Chapter 12
Ten days after we'd bottled the preserves.
"Huh? Dick, you're here again?"
Dick came to the food storeroom every day without fail, so we'd grown quite close.
"No, I've just been curious about the bottled preserves. It's been ten days today, right? Are we going to open them soon?"
"Yeah. I plan to open a few and try them. Rufa, let's cook some of them and eat them. Could you go borrow the kitchen for us?"
"Sure. Got it," Rufa said as she ran off. I had gotten much more comfortable around Rufa, too.
"Then, Dick, help me carry them."
"Sure thing. In return, don't say I was slacking off; say I was helping Roa, okay?"
So he had been slacking off after all. Well, whatever.
As we chatted idly and carried several jars to the dining hall, I sensed a tense atmosphere.
It was early afternoon, and I wondered what was going on, but the cause soon became clear. Rays-sama was sitting there, with Glantz-sama and Rapilia-sama beside him. Rays-sama was one thing, but the other two had serious expressions.
"Hey, Roa. It seems you've been doing something quite unusual without my knowledge..."
"Huh?"
I was pretty sure Glantz-sama had told me there was no need to report every little thing concerning the preserved food. When I looked over at him, he smoothly averted his gaze. How unfair!
"Ah... I'm sorry. It was still in the experimental stage, so I intended to report it if it succeeded." I wasn't lying. These were merely test batches, after all. I had thought it was too early to report them.
"I see. So today you're going to taste the ones that have been left to sit for ten days."
There was only one possible answer to how he knew. I flicked my gaze toward Rapilia-sama.
She smoothly turned her face away. Damn it!
"...That's right, but I intend to preserve them for another five days before drawing any conclusions, and it will be a little longer before we have a proper answer in the truest sense, you know?"
Rays-sama replied firmly.
"I don't mind. It's a very interesting endeavor. If this experiment succeeds, it should have a major impact not only on the knight order's expeditions but also on the nutritional health of sailors. We might even be able to export it. If so, the profits our country could gain would be incalculable."
Hearing Rays-sama's words, I held my breath.
As expected of him.
Thirty years from now, the Empire's diplomatic circumstances will lead to the invention of bottled preserves. Seeking to trade with more distant nations from ports in its own territory, the Empire will invest in portable food, ultimately producing bottled preserves.
As a result, bottled preserves will spread among citizens as an affordable way to eat vegetables even in winter, when crops cannot be grown. Their use as provisions for soldiers on campaign will be more of an incidental benefit.
I had given Rapilia-sama only the bare minimum explanation. Even so, Rays-sama had recognized the value of bottled preserves. He was terrifying.
"...That may be so." That was all I said.
"The jars Dick is holding contain the bottled preserves, correct? Rapilia already showed me the jam, so that's fine. Show me something besides jam."
"Yes, sir!" Dick, who was in the middle of slacking off, projected his voice from deep in his belly and held out several jars to Rays-sama. Rays-sama examined one of the jars in his hand as though testing it.
"How many of these did you make?" he asked me.
"I made five of each kind, but some failed."
Perhaps I hadn't gotten all the air out; nearly ten of the jars had gone bad by today. It was easy to tell which ones had failed: the water inside had turned cloudy. When I opened them, they clearly smelled rotten, so I discarded all of them.
"I see."
"Ah, but even the ones here aren't necessarily successful. You could get a stomachache just from tasting them."
"I don't mind. Open all of them, put them on plates, and bring them here. Are these meant to be eaten as-is?"
"They can be eaten as-is, but I was thinking of cooking them..."
"Then bring them both ways—as-is and cooked."
"Could it be that you're going to eat them? You, Rays-sama?"
"Of course. That's why I came here. After hearing Rapilia's account, I predicted that today would be the day you'd test them."
"...Rapilia-sama..." Once again, Rapilia-sama avoided my gaze and stared off in a completely different direction.
"Oh, right. You said you were going to test the jam after three, five, and seven days, didn't you? How did it turn out?"
It was Rays-sama, not Rapilia-sama, who answered my question.
"Those results are why I'm here."
...So, in other words, it had succeeded. I had no choice but to give in.
"All right. I'll get everything ready, but don't blame me if your stomach starts hurting."
At my words, Rays-sama flashed a mischievous smile for the briefest instant.