Highly Developed Bread (3)
Highly Developed Bread (3)
"Bread made from real wheat is this delicious. I really wasted my life..."
Luna murmured with a dazed look in her eyes.
"No, not all bread is like that—this one's made a bit special."
Gluten-free food isn't about using flour without gluten—it's just not using flour at all.
You make it with rice flour or corn starch.
Depending on the type, some can even taste better than ones made with flour.
But when it comes to baked goods, it's hard to surpass flour.
Because gluten itself is a protein that makes bread dough chewy and puffs it up.
Just as rice is the essence of rice meals, flour is the essence of bread.
"The brioche bun in the Marshall Burger you eat is also made with corn flour, not wheat."
"So that's why Hildea-nim tried my Marshall Burger before and never asked for it again?"
"After all, a bun made with wheat flour is a bit tastier."
Despair clouded Luna's face.
"D-Does that also go for refusing the Mint Choco Cake? Is it because it's not made with flour?"
"...No, that's just because it's mint chocolate. Hildea-nim's palate is too childish to realize the greatness of mint choco."
Luna had perceived the flour class.
As if she had glimpsed the wall of 9th Class but couldn't overcome it, a tormenting anguish was peeking through.
***
Elenoa arrived at the capital before dinner.
With this, all the women around me... except for Yuzel, were gathered.
For dinner, I baked a lot of castella bread and served it.
Whipping and baking were easily solved with field cooking equipment.
Elenoa also gave high praise to the soft, moist taste of the castella.
"Sir Valkenhart, this is truly amazing! The culinary culture of the North is truly high-class!"
"Haha... The North originally had barren food supplies, so it developed in the direction of creating the most delicious cooking methods possible..."
Hildea glanced at me and glossed over it with a forced laugh.
While Hildea, Rebecca, and Elenoa were happily enjoying the castella...
Only Luna had a downcast expression.
"Luna, is rice castella not that good?"
"No, it's delicious. This is also really delicious, but with wheat castella right in front of me..."
"Just eat the wheat castella, Luna. You can just receive Healing Grace later."
"R-Really? But I already did that during the day, can I do it again?"
"A person should eat what they want to eat to their heart's content. And the priest is standing by, so eat comfortably."
"Thank you for the food!"
They say you can reset acute allergies with the combination of the Fentanyl Kit and Healing Grace, but the pain and discomfort before that must be enormous.
'Could it be that if you reach 9th Class, your allergies disappear or something?'
Elenoa was very satisfied with the castella.
"It's impressive with a light and soft taste different from the greasiness of the Marshall Burger. It feels like a dessert you can eat endlessly?"
Elenoa doesn't ask uncomfortable questions like the source of the flour.
She only asks what's absolutely necessary to know.
"Good heavens, you mean there's absolutely no foreign matter like husks mixed in?"
"That's right, Sir Elenoa. Take a look at this color."
"Oh my, it's really white and pretty. It's not flour, it's more like magic reagent powder."
Even at the tasting event earlier, the nobles couldn't stop marveling at the pure white, clean flour.
White flour with no foreign matter like husks is something even a king finds hard to eat.
Because sifting all of that out is no ordinary task.
"It seems many have come from foreign lands to participate in the flour auction. I'm really looking forward to how the auction will go tomorrow."
"Nunim, please don't participate. I'll set some aside for you separately."
"Thanks, Piel. Thank you, Sir Valkenhart."
"B-Between us, isn't it only natural to take care of something like this for you, Sir Elenoa? Hahaha..."
For reference, the place we're staying at is the Anvelrum family's villa.
It was a place that had been attacked once due to a disturbance by Luna and the knights, but it's been repaired and is now fine.
"Duke Rosenberg, wasn't it a good thing you didn't completely destroy the mansion back then? See how useful it is now."
"...Sir Elenoa, shall we bury the past and move forward in a future-oriented way?"
These days, Elenoa keeps throwing teasing jokes whenever she sees Luna.
It seems she hasn't forgotten the grudge of the raw chicken, so I also recall that time for no reason and feel awkward.
***
Auction day.
From early morning, carriages ceaselessly came in and out of the Anvelrum family villa.
In the wide garden, many round tables covered with white tablecloths were set up.
The nobles sat calmly in their assigned seats, waiting for the auction to begin.
To soothe their boredom, one piece each of yesterday's sandwich bread and castella was served as a service on white plates.
"Oh, this was the exact taste."
"I was so excited by this taste yesterday that I couldn't sleep properly and tossed and turned."
"Truly a remarkable taste."
Meanwhile, the nobles who couldn't attend yesterday's tasting event sampled the taste belatedly and fell into tremendous shock.
"How can this be! This is wheat bread! How can it be this soft?"
"Not even the Imperial Palace's head chef could bake wheat bread this soft!"
"Damn it, what the hell is this castella bread! How can such a bread exist!"
Nobles from both the kingdom and the empire who tasted it for the first time were greatly shocked.
'We must secure as much of this special flour as possible.'
'We must purchase at least 100 tons.'
'Since it can be stored frozen with Freezing Magic for up to two years, we absolutely must secure enough for our family to eat for two years.'
All the nobles burned with zeal.
Silent auction—no need to raise your voice.
You just lift your table number sign to join the race.
Finally, Piel stepped up onto the high platform.
"Thank you for participating in the Einshban flour auction. Distinguished guests, you may bid with goods other than food supplies."
Everyone swallowed dryly.
