Chapter 238 Anxiety and Promise
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Next, let’s try Triwi, a bread sold at the bakery in the morning and evening. It’s a normal bread that comes to mind when you hear the word ‘bread.’ I think you already know, but the lighter-colored one is made with wheat. Let’s start by eating that one.”
Unlike the unleavened bread from earlier, this one was fermented and had risen nicely.
When I cut it in half and took a bite, a fragrance different from wheat spread subtly in my mouth.
”This is apple, right?”
”Huh? Did the apple trees in the fields already grow?”
”No, it’s not like the trees grew in just 2 weeks. We used apples bought from outside in the kitchen. It takes 2 weeks just to prepare the yeast, after all.”
”Ah, so that’s why we had a taste test today.”
”That’s right. So, what do you guys think of the taste?”
”It’s delicious. I’m not a big fan of apples, but this has a gentle aroma and hardly any acidity, so it’s fine.”
”On the other hand, as an apple lover, I feel like it’s a bit lacking. It’s like drinking a super-thin cider, you know? If you’re going to add apples, you should go all out and make it more intense.”
”I see. Then it might be better to think about making a separate bread with apple flesh, Olga.”
”Huh? Ah, yes! That’s right!”
”You’ve been quiet until now, but you’re the one who baked the bread, so it’s your job to listen to our opinions and think about what to do, right?”
”Ugh… I’m sorry…”
Olga-san was super tense, probably because it was a taste test of her own baked bread.
”Well, then let’s move on to the Dhru Wheat bread next.”
I thought that they had one more, but no one pressed Olga-san, so I casually reached for the Dhru Wheat bread.
With more sugar content than wheat, the surface was a beautiful, dark brown color, and the crust was crispy and flaky, as if it had been sprinkled with powdered sugar.
While thinking that Adama’s crust, which also used Dhru Wheat, didn’t turn out like this, I slowly took a bite.
”Hmm, it’s sweet, but the sweetness is more restrained than Adama’s from earlier.”
”I’m bad with sweet stuff, but compared to that almost-sugar-like thing from earlier, this is way better. What about you, Harmon?”
”…I’m a bit bad with it too.”
”Huh, you’re bad with sweet stuff?”
”No, it’s not that. It’s just that the sweetness brings out the apple-like flavor and makes it bad.”
”Ah, I see what you mean. It’s not like the aroma gets stronger or the sourness comes out, but the sweetness just makes it apple-like.”
”Still, I think the sweetness itself is pretty good. But for people who don’t like fruits, especially apples, the combination of Dhru Wheat and fruit yeast might be bad. But on the other hand, people who like fruits will definitely enjoy this bread.”
As Harmon-san said, it seemed that people who didn’t like apples or sweet things didn’t like it, but others thought it was good. So, they decided to prepare yeast other than fruit yeast, and the last 3 types of bread were brought out.
”This is the last bread for the tasting, but we made it a bit experimentally, so it doesn’t have a name. If it’s well-received, I’ll think of a name.”
”Whoa, so it’s a completely new bread, right?”
”No, it’s not that new…just try eating it and see.”
He said it in a way that was hard to understand, but I looked at the bread lined up in front of me.
It looked like the second type of fermented bread, with a different baking color, but other than that, it was the same.
However, when I picked it up, it was clearly heavier, and when I poked it with my finger, it easily broke in half, revealing a soft and fluffy texture that was clearly different from before.
Inside, there was a moist and creamy crumb, and even though the taste didn’t change, I couldn’t help but smile at its softness.
”Wow, it’s so soft! What is this?”
”It’s like there’s a cloud inside or something.”
While everyone were surprised by the extremely soft bread, there was one person who had a different kind of surprise.
”This is… ‘Splend’? No, wait…”
”Harmon, have you eaten it before?”
”…Well, just once in the past.”
Harmon-san gave a vague response, and Jott-san asked a question from behind him.
”What’s ‘Splend’? Is it another bread name?”
”Yeah, Splend is a bread that mixes honey into the dough, and when you mix in honey, the water content becomes harder to control during baking, making it a fluffy bread.”
”Honey, you say? That’s like the bread of nobles, right?”
”Huh? But this bread isn’t sweet, and it doesn’t have honey in it, does it?”
”That’s right. It’s like a fake Splend, using oil instead of honey. The problem is that when you use oil, it can become bad-tasting if you overbake it or leave it for too long.”
”Oil goes bad quickly, doesn’t it? Did Narsht-san come up with this?”
