Chapter 147 Potatoes and Military Rations
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
With the last of the bandits finally wiped out, their captured weapons and armor were absorbed into the swelling ranks of Keldan’s army.
The Half-Elves who had appeared afterward proved especially skilled with bows. Ayumu Sanai wasted no time, handing them not only the bandits’ gear but also longbows he had dug up from the ruins of the old Yugan Empire. He began shaping them into a bowguard unit, drilling daily to hammer out the bare minimum of coordinated maneuvers.
The bows he entrusted them with were simple ones, not the repeating-shot devices he had once described. That decision was deliberate: Ayumu wanted them to make use of the longbows’ superior range and, more importantly, he wasn’t ready to trust the newcomers with advanced technology. Betrayal was unlikely, perhaps, but not impossible—and if such weapons were ever sold in secret, the problem would spiral out of control.
But that was a matter for later. For now, with the army’s size growing, today marked the first tasting of the newly developed military rations.
”Mmm—♡ this is amazing! I’ve never eaten a Birene tuber that wasn’t bitter before!”
”I know, right? Something that looked so awful can taste this good?!”
Rilina and the others praised the dish with puffed cheeks, nibbling like squirrels. What they devoured was none other than the Birene tuber—the world’s version of the potato.
Back in Ayumu’s original world, potatoes had come from the Andes, thriving even in thin soil and yielding abundantly. The Birene tuber mirrored its Earth counterpart: rich in starch, easy to plant, resistant to trampling by beasts or armies. Its value was obvious. But drawbacks remained. Without crop rotation, the soil would sour. And stored carelessly, the tubers produced solanine, enough poison to sicken anyone who ate them.
Even so, Ayumu had searched desperately, half without hope, and when he found this potato-like tuber, he resolved to improve it. The native variety was primitive—small, black, and bitter, hated enough to earn the nickname “poor man’s bread.” Yet Ayumu believed it could be refined.
In this world, he had tools no real farmer could dream of. With Sashima’s Barrier Technique, entire seasons could be compressed into days inside controlled pots. Thanks to her ability, crossbreeding succeeded. The new Birene tuber was larger, smoother, less bitter, its skin lighter. It looked—and tasted—more like the potatoes Ayumu remembered. Acceptance followed.
Even Yoluminette, skeptical at first, changed her tune. She scowled at the idea of rations made from Birene tubers, but when she tasted the powdered mash—dried and revived in hot water in a single minute—her expression shifted instantly.
”Is there… more of this, milord?” she asked, eyes glinting.
Though tempted to grant her seconds, Ayumu held firm. She still had to test the other rations: instant oatmeal mixed with powdered chicken broth or fish flakes, beef jerky cured with salt, nutmeg, and thyme, tins of baked beans, canned tuna, pork and beans, even pocket sandwiches. All were made possible thanks to aluminum refined through electric smelting.
For the pork and beans, Ayumu had used a sauce made from another discovery during his hunt for potatoes—a strange fruit boiled down into a thick, rich concentrate. A tomato. Or, as the locals called it, the Birene eggplant.
With it, he had recreated a treasure from his world: tomato ketchup. With ketchup, an entirely new world of cooking opened before him.
Poor Baldric, the cook, was about to get much busier.
At the end of the day, Ayumu jotted these notes into his diary, then shut it with a quiet snap.
Notes:
• Sashima – Family name of Hiyori. A quiet, caring girl from the library committee, empathetic toward Sanai. She followed as a Barrier Technique Adept.
• Baldric – The branch manager of the Elandric Merchant Guild.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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