Hildea, Rebecca, Luna, and Elenoa also watched with sweaty palms.
'What kind of magical device makes the sound echo so loudly and far?'
'Could it be a magical device newly developed by Duchess Luna Rosenberg?'
The nobles watched in wonder as Piel's voice speaking into the microphone echoed through the loudspeaker.
"The auction will proceed in 1-ton units, and a total of 100 tons is prepared for today."
At that moment, an uproar erupted.
"Only 100 tons! Who the hell is that supposed to be for!"
"There are well over hundreds of noble houses gathered here, and only 100 tons!"
"At this rate, we'll all die! This is absurd!"
It was understandable for the nobles to raise an uproar.
Assuming one mana knight eats only bread, they need 30 tons of flour per year.
Mages don't need quite that much but eat more than commoners.
And most nobles are either knights or mages.
With hundreds of houses gathered, auctioning only 100 tons easily looks like a high-level provocation telling them all to drop dead.
"Ah, please stop with the misunderstandings. The auction will not be held only today."
The nobles, who seemed ready to rise up immediately, finally calmed their anger with heavy huffs.
"The auction is scheduled to be held every three days. We are proceeding slowly for the sake of distinguished guests from other kingdoms who have not yet received the news or were late departing and could not participate, so please understand."
"Hmm, if that's the case..."
"So 100 tons isn't all of it—that's a relief."
"Still, 100 tons is too little. This is going to be a bloodbath competition from day one."
Piel shouted.
"Then first, 1 ton of flour! As you'll know from yesterday and today's tastings, it's the best flour that needs no further words!"
The nobles were all very curious about the source of the flour.
But out of fear that unnecessary questions would make the Sword Master uncomfortable, they couldn't ask outright and each made their own deductions.
Some thought it was the emperor's exclusive wheat received from the Imperial Emperor.
Others thought it was a mysterious wheat secretly growing somewhere in the Elf Forest like the One-Horned Rabbit.
The common point was that they were more focused on the fact that they could make the sandwich bread and castella they had tasted, rather than where the flour came from.
If the product is good and the auction host's identity is clear, the source doesn't matter.
Making a fuss about the source can be done as a venting of anger after failing to win the bid.
"The bidding item is hay! Starting price is 3 tons! Increments are 100 kg!"
Signs went up all at once.
"3.1 tons, 3.1 tons has been bid. Is there anyone to bid 3.2 tons?"
Again, a tremendous number of signs went up, and Piel quickly raised the increment.
"Raise the bidding price to 3.5 tons. Increments are 500 kg!"
Signs went up once more.
Many shook their signs quickly, demanding that the increment price be raised faster.
Piel proceeded with the auction quickly.
It was a quiet auction conducted only with signs without shouting, but the atmosphere was as rowdy and heated as could be.
Was it because of the excitement of the first auction?
The upward trend went up like crazy, and before they knew it, it had surpassed 20 tons of hay.
Nobles who thought that 20 times the hay was too much even if flour was precious began to give up one by one.
Only two competitors were racing.
"100 tons! 100 tons has been bid! Is there anyone to call 101 tons? If not, this will close!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"The 1st auction of 1 ton of flour has been won by the distinguished guest at table 171!"
The nobles' backs were drenched in sweat.
Even if it's hull-free flour and hay, a 100-times exchange value, really.
'It's been intense from the start.'
'This isn't going to be easy...'
"Starting the auction for 1 ton of flour! This time, it's lamp oil! Only seal and whale oil can be bid! Starting price is 3 tons of oil!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Yes! Won by customer number 171 for 50 tons of oil!"
"The bidding item this time is linen cloth! Starting price is 3 tons!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Yes! Won by customer number 171 for 100 tons!"
"This time..."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Once again..."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"To customer number 171..."
Something strange was happening.
Customer number 171 was sweeping up the flour one after another.
The nobles, bewildered, looked at table 171.
'How can they sweep up everything?'
'How can this be?'
Each territory has its own specialty products.
In some territories, lamp oil is scarce, and in others, cloth is lacking.
So the houses were strategically participating in the auction with their key specialty products.
But that table 171 was participating in everything, regardless of the item.
'Which house could it be?'
'Their face is covered, so I can't tell who it is...'
A noble young lady with her face covered by a veil, accompanied by two sturdy knights as guards.
The nobles had no way of guessing who it was.
'If they're equipped to handle all those various items, could it be the Barcos Merchantry?'
'But even the Barcos Merchantry has been having trouble securing supplies these days...'
As the atmosphere became unsettled, Piel declared a brief break.
"We will take a 30-minute break!"
***
I had briefly stopped the auction to confirm whether customer 171 had the ability to pay.
Participating indiscriminately in every single product like this is something even the wealthy Anvelrum territory couldn't do.
'If they bid all they want and then say they'll pay in gold coins, that would be a headache.'
Since nobles are arrogant and clueless, they might do something like that.
'I didn't hold this auction because I need gold coins. I need daily necessities for the residents.'
I had customer 171 quietly brought to me separately.
It was a young noble lady wearing a veil, so her face couldn't be seen.
"Dear guest, I deeply apologize, but since you have won bids on so many items, a small verification of your guarantee was needed, so I had you brought here. Please forgive... Guest?"
Suddenly, the young lady came running at me and threw herself into my arms.
A scent of perfume I had never smelled before came from her hair, but I realized in an instant.
"Could you be Yuzel?"
"Supply Officer-nim! Supply Officer-nim! Waaaah! I'm hungry!"