A year had passed since we first met the dragon, and it was now spring. Bal and I had turned nine years old, while Liam was fourteen.
With Lord Reineke’s guidance, we had taken the molted dragon scales and produced stones with properties similar to those of magical ore. First, the scales were dried in the sun, then imbued with the desired type of magic, and finally varnished to make them look like tiles. These imitations of magical ore had different colors depending on the type of magic they were imbued with. They were still experimental, so their use was only permitted within the Renard marquisate, but we hoped to export them to the capital in the near future.
Theo found a way to use the pseudo magical ore to aid in restoring the embankment, rapidly speeding up progress. The riparian works were completed successfully, and the Gupi River didn’t overflow this year, allowing the land around it to be used for agriculture. Theo informed us that because monster attacks had often caused the river’s current to change, plenty of sediment had accumulated, creating an alluvial fan. This land would be suitable for orchards.
Currently, we were all preparing for the ceremony celebrating the completion of the Renard River embankment. A sacred path was built on the widest part of the levee, leading to a newly erected statue of Undine, the Lord of Water. Large trees with thick roots were planted around the embankment to reinforce it. Lady Kuzunoha had suggested a variety of flowers for us to plant so that each season would bring its own unique beauty. The more beautiful the levee, the more people would visit, and their footsteps would further solidify the ground. We planted cherry trees with white buds, and small yellow flowers that exuded a pleasant fragrance.
This was where the ceremony would happen. We’d also be holding a festival at the same time to further strengthen the embankment. Liam, Bal, and I were helping the people from the monastery prepare to run the festival’s stalls as part of their service.
“I brought the soy sauce and miso!” I said, entering the monastery’s kitchen.
Lady Kuzunoha possessed me and licked the soy sauce.
“A good finish,” she remarked.
“Please check the sesame oil as well,” the abbot requested, holding out a small plate with a light brown liquid.
“Ah, oil is a weakness of mine.”
Lady Kuzunoha took the plate and began lapping up the oil. It must’ve been a strange sight to see a little girl doing that.
I hope Lady Kuzunoha realizes my body’s the one taking in all this oil, I thought while tasting it on my tongue.
Lord Reineke watched hungrily, so the abbot gave him a plate of oil as well. The fox happily licked it up.
Sesame oil is in a league of its own. It can make anything taste delicious. That goes for soy sauce as well. Maybe I could combine sesame oil with salt too? It’d probably taste amazing with tofu.
“An excellent idea,” Lady Kuzunoha said, reading my thoughts. “Do try and make it.”
With that, she stopped possessing me.
“Huh? You want me to do it right now?!” I asked with shock. As dismayed as I was, however, I had no choice but to oblige. “Do we have any tofu and salt?”
One of the kitchen staff brought me the items. I added salt and sesame oil to the tofu, then ate a piece.
“Mmm! It really is tasty!”
“A delicacy, is it not?” Lady Kuzunoha responded.
Bal cast me a dubious look. “Is it? I still think tofu doesn’t taste like anything.”
“Then how about you try a bite?”
I picked up a spoonful of tofu and held it out to him. Bal opened his mouth and ate the tofu.
“Oh! It’s pretty good! So soy sauce isn’t the only seasoning you can use,” he said, smiling wryly when he realized he’d totally switched his opinion. “But don’t forget about Liam.”
I turned to look at my brother—he was glaring at Bal, and the sword in his scabbard was ominously glowing.
Oh, Liam wants to try the tofu too!
“Here you go!” I said, holding out the plate to the sulking Liam. He glanced at it sadly.
“What about me?” he asked.
“Hmm?”
“Won’t you feed it to me too?”
I was surprised. I hadn’t even intended to feed Bal like that. He’d just gone and done it while I was trying to pass the spoon to him.
But I guess from Liam’s perspective, it looked intentional on my part.
Still, Liam looked so cute when he was pouting like that.
“Okay, dear brother! Say ‘aaah’!”
I held the spoon out to Liam, and he happily ate the tofu.
“It’s very tasty,” he agreed. Seeing him enjoy it made me happy too.
“Do you like tofu? If so, do you have any other ideas for the menu?” I asked him.
“Let’s see... Tofu is good as a source of protein, but the children don’t seem to like it.”
“What if we flavor it with some honey and soybean flour?” I proposed.
Bal smiled, but it looked strained. “I’d love to taste that, sure...but we need to focus on something that’s easy to serve during the festival, right? I think we should get everyone here to try the recipes we’ve been using in the marquisate kitchen.”
