How many hours had it been since leaving Todd Village? They were using the small highway of Talum, which ran from Nazalf Prefecture to the city of Alona in the northeast.
The scenery was beautiful, and through the carriage’s windows, they could see how the vineyards running along the hills seemed to go on forever. Those vineyards were on both sides of the highway and continued into the neighboring prefecture. With how expansive the rural landscape was, the atmosphere felt more majestic than tranquil.
Elysia, who’d been gazing out the window without losing interest, said, “I’d heard that the empire’s south was covered in forests, so I completely thought there were no open areas without trees.”
“Yes, there are many people who think that,” said Zen. “However, if you look at the actual ratios of this area, woodlands make up only fifty percent of it.”
“Only half!”
“Even so, forests make up only thirty percent of the empire overall, so what we have here is definitely a lot compared to that. If this region really were completely forested, it wouldn’t be habitable for humans. It would have remained undeveloped, not even considered a remote region.”
“When you say it like that, it makes sense,” Elysia said, fervently listening to her father.
Mina looked at the two warmly from the seat across from them. No, she herself found Zen’s talk just so interesting.
She likely would’ve found it boring in the past. Back then, she probably only would’ve wanted to ask things like how he’d come to possess all that bravery he’d displayed back when he’d exterminated the twintail fox.
However, her mindset had changed ever since her uncle had advised that, as a military officer of the empire, she should expand her knowledge more. Just like Zen, she longed to become a knight who was accomplished in both military arts and book knowledge, who wasn’t just strong.
That was why now, as she listened to him talk about geography, she found it more fun than dull.
“Even out of the other states in the empire’s south, Cylin in particular has a lot of plains. Twenty years ago, His Excellency the State Governor put policies in place to use those plains along with the warm climate to cultivate grapes on a large scale.”
“So he first gathered people from the neighboring states?”
“Yes, you’ve remembered that well. It’s like how the state invested public funds into creating and reconstructing easy-to-live villages like Todd Village, and how they were used to promote Cylin as a nice place to live. With the increased manpower the state gained by attracting more people, it was able to use those excess flatlands to expand the state-run farms. The results of that are what you see now.”
Mina, who’d been born in Cylin, hadn’t known its political background. Twenty years ago was when she’d become aware of the world around her, when she first started horseback riding. She still hadn’t had a private tutor at the time, so she was being taught in the Nazalf City suburbs by her aunt who loved riding. Mina had vaguely thought to herself how everyone was developing farmland, how they’d established some delicious-looking vineyards, and how they were expanding them more and more.
She’d assumed that was just how the world worked. She hadn’t fathomed what great pains the current state governor had taken to fuel Cylin’s development.
“Sir Zen, is it true that Cylin’s grape wines are growing popular in the imperial capital too?” asked Mina.
“Indeed,” Zen affirmed. “Famous brands have been popping up one after another over the past twenty years. They’re popular in the imperial capital as well as with neighboring countries.”
Zen continued teaching Elysia. “However, what makes the state governor amazing is not just that he created a new export industry. It’s that at the same time, he established potatoes as the primary crop.”
To keep their attention, he half jokingly added, “Imagine it—nobody would have energy if there were grapes on the dining table instead of bread.”
Then he continued. “With the empire’s south’s climate being what it is, they can plant the potatoes in the winter and harvest them in spring. Then, from summer to fall, they cultivate grapes. Yes, that means there’s no leisure season for farmers in Cylin. But for all the work the citizens put in, they earn more money than those in neighboring states. That attracts more settlers, who come here seeking that.” As a result, although Cylin was the most remote region in the empire, it was one of the areas that’d grown its population the most over the past twenty years. Even Mina, who lacked education, could understand how much more prosperous it was than before.
Zen went on, praising the governor passionately. “After hearing about all the governor has done, it’s easy to just think, ‘Oh, makes sense’ and move on. But when you really think about how he came up with the idea from scratch and actually developed the land, you realize he truly did something special. Not just anyone could’ve accomplished what he did, so you can’t criticize the work of the previous state governors either. After all, the current governor was formerly from the Agricultural Affairs Bureau in the Commercial Affairs Agency, so he was particularly qualified to tackle the needs of this unique region.”
