Chapter 43

Chapter 43: Dinner

The person who knocked on the door was a maid here.

However her errand wasnt to fetch me for a meeting with Klaussner-sama but to invite me to dinner with the Klaussner family.

We hadnt expected a dinner invitation so we had a bit of a disagreement.

What on? The clothes of course.

I wanted to wear something different from what Marie-san and the maid had suggested.

Noble ladies usually wore dresses to dinner in this kingdom.

Therefore, Marie-san and the maid suggested that I wear a dress, but I wanted to wear the robe that we had decided on before.

The reason for this was because I was completely exhausted and didnt want to wear a tight dress.

It wasnt like I didnt adore sparkly and fluttery things like dresses because I was an unpopular woman.

The dresses that were popular in Slantania Kingdom were all too luxurious and it was a shame to wear them. Just looking at them made my heart flutter.

I liked looking at western clothing even when I was in Japan, but I didnt think it would suit me so I didnt wear them.

It wasnt like I didnt want to try them on, but it was embarrassing to try on things that wouldnt suit me.

So, I did become a bit excited when Ihad towear a dress after coming to this world.

It couldnt be helped if an unpopular woman like me wore a dress because I had to and my embarrassment did diminish a little.

However after wearing it, I felt like my ideal was different from

reality.

It was fine for me to look at dresses but wearing them for a day was harsh.

Especially when I had to wear a corset too.

It was painful to wear a corset normally so if I wore one now I would definitely collapse and I dont think that dinner is something one should attend while their waist is being squeezed.

However, I regretted my choice when I got to my seat at the dining room, because when I arrived I remembered what food tasted like in this world.

I had completely forgotten about this fact because I was used to the food at the Research Institute.

In short, the food was tasteless.

Moreover, it was remarkable for high quality food to be tasteless. Fruits were fine because they had natural acidity and sweetness but meat dishes were completely unsatisfactory.

I was extremely hungry but it was probably better to wear a dress for dinner.

It seemed that corsets can suppress hunger.

However, my concern was betrayed in a good way. Ive seen the food on the table before.

This is

I was surprised and looked at Klaussner-sama; he smiled.

The meal was roast chicken and it was garnished with rosemary.

The whole chicken was roasted and brought to the dining room, then the butler cut it up.

I brought the piece of chicken to my mouth and the taste of herbs other than rosemary spread throughout my mouth.

Is it to your liking?

Its very delicious. Is this a dish from Klaussner?

No. I overheard that dishes garnished with herbs were popular at the Royal Capital, so I tried to

to reproduce it.

Thats probably the food I make.

But I think that a lot of herbs were used in todays dishes.

Did the chef add their own touch to the dish?

It was a medicinal herb production area so theyre probably knew the flavours of the herbs well.

I could feel the greatness of Klaussner now that Ive had this after the herbal tea.

The recipe that I taught the Research Institute chefs were also taught to the chefs at the Royal Palace.

Because of that, there were rumours going around that the Royal Palace food had recently become delicious.

The rumour was spread to nobles all around from the people who could use the Royal Palaces dining hall. They might have also passed the recipe around.

Ill probably be travelling to the other fiefs too, so I probably dont have to worry about food, right?

I hope the food in the other fiefs have improved too.

Klaussner-sama taught me various things about his fief while I was having dinner.

He didnt tell me about the current situation of Klaussner, but he did introduce his fief to me.

Klaussners main industry was medicinal herb cultivation, so naturally our conversation was centred on medicinal herbs.

We talked about interesting things such as the medicinal herbs cultivated in his fief and the kinds of medicinal herbs that could be harvested around this city.

I heard the name of a medicinal herb I didnt know about and I thoroughly questioned him about it. He taught me various things without being annoyed.

Do you also make potions, Sei-sama?

Yes. I usually make them at the

at the Medicinal Herbs Research Institute at the Royal Capital.

Is that so? Then, youre also an excellent pharmacist.

I dont know if Im excellent

We also have an exclusive pharmacist here at the castle.

You do?

According to Klaussner-sama, the exclusive pharmacist of this castle was also the best pharmacist in this city.

This was called a sacred place for pharmacists, so I wonder how amazing this person is.

I suddenly remembered my talk with Liz. She had told me that secret recipes were passed down generations in pharmacist houses.

If that pharmacist is that amazing, then its highly probable that theyll know a lot of secret potions as well.

It might be difficult for them to teach me the recipes, but I can get more details on common potions and herbs.

I thought and asked Klaussner-sama if I could meet his exclusive pharmacist and he readily agreed.

He had predicted that I would ask something like this.

We continued talking and it was decided that Klaussner-sama would introduce me to his exclusive pharmacist sometime during my stay.

Dinner came to a close with that promise.

I had a good time talking about various things.

Which reminds me, we didnt talk about the current situation in Klaussner.

I completely forgot about it because I was so engrossed in the medicinal herb talks.

Lets ask Klaussner tomorrow, okay?

Whats wrong? On the way back to our rooms, Captain-san called out to me in a worried tone because I was thinking while walking.

We were sent back to our rooms after dinner so we left together.

I just remembered that I forgot to ask him about the him about the status of the demons here.

Ah. Thats fine. Ive already heard about it from Klaussner-dono.

What?

Captain-san said that he had talked to Klaussner-sama and the mercenaries that were employed here while I was lazing around in my room.

They were concerned that I was tired from my long journey since I wasnt used to it and didnt call me.

Im thankful for their concern, but I feel so bad that I wasnt able to participate in the meeting even though Im working.

Will we start the subjugation straight away tomorrow?

No, Im thinking of doing a preliminary investigation of the surroundings for a few days. Stay on standby at the castle, Sei.

Okay.

If the subjugation started tomorrow then I thought that I would need to provide support, so I asked Captain-san about it but it seemed that I wouldnt need to.

As Captain-san said, they needed to check the terrain and what kind of demons appeared here. It was important for them to do a preliminary investigation.

If its fine for me to be on standby then I should go see if I could meet the exclusive pharmacist tomorrow.

Oh right, I want to ask if I could also make potions here.

I brought some with me from the Royal Palace but it would be better if I could replenish my potions here as well.

There was a herb shortage at the Royal Capital but they might still have some here since it was a herb production area.

Lets confirm the herb stock with Klaussner-sama.

Then, I talked to Captain-san about our schedule and returned to my room.