He was a dragon, after all. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised that he was so dismissive of foods that weren’t meat. Hopefully, he could see that asking me to rear cattle would be too much for me...
“I’m glad you asked, Alk, because these potatoes are supposed to be especially delicious.”
“‘Delicious’ potatoes are still potatoes. They are good for nothing but staving off hunger,” he grunted out and folded his arms.
He clearly wasn’t open to appeasement. I was hoping that he’d be able to find enjoyment in this meadow too, given that I wouldn’t have found it without his help. Maybe it would help if he were to sample the potatoes I was planning to grow. If he knew what they tasted like, he might even look forward to harvest time!
“I wonder if I could ask for your assistance, Salamander,” I whispered to the lizard sitting on my shoulder.
He puffed his chest out at once. “Always happy to help if I can!”
“Thank you,” I giggled. “I’d like you to roast the items I’m about to order.”
I was blessed to have such trusty allies!
“Let’s see...” I said, thinking out loud. “I think I shall get a box of these fluffy potatoes and another of this rarer variety. As for sweet potatoes...I’ll go for the stickier kind!”
While I was at it, I also ordered some high-quality salt, butter, and shiokara, which was a paste made of fermented seafood. What, you’re thinking I ordered too much? Blame Teiren. She promised me that all of these items were delicious. Was I so wrong to give in to temptation here?
Anyway, Alk’s eyes widened as boxes fell at my feet one after another. The spirits also picked up on the fact that I had ordered some things. They came back to gather around me, their faces alight with curiosity.
“Those just look like ordinary potatoes,” the dragon said.
Gnome picked one of the vegetables up from a box that was fit to bursting with them. His eyes softened tenderly. “Perhaps, but they seem to be of a rather high quality. They’re even more fascinating when you consider that these tiny potatoes contain the love and devotion of the people who grew them in abundance!”
He was right. It was easy to forget when there were so many of them, but each potato was a result of the care that had gone into each crop in hopes of making them that much tastier or even yielding just one more. It was, therefore, important to savor each one.
Undine was looking at me, her eyes shining. “Fran, there’s a reason you’ve ordered these, right?”
I nodded. “Indeed there is. I thought we could try them before planting them.”
All of the spirits cheered. They were so excited that I couldn’t make out what exactly they were saying to one another, but I knew it couldn’t be anything negative. Alk looked curious too, despite his complaints. While the corners of his mouth were still downturned, his eyes followed my every movement.
I tried to follow Teiren’s instructions to prepare the potatoes. “First, they need to be wrapped in wet paper, and then in something called ‘aluminum foil,’ right...? Sorry, I think it’s ‘newspaper’? Well, I don’t think we have that, so I can use paper towels, can’t I?” I picked some paper towels to get started.
Undine was barely an inch away from me and was staring at my face. “That white paper’s meant to be wet, right? I’m gonna make you a little watering hole, then! Might as well cultivate the field too.” Before I could even process what she’d said, she threw a near-translucent arm up above her head.
The air vibrated with a sweet, sonorous vocalization that was somewhere between song and speech. It was in no language I recognized, yet it sent tremors through my soul. It felt like there was something calling to me in it. As I listened to that ethereal voice, another joined in. The second one was deeper, with a powerful, weighty tone to it.
That’s Gnome’s voice...
It was like a muddy stream with the power to erode the earth. It then intermingled with another one—a soft, calming tone that had to belong to Sylph.
“My goodness...” I whispered.
The ground in front of me began to ripple. The undergrowth vanished in the blink of an eye as the bare earth beneath twisted, expanded, and churned. Air steadily mixed into it. The dark, nutrient-rich soil was raked away in clumps as a small spring, surging with clear water, appeared right next to it.
Gnome nodded. “Yes, I think this should suffice as a rough-and-ready solution.”
“It was way easier than I thought ’cause of the mana in the ground!” Undine said.
“I have to wonder how long it has been since we all worked together like this,” Sylph remarked.
The spirits were all smiles as they admired their work. They had just produced a perfect field, all ready for planting, and it had only taken seconds! I was stunned—surely I was dreaming!
But when I came back to my senses, I began to panic. “Y-You’ve done all this work for me... How can I repay you?!”
“Work?” Salamander asked. “Can ya really call it work when we can get this kinda stuff done in a jiffy?” He let his tail trail soothingly over my cheek.
Alk patted my shoulder. “He is right, Fran, so worry not. I daresay they could have completed such a feat even in their sleep.”
