The Journey Begins
Chapter 37: The Journey (1)
The outskirts of the Pherow Fief.
With Sir Leila serving as the chief knight, five knights and a hundred soldiers were rapidly heading south, surrounding a single carriage.
The carriage bore the flag symbolizing the Pherow family, letting everyone know that the Lord was riding inside.
The embroidered Red Dragon fluttered majestically in the wind.
No one doubted that this was the guardian dragon of the family, but there was a hidden family secret behind it.
Originally, the guardian dragon was a Gold Dragon.
Until about 150 years ago, the Pherow family used embroidery stitched with a Gold Dragon. However, because thread made of gold leaf was far too expensive, they switched to embroidery using regular red thread instead.
"It's all a product of poverty," Jeron sighed, looking at the family seal.
It had gone too far now to suddenly reveal that the family's guardian dragon was actually a Gold Dragon.
As the Lord's carriage passed through the fief, the working fief people prostrated themselves on the ground to show their respect.
Jeron cleared the useless grumbling from his mind and focused on the scenery outside the window.
The neatly arranged rectangular plots.
This was the result of the land survey and land consolidation projects. Not only near the lake, but even the outskirts of the fief were being neatly organized.
In addition to the changes in the layout, there was a remarkable transformation in cleanliness. The sight of dung rolling around haphazardly was now nowhere to be found.
In just a few short months, the fief had undergone a change close to a complete renewal. Thinking back to the past when the stench was severe, he never wanted to return to those days.
The peaceful scenery flowed past.
The heat intensified as they headed further south, but at this exact moment while the carriage was moving, it was reasonably bearable. Even if it was a muggy breeze, it was better than standing still under the scorching sun.
Jeron sat on the incredibly stiff carriage seat, thinking about the tasks he needed to handle in the Hanes Earldom.
First was the matter related to Dark Moon, the intelligence organization that had been passed down through generations in his family.
A secret organization wasn't called secret for no reason. He knew that their information gathering was strangely fast for a medieval setting, but he had simply assumed it was because Arch Pherow was a somewhat progressive person. He never imagined they were actually operating a full-fledged intelligence network.
The number of Dark Moon operatives active in the North reached as many as two hundred.
People of various ages, genders, and occupations were active. Furthermore, since it was an organization handed down over several generations, it was said to be extremely well-structured.
If Arch Pherow had died without handing over the organization to Jeron, he would have only found out after opening the will.
The second goal was to form a magic circle.
After traveling back and forth between Earth and the Karen Continent for several months, Jeron's mana had begun to flow throughout his entire body. While this alone provided various positive effects to his physical form, he expected that his sensory perception would expand significantly once he successfully formed a circle.
Since he would be able to use magic, there was also the expectation that he could move around Earth more stably. The weight of his luggage and his duration of stay could also increase drastically.
Lastly, he aimed to establish a branch of the fief's merchant group in the Hanes Earldom. Since Duke Langton had volunteered to be Jeron's backer, opening branches across the entire country wasn't a difficult task.
While some political maneuvering was necessary for fiefs belonging to other factions, as long as the territories belonged to the Crown Prince's faction, offering a few small bribes would be more than enough to set up a branch.
"Having good connections really pays off."
Though they were artificially created connections, that was just how human society worked. One could receive various forms of help through those connections, and like the case of the Levion Viscounty, they could play a decisive role in rising in rank. It wasn't without reason that Viscount Levion had been frantically throwing bribes around.
This world was so insular that Earth's school ties and regional connections couldn't even compare.
The carriage was entering the newly incorporated Lavilla Plains.
As the drought continued this year, the cracked and parched earth came into full view. Because it didn't rain, even weeds struggled to grow. Since it was quite far from the lake, connecting a waterway all the way here seemed to require an immense amount of labor.
Still, it wasn't a land that could be abandoned. Jeron had recognized the value of this land since he was young. It wasn't the grayish, acidic soil of the North, but loess soil perfectly suited for farming.
If he could just connect a waterway here, it could support the entire population and military force of the fief, not to mention allow them to store surplus grain.
As Jeron was lost in these various thoughts, he was suddenly brought back to his senses by a clear, resonant voice.
"My Lord! The sun is setting. What shall we do?"
"Has time flown by like that already?"
Sir Leila matched her pace alongside Jeron's carriage. Jeron glanced at her face for a moment. An expressionless but loyal face. She possessed a taciturn personality along with the diligence to faithfully execute her assigned duties. She was completely different from her younger sister, Seria, who was following along with the merchant group.
Jeron looked up at the sky. The sun had sunk far into the distance, casting a brilliant red hue over everything. They were gradually leaving the section of the Lavilla Plains. Camping inside a forest filled with all sorts of dangerous elements was not a good choice.
"We stop here and set up camp."
"Yes, my Lord!"
As soon as the command was given, Sir Leila skillfully took charge and led the troops. The formation was set up centering around Jeron's carriage.
On the outer perimeter, the luggage wagons brought by the merchant group were lined up in a long row to serve as a primary defensive barrier in case of an intrusion by bandits, thieves, or monsters.
People moved around busily. Jeron was the only one who leisurely stepped down from the carriage and scooped up a handful of parched earth. The soil crumbled away without a single trace of moisture.
"The soil quality is remarkably soft."
