CH 343

The cooks on board the fleet are preparing lunch while teaching the Delian cooks how to make those same dishes. This time, I actively use our specialty products, provide them free of charge, and even publish the recipes.

They are nothing like flattery or concessions to the Kingdom of Del. That I’m actively spreading our food is because…

“So good! I didn’t know there was such a dish!”

“I see… so this is the cooking method…”

Here and there, the Delian cooks are moaning in pleasure as they taste the food while they make it. Following yesterday’s dinner party, it seems to be very popular here as well. They say that the seasoning is a little strong, but for someone like me who knows the seasoning of modern earth, I would rather think that it is not so seasoned. It’s made to suit my palate, so if this person eats it for the first time, they might think it’s a bit too seasoned.

“Are you sure about this, Master Flora?” Kanbee said. “Aren’t these the secrets of our House?”

It was while I was visiting the cooks preparing today’s lunch with ingredients unloaded from the ships. Negotiations with the Kingdom of Del ended in the morning, so after serving lunch today, we will depart for the Caan Knighthood. If there are no troubles, we should be able to return to the Knighthood by the end of the day.

“You don’t get it, Kanbee,” I said. “It’s not a big deal if you teach them how to cook. Rather, if you teach them how to cook these, other people may create new dishes from it, won’t they? It would be better to actively spread it rather than keep it hidden.”

“Haa…” Kanbee went, looking like he didn’t understand.

It would certainly be to our advantage to keep the technology or something like these recipes a secret. However, this would hinder development. Spreading the good methods that we have come up with here and there, becomes common sense, and further ingenuity and evolution are born from it.

If you want to evolve something, spread it widely, and some of the people who have learned it will come up with a better method. Keeping it a secret limits the number of people who know about it, and limits those who can come up with something even better. Only with a lot of wisdom, inspiration, and trial and error can such things progress.

“It seems that you don’t understand… how about this?” I said. “If you give eggs and milk to someone who has never cooked with eggs or milk, they don’t know the value or how to use it. Chicken or cheese, it makes no difference to them. If you don’t know the seasonings, you probably have no idea how to use it well.”

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“………….――! Is that so!? I understand!” Kanbee said, after thinking for a moment.

Mikalojus intervened as well.

“We control the production and distribution of ingredients and seasonings and only teach other parties how to use them. Those who have become accustomed to the taste and want them will have no choice but to buy the ingredients and seasonings from us. Everything comes back to Lady Flora. Just as she planned, yes?”

Mikalojus may have some understanding of business and economics. Kanbee is a bit stubborn, so he doesn’t seem to be suitable for business. He’s smart, but his thinking is too rigid. He seems to be suitable for war and politics, but I think he’s not good at management and economics…

That Kanbee has no skill for them may be because he doesn’t understand the subtleties of interacting with people. He doesn’t seem to understand the natural desires of human beings, such as wanting to eat delicious food or wanting to eat again after just eating.

In contrast, Mikalojus, who stimulates human desires and uses them in negotiations, knows how such wants work and how to use them. Mikarojus has no talent as a ruler or battle commander…

“If you eat our food and know its taste, are taught how to cook it, and come to seek that taste…” Mikalojus said.

“And the ingredients and seasonings that only our House makes in the whole world can only be purchased from us…” Kanbee adds.

“”It’s the textbook definition of a corrupt merchant,”” they finish together.

What in the hell does that mean…? I just let the customers taste it and taught them how to cook it. Even so, those who don’t need it won’t buy it, and those who want it will buy it. It’s just that.

We decided to have lunch with the King of Del and the other high-ranking officials. Even though it’s far away from us, Gunhilda is also eating together on the other side. I also wanted to become friends with Gunnhilda, but in the end, I didn’t have many opportunities to talk to her, so it’s hard to say that we became that close. I got the impression that she found the food delicious, but…

Well, it would be unreasonable to try to get to know someone in a day or two after the meeting. Making friends with Gunnhilda is a task for the future, so let’s return to the Caan Knighthood this time. I will come again soon.

After receiving a proper send-off, I left Cobenhaven. After returning to Cien…

“Young Miss.” 1

“Schwartz, please prepare to depart as soon as we arrive at Cien,” I replied.

“Aye. I’ll be waiting with supplies loaded,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter if it takes a day or two…” I added.

We land at Cien once and go to Caanburg. But I plan to set sail again soon. They better be prepared for that. Raw ingredients and perishables are loaded just before departure, but ammunition and other supplies used are loaded and replenished much earlier.

“Kanbee and Mikalojus, I ask you both to stay behind,” I said.

“”Yes!”” both replied.

In the end, I decided to take Mikalojus to the Caan Knighthood. He turned out to be more useful than I expected if I had him act as a negotiator with Del. I plan to let Kanbee and Mikalojus handle the negotiations with the Demon Country this time. Of course, I’m the one who makes the final decisions and signs the agreement, but these two are the best for preliminary negotiations and laying the groundwork.

It was the right decision to make them team up in negotiations with Del. Now, both of them say things that seem to repel each other, but they accept each other as colleagues and work to compensate for the other’s shortcomings.

Kanbee, who is knowledgeable about military and international affairs and is intelligent, but tends to look down on others due to his overconfidence, and Mikalojus, who is good at perceiving people’s subtleties and turning people around to his side even if they are naive; both shore up where one is lacking.

While everyone was talking about the future, we arrived at Cien in no time. I have a lot of plans that I want to discuss more, but… it can’t be helped.

Leaving Kanbee to take care of the raucous Mikalojus, we spent the night in Cien and returned to Caanburg the next morning. I don’t have any guests this time, so I don’t have to worry about them.

“Well then, Mother, please rest at home,” I said.

