When I asked that, Poncho pulled out a map and pointed to an area in the northeast of the Gran Chaos Empire.
“There is a people in the mountains of the Gran Chaos Empire who harvest the beguiling lily and use it as their staple food. They’ve developed a peculiar method of harvesting them, yes.”
“What is that method?” I asked.
“They use the shoujou for it, you see, yes.”
“The shoujou… They’re a type of orangutan, right?” I wondered aloud, to which Poncho nodded.
“Among the varieties of orangutan that live in the mountains, one species has a resistance to the effects of beguiling lily pollen. It seems these orangutans regularly dig up the rootstalks and eat them. The mountain people of the Empire have trained these orangutans to do the harvesting for them.”
I see, so like the cormorants used in cormorant fishing, huh, I thought. Taming them would normally be the hard part, but… we have an expert in that field in our country.
“Are those orangutans here in Amidonia, too?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said. “It seems they live in the mountains near Van, too. I already have Tomoe negotiating with them for us. The shoujou are famous for their love of alcohol, so I suspect they’ll happily work for us if we give them a barrel once in a while in lieu of money, yes.”
“…It’s good to see that you work so quickly,” I said.
Not only do we have the Rhinosaurus Preserve, now we’re making the Van Ape Army, too, huh, I thought. At this rate, I could turn Elfrieden into a literal animal kingdom. Ha ha ha…
“…Hey, Liscia,” I said.
“What?” she asked.
“If you think this policy is too crazy, you’re welcome to stop it, okay?”
“…Don’t look to me to make that decision.”
Liscia turned away, refusing to have anything to do with this.
One week (eight days) later, the food distributed in Van included a dumpling made with the root of the beguiling lily (lily root for short).
“We are distributing lily root dumplings here, yes,” said Poncho.
Poncho, the Minister for the Food Crisis himself, stood at the distribution site, personally handing out lily root dumpling soup to the people of Van. The food crisis had affected Amidonia deeply, so the people of Van lined up with pots in hand to take their soup ration home with them. In addition to the soup being distributed, there was also some on hand for tasting, and he was serving it to the people who had lined up for it.
“It really warms you up,” said one woman. “This is better than I expected.”
“The soup itself has a nice flavor to it,” another agreed. “I think it was called miso, right?”
“These dumplings, I bet they’d taste good fried, too, huh?” a third commented. “I’d love to try cooking them myself.”
As housewives of Van were talking, Poncho called out to them. “W-We have lily root dumplings that you can take home here, too. I would very much like for you to bring them back with you and let your family try them, yes.”
When Poncho held up a bag filled with lily root dumplings, a gleam flashed through housewives’ eyes. Then, before he knew it, Poncho was surrounded by the ladies.
“My, how considerate,” said one. “It’s a big help, young man.”
“You, you’re one of that king’s personal retainers, right?” another asked. “Do you already have someone special to you?”
“Ah. No, I haven’t even considered marriage…” The moment Poncho said that, clearly flustered, there was a gleam in the housewives’ eyes.
“Why, splendid! My daughter is a sweet girl, you know,” said one woman. “Maybe you’d like to take her off my hands?”
“Hey, no fair!” another protested. “If you take a wife, it should be my daughter! She has good birthing hips, like me, so I can promise she’ll give you a healthy baby!”
“If she went to live with a portly fellow like yourself, I wouldn’t have to worry about her going hungry,” another added.
…And, before he knew it, they were already trying to set Poncho up with a wife.
When they heard all the noise, some of the young ladies even volunteered themselves for the position.
“He’s one of the king’s favorites, isn’t he?” a young woman asked. “Sounds like a keeper to me.”
“It’s a chance to marry into money,” another agreed. “Yes, yes! Sign me up for that.”
The next thing he knew, Poncho was being swarmed by women young and old alike. Souma had just recently shown them that it was okay to express themselves, so the women were very forthright with their emotions. For Poncho, who was not used to this sort of attention, he had no idea what to do and was standing there nervously, when…
“What are you doing, Sir Poncho?”
…someone called out to him with a voice that wasn’t loud, but which carried well.
When the many women looked towards the voice, they saw a beautiful woman in a maid outfit with a ladle in her hand. Seeing the maid’s stunning beauty, the women gulped despite themselves.
Then, of all things, that maid walked over to Poncho, wrapping herself around his thick arm. “I’ve come here at His Majesty’s request to assist you with your work because you’re so shy, you know? Do you mean to slack off while I’m working for you?”
The moment after she said that, Serina cast a glance at the crowd of women. Serina wasn’t glaring at them, precisely, but they felt intimidated by her beautiful face.
What’s a beauty like her doing next to a tubby guy like him?! they thought.
They were even arm-in-arm. Could it be they were in a scandalous relationship?
Paying no mind to the women’s feelings, Serina shot Poncho a meaningful glance. “Do be sure that you make this up to me later. I won’t be satisfied with doing it just once tonight.”
Whaa?! The ladies gasped at Serina’s suggestive words.
By the way, the thing that Serina wasn’t going to be satisfied only doing once that night was taste-testing Poncho’s experimental dishes. Serina had become enraptured with the dishes Poncho made based on the B-grade cuisine from the world Souma came from. In other words, she was saying she wouldn’t be satisfied taste-testing only one dish.
Poncho correctly understood what she meant, and he said, “Y-Yes! I will get right back to work, yes!” and returned to his job distributing food.
Serina gave an indifferent shrug, then turned and gave the women an elegant bow before following after Poncho.
The women could only watch as the two of them left, feeling like they had been tricked somehow.
…Well, while there were some troubles, the lily root dumplings were delicious both fried and boiled, which did a lot to calm and soothe the hearts of the occupied people.
The culture of eating lily roots spread to Van, and Poncho Ishizuka Panacotta, who had distributed the dumplings to them personally, became respected almost in a godlike way by the housewives of Van, who came to call him “Lord Ishizuka.”
Perhaps, someday, he would have shrines built to worship him, like the Billiken.
Chapter 2: Meeting on a Street Corner in Van
Late in the 10th month, 1,546th year, Continental Calendar — Princely Capital Van.
A little more than three weeks had passed since the army of the Elfrieden Kingdom had come to occupy Van, the capital of the Principality of Amidonia.
The people of Van had looked harshly on their conquerors when they’d first arrived. However, with Souma keeping a tight rein on his soldiers, public order had improved, and with the lily root dumplings being distributed, the people were no longer at risk of starvation. Their distrust of the soldiers was gradually fading as a result. The fact that the nobles and knights who would normally have worked to foment a rebellion had all fled the city likely helped, too.