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Now back on her horse, Clara was feeling conflicted.
She had been in a tight spot earlier, but why on earth had she let those thoughts cross her mind?
Kill Kota and then kill myself?
Preposterous!
And beyond that, take Kota as a groom for the Ansbach family? It was absolutely laughable.
For starters, Kota was a married man who had left a wife behind in his own world. There was no way such a person could become a groom. Besides, she and Kota shared a master-servant relationship.
“…Sigh.”
Clara let out a long breath. She was acting like a young girl of fifteen or sixteen, despite the fact that she was already twenty—practically an “old maid” by local standards.
In this world, one is considered an adult at fifteen. Marriages are generally arranged around that age. However, Clara had reached twenty without a fiancé. This was due to several factors: she was an only child, and her father had been away at war for a long time. The fact that her mother had passed away when Clara was young was also an issue.
Eventually, Clara would have to take a husband or adopt an heir to ensure the survival of the Ansbach line. But even so, considering Kota as a potential candidate was sheer madness. If she were to take a groom, those around her wouldn’t be satisfied unless he was chosen from the sons of the appropriate nobility within the Kingdom of Saxens.
Clara let out another heavy sigh.
I heard a loud sigh from atop Blitz. I wondered if even Clara-sama was getting a bit tired after hunting in the snow. The accumulation was only about ten centimeters, but moving around in full armor must be exhausting. Since it was cold, the snow was powdery and dry, making it incredibly difficult to walk through the forest.
Still, that’s one massive deer. I took another look at the animal lying on the sled. It seemed to be a different species from the Japanese deer I knew. It had to be over three meters long. Even at the shoulder, it was taller than my 178-centimeter frame. Its antlers spread out flat and wide, making it look closer to a moose like the ones found in North America or Northern Europe.
“Is this… delicious?” I asked Clara-sama.
“Venison has very little gaminess and is quite easy to eat. Around here, it’s often grilled as is or prepared as a stew. I’ll have Jutta prepare a deer dish tonight, so you should try it as well, Kota.”
Jutta-san was Egon-san’s wife. While Egon-san was thin and small, Jutta-san was large and round like a beer barrel. She had a grand, easygoing personality to match. Her favorite phrase was, “Young people need to eat plenty,” and she always served me massive portions.
“Then I’ll have to work hard on the butchering.”
“Indeed. However, I didn’t expect you to have zero experience in field dressing prey, Kota.”
“I’m sorry.”
Unfortunately, I hadn’t picked up a skill for that. I was pretty good at sowing seeds, though.
She had told me to do some of the butchering by a stream in the forest, but there was no way I could do it when I’d never even gutted a fish. I wondered if her opinion of me had dropped? Apparently, you have to remove the internal organs immediately, or it affects the taste of the meat. We’d better get home as fast as possible.
Butchering, huh… I remembered seeing some hunting-related books at the bookstore. I thought I recalled one that explained how to dress game. It might be a good idea to gather information that would be useful for life here—things like fishing techniques or bushcraft. If they’re sold as e-books, it would be convenient to download them onto my smartphone. I’d have to remember to check when I got back home.
Just as Clara-sama had said, dinner was a venison stew. Jutta-san served me a mountain of stew, just like always.
“Come now, young people have to eat a lot!”
“Yes, ma’am. It looks delicious.”
I had walked a lot in the snow, so I was starving. Today, I felt like I could easily handle Jutta-san’s “portion attack.”
Dinner usually consisted of Egon-san, Jutta-san, and me sharing a table. Since Clara-sama was the head of the house, she ate alone without dining with the servants. Egon-san and I took turns serving her, but I wondered if she felt lonely. Then again, even if she did, she didn’t seem like the type to let it show.
The venison stew was easy to eat and lacked any gamey taste, just as I’d been told. If I hadn’t known beforehand, I would have thought I was eating lean, odorless beef. The meat had been simmered with beer and onions, so I actually noticed the aroma, bitterness, and acidity of the beer more than anything else.
Well, even calling it “beer,” it was a bit different from Japanese beer. It was more viscous—it had a thick, syrupy feel to it. The carbonation was low, too. Plus, they used old beer for cooking, so it was quite sour. Still, that unique flavor was actually quite good.
“How’s the taste?”
