Preserved Food Standing Requests
Summer is coming to an end.
When autumn comes, it’ll be the familiar busy harvest season every year. And… this year, there’s probably going to be war. The atmosphere is thick with that possibility.
War seasons are generally predetermined, and the major one is after the autumn harvest.
In Halperia, they harvest wheat. In Sunglaire, they harvest sunflowers, and then they start their fighting after finishing with those. Both are grains that are actively consumed in their respective countries.
You might think “harvesting sunflowers, what the heck is that?” I couldn’t really picture it at first either, but the Kingdom of Sunglaire takes sunflower cultivation very seriously.
The sunflowers from my previous life might have undergone some selective breeding for edible seeds, but the sunflowers cultivated in the Sunglaire Holy Kingdom are tremendously large and grow well even on slopes. In fact, if you look at the sunflowers growing in various places when you enter the Sunglaire Holy Kingdom, you can see they’re quite huge. So they must be able to harvest a considerable amount of seeds.
They can be eaten and oil can be extracted from them, so they’re apparently a very important crop over there.
If wheat is Halperia’s important crop, then Sunglaire’s sunflowers hold the same position as a crop that absolutely cannot be ignored.
They can’t start a war before harvesting these crops. Manpower is precious. So they wait for these harvests before fighting each other.
Well, this is mostly for the convenience of the Sunglaire Holy Kingdom, which is usually the attacking side.
If sunflower harvest season had shifted earlier, the relationship between the two countries might have gotten even more frigid.
“Even though it’s still summer, they’re still buying deer meat.”
“Yes. We’re accepting both Charge Deer and Crazy Boar.”
Looking for promising requests at the guild, I can see that the value of things that could obviously become military supplies is rising.
Gunpowder isn’t widespread in this world, but I can almost smell the gunsmoke… Especially with Charge Deer, even though it’s not a particularly tasty season, they’re still seeking the meat.
“With all the people who’ve been promoted recently, Milene-san must be busy too.”
“That’s right… I get the impression that various procedures are piling up. The recognition tags waiting to be handed out, look.”
Saying this, Milene-san showed me the recognition tags stored under the counter.
Whoa. Lots of brand new Bronze plates.
“With that many newcomers, escort duty during harvest season should be secure. Though that doesn’t change how busy Milene-san is…”
“Fufu. Mongrel-san, where are you planning to go this year? If you’re planning to go somewhere with another party, I recommend deciding now.”
“I’ll hold off on deciding that. I’ll go with whoever I want to go with at the last minute.”
By that time, people should be sensing the signs of war too.
Where the fighting will take place should also become clear.
…Well, I think it’ll probably be Twice Plain again this year.
“Well, I’ll go on a mission.”
“Yes, please be careful.”
Now then. Time to go roll around some ingredients for preserved food.
If I thin out the monsters now, there should be fewer attacks on travelers during the busy war period.
War preparations have already begun.
I started my harassment—or guerrilla warfare—against the Sunglaire forces in the Struve area about twenty years ago.
In the early days, I was also young and genuinely furious, so I didn’t limit myself to just summer but used all four seasons to rampage spectacularly. But after subsequent reinforcements and re-invasions, when the military decided to withdraw, invasions from the east became quite calm. My attachment and obsession with my hometown isn’t something I can bare as nakedly as before, and now I’ve settled into a pattern of paying respects to enemy forces while visiting graves. It’s hard to maintain anger, love, and sadness for decades. Well, I do remember them about once a year.
But Struve was the easiest place for Sunglaire to invade.
The mountainous, undulating terrain is very troublesome for Halperia’s specialty cavalry, but conversely provides overwhelming geographical advantages for the Sunset Goats that Sunglaire rides. Because of this, Sunglaire still can’t give up on attacking from that direction, but… full-scale advances seem hesitant because of my presence.
They’ll probably give up on eastern invasion and fight in Twice Plain again this year. The most recent war—seven years ago—was fought there too.
So this year too, they’ll probably gather people and supplies around Baron Basin’s territory or Baron Bradley’s territory for fighting.
Basin’s side has the nearby Rümkel Lake, which is bustling with monsters, so Sunglaire’s invasion will be sluggish there. But Bradley’s side directly borders Twice Plain. If they’re coming, it’ll be from there.
The Sunglaire Holy Kingdom probably doesn’t want to fight in the plains where Halperia excels, but that’s precisely why Halperia was able to part ways with Sunglaire. It would be good if we could repel them again this year with minimal damage.
“Hey, Mongrel!”
“Oh? What?”
While hanging up a Crazy Boar in Baroa Forest and letting it bleed out, someone called to me from a distance.
It’s a familiar face. That’s probably Fried from “Earth’s Shield.” They all wear similar helmets, so it’s hard to tell even when you can see their faces.
“No, I heard sounds of fighting, so I came to check. The boar was squealing, but I couldn’t hear humans coordinating on their side, so I thought something bad might be happening. I’m glad it was just you, Mongrel.”
“Ah, I see. Sorry for the confusion. I’m strong even on my own.”
“Hahaha. It’s good that it’s peaceful. …Yesterday, a rookie who just made Bronze got gored to death by a boar in a reckless subjugation.”
“Ugh… from your party?”
“No way, we wouldn’t allow such recklessness. It was guys who formed their own group. What a waste.”
I usually hunt Crazy Boars like snacks, but originally they’re not such weak opponents. If you threw one into a marching Sunglaire army, they could easily kill two or three people—they’re that dangerous.
For newcomers without skills and shabby equipment to fight them is a bit… no, quite dangerous.
You’d need a spear, or at least be able to thrust out a longsword to handle them.
“Is ‘Earth’s Shield’ also on subjugation duty?”
“Yeah. …Can’t say it loudly in town, but it’s war preparation, right? Food prices are rising. We want to hunt as much as possible while we can.”
“Pigs and cattle are limited too… If we don’t gather what we can from the forest, the soldiers’ meals will be poor.”
“You can fight on porridge if necessary, but it affects morale… meat is important on the front lines too.”
Fried stroked the fur of the hanging boar meat.
“Mongrel, are you staying at Bronze 3?”
“Yeah. I’ll participate in logistics. Though I’m not sure if you can call it ‘participation.'”
“No, logistics is a proper military branch too. Rough types might call it cowardly, but… if Mongrel is in the rear, we can fight in front with peace of mind.”
“Cut it out, that’s creepy.”
“That’s harsh!”
“Well, leave the rear to me. No matter what happens, I’ll deliver supplies, and I’ll knock down whatever stands in the way.”
“Earth’s Shield” has many war veterans and understands the importance of logistics.
It’s difficult with other guild members because there’s a temperature difference in recognition. Well, it’s true that I don’t want to be on the front lines, so that’s fine.
“Before that though, there’s the harvest. I don’t really like that…”
“Why? The harvest festival is nice and lively.”
“That harvest festival just… I’m not really fond of the food served in the villages…”
“You’re a strange guy, Mongrel.”
The escorts have to walk slowly too, the meals are heavy, and the parties don’t really match my vibe… It’s like the reluctance of going to visit unwelcome rural relatives…
Yeah, I need to choose where to do escort duty during harvest season too. Where should I go this year…?
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