Be that as it may, the least I could do was prepare some delicious tea for them all. Well, that, and continue preparing to roast these potatoes! I got back to work and got the paper towel wet with Undine’s spring water.
Gnome hummed thoughtfully. “Given that this field is for the use of a young lady, perhaps we could do something to make it a little less barren? I could build her a fence or something if only I had access to some metal ores...”
“It would be cute if we could put some more flowers or decorations beside the spring!”
“I could ask the wind to bring us some flower seeds if you’d like.”
They had to stop—I had to order something for us to eat immediately to distract them! The field that the spirits had provided me with was wonderful enough, but they were already making plans to improve it! My heart couldn’t take much more of this!
“Um, excuse me. I’ve ordered us some tea and refreshments. I thought we could take a break while we wait for the potatoes to cook...?”
“Ooh! What did you get?” Undine asked.
“I got us some sandwiches since it’s lovely weather for a picnic.”
Salamander had started a bonfire for me, and I was currently using it to roast the potatoes. While those had cooked, I’d hastily ordered a picnic selection that came in a rattan basket. I held it up to show Undine, who started to jump for joy. Salamander leaned forward from my shoulder to peer inside it.
“It’s more than just sandwiches—we have plenty of choices. There are three kinds of appetizers, two types of baguette sandwiches, and two types of pastries. We also have salad, quiche, a main dish, seasonal fruits, and dessert!”
What I’d ordered was a multicourse meal in a basket—and that naturally made for a heavy basket too! The container itself wasn’t exactly small either, so even just holding it was rather laborious. I placed it on a patch of grass on the field’s edge, and everyone gathered around it.
“Conveniently, it came with plates and cutlery too! It is very much the ultimate picnic basket!” I said, starting to unpack it.
Alk’s eyes lit up as I did so. “I see that it also contains meat. You have chosen well, Fran.”
“Indeed it does! You may have the thickest cuts!”
Just as I thought, he’d picked up on his favorite food right away!
We had jellied consommé packed with seafood, terrine filled with vibrant veggies, and grated carrot to cleanse the palate. The baguette sandwiches looked so crispy that you could almost hear them break by sight alone. Half of them had prawns and avocado inside, and the other half were filled with generous portions of ham, cheese, and greens. As for the pastries, I was fairly sure that they were berry and peach varieties.
And if that wasn’t enough, the basket was crammed with even more delicious offerings! Like the quiche—where the green spinach and pink salmon created a beautiful contrast—or the radiant fruit. Then, there were thick slices of roast pork that were intended to be eaten with a luxurious sauce.
And what’s more...!
“There’s a whole selection of mini desserts! I’m certainly going to have trouble deciding which to eat!” I commented.
“These look just as delicious as the snacks we had earlier! Your skill really is so fascinating, Fran,” Sylph said.
“You got that right! I can’t wait to get started!” Undine cried.
I knew just how they felt. We hadn’t even tasted anything yet, and this was quite the feast for the eyes! A pretty box dotted with bite-size gems like shortcake, roll cake, chocolate cake, mille-feuille... Surely this couldn’t be legal!
“Please help yourselves while we wait for the potatoes,” I told them. “Just eat whatever takes your fancy!”
For me, the first order of business was to use the cutting board and one of the knives I’d ordered earlier to cut the baguette sandwiches into pieces. The outside of the bread was so crisp and crunchy! Just touching it told me how delicious it would be. And don’t worry—I could handle cutting a baguette or two!
The scent of wheat burst from the bread with each movement of my knife. The sandwich fillings were perfectly fresh too. This bread was nothing like the hard, acidic stuff we had in the duchy, which had needed to be dipped in soup to make it edible. Now that I thought of it, while I was far from perfect, I was still the eldest daughter of a duke. It struck me that my treatment might have been even crueler than I’d realized. The fact that I was surrounded by smiling faces right now was like something out of a dream!
I continued cutting the bread as I enjoyed my reverie, and everyone’s hands shot out the very moment I was finished. They must have been eager to try some—as was I!
I hummed in delight. “What wonderful flavors! You can really taste the homemade butter they used!”
“I very much like the variety of tastes and textures,” Alk said. “It isn’t monotonous in the slightest.”
My teeth had broken through the crunchy outer layer of the bread, releasing the fluffiness within. The bread had been toasted after being opened and before being filled, and the butter was seeping into that crispy inner part. The way the butter overflowed with each bite was simply indescribable! Alk was right about the wonderful variety of textures in the sandwich—there were plump shrimp and soft, pulpy avocado all in a single mouthful! And it was so lovely how the crisp, plentiful greens kept the other flavors from becoming too rich.