Intermission 2: Researching a Certain Line of Research (1)

The research institute in the former slums of Parnam, the royal capital of the

Kingdom of Friedonia.

Ginger's Training Facility, which had been opened with King Souma's

sponsorship as one means of securing talented personnel and making it so that

slavery became a thing that existed in name only, now had a great many subjects

which could be studied at it.

With more land being given to the facility, it had come to be called Ginger's

Vocational School. While retaining the elementary school, they had also established

schools dedicated to various specialized subjects. If a field of study achieved results

here, there would be schools dedicated to it established in other cities.

There were already a number of fields of study that had gone independent, and

specialized schools for them were being built in other cities; but the schools of

farming and medicine were still here. This was because the appropriate teachers

were here: the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Poncho Panacotta, as well as

doctors like Hilde Norg and Brad Joker. It also showed that Souma, who knew that,

historically, the production of food and knowledge of medicine were directly linked

to the maintenance and growth of the population, placed great importance on those

fields.

Now, there were two man-and-woman pairs facing one another across the

threshold at Ginger's Vocational School's main gate. The first pair consisted of a

rotund man who was almost thirty years old, and an intellectual beauty who was

elegant in everything including her appearance. The other pair consisted of a young

man whose face was so gentle in appearance that he might be mistaken for a girl,

and a beautiful raccoon girl who had an unyielding look in her eyes that left a lasting

impression.

The strange thing was, the woman in each of these pairs was wearing a classical

maid uniform with a long skirt.

The two who were about to enter the school grounds were the Minister of

Forestry and Agriculture Poncho Panacotta, and Serina, the head maid of Parnam

Castle who was also the personal attendant of Princess Liscia.

The two who were greeting them at the threshold were Ginger Camille, the

principal of Ginger's Vocational School, and Sandria, who served him as his secretary

and maid.

Poncho and Ginger smiled and shook hands.

"Greetings, and thank you for coming, Sir Poncho."

"S-Sir Ginger, it does my heart good to see that you are in such good health, yes."

"Um... There's no need to be so formal, you know? You're older than me, and a

minister, too."

Poncho stuttered, "I-It's a habit of mine. I just can't seem to shake it, yes."

"He is a timid man, you see. Please, give up on him," Serina chimed in as Poncho

was awkwardly trying to explain himself. "Honestly... Considering that he's saved so

many of this country's people with his knowledge, I wish he would have gained at

least a little more self-confidence."

"Um, and you are?" Ginger asked.

"Pardon the lateness of my introduction. I am Serina, the head maid at the royal

castle." She gave an elegant bow.

"Th-Thank you kindly for that. I am Ginger, the principal of this school."

When Serina bowed her head to him, Ginger panicked.

Seeing his reaction, Serina chuckled. "Now, Lord Ginger, you needn't be so formal

when addressing a mere maid like myself."

"Th-That's not..."

"My master has a weakness for attractive older ladies, you see," Sandria chimed

in.

Ginger was bewildered by what she said. "San?! What are you saying so

suddenly?!"

"Nothing that is not a fact, I assure you. When you are in the presence of Lady

Hilde, you are always so tense... Oh, pardon me, I hadn't introduced myself yet."

Sandria lifted up the hem of her apron dress and curtsied. "Greetings. I am Lord

Ginger's secretary, maid, and pet slave, Sandria."

"Hey, you're making me sound way too bad! I only tasked you with being my

secretary; you started doing the maid work on your own! Also, what do you mean,

pet slave?!" Ginger protested, but Sandria pretended not to hear him, bowing deeply

to Poncho.

"You must be Lord Poncho. I hear about you from time to time. It's thanks to you

that my fellow slaves didn't starve when things were at their worst. On behalf of

everyone, I would like to thank you."

"N-No! You don't need to do that, yes!" Poncho panicked when Sandria bowed to

him.

Serina watched him with a slightly chilly look in her eyes. "Sir Poncho, even if she

is one of those 'underage girls' you so like, please, don't lose your head over a little

praise."

"I-I wish you wouldn't go putting any weird labels on me, yes!"

"Oh? Is it not the truth, though? I know these things, you realize?" Serina smiled,

but her eyes were not smiling. "Earlier, there was that dish you developed with His

Majesty, the 'toasted sandwich.' You only served the dish to Lady Tomoe, did you

not? Without bothering to invite me."

"Is that why you've seemed so upset lately?!"

If one were to ask who was the biggest glutton in all of Parnam Castle, that would

be Aisha, of course; but Serina would have to be the runner-up. But there was a

slight difference in the nature of their gluttony.

