Chapter 262

Chat Among Four
When I returned to the mansion, I found that Brother Chris, Young Lady Diana, Brother Isaac, Brother Hubert, and Raphael’s group were still there.

It seemed that Princess Rinaluna and her entourage, along with Brother Chris’s classmates, had already gone back to the royal capital.

“Brother Chris, did Princess Rinaluna and the others say anything?”

“They just asked me to tell you they were sorry.”

The day after returning from the new town, I was having tea in the salon with Raphael, Bridget, and Dianne.

“Sorry we left everything to you until now. Thanks for helping out.”

“No, we were the ones who barged in when you were busy. Besides, the exhibition was fascinating.”

“Even though you couldn’t see the items in the stores directly?”

“Even so. Both the cooking and the crafts had a lot of new discoveries.”

“When we visited during the winter, there wasn’t even talk of an exhibition. I can’t believe you managed to hold something that big in such a short time.”

“I was shocked too when I first heard about it—but I’m glad I came. It was worth the trip.”

“Was it all right leaving out the nut-and-dried-fruit cereal bars and the wooden calendars from the new town souvenirs?”

“The cereal bars are better suited as emergency rations for adventurers, traveling merchants, and knights. Not everyone has a Magic Bag with time-stop, after all. As for the wooden calendars—they’re too large to make good souvenirs. They’ll sell better as regular goods, and since people are bound to copy them, it’d be smarter to register a patent and spread them that way.”

“You even think about protecting the inventors. I’m impressed—your attention to detail always amazes me.”

“Seriously. It’s only been half a year since we last met, and Westland’s changed so much I could hardly keep up.”

“I was surprised too, seeing Bianca and Ripka’s families staying here.”

“I didn’t see them today though—did they return to the Great Forest?”

“Looks like it. They said they’d been away too long and were worried about their territory, so they went back.”

“Reinhardt, I know the food from the exhibition will be sold in the new town too, but if you order some in the name of ‘taste testing,’ could you share a bit with me?”

As sharp as ever, Bridget.
She could tell I’d been planning to head to the village to ask for some myself.

“I can’t promise to share, but which dish are you after?”

“I’d love all the top-ranked ones, but if I had to pick just one—it’d be the shrimp crackers.”

Ah, she’s a fellow Kappa Ebisen fan.

“Kind of unexpected, since you eat them by hand.”

“Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I’ll pay for them, of course. You’re expanding sheep pastures, right? I’ll arrange for more lambs to be supplied to Westland.”

“Even if it’s your fiancé’s domain, isn’t that Northtrad House business? Are you allowed to decide that on your own?”

“It’s fine—I’m in charge of breeding the dairy cows and sheep.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’m the only one not busy, after all.”

“What made you think we’d need sheep, though?”

“You gathered the participants who didn’t place in the top ranks, didn’t you? I checked, and one of them ran a mutton restaurant. So I figured you might be inviting them to open a shop in the new town.”

Bridget’s insight is as sharp as ever.

“I can’t promise, but I’ll see what I can do. Still, knowing you, you probably already sent someone to buy a stockpile, didn’t you?”

“I did, but I couldn’t buy much—they were limiting purchases. That’s why I’m asking you now.”

“I thought those shrimp crackers would go well with green tea.”

“They would, absolutely.”

“Looks like we’ll have plenty of matcha this year.”

“Yes, thanks to those matcha sweets Reinhardt gave me. They were such a hit that everyone got motivated to expand the tea fields.”

“But tea plants don’t grow that fast, do they?”

“That’s where magic comes in. We enriched the soil, then invited someone blessed by the Plant God to water them.”

I see—Dianne may still be underage and not officially a lord yet, but she’s clearly doing her best as the acting Lady of her territory.

“That’s great news. We’ll need even more matcha once the new town’s open, so I’ll be counting on you.”

“Eh? Really?”

“We’ll be using matcha bean paste there.”

“… Matcha bean paste, huh. All right then, I’ll expand production further next year. I’d also like to take some dorayaki, anpan, and the matcha bean paste sweets back as gifts—would that be all right? The people in my territory worked hard while I was away, and they’re expecting something since they know I visited Westland. Of course, I’ll pay for everything.”

“Got it. I’ll ask the head chef to prepare them. Dianne, if you can boost matcha production even more, I’d like to sell matcha milk too.”

“Oh? You have something in mind?”

“Let’s just say—yeah, a little.”

“I’ll talk it over with Lord Hubert and see if we can make it happen.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ve started working on improving the curry plants too. There’s only so much land we can use, so the only way to increase yield is by breeding better varieties.”

It seemed everyone was working hard to make their own territories even better.

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