Arc II – Agrarian Revolution
Chapter 5 – A Gastronomic Discovery
Day 27 Since the Summoning
The sun had barely begun to rise when Alan stood outside; laid out in front of him were flaxseed oil in a clay bowl, three eggs, garlic, and vinegar.
Off to the side, Zogen was already preparing some concoction out of konshitaya and other plants.
Sleepy peasants slowly began to gather in the square one by one.
Kamelia stood opposite him, her hair slightly messy, her eyes sticking together.
“And what is this?
Are you going to cook something?”
Alan nodded.
“Yeah, it’s called mayonnaise, and mayonnaise is a sauce, and a sauce is…
this liquid and thick thing to make dishes tasty.”
Kamelia didn’t answer; first she rubbed her eyes.
“So you…
wish to use eggs and oil, which we already have little of, simply…
to make the food tastier?” She turned to Zogen.
“Hey, Zogen, do these plants of yours intoxicate by any chance?”
Alan blinked.
“Intox…” he shook his head.
“I haven’t gone crazy!
I phrased it wrong, and anyway, taste is more important than you think.” He stepped closer to her, his voice dropping to a whisper.
“What do you think?
Are the peasants going to work long and hard if every day they have to eat something that makes them want to throw up their stomachs?”
The countess silently looked at Alan.
Kept silent.
Kept silent for a long time.
About thirty seconds.
And then simply closed her eyes.
“Even if that is so, Alan, it is too costly.
One egg is someone’s chance to live another day.
I understand what…
I understand what you are saying, but we are not in a position right now to waste valuable food purely for taste.”
“And who said it’s purely for taste?”
Kamelia blinked.
“What?”
“The eggs don’t go anywhere, Kamelia, they just become the mayonnaise itself.
Just as filling, but simply tastier.
Let’s say…
we spread mayonnaise on bread, and that bread becomes even more filling, and even tastier.” He pointed at Zogen, who was chopping some leaves.
“And this goes double for that; not only does it make it more filling, but tastier too.”
She blinked.
“Could you not have said that first?”
Alan said nothing for a second, then shrugged.
“Okay, I really should have said that first.
Anyway, I hope you’ve grasped the point of mayonnaise and that it’s not just a whim of mine?”
The countess pressed her lips together, hesitating for a few more seconds.
“Very well…
but I will see for myself if this ‘mayonnaise’ of yours is as good as you say; if it turns out to be simply a trinket for taste – no more antics with the food.
Okay?” she said, mimicking his own word, having understood its meaning from context.
Alan froze for a moment, then smiled slightly.
“Okay, okay.” He took an empty clay bowl and cracked the three eggs into it.
“Listen…” Kamelia began.
“Is this mayonnaise of yours…
absolutely, definitely filling?” she cast a sidelong glance at the peasants who were already curious about the commotion.
“Because if the people realize you simply wasted food…
nothing good will come of it.”
Alan snorted, cracking the last egg.
“Want me to tell you about the law of conservation of energy?”
“The law of…
what?”
“The law of conservation of energy.”
A small crease appeared on Kamelia’s forehead.
“Is that a law from…
your world?
Some state?”
Alan picked up the oil.
‘Fuck…
started with the wrong thing, idiot.
The laws of physics don’t exist for her; a law is what Svyatol said or a king wrote…
and how do I explain it more simply?
I’m not a physicist, I only remember it because our physics teacher made us memorize it…
but I think I understand the principle.’
“Never mind.
Basically it’s about how things work.” He poured in the vinegar.
“For example, look.
We light a fire, what burns?”
“The wood burns.”
“Riiight,” he started chopping and crushing the garlic with a dull knife, surprisingly deftly and with experience.
“And the fire can only burn because the wood is there.
Meaning the part of the wood that burns turns into the fire, that’s the ‘energy’, it didn’t go anywhere.” He scraped in the garlic and began thoroughly whisking everything with a wooden spoon.
“It’s the same here.
The eggs and oil don’t disappear anywhere, they just…
become mayonnaise.
When water freezes, it doesn’t disappear anywhere, right?
It just becomes ice, but it’s still water.
And these are still eggs, which are filling, and which can be spread on something.”
The countess held a finger to her chin, digesting this all for a minute, then exhaled.
“Yes, I understand what you are trying to say…
I never thought about it like that, to be honest.” She relaxed her shoulders and simply watched as the liquid became thicker and whiter.
Alan whisked the mayonnaise with all his might.