“Wait, what? Flora dear, aren’t you planning something? Are you hiding something from Mother?” Mother asked.

“Huh~?” I replied, desperately trying to deceive her and not break into a cold sweat.

I plan to lead the fleet and head to the Blish Isles. Don’t tell everyone… It’s a secret from the King, Dietrich, and the Kingdom of Ploiss, and even from my father and mother. If I say I’m going to even mention the Blish Isles, Mother might say she’ll come with me.

Even though we have dispatched a large number of soldiers to the Caan Knights Nation, if they invade further to the Blish Isles area from now on, the military strength of Houses Caan and Carruthers will be almost depleted. For the time being, we’ll leave behind enough defensive forces to buy time for the support of the surroundings and for us to return… but we can’t let the enemy realize that we’re weak right now.

My mother is the last line of defense for House Caan, and even my mother won’t be able to leave here for extended periods.

Also, with Ludwig’s marriage candidate dissolution, my relationship with the Kingdom of Ploiss has deteriorated a bit, or rather, it’s awkward, or I suppose, the royal family no longer wants my power to expand…

I’m engaged to Princess Eleonore, but since my relationship with Ludwig has been dissolved, I have no choice but to somehow hold on to this royal relationship. Even though it’s such a delicate situation, if it becomes known that I’m trying to acquire more overseas territories, it could become troublesome.

Of course, it might become a problem later if it comes out that I silently acquired overseas territory and became a foreign lord or king without permission. But I’ll go anyway. And we are thinking about countermeasures.

In other words, even if I acquire an overseas territory or become the king of some country in a post facto report, I should be strong enough not to get complaints even if I report it to the King or the Kingdom of Ploiss, so it’ll be fine. If you have any complaints, I will leave the Kingdom of Ploiss and deal with them in another country! It would be enough if I could say that.

After working in Caanburg for a few days, I left the negotiations with the Demon Country to Kanbee and Mikalojus and returned to Cien. The battlefield is ahead. Blish Isles has been in a state of civil war for a long time. We will land there and I will take over the Blish Isles. That’s why I negotiated the right of passage with Del.

“Then let’s go!” Mikoto said.

“Um… are you girls really going to follow me?” I ask my wives.

When I said I was going on an expedition to Blish Isles, all the wives said they would follow me, and I didn’t give up. In the end, I was the one to give up, but I’m still not convinced.

We don’t know the situation on Blish Isles, and we haven’t even secured a beachhead. It will also involve considerable risks. To be honest, I’m reluctant to take my wives to such a place.

“We know that we can’t help you, Miss Flora,” Katharina said.

“However, there is no option for us to stay alone and wait for you to come back!” Alexandra cried.

“I’ll try not to be a hindrance!” Louisa said.

“I can do enough to become your shield, Floto,” Claudia said.

“Al of you……”

From the looks on their face, they must have already made up their minds. Even though I’ve talked about this many times, I’ve never given up, but I don’t think I can persuade them even if I repeat this argument from now on. I wonder if it’s going to be like that…

“I understand… but I won’t allow anyone to die! Of course, I will protect everyone. I won’t let anyone go missing. Please remain fast in your strong will to return alive. You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to live…”

“Got it! Then let us set sail!” Mikoto yelled.

I don’t know why, but Mikoto took charge and the sailors did as ordered… Even though I didn’t give the order to launch the ship… It’s almost like Mikoto is the Captain, not me.

I’m serious about this expedition. The scale is different from gathering 10 galleons to blackmail the Kingdom of Del. 15 ships departed from Cien and passed through the Strait of Del. And 10 ships built from Floren joined down the Welzel River. We have prepared the maximum fleet that House Caan can field at the moment, with a total of 25 ships.

Only the Caanza Trading Firm’s galleons remain, and the remaining ships, such as caravel ships and carrack ships, are planned to be sold to the private sector and managed to circulate distribution among other supply lines. Well, even if I say private, it’s Caanza Trading Firm and its Shipbuilding Union that are working on it…

I will be back in about a month. The Yamato Empire’s diplomatic envoys will be arriving in about a month. I don’t think I can conquer and unify Blish Isles in a month. I just hope to build a beachhead and secure even one of our bases in the first month.

“Ahooooyyy!”

In the previous negotiations, I said that I would come back and pass through again, so I was able to pass through the Strait of Del smoothly. Dorte and Bengt seem to have come to see us off. Waving something like a flag from the Delian ship. It seems that they also noticed when I waved my hand back.

After safely passing through the Strait of Del with a fleet of 15 galleons, we came out to the Hermann Sea for the first time. It may be a nostalgic open sea for Lamor and others, those who belonged to the Royal Navy of Hollant. But for us, it’s the first time we’ve come out to sea. Even though it’s only a little different, I still feel like I’ve come to a very different stretch of water.

“Young Miss, Floren’s fleet has arrived from the other side,” Schwartz said.

“Yes. It seems so,” I replied.

After crossing the Strait of Del and heading south along the peninsula of the Kingdom of Del, a fleet of 10 ships was approaching from the other side. Galleons were built in Floren and until now moored in Floren’s harbor. The crew was sent by Cien, and they are used to maneuvering the ship itself. Naturally, they’re different from recruits who haven’t even been properly trained. The ship itself is in almost new condition, but the crew is competent, so it should be fine.

“Ahaaa… a large fleet of 25 galleons… quite the spectacle, isn’t it…?” Schwartz said. “I’m glad I followed you to be the Admiral of such a fleet!”

“It may be too early,” I said. “We don’t know what kind of enemies await us in the future… Then let us set sail to the Blish Isles!”

“Aye!”

The ships sail west in the Hermann Sea. What kind of place is the Blish Isles going to be?