Chapter 199: The Kukkoro Male Knight the Barbarian Crow Girl

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By the time the meeting with Lady Dalaiya ended, the western sky was already dyed red. Spending a night in a dangerous forest where we had no idea where the elves were hiding was, to put it mildly, something I wanted to avoid. We returned to the village and decided to find lodging there.

“Delicious! Delicious!”

In the earthen-floored room of the village chief’s house, the crow beast-person… Uru, was making a racket. She pinched a spoon with her right toes and skillfully brought the food to her mouth. To a hume with strict table manners, this scene would be enough to cause fainting from rage, but beast-people don’t have hands like other hume, so it couldn’t be helped.

“What… What is that crow beast-person…”

The village chief whispered to me with a very suspicious look in her eyes.

“I met her in the forest, so I brought her along.”

The villagers of the rural area held a strong animosity toward elves. I couldn’t honestly tell them what had happened in the forest. For the time being, we had to keep our meetings with the elves confidential until we achieved some sort of result.

“Is it really safe? A crow beast-person… That’s a barbarian, you know…”

“If you fill her stomach, she’ll probably be harmless, I guess. I don’t know for sure, though.”

Those words came from a pouting Lenael. Since she had been looking after us all day, she was also joining us for dinner. Still, it seemed she hadn’t been pleased with what had happened in the forest. She had been in a bad mood ever since the meeting ended.

“…Yeah, yeah, she’s safe. I’ve got someone watching her, just in case. She’s a valuable source of information, so please forgive me.”

“I see. Well, she doesn’t seem too bright, I suppose.”

The village chief glared at Uru with suspicion. …As for intelligence, hmm… It was hard to communicate with her, but she actually seemed quite clever. Besides, there was no way the sharp-witted Lady Dalaiya would send an idiot. In any case, I couldn’t afford to let my guard down.

“Um, my lord, is this acceptable?”

As we whispered back and forth, the village chief’s husband arrived. He carried a basket with a small tin can about the size of a bucket.

“Ah, thank you.”

I received the tin can and set it on the table. The unpainted, rather large can emitted steam. I had asked the village chief’s husband to heat it in a water bath.

“Ah, so this is the canned food you mentioned.”

Gilberto asked with curiosity. Canned food. Yes, canned food. Alongside the rifles, I had secretly commissioned a craftsman I knew to make them. After all, the military rations in this world were terrible. While at the front lines, soldiers had to eat rock-hard biscuits and bread every day. The side dishes were limited to long-lasting foods like dried beans or smoked cheese.

Eating that every day did nothing for morale. That’s why I developed canned food. Fortunately, the technology to manufacture tinplate (iron coated with tin) already existed in this world. With that, we could make cans, fill them with food, seal them with solder, and sterilize them in boiling water to create proper canned goods. …Though I did spend quite a while figuring out a soldering method that wouldn’t cause lead poisoning.

“That’s right. This is the first mass-produced item. Thanks to this, the food situation for the Liseben army will improve dramatically.”

Smiling, I opened the tin with a can opener. In my previous life, when canned food was first invented, can openers didn’t exist, and people had to scrape them against bricks to open them. But of course, as someone from the modern era, I had already developed can openers alongside the cans.

Inside the tin was boiled chicken. The aroma filled the room along with the steam. The crow girl, who had been gulping down bean soup, stopped in her tracks and looked at me with sparkling eyes. Ever since we met, she had been eating non-stop. Lady Dalaiya might be untrustworthy, but the food shortage might be real.

“You mean this is food too?”

“It’s boiled chicken. Do you want some?”

“I’ll gladly take it!”

The crow girl smiled brightly and nodded. I served her a portion of the chicken on a plain plate. Uru, beaming, picked up a fork with her toes and began eating. This was my first time really observing the feet of a bird-person. Their structure is very different from other humanoid creatures here. They were more like hands than feet. They were skillful but probably not suited for long-distance walking. 

Well, they can fly, so it likely doesn’t inconvenience them much.

“My lord, you really are not like a noble. You even serve the food yourself.”

The village chief shrugged, slightly exasperated.

“I come from a family of lower-ranking knights. Even if I try to act noble, it shows quickly. So I might as well behave simply from the start.”

In noble etiquette, servants usually lifted the spoon for you, but the Blondin family could only afford a few servants. Naturally, I often had to handle chores myself. Even after becoming a baron and later a castellan, this habit didn’t change.

…No wonder I get looked down on in high society. But having others help with dressing would be a real hassle. Completely ridiculous.

“I see… Well, that makes it easier for us to deal with, I suppose?”

The village chief said this with a half-smile and took a bite of the chicken she had served herself.

“Oh, this is good.”

“See? Even after one or two months, it won’t spoil. Isn’t it convenient?”

I also tried my portion. Simple flavor with just salt and herbs, but not bad. No strange metallic taste. Yes, this could safely be served to soldiers. Many prototypes were inedible. This was truly a moment of satisfaction.

“It’s hard to believe. And you didn’t use any magic at all?”

Gilberto chewed the chicken with a surprised look.

“Indeed. For morale, this is a wonderful invention. Living off dried or smoked food day after day is tough…”

“The cost is high, and mass production is difficult, that’s the problem. But with more craftsmen, the cost will drop. Once mass production is feasible, we could even distribute them to villages for disaster preparedness.”

As I discussed this with Gilberto, Sonia summoned a subordinate to bring something. It was a familiar ceramic bottle.

“Here, Lord Al.”

“Ah, thank you.”

It was the cheap white wine I had bought in the royal capital. I gratefully accepted a pour and took a sip. The crisp, refreshing taste complemented the light chicken perfectly. A nice touch of evening relaxation.

“Uru-dono, would you like some wine?”

“You’re offering me alcohol too? Thank you very much!”

The crow girl’s smile widened. Good, good, not a bad impression. She was, in effect, a public spy, but that didn’t mean I’d treat her poorly. On the contrary, the more hospitality I show, the better. If she sided with us, perfect. If not, at least I didn’t want her to hold any ill will. This was, in essence, a diplomatic battle.

…A diplomatic battle using canned chicken and cheap table wine? How pathetic… Though, canned food was actually cutting-edge technology in this world. Still, my sense from my previous life made this exchange feel oddly awkward.

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