‘Phew…
feel right at home again, never liked store-bought mayonnaise, always made my own back at the dorm.’
A few minutes later he finally set the spoon aside and shook his arm, which had started to ache.
In the bowl was a thick, yellowish-white paste that smelled purely of garlic.
“Voila.”
Kamelia leaned over the mayonnaise, sniffed it.
“Hmm…
does not smell bad.
How does one eat it correctly?”
“Very simple.
It’s best to spread it on bread, or just dip some food into it, and also…
oh, right…
do you still have hardtack?”
The countess nodded, taking a pouch off her belt.
“Yes, I do, do you wish to try the hardtack with mayonnaise?”
Alan snapped his fingers.
“Of course!
That’s the most basic way!”
Kamelia took a small piece of hardtack from the pouch, dipped it in the mayonnaise, and brought it to her mouth.
She hesitated for a second, but took a bite and chewed.
“Oh…
that is…
truly very tasty.”
“Yeah?” Alan also took a piece of hardtack, dipped it in the mayonnaise and took a bite.
‘Mmm…
shit.
What else did I expect without modern, perfectly high-quality ingredients?
Though under the current circumstances it really is a delicacy.’
Lorgi approached from the side and also silently took a piece of hardtack, dipped it in the mayonnaise and took a bite.
He didn’t say anything, but licked his lips slightly.
Alan turned to Zogen.
“Hey, old man, come here!”
Zogen distracted himself from his cauldron where roots were boiling and walked over.
“What, is it ready already?”
“Yeah, try it.”
Without much hesitation, Zogen took another piece of hardtack, scooped some mayonnaise onto it and ate it whole.
Chewed.
“Wow…
this truly is tasty, and it feels filling…” he swallowed the hardtack.
“With this contraption…
all food could become tastier and more filling…”
A few minutes later, all the peasants were taking turns trying the hardtack with mayonnaise.
Everyone ate without hesitation, and with an appetite driven not so much by taste as by hunger.
Then, by Lorgi’s order, everyone gathered in the square, about a hundred and fifty people, and Alan stepped out before them.
‘Public speaking again…
I don’t have very good experience with this, but…
gotta try.’
“My…
my name is Alan Gothwald, and I am an advisor to Countess Armenas.
What you just saw is called ‘mayonnaise’, and this type of food is called a ‘sauce’.
It…
it’s made specifically to make food tastier, as well as more filling.
Prepared from eggs, oil, vinegar, and garlic.” He raised a hand, stopping potential complaints.
“This is not a waste of food, as I already said, it remains exactly as filling, just tastier as well.”
Some peasants closed their mouths, the rest nodded silently.
“My lord, will you show us how to make it?” a voice asked from the crowd.
Alan nodded.
“Of course.”
By late evening, all the peasants were eating dishes made of plants mixed with garlic mayonnaise.
One kid, about thirteen, was eating particularly vigorously, trying to quietly add more sauce.
Alan sat on the outskirts of the village with Kamelia, Lorgi, and Zogen, somehow chewing a root vegetable and dipping it in the sauce.
“Ahem…
Alright…
Kamelia, do you even have town criers?”
She nodded, chewing on the salad.
“Yes, five of them.
Why?”
Alan stopped chewing.
‘Hmm…
five…
not bad, but a bit few…
we need to spread the mayonnaise recipe and the knowledge of which plants are edible as much as possible to survive the famine.
But as far as I remember, a count doesn’t have the right to send their town criers to vassals to issue orders; is it the same here?’
“Listen, do you have the right to send your town criers to your vassals and issue decrees?” he asked.
Kamelia scooped up another spoonful.
“I believe…
no, I do not.
Lorgi?”
The captain nodded.
“Yes, Your Grace, your father did not have time to tell you this, but I know he did not have the right.”
Alan set down his bowl.
“Hmm…
which means for now we’ll have to make do with only your lands…
how many total in your personal domain?”
“Sixteen villages, the county capital, and almost the entire forest.
The rest belongs to the four barons.”
“And can you just issue an order to the barons, so they send town criers and tell the peasants everything we need?”
Kamelia didn’t answer for a few seconds.
“Yes, I can do that, but…”
“But what?” Alan asked.
Kamelia cast a sidelong glance at Zogen, who was eating nearby; he noticed the look about ten seconds later and stopped eating.
The old man blinked, and then understood, got up and walked away with his bowl to the rest of the peasants.
Kamelia sighed.
“You know yourself.
I am not very highly…
respected.
