602 - - 18-22 Silent Story 33 Autumn Harvest
North of the Pazdekst isthmus, on the continent of Gondor, there was a colder-than-usual cold air.
In the land of the tribe called the Demon Tribe who live there, Jin, who visited a little over a month ago, had taken measures to prevent their buckwheat noodles to be cultivated in autumn from being damaged by the cold, and they had been able to harvest them safely.
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Cold air creates wind.
This is because cold air moves toward warmer places.
The wind contains water vapor as it passes through the strait between the continent of Gondor, where the demons live, and the continent of Laurent, where humans live.
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The moist air rises up when it hits the mountain ranges ahead, generating clouds.
These clouds then dump rain and snow on the land below.
Furthermore, cold dry air from the continent and warm moist air from the sea form a stagnant front.
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When a low pressure system forms over the stagnant front, the rain clouds are carried away by the monsoon.
When the winds are light, the rain falls only over the mountainous areas, but when the winds are strong, the rain clouds move inland.
This rainfall will continue until the autumn season in the Laurentian Continent, when the temperature difference between the Laurentian and Gondorian Continents becomes smaller and the northerly winds become weaker.
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In addition, warm currents flow from south to north on the east side of the Pazdekst isthmus, and the sea water temperature is higher than that of the sea on the west side of the isthmus.
In other words, the east side of the isthmus tends to have more humid air moving southward, and therefore more precipitation.
This means that the Kingdom of Klein has more annual precipitation than the Kingdom of Franz.
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For this reason, the Kingdom of Klein is an agricultural country.
"It rains a lot this fall.
Giebeck, the village chief of Kayna, looked up at the sky and furrowed his brow.
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The other day, when the rain had temporarily stopped, the whole village had finished harvesting the wheat at once.
It was October 10. "Beck, it's not good to leave the wheat wet, it could get moldy or sprout. What do you have in mind?"
Sally Mireshan, a healer from the village of Kayna, said anxiously. Beck is probably a nickname for Guy Beck.
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"Well. Jin is out, but I've talked to Butler A, who's been staying with us, and we've decided to keep them in the shelter.
"I see, it's dry there."
The underground shelter by Nido Castle was built by Jin and is managed by Butler. The inside is air-conditioned, and although it is underground, it is dry enough to be used for storing grain.
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In addition, as soon as the wheat was brought in, the old man adjusted the air conditioning to make it drier in order to prevent mold, so that the harvest in Kaina Village was
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"......We're screwed."
Braak, the chief of Toka Village, sighs heavily.
Here in Toka, the rain had caused the wheat to sprout.
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When wheat contains water due to heavy rainfall, it germinates while still growing in the field. This is called ear germination. The quality of wheat that has sprouted in the ears is so poor that it does not expand when made into bread.
After the harvest, the wheat was covered to protect it from rain, but when it was threshed, 30% of the wheat had sprouted.
But we must be happy that 70% of the crop was saved.
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Lysia Faarheit, the young lady of Toka, consoled the chief.
"Let's make this fall's tax a little lighter."
"...... thank you."
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But not many lords, like Toka, are willing to lighten their taxes just because the harvest is down. Or, perhaps, few of them.
And the long rains were beginning to affect the whole kingdom of Klein.
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"Tax revenues for the fall have been cut in half?
The reports coming into Alban, the capital of Klein Kingdom, were not good at all.
Fortunately, none of them were affected by the malt fungus known as "devil's wheat" in this world, but some of them were infected by "red mold".
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The wheat had to be incinerated to prevent the spread of the disease, resulting in a painful loss of revenue.
"We have had a lot of red mold, especially in the southern fields. ......"
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"Mmmm ......"
The Prime Minister, Powell Darner Hudson, looked down with a bitter expression on his face when he heard the report from the Minister of Industry, Delight Domus Hanks.
Red mold, which is common in warmer climates, seems to have raged particularly hard in the southern fields.
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"That's a story you don't want to hear from the king who is lying low. ......"
King Alois III of Klein, who had been ill since the summer, was bedridden, despite the efforts of those around him to nurse him.
The conflict with the neighboring Kingdom of Franz in the spring has left the country's finances in a state of exhaustion, and there is not much wheat in reserve. At this rate, it was obvious that the market price of wheat and barley would skyrocket this winter.
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"The common people's lives are going to suffer again. ......"
Prime Minister Powell is not incompetent. He is a capable minister who puts the nation first.
He understood very well that the main industry of the Klein Kingdom, namely agriculture, is supported by the farmers, whose taxes make the country what it is.
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"......We must do something about it."
However, his impatience did not bring up any good ideas, and all he could do was sigh for the first time that day.
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"...... mushrooms?"
The rain had already stopped on Horai Island.
However, in this rainy autumn, many mushrooms had appeared in the coniferous and broadleaf forests that spread out in the northern part of the island.
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Perido and his golem maids, who are in charge of the general household chores of Horai Island, especially cooking, were trying to find mushrooms as ingredients.
Specifically, shiitake mushrooms, nameko mushrooms, maitake mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms, matsutake mushrooms, and so on.
They would find these mushrooms in Jin's memory and cultivate them if possible. With this goal in mind, Peridot 81-90 searched day and night.
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"This is a shiitake mushroom, isn't it?
"I found a matsutake mushroom.
"It's a nameko mushroom.
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"I think it's a mushroom."
Thanks to his efforts, he was able to find mushrooms that closely resembled shiitake, nameko, matsutake, and mushrooms.
After consulting with the old man, the peridot reader confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the mushrooms by feeding the boiled broth of each mushroom to small fishes and animals.
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Furthermore, the old man confirmed that each mushroom was edible based on the information from the fifth column (quinta) scattered all over the country.
After further analysis and final confirmation that they were not poisonous, he finally gave permission for them to be served on Jin's table.
Among these, he began to cultivate shiitake mushrooms, using some of the tunnels that had been dug up after the material had been extracted. Within six months, they would be on the right track.
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"This is delicious!"
After discovering that the mushrooms were edible, the peridoleders consulted with Meene and developed a mushroom dish.
Nameko mushrooms are used in miso soup, shiitake mushrooms can be grilled or used to make soup stock.
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Mushrooms can be added to stews or chopped and sprinkled on steaks.
The matsutake mushrooms were made into a soup using the little tamari soy sauce that was available. When rice and soy sauce are ready to be mass-produced, I plan to make matsutake gohan (rice with matsutake mushrooms).
"Jin-sama, I hope you come back soon.
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Meine is working hard on her cooking, hoping to see Jin's happy face.
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The eastern part of the Kingdom of Celuloa, in the region of Rivas, is unsuitable for agriculture due to its poor land, and nomads make a living by grazing.
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The Kingdom of Klein is the natural place for them to buy grain.
The decrease in the Kline Kingdom's harvest due to the unusually long rains this fall will naturally affect them as well.
The leaders of the Kingdom of Selroa may or may not decide to send food aid to the eastern part of the country.
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It is not certain at this point. After all, the Kingdom of Cerroa is a country with less than 100 percent self-sufficiency.
To compensate for this, industry, especially magic technology, has developed, and industrial products are exported and food, especially grains, are imported.
It remains to be seen how the Kingdom of Cerroa will fare when imports are not forthcoming.
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What kind of ripple effect will the autumn rains have on the Little Kingdom of Celuloa?
A sense of disquiet is slowly creeping into the country.
Jin in the Kingdom of Shoro was still unaware of it.
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