Mina had accompanied Cummel several times to visit the current state governor as part of her duties. To be honest, she hadn’t imagined that such a gentle old man was such an amazing person.
The political talk had been fun, but because it’d centered around food, it made her stomach growl. With a red face, she proposed, “I prepared food for our journey. Shall we have lunch?”
“Oh man, that’d be great,” Zen said.
“Indeed,” Elysia agreed.
Mina nodded and took out three baskets from a box alongside the luggage next to the seats. Inside each basket were five small, potato bread sandwiches with fillings of smoked pork, grilled chicken, scrambled eggs, turnip salad, and grape jam.
“What an elaborate lunch,” Elysia said in surprise.
“Actually, my mother prepared it. I didn’t have anything to do with it...” Mina wasn’t sure where her mother had picked up the news, but she’d been unusually excited upon learning that Mina would be going on a trip with a man she was keen on.
Scrambled eggs were Mina’s favorite. Feeling her mother’s love, she promptly took that sandwich first. At the same time, she wondered if the sandwiches would suit Zen’s and Elysia’s palates. She peeked at them for their reactions.
That was when something unexpected happened.
“Here, father. Say ‘aah.’”
“I’m telling you, this isn’t what a father and daughter should do!”
Elysia had taken one sandwich and held it up to Zen’s mouth, trying to feed him. It was a sugary sweet gesture, far more befitting of newlyweds or a young couple than family members. Paired with Elysia’s cute appearance, the action’s destructive power was beyond comparison.
“But we always do this.”
“No, we do not! Not always! You’re making us look bad!” Zen shrieked, taken aback.
“We’re on a trip, after all. Let’s enjoy this new change of pace.”
“There are limits to how much you can cut loose, okay?!”
“You can feed me instead, father. Aah...”
While Elysia innocently opened her mouth like a baby chick, Zen threw her a rebuttal. “Like I said, other people are watching! Please keep that in mind!” It was as if he were saying, Have some modesty!
I-Is this really a conversation between a father and daughter?! Mina was surprised too. It somehow felt like they were showing off something they shouldn’t do. Even she found her heart pounding. However, while this wasn’t their everyday routine, in reality, it probably wasn’t something so unusual either.
Zen himself had said as much while scolding Elysia. “We don’t always do that” meant they did do it sometimes. “Other people are watching” meant “It’s okay when nobody’s looking.”
Is this normal in the imperial capital? The big city really is wild. Uncle Cummel was a well-off bachelor who’d never married, but if he did have a daughter, she wondered if they’d have pulled the same “Say ‘aah’” act in front of Mina and the rest of the family.
I can’t picture that at all... Mina thought. At any rate, she didn’t taste the sandwich thanks to that terrible culture shock. It was her favorite food that her mother had gone out of her way to make for her, but it was already in her stomach before she knew it.
Elysia finally listened to Zen and gave up on them feeding each other. Her behavior suddenly changed to that of elegance, eating the sandwich daintily and complimenting how tasty it was many times with Zen.
However, still thoroughly shocked, Mina could only manage vague replies.
After everyone finished their meals, Mina retrieved their empty baskets.
With their stomachs full, Zen and Elysia relaxed and became quiet. Mina looked at their contented faces and knew that their compliments on her mother’s home cooking hadn’t been just flattery.
I should take this opportunity to learn how to cook from mother... I-I might become Elysia’s mother too, so...
As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she snapped out of her shock with fresh resolve. This was a trip with the three of them, after all. An opportunity. She couldn’t stay stunned forever.
In her head, she started mulling over what topics to bring up or what to ask them next, when Elysia suddenly pointed to the left window, drawing their attention. “Look, father!”
“Whoa, that’s a big flock of swans.”
A flock of swans with majestic white wings was flying northeast. They happened to be near the carriage, moving alongside it. It was an impactful, captivating scene that made Mina understand Elysia’s excitement.
However, soon enough, Mina and Zen couldn’t keep birdwatching anymore. That was because Elysia suddenly did something bold.
Elysia had been sitting on her father’s right side, so she naturally scooted closer to Zen in order to get a better look at the swans out the other window. While that itself wasn’t a problem, she abruptly clung to him, wrapping both arms around his right arm.