After my father’s death, my domain was already in decline, and when I took over…” she clenched her fists.
“It only grew worse.
Formally they are obliged to obey, but who would want to?”
Alan leaned his back against a tree and rested his hands on his knees.
‘Crappy situation.
If the barons don’t listen to her…
there’s no way anyone agrees to this mayonnaise venture, plus the baron whose village we burned down will definitely tell her to fuck off.
I’m still surprised he hasn’t started a rebellion already…
he either swallowed it, or is secretly planning something.
But…
what’s the move then?
The clock is ticking, we don’t have time to reach everyone…
but I don’t want to doom the rest of the peasants to starvation either.
But…
what’s the big deal?
This is for their own good, logically the barons should grasp at this straw…
hah…
logically.
If they agree, they tacitly admit that the new countess is useful, which means they’ll have to explain even longer why she needs to be married off to someone…
if they’re genuinely more interested in politics than survival, they’ll definitely refuse, and if we try to force it…
we’re already walking on thin ice after the shit we pulled in Ekkur’s village, we don’t need any unnecessary provocations, since for now that’s only his problem, and we shouldn’t bother the rest of the barons.
So what is it then…
just leave the rest of the peasants to starve and…
that’s it?
No…
no…’
He picked up a branch from the ground and started fidgeting with it in his hands, staring at the ground.
‘And what’s the alternative?
If we try, we could fuck everything up.
No, we only need to work in Kamelia’s personal domain, she has full freedom here, and there’s too much risk there.
Unless…
we just send a letter with a decree once…
if they ignore it, no big deal…
what do you mean no big deal?!
If the countess just swallows the fact that they wiped their asses with her decree, and does nothing about it, her position will become even worse!
Fuck…
so how do we pull off the “I warned you, do what you want” move then?
…
maybe just send a note?
A recommendation?
Something that isn’t a decree, and if someone refuses…
it won’t affect anything, at least not significantly.’
He ran his hands down his face.
‘Sorry, vassals of the barons…
but I can’t do anything about this.’
Kamelia opposite him simply looked into the forest, waiting for Alan to finish his usual plunge into his thoughts.
“Kamelia.”
“Yes?”
“We need to send out recommendations about mayonnaise and the plants to the barons, to help quell the famine on those lands a bit too.”
She blinked.
“Send out…
what?”
“Recommendations.
That’s…
advice, simply put.
But strictly recommendations, not decrees.”
Kamelia sat closer.
“And why not decrees?
Would they not be…
better?”
Alan snorted.
“And can you guarantee the execution of those decrees?
If they refuse…
you’ll have to go to war against them, and you don’t have the forces for that.”
Kamelia froze for a second.
“Yes…
possibly…
but if we send these ‘recommendations’, absolutely no one will follow them, whereas with decrees…
there is at least some chance.”
“High risk, low reward,” he said.
“For one, Ekkur is highly, highly unlikely to agree.”
Kamelia pressed her lips together.
“Him…
he, yes…
but is it not in their own interests to preserve their population that pays taxes?”
Alan shrugged.
“Only if your overthrow doesn’t interest them more.”
“I do not think they are foolish enough to lose so many peasants just to see me overthrown,” the countess replied.
Alan scratched the back of his head.
“Yeah, but…
well who the hell knows what’s in their heads, but I would strongly advise against risking a decree.
Maybe they’re just waiting for an excuse?
You’ve been refusing to marry whoever for a long time now, their patience isn’t endless either.”
Kamelia clenched her fists.
“I understand…
but to condemn the peasants in the vassals’ domains to starvation…
I do not wish for that either.” She took a deep breath.
“I…
it is complicated…
I do not know what to do…”
Alan sat closer.
“Look at me.”
Kamelia raised her eyes to him, under which were dark bags.
“I don’t want to doom the peasants there to starvation either.
But if we try to force the barons to execute a decree…
it could lead to a war inside your county, which they might just be waiting for.
I’m sure burning the village was the penultimate straw, and they probably didn’t start a war over it because they saw the sickness was stopped.
We’ll send them a recommendation, and win either way.
If they refuse – no consequences; if they agree – people are fed, and plus your authority will rise, but until then, let’s not risk it and try to bash our heads against a brick wall, we work only on the lands that belong directly to you.
I’ll repeat it again…
we don’t have the luxury to risk it like that.”
Kamelia opened her mouth to object, but closed it.
Kept silent for about three minutes, then slowly, very slowly nodded.
“I understand…
I do not wish it, but I understand…
very well…
we will do that.”