Rebirth in a Ruined Nation! The Life of a New Strategist Starting From Now - Chapter 11

A Reform for Food Preservation! (2)

The next day, we went out early in the morning to do some shopping.

We first went to Grantz-sama to ask for the money and some manpower since we were planning to buy many stuff.

“Then take this guy with you,” Grantz-sama said while pointing at a soldier named Diku.

Apparently, Diku was pretty strong, but since he often skipped training because of his carefree personality, he never got the active duty.

Incidentally, other soldiers who were not in active duty were sent to various towns to build forts and to repair the infrastructures.

I mean, no matter how rich the Rudek Kingdom was, there was no way the kingdom would pay a bunch of soldiers who did nothing.

***

The street of Rudektrad was as lively as usual with merchants and their goods coming to the Gedland port without stopping. There were also some blue-haired pure blooded Sarshans like Rufa walking on the street.

When these Sarshans saw Rufa, they seemed to let out an expression of surprise.

As expected, a pure-blooded Sarshan like Rufa was rare here.

“But why did you keep buying food that rotes easily, like vegetables and fruits? And why did you buy these many empty jars?”

The boxes that Diku was carrying were full of vegetables, fruit, and empty jars. To carry those heavy boxes that easily, he sure was strong.

“Well, I want to do some experiment” I answered, then the three of us weaved our ways through the crowd and returned to the palace. And returned to the 10th Division’s quarter that was located next to the royal residential quarter. 

After returning to the quarter, I went and asked the chef to borrow a part of the kitchen and a large pot.

“Can you bring us some water, Diku-san? And also some firewood.”

“Sure thing”

“Rufa, can you cut the vegetables and fruit? Cut the vegetables into a long, thin strip so it could easily fit into the jars. As for the fruits, we will use half of them to make dried fruit, while the other half will be made into jam.”

“Jam? What are you gonna do with jam?”

“Can you do it, or not?”

“…Sure. I can do that.”

After I lined up the empty jars in the pot, I poured the water Diku-san had brought into the pot, then I lit the stove. 

“You can’t eat jars even if you boil it, you know,” said Diku-san

“We won’t eat the jars. This is just a pre-preparation.”

“Here. I cut the vegetables.”

“Perfect timing. Then, let’s put them into the jars…”

I carefully pulled the hot jars out of the pot, then I put the vegetables inside. After that, I put the jars back in the pot in a way so that the hot water will enter the jars. Then I loosely seal the jar with a cork, and I light the stove again.

After the jars were sufficiently heated, I tightened the jar with cork so the air inside would get pushed out, then I firmly secured the jars with wax.

I also did the same thing with the jam.

“It’s done.” 

My body was drenched with sweat since I spent a lot of time in front of the stove, that was to be expected, I guess.

“For you.” 

Rufa timely offered me a fruit juice she made with a leftover fruit. The juice was a little lukewarm, but it was still delicious. After drinking the juice in one gulp, I felt refreshed.

“Thank you, Rufa.”

“No problem. So are we finished?”

In front of us were jars filled with various fruit jams and vegetables. I wanted both some success samples and some failed samples, so I made five bottles for each vegetable and type jams, so the total amount ended up being quite a lot.

“Yeah, it’s finished. After this…hmm… let’s put it in the pantry for 10 days to half a month and see if they are still edible.”

“Half a month? Will it last that long?” Rufa said, while eyeing the jam. She must have thought it would be a waste if we let the jam rot.

“Well, that’s what we’re going to find out. If the water inside the vegetable jars turns muddy, we know that the experiment failed for the jam though, we have to smell it or taste it a little to know for sure.”

“You are skilled in this, even though you said you just read about the method in a book.”

“I’m flattered by your praise.” I answered Rufa with a calm smile on my face, but I could feel a cold sweat running down on my back.

Actually, the reason I was skilled in this was because 30 years from now, making canned food was one of the various odd jobs I’ve done.

Since the jars and the lid I used here were different compared to what was being used 30 years from now, I didn’t know if the same method could succeed but if it succeeded, then that meant the army could bring vegetables and jam as food supplies to the frontline.

“We only need to wait for the result now. Since the jars have cooled down, let’s move them to the pantry. Diku-san, can I ask for your help again with bringing them?”

Since things might get bad if we continue on the reason I was skilled with canning, I changed the topic, albeit a bit forcefully. Rufa didn’t seem to be convinced though, since she looked at me with a suspicious gaze.

While we were about to leave the kitchen, a voice suddenly appeared.

“What are those?”

It was the War Princess, Lapilia-sama. Diku-san immediately stood up straight when he saw Lapilia-sama. As expected, no matter how lazy and carefree he usually was, he wouldn’t dare to be rude to Lapilia-sama…or rather, I think he was just afraid of Lapilia-sama?

“Lapilia-sama? Why are you here?” (Roa)

“Wouldn’t it be more polite if you answer my question first?”

I then started my explanation about canning to Lapilia-sama.

“….That’s what we’re doing. If the experiment succeeds, the army might be able to bring vegetables and jam for a long expedition.”

“..Really?” with a doubtful expression, Lapilia-sama asks.

“Yes, well, we have to see the result of the experiment first to make sure…”

Lapilia-sama turned her gaze to the jars again and stopped her gaze at the jars containing jam.

“I see…then, I’ll also help.”

“Pardon?”

“I’ll take some of them with me. It’s better to also have experiment data from a different environment, right?”

“You’re correct, but…”

“Plus, won’t it be better if we open it on different days? How about trying to open it on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th, and the 15th days?”

“That’s a good idea. Then, please bring the jars to me when you open it. I’ll taste test it.”

“I’ll do the taste testing.”

“Yes!? But, if the experiment failed, and the content was rotting…”

“I’ve got a strong stomach, so I’ll be fine.”

“But…” If it got out I fed Lapilia-sama some strange foods, her fans would kill me!

“I said it’s fine. I’ll check the smell first, and will only test it a little first so it will be fine! Well, I will bring these with me then!”

Lapilia-sama declared one-sidedly, then left while bringing 5 jars of jams with her. 

She just wanted to eat some jam, didn’t she?

“….*sigh* let’s clean up.”

I strangely feel more tired now. Anyway, with this, we’d finished creating some canned foods.