”No, it wasn’t me, but Neil-sama.”
My name was mentioned, and for a moment, I flinched and my shoulders trembled, but I quickly composed myself, pretending to be calm.
As Narsht-san said, the truth is that I came up with the idea for this last type of bread.
In this world, the common types of bread are Adama and Triwi. Adama is hard-baked for preservation, while Triwi, though slightly better, still retains a crumbly texture. There are many other types of bread with different flavors and baking methods, but if we’re talking about the big categories, it’s just these two.
Then there’s Spuren, a soft and fluffy bread made with expensive honey. This makes it impossible for commoners to afford.
I thought about making a Spuren-like bread without using honey. In my previous world, I could make a soft and fluffy bread just by using a lot of sugar and butter. Unfortunately, in this world, butter is a high-end product, just like honey. Sugar, however, is actually easy to get, even for commoners, but that’s a long story, so I’ll spare you the details for now.
So, we couldn’t use sugar, and I was thinking about what to use instead of butter when I remembered windmills, and then it hit me.
“If we’re going to build windmills, why not make them capable of extracting oil as well?” I thought. We could grow oil-producing plants like wheat and fruit in the same field, and that way, we could make a Spuren-like bread.
The result wasn’t a perfect substitute for butter, and there were many problems unique to oil, but it was still better than bread without oil, and I was able to make a fluffier, less dry bread.
Well, even if you dry it out, the oil will oxidize and become rancid when it comes into contact with oxygen, so it’s not like the deliciousness will last long. And unlike honey, it doesn’t have any sweetness, but for people who’ve only eaten hard bread until now, this soft bread is valuable just because it’s like something nobles would eat.
So, in the end, the only thing left was my top priority. I replaced honey with oil because it’s expensive, but oil doesn’t have any sweetness, so even if it looks similar in terms of texture, the taste is completely different.
However, if I use Dhru Wheat, which has a strong sugar content, and eat it before the oil oxidizes, it might become almost like honey in terms of flavor, even if it’s not exactly the same… or so I thought.
”Whoa, it’s hard to eat, but the one made with Dhru Wheat is still delicious… what’s up, Nick (me), you’ve got a weird look on your face?”
”No… it’s just that it’s not what I was expecting.”
The sweetness is a bit less than I expected, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s not too sweet, which is good.
I didn’t expect it to taste like honey, but it still feels like something is missing.
The problem is that the outside is crunchy and the inside is soft. It sounds good when you say it, but it feels weird to eat. The crunchy outside and soft inside don’t match, and the caramel gets stuck in my teeth and hurts, making me tear up.
I thought to myself that I’d probably get mouth sores all over the place after a few days, and then I finished eating the whole thing. It was as if Narsht-san had been waiting for that moment to speak up.
”Well, now that we’ve finished trying out 2 types of wheat and 3 types of bread, which one did you like the most?”
”I thought the second type of wheat was the best. The third type of bread was good too, but I prefer the one that’s more filling.”
”I think the third type of wheat bread is the best, I’ve never had such soft bread before.”
”Uh, I didn’t expect it myself, but when I compare them, the Adama wheat is the best. I guess it’s just that what you’re used to eating is the best, huh?”
”I think the Triwi made with Dhru Wheat is the best.”
”I’m the one who liked the first super sweet one the most!”
We asked everyone what they thought was the tastiest bread. The top three were:
1. 3-grain wheat bread
2. Dhru Wheat’s Triwi
3. Only wheat Triwi
My favorite, 3-grain Dhru Wheat bread, came in fifth. I think it was unpopular because it was too hard. Even the second-place bread had a hard, caramelized surface. When bread is hard, you have to take small bites. But when it’s mixed with soft parts, you might take a normal bite and get the hard parts stuck in your teeth. That’s why it didn’t do well.
”Well, I guess the tasting event is over now…”
”What’s going on, boss? Is something up?”
”To be honest, when there are too many types, it gets confusing, so I decided on one type of yeast and oil, but of course, I tried making multiple test batches.”
”Boss, you don’t mean――.”
Jott-san’s face twisted in discomfort, and Narsht-san disappeared into the back of the dining hall, only to return carrying a massive bowl piled high with bread, which he slammed down on the table with a grin.
”I’ve got a ton of bread from the test batches, so help me process it. And of course, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the taste.”
The next instant, cries of despair erupted from around us, accompanied by pitiful voices begging for mercy.
