Read Novel Full Chapter 397 – Situation Near the Castle
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Chapter 397 – Situation Near the Castle
“It’s like a theme park. It’s exciting.”
“Theme park?”
“That’s an unfamiliar word.”
After a lunch of canned food and instant noodles, I set out to explore Drad, the royal capital of the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom, with Byaku, the fox beastman, and Shen, the horse beastman, as my companions from among the beastman maids.
Driada did not participate because she was not good at walking in the city. Isla was also absent because she had to check the condition of the magic airship and give a lecture to an alchemist of the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom at the request of the royal family of the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom, who wanted to ask questions about the regenerative medicine using Grande’s blood.
So, with the beastmen maids as my companion, I was left to wander the streets on my own. The Dragonis Mountain Kingdom had told me that they would escort me, but I told them it was unnecessary, and we went out alone.
It is obvious to anyone who looks at me that I am a person of a certain rank walking with two maids who are obviously maids, and anyone with a certain amount of intelligence can understand that we are guests from another country since we are unknown people walking around on this day, which is the day before the National Day tomorrow. Not many people would mess with such people. It’s like a visible landmine, or to put it another way, the tail of a sleeping dragon.
“But that’s the thing. There are a lot of hills and stairs. And there are a lot of twists and turns.”
“It’s a city built to cling to a rocky hill, so I guess it can’t be helped.”
“The stairs are not very long, but they are bent right into landings, perhaps to prevent people from slipping and falling.”
“Oh, I see.”
If the stairs are long or sloping, if you fall down, you will fall headlong to the bottom of the stairs. And since the stairs and slopes are basically made of stone or rock, an ordinary person would probably be in a very splattered state when he reaches the bottom.
I’ve heard that when you slip and fall in the mountains, you become something so obscure that it’s impossible to determine your gender… I’ve heard that you can tell if it’s the body of a person who slipped and fell by looking at the equipment scattered around them or something like that. That’s because they’re constantly being slammed and scraped against the rock face at high speed.
“So it’s a safety measure.”
“Still, falling down a stone staircase that far is probably not a simple matter…”
“A reptilian beastman with strong skin might only suffer minor injuries.”
Upon closer inspection, the end of the landing at the bottom of the stairs is a house wall, but in front of it is a shrubbery planted with pruned shrubs. Perhaps it was meant to be a cushion. It would be much better than being slammed into a stone wall.
“Let’s walk carefully…and it’s quite a lively place, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. This is because the National Day is tomorrow.”
Shen nodded her head as she looked around. The streets with many inclines and stairs were very lively, with the flags of the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom and decorations made of colorful cloth. But still, cloth? I have an idea that paper lanterns are used for festivals like this, but is there not much paper production in the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom? Well, I don’t think the environment is rich in vegetation.
“It looks like they serve alcohol and food.”
“It seems so. Hmm? In the castle, they seem to be serving wine and liquor from various countries, but in the area below the castle, they seem to be serving a different kind of liquor.”
As I approached the place where alcohol and food were being served, I was approached by a resident who seemed to be serving alcohol.
“Hello, are you a guest from another country?”
“Yes, I am staying at the castle. I’m just visiting to get a feel for the hustle and bustle of the castle town.”
“If you would like to share the joyous occasion with us, we would be happy to welcome you even if you are a guest from another country. Come and taste the delicious liquor.”
Then he motioned to the people around him and prepared a wooden cup of what looked like muddy brown liquor.
“I will take it gratefully. Byaku and Shen can have some as well.”
“Uh… yes.”
“I’ll have some.”
It has a sour taste. I can taste the acidity as well, but it’s not that strong. It feels like grape juice, but I don’t think it’s grape. What is it made of?
“What kind of liquor is it?”
“Um, I don’t know.”
“It doesn’t have as much astringency like wine.”
The next dish served was a steamed ‘chimaki’ like dish wrapped in some kind of leaf. It was sweet, spicy, and pungent. But this dish reminded me of a certain crop.
“Corn. Isn’t the alcohol made from the same grain used in this dish?”
“Oh, yes, sir. In our country, cornu is a staple food. We use it for cooking, and we also make alcohol from it.”
“I see.”
Come to think of it, corn has been cultivated in the Andes region of South America for a long time. Since the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom is also a kingdom built in a mountainous area, I wonder if corn-based crops are often used in the same way. It seems to be called cornu here.
In return for their hospitality, I offered them three barrels of ale from the Merinard Kingdom and then decided to leave. They were surprised that I pulled three large barrels of ale out of an empty space, but I told them it was a magical thing. Maybe because they were drunk, their reaction was something like, “Wow, magic is amazing.” I got away with a similar reaction.
“It was good that the alcohol level was so low.”
“That’s right.”
“The steamed food was delicious. I wonder if the cook at the castle can teach us how to make it.”
It seemed that Shen liked the cornu steamed in a wrapper. I think they also grew cornu in the Merinard Kingdom, but it was usually ground into flour and used as an ingredient for thin bread. Ah, but I have a picture of cornu having distinctly different uses depending on the seed. I have heard that the seeds used for animal feed are not tasty at all when eaten by humans.
“Later, when we get back to the castle, I will ask them if they will give us the seeds of a variety that is suitable for that kind of use.”
“Yes.”
When I told Shen what I had just remembered, she nodded her head.
“I wonder what they do with water and such?”
“Do they supplement it with magic, or is it rainwater?”
Byaku’s eyes fell on what looked like a water tank and what looked like a rain collector on the roof of the house.
“Rain collectors, huh? That’s good in the short term, but there’s always the fear of dead insects, birds, and excrement. Maybe there is a filtration system somewhere, or maybe they use the water for domestic purposes instead of drinking it.”
Maybe the tank itself has a filtration system, or maybe it has some kind of magic process. It’s not like they have expensive purification equipment in every house, or maybe they have some kind of magic formula engraved on the tanks.
“Maybe they don’t care and use it as drinking water.”
“I would assume they do at least some simple filtration and boiling, though.”
“Yes… They have strong stomachs.”
The two former pioneers were quite robust in their opinions. Well, in this world, even if you get a stomach ache, there is magic and alchemy, so it is quite possible that people are relatively indifferent to such things. The infinite water source I created will always have water flowing, so I don’t have to worry too much about that.
“But it is a very lively place. I hope we can have a festival like this in Merinard one day.”
“Yes, I think so too.”
“Someday, I hope.”
It would be good to have a festival to commemorate the day we retook Merinesburg or the day we signed the truce with the Holy Kingdom. I will discuss this with Sylphy and Melty when I return to Merinesburg.