“It’s… mellow~”
“What a strange way to put it. Well, as long as you like it, that’s what matters. There’s plenty for seconds, so make sure you eat your fill.”
This was the first meat dish I’d been served since coming to this world. Just as Jutta-san told me, I ate plenty.
But the flavor was a bit one-note, and I found myself getting bored with it halfway through. I really wanted something to give the dish a bit of an accent.
“Jutta-san. Do you have any pepper or anything?”
“Pepper?! Only kings and popes use stuff like that. Stop talking nonsense and finish your food!”
Yikes. No spices, then? Next time I go back, I should probably buy a full set of spices. If I want better meals, that’s definitely the way to go.
The snow that started yesterday afternoon turned into a blizzard by midnight and continued until morning. Looking out at the world covered in a layer of powder that looked like sifted powdered sugar, it really hit me: the “Weather Prediction” skill is definitely not a trash skill.
If we had kept hunting yesterday like that, things could have gotten pretty ugly. If we’d gone deep into the forest, getting back would have been a nightmare; at worst, we might have been forced to camp overnight. Since life here is much closer to nature than back on Earth, the weather is linked much more intimately to daily survival.
According to my skill, it’ll be clear both today and tomorrow. It would have been a disaster to have heavy snow on the day of our departure, so I’m truly relieved.
Still, I wonder if the bike will be okay in this much snow. It has off-road tires, but I’m still worried. I’m heading back to the other side tomorrow, so I think I’ll buy some tire chains for the bike. Also, since it seems incredibly cold, I feel like I should get some grip heaters to keep the handlebars warm. I really don’t want to carry the bike back and forth again, so I’ll have to do the installation myself.
With a daily wage of only 600 Marques, I’m paying quite a bit out of my own pocket for these supplies. Well, it’s fun and my skills are increasing, so I guess it’s fine.
“Hey, Kota! We’re starting the snow shoveling!”
I was interrupted from my mental shopping list by Egon-san. Apparently, we were to finish the shoveling before breakfast. He handed me a tool that was nothing more than a board nailed to a stick.
I’m supposed to shovel snow with this? It looks incredibly difficult to use.
“Come on, let’s get moving.”
…I’m definitely buying a plastic snow shovel, too.
Once the snow shoveling was done, it was time for armor maintenance.
“First, we polish this armor until it gleams. Armor is a knight’s status and their symbol. No slacking allowed.”
Apparently, this task isn’t just for looks; it’s also to remove rust. Iron products are extremely valuable here. It’s said that the first things thieves go for are pots, kettles, and knives. Because of that, plate mail is incredibly expensive and serves as a symbol of a knight’s status.
“Egon-san. About how much does a set of plate armor cost?”
“Let’s see. I’ve heard a custom-made set costs over five million Marques.”
It’s like a luxury car, then. Some sets even cost tens of millions. Because of the price, most knights don’t buy new armor; they inherit it through generations. Clara-sama also inherited the armor of her father, who died in battle, when she took over the head of the house. I heard she managed to get his armor resized to make it work.
Egon-san and I split up the parts and started polishing the armor.
…But man, this polishing powder is really coarse. It’s not getting very shiny.
…Fine. I’ll buy some proper abrasive compound, too.
Once we finished polishing the armor, it was time for weapon maintenance.
“I’m going to teach you how to sharpen a broadsword now, so follow me.”
I followed Egon-san while thinking that he could have just brought the whetstone here instead of making us change rooms.
“Alright, let’s get to sharpening.”
“…”
I see why we changed rooms. In the corner of a small storage shed sat a large machine with a circular whetstone about 40 centimeters in diameter. When Egon-san stepped on a foot pedal, the stone began to spin like a grinder.
So they sharpen things with a massive contraption like this. And from the look of it, the stone is very coarse-grained. It doesn’t look like I’ll get a perfect finish unless I use finer particles.
…I’m buying a set of whetstones, too.
“Oooh, the cold is seeping into my bones. My back is killing me!”
“…”
Adding thermal underwear to the list…
What else should I bring back?
Shopping List-Books useful for life here-Various spices-Tire chains-Grip heaters-Snow shovel-Abrasive/polishing compound-Whetstone set-Thermal underwear (for Egon-san and Jutta-san)-Souvenir for Clara-sama-Souvenir for Ria and the others-Food-Weapons (research online)-Armor (research online)
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