On the other hand, the kids who usually ate leftovers in the dining hall didn’t seem to be eating any today, and instead were happily reaching for the mountain of bread with big smiles on their faces.
As the adults around us reluctantly started stuffing their faces with bread, Harmon-san, who had somehow appeared beside me, sat down next to me.
”Hey… Nick, can I ask you something?”
”What is it? Something you want to confirm with me?”
”Ah, it’s just… I don’t know how to put it…”
I was taken aback by Harmon-san’s uncharacteristic hesitation, but I stayed silent and waited for him to continue. Harmon-san then turned to face me with a determined look.
”Hey, aren’t we growing Dhru Wheat in the field?”
”Huh? Yeah, we are.”
”So… if we’re able to harvest it successfully, are we going to sell it to the Harvest Hoe?”
”Uh…”
I was so focused on baking bread that I didn’t think about selling it, but Harmon-san’s words made me realize that.
Since it’s hard to maintain a stable supply, the value of Dhru Wheat is extremely high, so it’s only natural that we wouldn’t sell it to the Harvest Hoe.
But…
”I won’t sell Dhru Wheat!”
”Huh?”
”Oh, no, I mean! Saying ‘I won’t sell’ is weird too, yeah! It’s not me who decides, it’s Neil-sama, so I think it’s correct to say we won’t sell! Yeah!”
”Why can you say that so confidently?”
Ahh, shoot…
I forgot I was pretending to be Neil and my words slipped out.
Harmon-san seemed to catch on, and I was forced to think quickly and come up with an excuse as Nick.
”That’s… you know! In the frontier, we cultivate spices and stuff, but we only sell vegetables, right? It’s because we don’t want to cause trouble by selling spices to other nobles and getting into conflicts, and it’s the same with Dhru Wheat. If we sell it, Viscount Pelant will get angry!”
”It’s not the same as dealing with multiple nobles over spices. From Count Atmiras’s perspective, being targeted by Viscount Pelant is nothing.”
”Yeah, that might be true, but…”
It doesn’t matter if it’s one noble or multiple nobles, or if our title is higher or lower. I just don’t want to cause unnecessary trouble. But as Nick, the servant, I can’t express Neil’s feelings.
I was at a loss for what to do, so I asked a question to stall for time.
”Why do you care about this, Harmon-san?”
”………”
My question was a shot in the dark, but it seemed to hit a sore spot for Harmon-san, and he suddenly fell silent.
The silence continued for a while, and I was about to crack under the pressure when Harmon-san suddenly started talking.
”I’m from Viscount Pelant’s territory. I know it’s a tough place to live. It’s cold and not much grows there. Even when the seasons change, it’s hard for people to hunt and make a living. The current lord is not very good at his job, and it’s surprising he’s still in charge. If it wasn’t for Dhru Wheat, he might have been removed from power already.
But Dhru Wheat is important, not just for the lord, but for the people who live in the territory. It’s a vital resource for them. If the settlement were to give up on Dhru Wheat, and I was the one who convinced them to do it, I would be taking away the people’s lifeline. That’s a hard thing for me to think about…”
I was at a loss for words, facing Harmon-san who looked worried and anxious.
Harmon-san was shaking like a child who’s afraid of being scolded by their mother, realizing the gravity of what they’d done and trembling with fear.
No matter what words a mere servant like me used to try to comfort him, it wouldn’t be enough.
I knew what words I should say, but they weren’t words that I, as I am now, could say out loud――and yet, I knew that.
”Please don’t worry, Harmon-san.”
”…Nick?”
”I promise that Dhru Wheat will never be abandoned, so there’s no way the people of Viscount Pelant’s territory will come to hate you, Harmon-san.”
Those were the words of Neil Atmiras, the manager of the settlement, not just a servant named Nick.
Of course, I didn’t introduce myself as Neil, and from Harmon-san’s perspective, it must have seemed like a mere servant was making a baseless promise out of nowhere.
Harmon-san looked stunned by my words, but suddenly his expression crumbled, and he forced a laugh.
”――Ah, I see, that’s a relief, then.”
”Hey Harmon! What are you doing slacking off over there?! You come here and eat too! You’re the one who should be eating the most, since you’re the one who kept quiet about the food tasting event!”
”Shut up! I know, okay?”
Harmon-san, who was called by Demar-san, stood up from his seat, and the anxiety on his face from earlier had disappeared.
I couldn’t tell if it was just an act or if his anxiety had really disappeared.
So I decided to focus on what I could do and firmly etched my promise with Harmon-san in my heart.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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