The particles weren't that large, and there weren't many pebbles to hinder farming. Rolling the soil in his palm, Jeron took a sniff.
'It's definitely loess.'
Jeron wasn't a professional farmer, but back when he lived on Earth, he had farmed just to survive. Therefore, there was no way he didn't know the characteristics of loess soil. Since this place hadn't been cultivated for a long time, crops would grow phenomenally well as long as there was enough water.
Wresting the Lavilla Plains away from Viscount Levion had been a wise decision.
"My Lord! The preparations for the meal are finished!"
"Understood."
While Jeron was deep in thought, Sir Leila had completed all the preparations and reported to him. In an instant, she had positioned the carriages and wagons on the perimeter and posted sentries. Afterward, she sent scouts out in all directions while simultaneously pitching tents and having the soldiers cook.
Even though she was a woman, the men followed Leila's orders well. **This was also because she had recently been appointed to a financial role, officially gaining status as a trusted vassal, and her authority had grown alongside her rise in rank.**
Once a makeshift table was set up, Jeron's meal was served upon it.
"Ha... Damn medieval times."
He hadn't expected a gourmet feast out in the open, but this was a bit much. A soup of questionable origin, two pieces of black bread, and a single piece of dried, completely moistureless jerky made up his dinner.
Jeron only got to eat the jerky because he was the Lord; the soldiers and knights were easing their hunger with just bread and soup. Naturally, expecting it to taste good was pure greed.
'Is this stuff even meant for humans to eat?'
Living on the Karen Continent for eighteen years, he had given up on the joys of eating. However, once he became able to farm resources from Earth, his sleeping taste buds had awakened all at once. Consequently, his tongue utterly rejected the food before his eyes.
"My Lord, do you not have an appetite?"
Sir Leila quickly finished her meal by soaking her black bread in the soup. In this place, the concept of savoring flavors didn't exist. It felt more like shoving food down just to stay alive.
"Dammit. Sir Burken!"
"Yes, my Lord!"
Sir Burken, who had been eating nearby, came running over in a hurry.
"Did we not bring some live chickens from the fief?"
"Yes! By your command, my Lord, we brought about thirty chickens."
"Prepare them. I can't take this anymore. It's the first day of our journey, so we should at least set the mood. I shall cook myself."
"What?! Yo-you mean with your own hands, my Lord?" Burken asked, completely startled.
Regardless, Jeron went his own way.
"I shall show you the skill of an experienced chef."
***
All thirty chickens were prepared. Leaving it to the soldiers took only a brief moment, and Jeron soaked the chickens in milk for a short while.
'I originally planned to do this halfway through the trip, but...'
Jeron was preparing a luxurious meal. The reason he had brought along old chickens that were right on the verge of being discarded was due to his romance with wanting to eat fried chicken out in the open. Did anyone in this primitive world ever have the chance to meet fried chicken face-to-face?
To begin with, this was a world where the very idea of deep-frying something in oil didn't even cross people's minds. When there wasn't even enough grain to eat, who would press oil just to fry things? They did use pig or cow fat, but that was considered the exclusive luxury of nobles.
Furthermore, if he fried chicken in animal fat, he couldn't even imagine what it would taste like, so he had given up on it. But this time, he had obtained a few jugs of soybean oil from Earth.
Vegetable oil barely existed on the Karen Continent, and even if it did, it produced a lot of residue. That meant it was highly wasteful. Since they didn't have hydraulic machinery to press it, they couldn't conceive of pressing vegetable oil efficiently.
The sensation he felt when he discovered soybean oil on Earth was indescribable.
Jeron received a second shock because of a bag he found right next to the soybean oil.
[Manufacturer: Haepo]
[Chicken Frying Powder]
It wasn't regular flour or general frying powder; it was specifically chicken frying powder. Fried chicken only required chicken, oil, and frying powder. Wasn't this the true Holy Trinity?
Employing Sir Leila as his kitchen assistant, he had her make a thin batter.
Buzz, buzz.
People began to gather around the scene of the cooking. In their eyes, the sight of the Lord and Sir Leila cooking together must have looked incredibly bizarre.
Sir Leila chopped the chickens taken out of the milk at a rapid pace. Jeron submerged the chicken pieces into the thin batter, pulled them out, and coated them with the chicken frying powder once more. After that, he dropped them into the heated oil.
Shhhhhhhk!
"Ooh!"
An indescribably savory aroma began to spread out in all directions.
The vast majority of the people present were likely seeing something being deep-fried for the very first time in their lives. Everyone flared their nostrils and drooled. Even Jeron was going crazy from the smell of the chicken frying, so there was no need to speak of the soldiers.
Fifteen minutes in the boiling oil. The time was strictly observed using a stopwatch.
Because they fried them in a massive cauldron, cooking all thirty chickens didn't take very long. Jeron, along with everyone else, stared longingly at the finished products.
Using up the very last drop of oil, Jeron poured the remaining batter into the cauldron to make something similar to a pancake.
Jeron handed down the cruel sentence of one chicken per four people, but everyone looked as if they were dying of curiosity to know what it tasted like.
The knights received one chicken per two people, and Jeron allocated a whole chicken to himself.
Gulp!
Eating fried chicken for the first time in nearly twenty years, Jeron picked up a delicious-looking drumstick.
"Let's eat!"
It was finally time to greet the fried chicken.