Sauerkraut Juice And Pralines

“What?”

Apparently taken aback by my question, both knights froze.

The brown-haired man cautiously asked,

“Do you have some business with the knights at the fortress?”

“Yes, there’s something I’d like to discuss with them. Preferably, I’d like to speak with a knight of relatively high rank. Do you happen to know anyone?”

“The fortress commander is a married man, you know,” the black-haired man said with a low growl.

“Oh, is he? Well, whether he’s married or not doesn’t really matter…”

No, wait a moment.

Would a married man be more understanding of a family’s circumstances?

While I was lost in thought, the brown-haired man spoke up.

“Um, would you mind telling us what this is about? We might be able to help.”

The black-haired man had already seen the brownie living in my house during his previous visit. I decided to tell them everything without concealing anything.

“You might find this difficult to believe, but…”

I explained that the brownie living in my house was actually a banshee, that she had foretold the deaths of Cassie and her two children, that I’d stopped them from going to the fortress, and that Cassie wanted to turn down the job there…

By the time I’d finished telling them everything, the two men were exchanging grave looks.

“Lord Alvin…”

“Yes.”

The black-haired man turned toward me.

“Did the banshee predict that the soldiers at the fortress would die?”

“…? She didn’t mention anything about that. She only said that an illness would spread through the fortress.”

“I see…”

The black-haired man sighed and fell into thought.

I’d only been worried about Noah and his family, but now that I thought about it, the soldiers at the fortress were these men’s fellow knights. Of course they’d be concerned.

“Um, shall I go and ask the banshee?”

“Please do. I’d like to know more details.”

“All right.”

I wasn’t sure whether she’d tell me anything, but I decided to ask her anyway.

Just as I was about to stand up, however,

“Lydia, I’m right here.”

The banshee appeared, trembling all over.

“Banshee!”

“…So this is a banshee,” the black-haired man murmured.

“Lord Alvin, can you see her?”

“She has blue skin and blue hair. She’s a little girl, about knee-high. Can’t you see her, Dennis?”

“Well, I can vaguely make out something that looks like light, but…”

The black-haired man could apparently see the banshee quite clearly, while his brown-haired companion scratched his head apologetically.

In any case, I was grateful that she’d decided to show herself.

I turned to the banshee and asked,

“Banshee, I’d like to know whether the people at the fortress will also die from the illness that’s going to spread this winter. Can you tell us?”

The banshee wore an expression as though she were gazing through something far away before answering.

“A few will die. But not very many. The elderly and children in the nearby villages will die, though…”

“So it’s not an epidemic with a particularly high mortality rate, then.”

The banshee flinched when the black-haired man addressed her directly, but she answered in a tiny voice, “That’s right.”

The black-haired man continued questioning her.

“Will many people in town die as well? And will the owner of this house be safe?”

“…Lydia won’t die. A few people in town will die.”

“I see. In that case, the outbreak probably won’t originate within our territory. It’ll most likely be an epidemic brought over from the neighboring country.”

“We’ll need to take precautions.”

The two men began discussing the situation.

Surprised, I asked them,

“Do you two actually believe what the banshee is telling you?”

The banshee lived in my house and was practically a member of my family, so naturally, I believed her. But why were these two so readily accepting of her story?

The black-haired man turned toward me.

“Yes. In territories close to the border, it’s quite common for travelers from foreign countries to bring illnesses with them. Especially during winter.”

“We’ve also heard that a particularly nasty cold has been going around in the neighboring country.”

Apparently, they had access to their own sources of information, as one might expect of knights.

“I’m not saying we should unconditionally believe everything a fairy tells us, but we have no grounds to dismiss her words outright, either. If anything, her prophecy gives us an opportunity to prepare. Arrange for supplies that can help people maintain their strength and health to be transported to the fortress and the surrounding villages immediately.”

“Yes, understood.”

The brown-haired man nodded, but then his expression darkened.

“However, procuring supplies at this point will be difficult. We’ll have to think carefully about what we can realistically obtain.”

“Indeed.”

The black-haired man murmured this before suddenly turning toward me.

“Proprietor, do you have any suggestions?”

“Well, even if you ask me…”

It was winter, after all. They needed enough supplies for everyone at the fortress and in the surrounding villages, but no town was likely to have that much surplus food available.

I glanced at the dishes on the dining table and offered the first suggestion that came to mind.

“Oh, apparently this elderflower tea is good for colds.”

Since the herb grew practically everywhere, it was relatively easy to obtain.

“I see. Herbal tea, then.”

There was something else, though it wasn’t on the table.

“Yogurt is supposed to be good for your health, too.”

“Transporting cows to the fortress now would be impossible. They don’t even have a cowshed, and the animals probably wouldn’t survive the winter.”

The brown-haired man shook his head.

“Sauerkraut is supposed to be healthy, too.”

“I’ve often heard that from the older folk.”

The black-haired man’s comment reminded me of something.

“Um, an acquaintance of mine once told me that sauerkraut juice is also supposed to be good for your health.”

Sauerkraut was made by pickling cabbage with salt and caraway seeds, and the process produced a considerable amount of liquid.

Apparently, that liquid was drinkable.

