“Well, anyway, this should make eating Black Wheat less of a pain. Even if it doesn’t fill us up any more than before, it just feels totally different.”
“Also.”
“What is it?”
“We might be able to sell it, somewhere else.”
“Black Wheat? In other territories, or the Kingdom’s Capital?”
“Yeah.”
According to what I remember, their Rye Bread over there has a unique flavor and draws its own share of buyers.
It’s probably not something we can just copy and bring over here, but it’s worth considering with a bit of hope.
It’s only a possibility, but even if the harvest rate for White Wheat has hit its limit in this region, there might be a chance that Black Wheat can still increase.
When I explained that, my brother folded his arms and muttered, “Hmm.”
“Well, it’s not something that’ll change overnight, but it’s for the future, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Just having hope for the future might be enough to motivate the villagers.”
“What’s left is Goroimo.”
“Hm? Ah, the only thing we haven’t gone over yet is Goroimo, right?”
“I remembered.”
“What is it?”
“We have a lot of Goroimo.”
“That’s true.”
“Why starve?”
That sense of discomfort I felt when I looked at the fields and the storehouses came back to me.
Goroimo was planted over an area that might even be larger than the wheat fields.
In the storehouse too, it looked like it took up quite a bit of space.
Of course, if all we did was eat this, there’d be issues with nutrition and so on, but at least in terms of staving off starvation, it seemed like there was plenty of Goroimo.
“Ah, so you didn’t know.”
“What?”
“Goroimo is poisonous.”
“Can’t eat it?”
“No, it’s not that you can’t eat it at all. But if you remove the poisonous parts, the amount you’re left with drops a lot.”
“Hehh.”
“I don’t really know all the details either. How about we ask Lansel tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
So, our plans for the next day were decided.
Since it was an Earth day and there wouldn’t be any morning study, we decided to barge into the kitchen first thing in the morning.
The next day, just around the time breakfast had been cleared away and the kitchen staff would normally be taking a break, the master’s sons barged in.
Still riding the momentum from the day before, Lansel greeted us with a smile.
Nearby, Westa and Bettina were already getting ready to make natural yeast.
When my brother asked if he could see how Goroimo was prepared, the chef replied, “Sure thing,” and cheerfully pulled out some for the lunch soup.
He quickly rinsed a few of the tubers with water and placed them on the board.
“The outer part of the Goroimo is poisonous, so you have to cut it off.”
He explained as he worked.
First, he sliced straight through a spot about a third from one end of the nearly round tuber, separating the two ends and setting them aside.
He tipped the remaining disc-shaped center onto the board, looked at the circular cross-section, and again cut a third off each side.
He turned the remaining block sideways and cut off a third from each side again.
What was left was a cube from the center of the original sphere, with the top, bottom, front, back, left, and right thirds all removed.
When you looked at the quantity, it was probably less than a tenth of the original tuber.
“If you use just this part, you can be absolutely sure there’s no poison left.”
Saying that, Lansel carefully placed it in a bowl.
The cut-off parts, of course, went straight to the waste bin.
“No matter how many times I see it, it’s depressing how much you have to throw away.”
“I don’t hate the taste of Goroimo, but for some reason I don’t like cooking it,” Westa sighed, and Bettina echoed her feelings as they watched the chef work.
“There are stories from long ago, of people who were really starving, eating the discarded parts and dying from convulsions.”
“They prepare it the same way in the Kingdom’s Capital too?”
“They should, yeah. I learned this from a master chef trained in the capital. But I’ve heard that Goroimo isn’t eaten that much over there anyway.”
“I’ve heard that too.” My brother nodded, thanked Lansel after glancing at me on his back, and left the kitchen.
He returned to his room and settled into his usual spot on the bed.
“So, do you have any thoughts?”
“Hmm.”
While watching the cooking earlier, I’d checked my Memory and picked up some knowledge.
If that information was accurate here, there might be room to improve the way we cook Goroimo.
But…
I hesitated, then told my brother what I knew, making sure to say it was just a guess.
“If that’s true, it would make a huge difference.”
“Yeah.”
“But…” My brother grimaced and folded his arms and said, “Even if it is true, and I told everyone, there’s no guarantee they’d believe me. Even if the lord’s son ordered them, no one would dare eat a part they believe is poisonous.”
“Yeah.”
That was exactly what I thought too.
It was the obvious problem.
“Do you have any ideas for how we could prove it?”
“Hmmm…”
“It’s impossible, isn’t it?”
“…Going to the woods.”
“Huh? Going rabbit hunting?”
“Mm.”
“Then what for?”
“To catch one alive.”
“What?”
After I explained, he got the basic idea.
But there was still a problem.
Catching a wild rabbit alive wasn’t hard.
If I used my Light and aimed for its eyes, it would usually pass out or be unable to move, making it easy to catch.
But with this method, no one but my brother would see the process.
I’d have to go all the way to the hunting grounds without Dimo or the other boys coming along, as usual.
“If that’s what we need, then I guess we just have to do it.”
That’s right, but…
If we got caught, Mother and Henrik would chew us out for sure.
Still, if my brother was up for it, then it should be fine—or so I wanted to believe.
That afternoon, Bettina helped me get ready to go to the village again.
As long as I was being carried on my brother’s back, no one at the manor would worry.
They believed the explanation that I watched from a distance while my brother hunted.
That day too, everyone accepted that plan.
Fully bundled up for the cold, I was hoisted onto my brother’s back.
He wore his usual hunting gear, and today he also carried two rough cloth bags.
Naturally, those were for carrying the live rabbits.
Today, he didn’t intend to hunt anything else.
It was our first time entering the forest with just the two of us, but we’d taken this path at least every other day lately, so it was familiar.
Without hesitation, we arrived at our usual hunting spot.
Soon enough, before even an hour had passed, we spotted a wild rabbit among the dead leaves.
I saw a second one, aimed my Light, and in an instant, both rabbits convulsed and collapsed.
My brother ran over and placed each one in a bag.
Mission complete.
It was all over in the blink of an eye.
“That went quicker than I thought.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, let’s get back before anything happens.”
“Yeah.”
My brother took a bag in each hand and started walking.
The way back was just as familiar.
Not long after we set off, I heard something odd.