Building a Port (4)

Leaving the hospital, I headed toward the port entrance with the sea at my back.

The ground near the entrance had been leveled into a plaza. On the left, materials needed for the port's construction had been piled into several large heaps. To the right stood several large buildings in a row. They were lodgings and a cafeteria for the workers. Farther behind them, houses for settlers had also been built.

The port construction project was severely short-handed, so settlers were being recruited from all over the kingdom. To encourage them to move here, we were offering them free housing. However, settlers were not gathering as we had hoped, and the houses we had painstakingly built were still vacant.

I walked between the materials and buildings toward the port entrance.

On the road leading outside, one side had been closed off, with holes being dug for roadwork. However, instead of Master Ganze's workers, the work was being done by soldiers from the Kashu Garrison. As part of their military service, the soldiers were also put to work improving the roads.

I looked for the soldier overseeing the work. Then I spotted a huge, bald man working among the soldiers. The bald soldier noticed me and looked up.

"Ah, Romelia-sama."

The soldier was Brai, one of the Romelia Squad. He had a gentle face, but was second only to Otto in build, and was as strong as he looked. When he saw me, he raised his eyebrows.

"Your outfit is different from usual today. You look good in red, too."

Brai was naturally good at complimenting women. He had a kindly face, but perhaps he had more experience with women than one might expect. Still, when everyone kept telling me how well the outfit suited me, I found myself starting to believe them.

"Thank you. By the way, is the work going smoothly?"

"It is. The soldiers have grown accustomed to the work lately, so our efficiency has improved."

Brai wiped the sweat from his head with a hand towel as he looked toward the road under construction. I looked over the site as well and saw the soldiers digging a deep trench along the road. They then laid large stones, small stones, and gravel in succession, building up a layer of stone. They piled earth on top and leveled it thoroughly. Finally, they laid square-cut paving stones. That would complete the stone-paved road.

The process involved many steps and was laborious, but creating layers of stone allowed us to build a road with good drainage. Since this place would be the gateway to the port, I wanted to make it sturdy.

"If you build it this sturdily, it should last a hundred years."

Brai folded his arms and nodded as he admired his handiwork.

"A hundred years? That's nothing. This road will remain for a thousand years."

"A thousand years? That's quite a claim."

Brai laughed heartily, but I caught the doubt behind his smile.

"You don't believe me, do you? It really will last a thousand years. I've seen it with my own eyes."

I remembered the time I had traveled with Prince Henri.

"When we were traveling to defeat Demon King Zelgis, we often walked along old roads so the Demon King's army wouldn't find us. But old roads were usually buried beneath plants and trees, no longer recognizable as roads. Every so often, however, we found roads that had not been swallowed up by vegetation. Those were roads built by the ancient Reitzberg Empire."

I mentally unraveled the history my tutor had taught me.

The Reitzberg Empire possessed an overwhelmingly powerful army and built a peerless great empire by sending its forces to every corner of the world. At the same time, however, the empire was also known for maintaining its highways. By building sturdy roads, the empire made it possible for its soldiers to move quickly and used the roads for both attack and defense.

"They dug trenches, then laid stones and gravel to build the roads. As a result, trees could not take root, and the roads were not buried even after a great deal of time had passed."

Looking back, it was a deeply moving story. I did not know who had built those roads. Yet roads built by people whose names I would never know had, with the passage of time, helped Prince Henri and me.

"This road is being built based on the roads constructed by the Reitzberg Empire. I'm sure people a thousand years from now will look at this road too."

"Haa—A thousand years, is it? Then let's build it properly for the sake of the people a thousand years from now!"

Brai raised his voice and returned to work. For now, we could only build this road at the port entrance. In time, though, I wanted to connect roads like it throughout the kingdom.

After checking on the road construction, I turned around to attend to my next task.

As I walked toward the mansion in the center of the port, a savory garlic aroma tickled my nose. Drawn by the smell, I turned my head and saw that a cooking hearth had been built at the edge of the plaza, with a large pot set over it. Soldiers stood in front of the hearth, putting ingredients into the pot.

Among the soldiers preparing the food was a familiar face. I walked over to a soldier with a large belly and an apron and called out to him.

"Ben, are you preparing lunch?"

"Ah, Romelia-sama."

The man stirring the large pot with a wooden spatula was Ben, one of the Romelia Squad. He was the squad's biggest eater, and he had even learned how to cook so he could enjoy delicious food.