I’d tried it once myself, and it certainly wasn’t what I’d call delicious. Still, it had seemed… healthy, somehow.

“The juice?”

“Sauerkraut itself is good for you, and the juice doesn’t cost anything extra.”

The brown-haired man seemed particularly pleased by the fact that it was free.

“Sauerkraut sounds promising. We should still be able to obtain cabbage somehow, even at this time of year.”

“Yes.”

The brown-haired man nodded.

“Still, if we only provide sour things, people might not be particularly happy about it.”

After all, we were talking about sauerkraut juice. Even knowing that it was supposed to be healthy, most people would probably hesitate to drink it.

“It would be nice if we could prepare something else that people would actually enjoy…”

The black-haired man murmured.

“Something they’d enjoy?”

“Yes. Since sauerkraut is sour, something sweet would be a good contrast. Can you think of anything relatively inexpensive that doesn’t require much effort to prepare?”

“In that case, how about pralines?”

“What are pralines?”

The black-haired man asked.

“They’re nuts such as hazelnuts, almonds, and walnuts that have been caramelized… Um, that is, coated in heated sugar. Shall I make some for you?”

It would probably be easier to understand if they tasted them rather than listened to my explanation.

The ingredients were hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, sugar, and water.

Walnuts grew abundantly around here. Since walnuts in their shells could be stored throughout the winter, practically every household should have some stockpiled.

First, I needed to shell the hazelnuts, almonds, and walnuts.

I fetched a nutcracker and was about to start cracking the shells when,

“I’ll do it.”

The black-haired man offered to help.

“Thank you. That would be a great help.”

Shelling nuts was tiring work even with a nutcracker, but the black-haired man and his brown-haired companion cracked one shell after another without the slightest difficulty.

Once shelled, the nuts were roasted over medium heat for several minutes.

They would have been delicious enough to eat just like that, but this time, I was making pralines.

I added equal amounts of water and sugar to a frying pan and heated them. I had to be careful not to reduce the mixture too much, or it would burn.

Once the sugar had dissolved, I added the nuts and quickly stirred everything together to coat them.

“And that’s all there is to it.”

It was a simple confection that took only a few minutes to make, but the caramel and freshly roasted nuts gave it a wonderfully rich, fragrant flavor. The fact that it could be made in large quantities also satisfied the black-haired man’s requirements.

Although they were still hot, the two men immediately began crunching away at the pralines to sample them.

“These would probably taste just as good once they’ve cooled, wouldn’t they?”

“The fact that they’re so easy to make with nothing but sugar and nuts is excellent. Sugar is expensive, but if these are the only ingredients we need, we should be able to secure enough.”

“Good. Let’s go with these.”

Our country relied on imports for its sugar, which made it expensive. However, because Goran’s territory obtained its sugar from the neighboring country across the border, it was somewhat cheaper here than in the royal capital.

Even so, sugar was undeniably a luxury commodity. Just who were these men, that they could immediately decide to purchase it in enormous quantities?

Once again, a faint suspicion crossed my mind.

No, no. I had absolutely no desire to get dragged into anything troublesome. I’d simply pretend I knew nothing and leave it at that.

Under normal circumstances, the central knights and regional military forces such as the Goran Knight Order had little to do with one another. We central knights were only dispatched to the provinces when some kind of disturbance occurred.

Count Goran governed his territory well, and it was a peaceful and prosperous region.

Since there was no need for our involvement in such a place, I possessed only the most superficial knowledge of Goran’s territory.

Furthermore, perhaps because the lord of Goran wasn’t particularly fond of socializing, he rarely visited the royal capital except to attend the bare minimum of official ceremonies.

Consequently, I didn’t even know what he looked like.

And he, in turn, probably had no idea what Lydia Venesca, a royal palace magic knight, looked like.

The formal uniform of a royal palace magic knight included a mask, which concealed almost the entire face. Supposedly, the masks were a tradition dating back to ancient times, when people had feared magic users. The real reason, however, was to prevent individual knights from being identified.

While I was absently thinking about such things, the black-haired man and his companion stood up.

“We’ve certainly imposed on you today. Here, this is payment for the recipe, the sweets, and lunch.”

With that, he actually tried to leave an entire gold coin behind.

I hurriedly pushed it back toward him.

“I can’t possibly accept this much!”

“But I’d really like to do something to thank you.”

“If that’s the case, could you arrange for the knights at the fortress to be informed that Cassie-san and her family won’t be able to take the job there?”

“Please don’t worry about that. I’ll make absolutely certain the message gets through.”

The brown-haired man gave me his firm assurance.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you very much. That’s more than enough of a reward for me.”

In the end, I accepted two silver coins as payment for lunch and the pralines.

The two men took only half the pralines, wrapping them up and telling me, “Let the children and the banshee enjoy the rest.”

The banshee, who had apparently been secretly watching our exchange from the kitchen, quickly poked her head out, said a simple “Thank you,” and immediately withdrew again.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?”

The black-haired man asked me once more before leaving.

“No, really. I haven’t done anything particularly remarkable.”

“I see.”

The black-haired man murmured this with a somewhat disappointed expression. Then he gazed intently at me and asked,

“Would it be all right if I came again?”

“You’re welcome anytime.”

I answered.