I nodded. “Right! We’ve been wrapping thin slices of meat around tofu and then grilling it with sugar and soy sauce! It’s so good, and serving it on skewers would make it easy to eat!”
We asked the people of the monastery to taste test the skewers.
“This is great! Even the tofu tastes like real meat.”
“The skewers are very convenient, indeed.”
Even the nobles exiled from the capital were satisfied with the taste. Once I had their approval, I taught everyone the recipe. I brought dried tofu from our kitchen, wrapped it up with thin slices of meat, and lightly sprinkled it with wheat flour. The tofu was browned in a hot frying pan, flavored with sake, sugar, and soy sauce to give it a salty-sweet taste, then finally skewered.
However, making this kind of tofu took some time, so we wouldn’t be able to serve it as quickly during the festival. So we decided to also boil konjac balls and put them on skewers to serve with miso paste.
Once the menu was settled, we quietly set to work. We made konjac balls and dried the tofu, while the monastery people worked together to prepare in their own ways too. Lord Reineke and Lady Kuzunoha warmly watched over everyone.
Before long, the day of the festival was upon us. We were walking through the area where the ceremony would occur, checking in on the stalls while accompanied by a servant and Lord Reineke. The fox spirit was in a good mood, and allowed me to ride on his back in his giant form.
A white chalk statue came into view among the whirling cherry blossoms. The image of the Lord of Water appeared grand in size even at this distance. We smiled as we saw passing visitors gaze upon it and sigh in wonder.
“I’m glad the embankment was finished, now that there aren’t so many monsters,” Bal said.
“The pseudo magical ore we made from the dragon’s scales helped out a lot,” Liam responded. “I was a bit worried, though, since this was the first time we’d ever used them.”
“But thankfully Master Theo told us how to use them to reinforce the levee,” I said. “And now we have more land to cultivate too. He said it’s an ‘alluvial fan,’ right?”
“Yes. I never would’ve thought that the river flooding would nourish the soil.”
I nodded at Liam’s words, then noticed that some of the monastery’s criminals were playing music in front of the statue.
“Oh, the music’s started. Many of these people were trained in the capital, so it’s no wonder they’re so skilled in the arts,” Liam said.
Indeed, even the statue had been carved by the criminals, and their musical instruments were handmade too.
“Look! The domain’s best songstress has joined in!” I exclaimed.
The songstress was a Renard citizen. Before long, a dancer joined her, and things began getting livelier and livelier. There was no longer any discontent between the criminals and commoners.
“I’m glad they’re getting along,” I said, and the boys nodded in agreement.
Lord Reineke happily bounced me on his back.
In my past life, the revolutionary army had largely been made up of those who’d been thrown into the mountain pit. They had grown to hate the land they were exiled to, and they took out their anger by stealing the domain and destroying people’s faith in Lord Reineke. However, now that the criminals’ lives were a little better, they shouldn’t hold as much resentment toward the domain, even if a revolution did happen. Not to mention, many of them had grown affectionate toward Lord Reineke and had faith in him.
Originally, Bal was the leader of the revolutionary army. But now he’s on friendly terms with the Renard people. If the revolution still happens, I know he won’t do anything bad to them or Lord Reineke.
Bal suddenly met my gaze.
“What is it?” he asked.
“It’s nothing,” I replied with a smile.
He rubbed his nose. “Come on, stop it... You’re embarrassing me.”
“I am? Why?”
Before Bal could respond, Liam covered his eyes with his hand.
“Then don’t look at her.”
“Hey! Scold Lune, not me. It’s not my fault she’s so oblivious,” Bal said.
“I can’t. She’s too cute.”
The two of them were bantering as usual. I happily watched them from atop Lord Reineke’s back until we started passing by the stall owners.
“Lady Lune, have this!”
“Lady Lune, thank you for helping cure my mother’s illness!”
Lord Reineke’s tail smacked lightly into my back.
“Where’s my thanks?” he demanded.
“I-I didn’t do anything! It’s all thanks to Lord Reineke’s divine messages,” I said quickly. “Please thank him instead.”
“We left an offering at his temple, of course. But if it were not for you, we wouldn’t know about his messages!”
Each person we passed called out to us and gave us various gifts from their stalls: deep-fried tofu, konjac balls, acorn flour cookies, and so on.
“Please have some too, Lord Reineke!”