Chapter 74

"Alright, it's a success."

"Are you experimenting with a new seasoning again?"

It has been a little over three months since I came to this Barumeister territory. As usual, I woke up at the same time and was having breakfast in the manor's living room.

I sat in the master's seat, with my brother Paul, who is in charge of the guards, and my brother Herman, who came to the manor for some business, on either side. The others, including El and Ottmar, also took their seats in order.

The maids, Dominik, Elise, Ina, Louise, and Wilma, were in charge of cooking and serving. If this scene had been made public in my previous life in Heisei Japan, it would undoubtedly have received complaints from those who would be called feminists.

But in this world, this is the norm. The baron, who is the master of the manor, and my brother Paul, who is now a Knight of the Cloak, and my guest brother Herman, sit in the higher seats. El, who is the head of the squires, and Ottmar, who is scheduled to become the head of Paul's squires, and the other guards follow.

It's not a matter of good or bad; this is the norm, so I must be the only one who finds it questionable.

The seating order is based on status, but thinking back, even in my previous life, the seating order at company year-end parties was also based on seniority.

Perhaps the only difference is that nobles are considered more important, or people with higher social status are considered more important.

However, I feel like I'm finally getting used to sitting in the seat of honor every time.

"Vell, what is that?"

"It's a new product, Brother Paul."

"You're still developing products here?"

Paul, who is in the capital's guard, knows that I was developing seasonings and dishes while staying in the capital. He has also given discount coupons for the restaurant run by Alterio a few times and apparently takes his subordinates there to eat occasionally.

"Mayonnaise has a new companion!"

"Again?"

"So, El doesn't need it?"

"The new product looks delicious."

El might feel uneasy about a noble who focuses on seasonings and dishes, but this is my hobby, so there's no way I would stop.

"So, are you going to sell it again?"

"For now, it's just a prototype. Once I calculate the cost, it won't be something you can buy casually..."

This time, I was prototyping 'Pollock Roe Mayonnaise,' which I loved in my previous life. The method is simple, but the problem is whether or not pollock roe exists in this world.

Ikura is possible to obtain because there is a 'Nanpou Masu' that migrates upriver in a warm climate in an unexplored river.

This is properly pickled in soy sauce and stored in a magic bag.

As for pollock roe, it was found that it is eaten in the north. I immediately decided to have it sent from a fish shop run by the family of a female staff member of the Magic Guild whom I met before, but fish roe, including pollock roe, is considered a delicacy in the local area, and with customs duties and transportation costs, it became extremely expensive.

Furthermore, the pollock roe had to be turned into spicy pollock roe. When I asked the fish shop to do this, the price ended up being higher than curry powder.

"But, you really came up with a good idea."

"Indeed. Considering the content of the meals at my family's house, it's not surprising..."

Paul and Herman maintained their puzzled expressions, but the reason I know a lot about making seasonings and dishes is due to my job in my previous life.

While I worked for a well-known trading company, it was considered second-rate within the industry. Elite employees negotiated huge infrastructure contracts with local governments overseas and built cutting-edge industrial plants. I had little chance of being involved in such projects.

After completing my new employee training, I was assigned to a department mainly responsible for purchasing food-related items. Moreover, I was mainly in charge of domestic ingredients and occasionally went directly to production farms and fishing ports to evaluate the ingredients. I then proposed them to manufacturers and stores that needed them.

I might have been a bit different from the typical image of a trading company employee, but I think the ingredients I handled were mostly high-end.

My clients included sake breweries, miso breweries, and soy sauce breweries that adhered to traditional methods. There were also small to medium-sized food manufacturers that used only high-quality domestic materials to produce their products.

Naturally, I couldn't say I didn't know the basic methods of production when dealing with such companies. I naturally studied and learned over time.

After all, there were many difficult people among the technical staff and craftsmen of such companies. In my early days, I was scolded for showing my ignorance, and as a result, the company lost a deal to a rival, and I was severely reprimanded by my boss later.

The experience of studying and cooking on my days off has proven useful in my current life, showing that life can be full of unexpected blessings.

"Anyway, let's try it."

I decided to taste it and put the newly made 'Pollock Roe Mayonnaise' on my rice and started tasting it. The others also started tasting it, putting it on their rice and bread.

"It's delicious."

"Yeah, my taste is getting more refined."

