“Ugh, I’m tired! So tired!”
I shouted.
I was fed up with those Strider women who ate three times as much as a middle school boy in a sports club.
Seriously, isn’t that a bit too much? Give me a break already.
I sneakily teleported to the ‘Garden’ and mass-produced bread in the large oven.
Anyway, I had to bulk it up with grains, or it would be impossible.
Already, three of those huge, school-lunch-sized pots were disappearing in a single meal.
“Shio-neechan! The food on this expedition is so good!”
“Right?! The only thing I look forward to on expeditions is Dru’s cooking!”
…But when they say things like that behind my back, it makes me feel like I have to try harder.
I hate my parents’ upbringing in my previous life at times like this. They made me into a body that tries hard when told to try hard. And the fact is, it’s within the realm of what I can manage if I try…
Alright, alright, I get it!
I silently mass-produced stick donuts…
A hundred coppepan-sized stick donuts disappeared in thirty minutes…
“Pien”
“Mmm, delicious.”
“Yummy!”
“You guys… don’t you feel sorry for this Andrews-san?”
“Mmm, you’re working hard.” “Good job, good job.”
And here we are again, on the carriage.
While watching the culprits, the Strider women, happily stuffing their faces with donuts, we moved on again.
Looks like we’ll be traveling for a while…
This is Medieval Europe, so there are no airplanes, of course, and no trains or buses either. It’s much more rural than the countryside Yoshikimi sings about. The whole world is like that. No TV! No radio! That’s how it is.
What’s more, there are no stagecoaches or horse-drawn railways or anything like that.
Some people who aren’t familiar with the details seem to confuse the Middle Ages with the Early Modern period… but stagecoaches are an Early Modern concept.
This world is quite different from Earth, so I can’t say for sure, but if I were to compare it to Earth’s history, it would be like Europe in the mid-Middle Ages. Around the 13th century, at the height of feudalism?
In other words, there’s no production capacity to make many proper carriages like stagecoaches, no capital to maintain a large number of horses, and, above all, no personnel who can be entrusted with such complex work.
By the way, speaking of history…
If it were to become the Early Modern period, well, there would be the delightful Hundred Years’ War, followed by the Black Death, and then gunpowder and guns would be invented, ending the age of knights… in other words, the collapse of feudalism, followed by the Renaissance. Absolutism, the Age of Exploration, mercantilism, the Reformation, and the budding of science, right?
But in this world, the most important item for ending the age of knights, “gunpowder and guns,” is meaningless.
In this world, trained humans can unconsciously clad themselves in magical power… a force field of aether filled with stars.
It’s called ‘Magic Skill,’ and it’s more casually usable than magic, so many warriors can use it.
And the warrior class who can master that ‘Magic Skill’… well, the knights, can harden their armor by channeling magical power through it, and even deflect ballista bolts.
That’s why guns are meaningless.
In Earth’s Europe, being able to kill great knights with guns made battles less special, and the idea that having more numbers and gunpowder was stronger became the norm! And that’s how money-making became power!
But in this world, guns can’t even inflict a scratch on the privileged knight-sama.
…So, the age of knights continues forever. Feudalism continues endlessly.
On top of that, those amusing nuisance beasts called monsters roam freely, so the peace never gets better. With this, there’s no way technology will develop!
And to add one more thing, monsters also appear in the sea, so the Age of Exploration will be even further in the future.
When you go out into the open sea, whale-like creatures with horns come crashing into you…
That’s the kind of world it is, so it’s all over.
…And I was rambling on and on to myself.
“I don’t understand!”
And that’s Shio for you.
It sucks to be uneducated, doesn’t it?
“Mmm, I understand. You’re saying that society doesn’t have the余裕, the foundation for development isn’t there in the first place?”
On the other hand, Margot is smart, so she understood.
“That’s right, that’s right. So this world will probably continue to be a Medieval European-style fantasy for the next few hundred years. Slowly developing through gradual cultivation, unless weapons that even commoners can use to kill knights are invented, knights will always be special… and the monarchy will remain strong.”
“But what’s wrong with that? It should be stable.”
“It’s stable, but it doesn’t grow.”
“Even so, we can’t abandon our current wealth and invest in a future that may or may not exist.”
Yeah… that’s true.
“Indeed, Dru. You are a wealthy person. Not just in this country, but all the people under this heaven are tearing up and eating the saplings for future wealth. Because they can’t live today otherwise.”
“Ah… I guess, like, my bad.”
That’s true…
Tomorrow, they don’t know what will happen that far ahead. Saying something arrogant like, “If we try hard, the world will be a better place!” to the many people living with an Armored Trooper mentality.
“No… Your way of thinking sounds like both a valid argument and a sophistry. But I like it.”
“Eh…? Really?”
“…Striders like me are doing reasonably well now, but originally, we should have much worse lives. But that’s why… even if it’s just a pretty lie, I want to dream.”
Ah…
“You have dreams, you have hope… It’s dazzling.”
Well…
The people of this world are doing their best to live each day.
But that’s as it may.
Humans are creatures that want to believe that tomorrow will be better.