of the island on the office table. The map was quite huge so it covered most of the table.

「Isn’t the talk about the fields halted because the soil is bad? Did you find a solution? 」
Soleil asked while watching Faramir put paperweights on the map.

「I did, I did. 」
「Got it, then teach me if it’s a solution that can be done even by ordinary folks who have considerable assets. Nevermind otherwise. 」
Soleil said to nevermind, so I ignored her.

「Are there any particular flowers or trees that you want? 」
I sought the opinion of Soleil and Faramir since they’re women.

「How about blue flowers that will give that indigo hue to the island? 」
I was asking about their preferences, but Soleil responded with a strategy.

「It will become a custom for us to decorate the castle and towns with flags or simply hang blue cloth when we hold ceremonies or events. Depending on the situation, we can also opt to use other colors so as to make the flag stand out, or perhaps we can decorate the entire island with blue. 」

The image of a deep indigo noren — the curtains you normally see hanging in front of shops — came to my mind when I heard what Auro said. But I wanted a slightly brighter shade of blue, like azure, for the island’s theme color.

I suddenly recalled the Edo Period. Ahh, but noren is originally intended to be sunshades, after all. The sun’s rays are scorching hot on this island, so I’m pretty sure we’re gonna use them here.

Norens are long enough that they reach the ground when hung under the eaves, usually either diagonally or vertically. They sound like beating drums when the wind blows on them, so that’s why they’re also known as drum curtains, or ‘taiko (drum) noren’.

It might be a cool idea to dye the shop’s name or maybe the family crest with white ink on the indigo fabric, although it’s more common here to embroider them instead.

「The islanders will probably plant and decorate with flowers that they like, so isn’t it good enough if we have lots of blue on our end? 」
I chased the images of the Edo period out of my mind and changed it to the romantic streets in Germany.

Paved streets, stucco white and dark brown pillars with — the houses on this island are mostly made out of stone. Picture it with me — stone houses with black iron window decorations and several flowers adorning them. .

「Nobles and wealthy merchants with their own mansions can do that, but ordinary folks will rather plant vegetables and fruits if they have the space to plant flowers. 」
Soleil commented.

Ack. The flowers on the windowsills in my mind turned into carrots and folks are starting to hoist their laundry up.

「We already made the windowsills so that they can put flower pots on them, and we also removed the stone pavement near the entrance so that they can plant something there… 」
My imaginary town is in danger.

Seedlings of radishes hanging from the window sill, more radishes sprouting out of the stone pavement.

「Shall we prepare various varieties of seedlings and distribute them? This island is a lot cooler than Nalluahdid thanks to the waterways, so we have more options. Grapes, wisteria, roses… We can also plant lemons and others if you’re going for color, so there’s no need to forcefully arrange everything so that it matches. 」
Charles entered the room while grinning from ear to ear.

「I’ll leave that to you. 」
Please bear with basils for the window sills for now.

Afterward, we discussed the trees we’re going to plant for the forests, and what to do with the fields.

「I want to plant potatoes, tomatoes. Eggplants. 」
And cucumbers, radishes and melons too. Ah, I also have mango and sugarcane seedlings.

「Hey, aren’t they all poisonous? 」
Kiel.
「Will it be a garden of poisonous plants? 」
Auro.

「Potatoes are attracting attention nowadays. They have long shelf lives so they can be stored, and because they’re underground, we don’t have to worry about birds damaging them. They’re also fine even when trampled on. They’re being touted now as a replacement for wheat, which yields poor harvest when treaded on. The issue with potato poison has also been resolved, apparently. Unfortunately, they don’t grow well in cold regions, so I don’t think they’ll spread as much as we thought they would. 」
Soleil explained.

「I also heard about the rumors regarding the potatoes. One just has to remove the sprouts and the spots that have turned green and the problem is solved, apparently. 」
The merchants are earnestly spreading word because they won’t be able to sell the potatoes if there are rumors of the crop being poisonous.

Majority of the people here can’t even get simple ordinary medicines, much less recovery potions. They even have suspicious folk remedies. Most of them are undernourished, so they have weak resistance.

They’re pretty much immune against ordinary germs, though; not sure if it’s because they’re used to them… But once they got sick, it would escalate into something far more serious, just like a simple tummy ache would turn into an almost fatal illness.

「Potatoes should be stored in cool, dark places because sunlight will make the green parts spread. You don’t have to worry about eggplants and tomatoes being poisonous, so rest assured — yeah, wanna sample them? 」
「Yes, MiLord. 」
Auro replied cheerily.

「Eh, you agreed right away!? 」
Kiel exaggeratedly stepped back.

I have potato gnocchi in 【Storage】so maybe I can also make eggplant, zucchini, pancetta
gnocchi with tomato sauce. Plus lots of mozzarella.

「Alright, I’ll whip up something so come to the tower after 30 min. 」
「Yes. 」
Auro immediately replied.

「Okay. 」
Soleil also agreed, and when I turned to Faramir, she curtsied in reply.

「I’m also interested. 」
「Yes, yes. 」
Charles is also joining us.

「…I’ll go too. 」
Kiel muttered with a grandiose sour grimace.

I wonder if he’s really scared of me serving them poison, or he just hates veggies. Which is it?