On June 18th, the Harvest Festival was held in Toka Village.
The previous autumn, unexpected and prolonged rains had caused premature sprouting in the wheat, leading to a drastic decline in the harvest. While the lord had been forced to reduce taxes to compensate then, the weather since spring had been mild, and the current crop condition was graded as "excellent."
The yield was bountiful enough to make up for the previous autumn's shortfall, meaning the total taxes paid to the state would remain in the black. This success was reflected in the bright, cheerful expressions on the villagers' faces.
Because of this turnaround, the village decided to hold a grand Harvest Festival.
The celebration was, in essence, a massive outdoor party. In the village's central square, a row of large, makeshift stoves had been built, each supporting a heavy cauldron. Even though they were referred to as "large," each cauldron could only produce about twenty servings at a time, so there were roughly twenty of them lined up.
Each cauldron had a designated person in charge. It was tradition for each group to prepare their own version of a jumbled meat and vegetable stew so that everyone could sample and compare the different flavors.
"Jin-san, thank you so much for coming!"
"Not at all. Thank you for inviting us."
"Hanna-chan, welcome."
"Hello!"
"Elsa-san, it has been quite a while. Congratulations on your engagement."
"Thank you."
As Lishia offered her congratulations to Elsa, she wore a faint, somewhat lonely smile.
Jin and his companions—Elsa, Hanna, Giebeck, Sally, Lou, Reiko, and Edgar—had arrived at the outskirts of the village early that morning via the Konron 3. He had sent a letter the previous day to announce their arrival. Lishia might have wondered how it reached her so quickly, but she seemed to have shrugged it off with the thought, Well, it is Jin-san, after all.
"Village Chief, I am glad you could make it."
"The pleasure is ours. Thank you for having us."
"And this must be the first time I have met your wife. I am Lishia Fahlheit. I am still quite new to this, but I look forward to your guidance."
"I am honored by your kind greeting. My name is Sally. And this is my daughter, Lou."
Giebeck and his wife exchanged greetings with the young lord, and they immediately moved on to discussing the logistics of the festival. Kaina Village had brought wheat, vegetables, and dried meat as gifts, so they needed to decide how to incorporate the supplies.
During the meeting, Jin presented three prototype large-capacity pressure cookers as a gift, accompanied by a set of meticulous, easy-to-follow instructions.
The morning was devoted to preparation, and the festival officially began at noon. Meat and vegetables were added to the many cauldrons in the square to simmer. Since they had been cooking since the morning, the stews were ready to serve shortly after midday.
Jin set up one of the pressure cookers in a corner of the square and began preparing Western-style stock while explaining the process to Lishia. After Lishia took a small sip of the finished stock, her eyes widened.
"Oh my, you made this in such a short time!"
She was shocked that the Western-style stock had been completed in only fifteen minutes.
"And this flavor! It’s so rich and mellow. It isn't heavy at all. I can see this being used in all sorts of dishes!"
She smacked her lips in appreciation of the taste.
"Yeah, you can use this to elevate the flavor of almost any dish. The main thing to be careful about is skimming the foam."
"I see. Thank you very much!" Lishia bowed deeply, clearly moved by the gift.
"Honestly, we’re neighbors, yet I’ve been so busy that I haven't visited in a while. I felt a bit bad about that."
"Oh, please don't let that bother you! I’m just grateful that every time you do visit, you bring us something wonderful like this."
"I'm relieved to hear that," Jin said, reaching down to lift one of the large cauldrons.
In the past, such a feat would have required significant effort, but with his physical reinforcement magic, he hoisted it with ease.
"Let’s use this to make a soup."
"In that case, leave it to me!"
Lishia, who had picked up several simple soup recipes during her time in the military, began preparing an original stew. It was a fish-based soup using large trout caught in the Naudo River, which was a short distance from the village. Since Toka Village didn't have a river quite like the Erme River in Kaina, these trout were a local delicacy.
The dish was similar to a Japanese salmon soup. Since the basic seasoning was salt, it paired perfectly with the Western-style stock. As a test, they added a single teaspoon of the stock to a bowl of the stew, and the flavor transformed instantly.
"Jin-san, this is incredible!"
The combination of the fish, meat, vegetables, and mushrooms created a complex, savory umami profile.
"Then let's add the rest to the main pot."
Jin poured the prepared Western-style stock into the large cauldron where Lishia's soup was simmering.
"Whoa! This is amazing! As expected of the lord!"
"Man, this is good!"
"The flavor is different from the usual... but it’s so much better."
The stew enhanced with the Western-style stock was an immediate hit with the villagers.
"Are there any others who are feeling unwell?"
On the other side of the square, Sally and Elsa were busy providing medical treatments for a nominal fee. Giebeck and Lou stood nearby, watching the process as part of Lou's training.
"Doctor, my lower back has been killing me lately..."
"I see. Let me take a look."
For the festival only, a flat rate of twenty copper coins—roughly 200 yen—was being charged for a consultation. A line of about forty people had quickly formed.
"A bone in your lower back is slightly out of alignment. Hold still... there."
"Agh, ow, ow, ow!"
"Endure it. Heilung....How is that?"
"...Oh! The pain is gone! Thank you so much!"
"Next, please."
Sally and Elsa split the patients between them. A line of young men naturally formed in front of Elsa, while the women and elderly tended to line up before Sally.
"Doctor, I cut my hand while I was working."
"...Let me see. Sterilization. Behandeln."
"Doctor, my stomach has been acting up since the day before yesterday."
"Diagnose... This is just from the cold. Avoid drinking cold water today and tomorrow; stick to hot water. Behandeln."
"Schmerzmittel."
"Behandeln."
"Ah, I feel so much better. Thank you, Doctor!"
"The wound is completely gone! Thank you!"
From simple cuts and stomach aches to chronic back pain, a variety of patients came through. Each left with a word of gratitude after being treated.
"Hmm. Perhaps it would be a good idea to make house calls here a few times a month," Sally remarked to Giebeck once the line had finally cleared.
"I agree. It would be excellent experience for Lou. Let's discuss it with the lord later."
Jin fully supported the idea, and Lishia accepted the offer with profound gratitude. It was decided that Sally would visit Toka Village once every two weeks. To facilitate the travel, Jin promised to gift them a Golem horse, which would allow them to make the trip in a single day.
"Onii-chan, this one is really good!"
"Let's see... Yeah, you're right. This is great!"
Each of the five major cauldrons had slightly different ingredients and seasoning, allowing the guests to sample a variety of flavors.
"Hanna-chan, try this one too."
"Thank you, Big Sister Lishia!"
With Lishia acting as their guide, Jin and Hanna moved from pot to pot, enjoying the subtle differences in the stews.
As they enjoyed themselves, the only one who noticed Elsa pouting slightly while she worked through her busy clinic was Reiko.