What I Came Up With
I planned to give one-third of the rice and curry powder Raphael brought as gifts to Brother Chris and Brother Gerald in the royal capital group, and take the rest home. But then Brother Chris told me he wanted to bring some to the new territory and asked me to sell him half.
“I want to cultivate rice.”
“Will you be getting guidance from Helios Village?”
“Both the territory and the estate need to be managed from now on, so I’m thinking of having people dispatched from within Westland.”
When I tried to give him the rice and curry powder for free, he told me no.
“This is a request from me as the lord. We need to keep things proper.”
“Then at wholesale price.”
“At the market price.”
“Brother Chris, these were given to me as gifts. In the coming territorial reforms, you’ll need as much money as you can get. When the price can be kept down, you should accept it. If you end up with extra funds, please return that to the people working with you.”
“I learned how important welfare is from our household. Hardt, thank you.”
We returned to Westland and began clearing the accumulated paperwork.
“There’s a letter from Savai Village.”
It was from the village chief. A report that the Petit Barley was growing well even in fields where it hadn’t been grown before, and that it looked like they’d get a large harvest. And also asking when we planned to hold the Obanyaki Festival.
“I’m glad the Petit Barley looks like it’ll be a good harvest.”
“Then that means the Obanyaki Festival is happening.”
Rosetta said happily.
“Rosetta, are you coming to the festival?”
“I’ll be going with you as a helper.”
“When was that decided?”
“Eh… am I not allowed to help?”
Rosetta slumped over her desk, disappointed.
“Your help would be useful, but… you’d be on the organizer side rather than a normal participant.”
“But I’ll be able to buy a lot of obanyaki, right?” she said, lifting her face at my words.
“You’re planning to stock up?”
“Everyone asked me to… And I’m supposed to hold on to their Magic Bags too.”
Rosetta liked obanyaki—no, anything with sweet red bean paste.
This was going to turn into a repeat of the exhibition, wasn’t it?
We might have to get the chefs to start making obanyaki in advance.
“I want to participate too,” Rosa said as well.
She had heard the stories about the exhibition and apparently felt jealous.
“What? What’s this about? What’s the Obanyaki Festival?”
Floria stopped working and asked.
Rosetta explained the exhibition and the Obanyaki Festival to Floria.
“Reinhardt… from what I’m hearing, won’t people flood into that Savai Village?”
Everyone said people might swarm the village.
If that happens, not announcing the date until the very last moment might be the best option.
I felt bad for everyone in Savai Village, but…
I wrote to the village chief saying that we would hold the Obanyaki Festival, but if we announced the date, too many people would gather and it would become chaotic, so we would keep the date secret until right before— even from the village chief. Also, that if possible, I wanted some Petit Barley set aside so we could start making obanyaki in advance.
I asked Guido to make a large amount of red bean paste and white bean paste, and that once the Petit Barley arrived, I wanted the chefs to mass-produce obanyaki with him. He agreed, saying the large cauldron had just been finished, so it would be perfect for testing it.
I also asked the head chef to make a large amount of obanyaki, and that since we’d be cooking on-site as well, I wanted to take about five people with us to the festival.
“It sounds like it’ll turn into a fierce competition.”
“Even though you might end up cooking from morning to night?”
“Opportunities to be part of something fun are rare.”
Next, I caught Rosarina and asked her to buy fabric in blue, pink, orange, and green, and to make one hundred headbands of each color.
“Please make the colors bright and noticeable.”
“Um… what exactly is a headband?”
So they didn’t have headbands.
I explained: about four centimeters wide, around one meter long, and if that was too long she could adjust it.
“I don’t know the purpose, so I’m not sure how to adjust it.”
“Alright, I’ll explain it to Floria in detail. Make them while consulting with her.”
“Understood.”
Floria and I moved to another room to talk.
“Headband-making? What are you planning to use them for?”
“I was thinking of using them in Savai Village…”
“You mean you want to hold an athletic meet in Savai Village?”
I explained how the idea came from the Obanyaki Festival—like a bread-eating race, except an obanyaki-eating race.
“How are you planning to hang the obanyaki?”
“In bags?”
“You mean paper bags?”
Since there were no plastic bags, I was thinking of making paper bags from Piene paper and putting them inside.
She asked what else I was planning, so I told her.
“I understand. I’ll handle the athletics-related parts, so take me with you too.”
The number of people coming along just kept increasing…
What do you think about this chapter?