While pollock roe only goes well with rice, pollock roe mayonnaise also goes well with bread. In my previous life, it was commonly sold in bakeries, so I decided to try making it.

However, I think it goes best with rice, probably because I am Japanese. The production cost was high due to the imported pollock roe, but I can handle it now.

I have no intention of stopping eating rice, and I don't want to eat the dry black bread that is eaten in the Barumeister territory anymore.

It must be that my taste has become more refined.

"By the way, changing the subject, are you going to inspect the unexplored land today?"

"Yes, to advance the development special zone."

In response to Herman's question, I answered "Yes." Although no one mentions it, it has become a matter of course to depose Kurt and have Herman succeed his father. As a reward for cooperating, Herman will be given unexplored land sufficient to become a baron and assistance in developing that land. I decided to inspect the land near the border of my territory.

"Is that so? But, the people in the capital are scary."

"Living in such a world, it can only be called the norm."

Branterac was not seen again, but he has been monitoring Kurt constantly. He was also sent to the border lord of Breichrader by instant teleportation, and at that time, he was given a communication magic tool.

This magic tool, which is equivalent to a mobile phone or portable communication device in my previous life, is now rare to make, and a significant portion of the existing ones are excavated from ruins. Originally, it took a lot of time and effort to manufacture, and most of the production was seized by the military and government, so it is difficult for local nobles to obtain them, even if they are big shots.

Naturally, their value is immeasurable, and entrusting it to Branterac is proof that the situation in the Barumeister territory is attracting the attention of the nobles.

"Kurt wants to be the top of this territory, including the unexplored land, and wants to inherit it, right?"

"Such a fairy tale."

"He probably thought he could achieve it by exploiting Vell. Thanks to that, he ended up like this."

As Paul said, thanks to Branterac's intelligence work, which can pinpoint the current position of the target with a small amount of magic power, all of Kurt's movements were known.

Just three days ago, he gathered only the influential people of the main village for a meeting.

"That meeting..."

"Does Herman know about it?"

"Paul, you must have heard the rumors, right?"

"I know, but a meeting like that, where everything is pre-arranged, is unpleasant for the people from other villages."

"Well, don't say that. In the past, it was a useful meeting."

When the development of the Barumeister territory began, favoring the main village to make it the ruling party of the Barumeister family was an effective strategy. In such a remote area where no support from outside could be expected, if the lord's family could not maintain a firm rule, it would lead to civil war and destruction.

"However, it no longer fits the times. I attended for the first time as the head of a branch family. If it can be achieved, it will be beneficial. But those people, they just keep making unreasonable requests."

The fact that most of the members of the meeting are elderly is also a cause of the meeting's decline. The elderly only want the current preferential treatment of the main village to continue until they die.

Therefore, when Herman proposed to treat the three villages equally, he was laughed at.

Furthermore, when Kurt began to take over the lord's duties, craftsmen of the same generation were also added. Herman apparently expected reforms by the new generation, but the result was the same as the elderly, with a strong attachment to vested interests and the continuous flow of preferential treatment for the main village.

"He was also laughed at by Kurt as 'naive idealism.' What do you think, Vell?"

"In the short term, it is effective in maintaining the status quo. In the long term, it is the first step towards gradual decline, right?"

"Yeah, I thought the same."

Without being able to develop the unexplored land independently, increasing the population of this territory in the future would be suicidal. If that happens, young people will naturally leave the territory. If the main village's people are favored,

"For example, forcing the second and third sons of the main village, who are difficult to handle, into families in other villages that only have daughters."

"Would they refuse that?"

"The Barumeister family might force it."

There are also possibilities such as taking away new cultivated land. To favor the main village, sacrifices may be imposed on other villages.

"Surely, not to that extent..."

"The development costs are paid by the Barumeister family."

"No, the labor is provided by the people of the territory..."

Moreover, if the people of other villages are driven away by the Barumeister family's actions, how will the development of the unexplored land proceed?

"That's why. He has a dream of 'developing the unexplored land and becoming a count in a few generations.' I don't know the specific plan, but..."

"Maybe, to store funds by exploiting Vell?"

Both Herman and Paul are disappointed with Kurt, who only talks about vague policies like 'strengthening control as the head of the family' and 'developing the unexplored land in the future to become a major lord.'

If that's the case, even a child could say it.

"So, why do the people follow him?"