Unlike Aisha, who would eat anything (especially sweets), the more of it the

better... Serina didn't demand quantity, but she had developed a taste for the junk

food and B-grade cuisine that Souma and Poncho created.

Souma and Poncho had put together a lot of different dishes. To be precise, they

were recreating dishes that had existed in Souma's former world. Of those dishes, it

was things like spaghetti and yakisoba buns, the sort of things you wouldn't see in a

fancy restaurant, that had captured Serina's heart.

The thing was, Serina came from a distinguished family that had turned out many

maids and butlers who went on to serve the royal family. Because of that, they had

worked to instill cultured tastes in her from a young age, to ensure she would be

presentable and wouldn't embarrass herself in front of royalty. They'd paid close

attention to her diet, and she had always been expected to eat good food, and to use

the proper etiquette. Of course, that meant she'd never been allowed to just go out

and buy food from a cart and eat it there. For Serina, having grown up in a house like

that, Souma and Poncho's dishes had made quite an impact on her.

There's a staple food on top of another staple food!

When Serina had first came into contact with a spaghetti bun, that first bite had

destroyed all established notions she had about food. How could such a vulgar dish

be so delicious?

Ever since, Serina had made a habit of following Poncho around. That was

because if she was at his side, she was treated to delicious samples. The dishes

Poncho made were the one thing other than cute girls that caught Serina's interest.

Which was why, when she was unable to try them, she held a grudge.

Sensing her displeasure, Poncho hurriedly tried to explain himself. "I-It was still

just an experimental dish, so there weren't enough of them..."

"Knowing you are unused to going out in front of people, under the orders of His

Majesty and the princess, I have worked with diligence and sincerity to assist you,"

Serina said coldly. "Yet, you did not allow me to sample the dish. Could it be because

I am already a grown woman?"

"When we get back! When we get back, I promise I'll make one for you, yes!"

Poncho hurriedly said.

The somewhat sad expression disappeared from Serina's face.

"That's a promise," she said, looking perfectly fine.

It had apparently all been an act to get him to agree to it. Poncho's shoulders

slumped.

Ginger wasn't sure how to react as he watched this exchange, but Sandria was

nodding along.

"I can see your relationship has a lot in common with ours."

"Oh? But my master is Princess Liscia," Serina said.

"I didn't mean it in that way..."

When Serina tilted her head to the side quizzically, Sandria just smiled, not sure

what to say. That exchange left question marks floating over the two men's heads.

With the formalities out of the way, Ginger took Sandria, Poncho, and Serina to a

place outside of Ginger's Vocational School. There was a building for studying

farming techniques at Ginger's Vocational School, and they mostly focused on the

study of crops, compost, and selective breeding. However, there were no fields on

the school grounds to demonstrate their results. The former slums were near the

city walls, so the fields had been planted on the opposite side. The research building

and fields were separated by the city wall, but in terms of distance they were close,

and it was easy to get from one to the other.

Once they passed through the gate, Ginger led Poncho and company to the fields

owned by his vocational school. When they finished greeting the guards who

watched the fields, the four arrived in front of two particular fields. Neither field had

anything planted in it, but one looked like ordinary black soil, while the other was

dry and cracked.

With these fields in front of him, Ginger asked, "You've come here today in

regards to that line of research, right, Sir Poncho?"

"Yes," Poncho nodded. "Both His Majesty and I have great hopes for that line of

research, after all."

Ginger shook his head apologetically. "...Let me say this up front. We were unable

to achieve the sort of results you're hoping for."

The field of research Souma and Poncho had great hopes for was research on one

of the "failed experiments" of the overscientist, Genia Maxwell.

Back when the former king had ruled the country, Genia had developed

arrowheads with seeds inside them with the hope that the sites of battles would be

covered with greenery. With the effect of the light elemental magic the arrows were

imbued with, the seeds grew at an alarming speed, and it'd been a massive failure

that had resulted in half of her research building nearly being engulfed by plants.

The result was that Genia had been transferred to the Forbidden Army, and her

research suspended.

However, after the throne had changed hands, Souma had seen a practical use for

her research and ordered Genia to resume it. He wasn't so interested in the

arrowhead part; but with plants that grew so fast that they could engulf a building,

he could make the desert bloom, and he'd had hopes that it would lead to an

increase in the food production rate. However, Genia the genius had already lost all

interest in the subject, so Souma had ended up ordering the School of Agricultural

Technology at Ginger's Vocational School to do it instead of her.

But... Ginger explained that they hadn't been able to produce results.