"Oh, red suits you too."

Ben nodded as he looked at my clothes. I knew it was flattery, but I didn't mind being praised repeatedly.

"But Romelia-sama, lunch isn't ready yet. This is for the workers."

"I didn't come because I was hungry."

I answered with a laugh. However, a wonderful smell was wafting from the large pot Ben was stirring. The sweet scent of meat and vegetables mingled with the aroma of garlic, filling my nose and stimulating my appetite. As I breathed in the smell, I became hungry despite not having felt hungry a moment earlier.

"However, I'm sorry to have you prepare food for the workers as well."

The workers' meals should originally have been handled by a separate cook. However, there was no one more suited to the task than Ben, so he was preparing food not only for the soldiers but for the workers as well.

"It's nothing worth thanking me for. I'm only an amateur playing at being a cook."

"No, Ben's cooking is truly delicious. The workers aren't the only ones—I look forward to it too."

I shook my head at Ben's modesty.

In fact, Ben's cooking was highly praised. The port construction was proceeding at a breakneck pace, and the workers were being pushed hard. I wanted them to eat a proper, delicious meal and regain their strength.

"Do we have enough ingredients?"

I craned my neck to look behind the cooking area. Boxes and hemp sacks filled with salted meat and vegetables were piled up behind it.

"We have more than enough. However, we have a huge amount of garlic. Why is that?"

Ben turned his head toward the area where the ingredients had been gathered. White garlic skins peeked out from the hemp sacks.

"Eating garlic gives you energy, you know. I once heard a story like this."

I remembered a story I had been told as a child.

"It was more than a thousand years ago, but apparently there was a country covered in desert far to the south of here. The ancient kings who ruled that country forced slaves to build enormous tombs. As payment, the kings gave the slaves bread, beer, and garlic."

"Oh, garlic? So people ate it in ancient times too."

"However, there was supposedly a time when garlic could not be obtained, so they could not distribute it. The slaves grew angry and rebelled."

I told him about the incident that had taken place in ancient times. As far as the surviving records indicated, it seemed to have been the oldest rebellion in human history.

"People in ancient times rebelled because of garlic?"

"Apparently so. Garlic's nutrients must have been essential for such hard labor. I took a cue from them and had garlic procured. Please load the dishes with garlic."

"Leave it to me. I like cooking with garlic. I'll make the soldiers' portions after this, so I'll bring a plate to you as well, Romelia-sama."

As Ben said this, a voice came from behind me.

"Oh, then count me in too."

I turned around and found a man holding paperwork in one hand.

The man looked utterly disheveled. His hair was so tousled that it was impossible to tell when he had last combed it, and his green clothes were so filthy that I could not imagine when they had last been washed. He had unshaven stubble and looked thoroughly slovenly.

"Ah, Velli-san. Certainly. I'll add another plate."

Ben readily agreed. The man who paid absolutely no attention to his appearance was my tutor and now served me as a military strategist, Velli-sensei. Despite his appearance, he was a member of a prominent noble family.

"But that story about garlic just now was one I taught you. It was ten years ago, yet you remembered it well."

Velli-sensei's stubbled face broke into a smile. Had it really been that long ago?

"Of course. Your lessons have stayed with me, Sensei."

I puffed out my chest. I remembered the stories Velli-sensei had taught me as though he had told them to me yesterday.

"It would have been nice if you had memorized poetry with the same enthusiasm."

When Velli-sensei grumbled, I immediately looked away. He had taught me world history and military history, but his actual job had been to teach me poetry.

For a noble young lady, being familiar with poetry from ancient and modern times was basic education. However, I was terrible at poetry. For some reason, none of it entered my head. Velli-sensei had taught me over and over, but whenever I tried to remember it, my memories became hazy, as though my mind were filled with fog.

To change the subject, I looked at the large pot Ben had been stirring.

"Oh, that smells good. Is today's lunch chicken?"

"Romelia-sama, this is pork."

Beside me, Velli-sensei's shoulders shook as he tried to hold back his laughter. I realized I was at a tactical disadvantage. Retreat was my only option.

"Ahem! Well then, Ben, I'll leave the rest to you."

Whether advancing or retreating, speed was the key. That was another thing Velli-sensei had taught me. I turned on my heel and hurriedly left the area.