Canned Food [Part 1]
“Fukushima-sama? So you don’t hunt monsters, but exterminate…(?) them? Then what about the food supply for that time?“
Leonard asked Fukushima while tilting his head.
Monster hunting didn’t always end as a one-day trip. Nobody could predict how long it would take every time an appearance occurred. Sometimes, it could even take days or weeks.
Locally procuring food supply was one of the basics of hunting in the Kingdom. The hunters would bring their own seasoning because they would cook and grill the slain monsters as they preferred. If people in Imperial Japan didn’t eat monsters, how did they procure food?
“Maybe dried boiled rice and rope permeated in miso? Oh, I know, miso balls?“
Thinking of the military rations during the Warring States period of Japan, Emma, a history nerd in her past life, started asking with great interest. She had wanted to try it once, and the variety of seasonings she had her father and older brother bring to the hunting ground increased.
“No, no, Emma-dono. That was something from a few hundred years ago. Of course, there won’t be any samurais who will bring dried boiled rice, taro stem, or miso balls. Most of the time, lunch boxes will be delivered by the samurai with the fastest feet in the supply team.“
What is it? Are we going to talk about this now? Despite his confusion, Fukushima answered honestly. At any rate, just a few meters away, Over was right in the midst of being crushed to pieces by the insects. And before this scene, the Stuart family’s concern was the mystery of food security during monster extermination, which Fukushima couldn’t fathom.
“But, even if someone delivers the food, wouldn’t it be difficult to report the exact current location? It’s inevitable to move constantly when hunting… Oh! I guess you use smoke signals?“
Fukushima was taken aback when he heard William’s words. And why does each and every single one of them have an olden way of thinking? Imperial Japanese children these days probably don’t even know the word “smoke signals”.
“No, William-kun, that too was something from a few hundred years ago. Nowadays, we use magic stone tablets to communicate, you know?“
Magic stone tablets… which was the gadget used to report Imperial Prince Tasuku’s return and was also Imperial Japan’s method of communication, a.k.a. another world version of iP*d.
“Huh? Isn’t Imperial Japan… super high-tech compared to the Kingdom…?“
Upon hearing Fukushima’s words, George recalled the existence of the magic stone tablet Imperial Prince Tasuku used on the ship. It was the thing Joshua desperately wanted to the point of making a fuss.
“I can exchange letters with Emma-sama every day, every hour, every minute!” was what he said.
To which Emma replied, “If the Kingdom’s merchants had a magic stone tablet, it would make exchanging information much faster and more convenient.” Starting from the first word, it was clear that no one had the intention to save Joshua like Emma did.
The Kingdom was one of the largest countries in this world, but now that the country had had no wizards for decades, its technological development had been receding. And even if that had not been the case, the Kingdom would have prioritized reinforcing the boundary rather than researching new technologies if it had had magicians because of its alarming shortage of magic stones.
The family shouldn’t have thought Imperial Japan to be the same as their previous world’s Japan. Even if it had samurais and ninjas, it didn’t mean that its technology wasn’t as advanced as the Kingdom. Because Imperial Japan had abundant magic stones, which could be said to be the only resources it had.
“Imperial Japan’s technology is much more advanced than the Kingdom, I see.“
‘So you don’t have miso balls and smoke signals.’ Emma shrugged her shoulders dejectedly.
