The Honors Ceremony
The Honors Ceremony
More accurately, after Nightingale kissed him.
Roland had been vaguely aware of Nightingale's affection for him before, but because she did not confide, Roland did not ask. However, it was certain now. How should he reply to her feelings?
Nightingale's behavior made him know that he did not hate her, but even at that he felt a bit pompous. Who would hate a beautiful, composed girl who spent every day with him? Roland could not respond to her because of how his thoughts had developed over 20 years, the real problem that he would face... and Anna. Especially the last point, he would not be able to ignore Anna and only follow his own wishes.
Or he would have to entrust these problems to time.
Suddenly, there were sounds of knocking at the door.
"Come in. It's not locked," Roland called out. He was a bit surprised. Who would come to his office at this hour?
It was Anna who pushed open the door. She held two dishes in one hand and a small jar in the other hand. Roland could smell the savory aroma before she even spoke.
"Food?"
"Yes." Anna smiled and placed the dishes on the desk. Then she took off the bowl covering the jar and poured the milk-white soup. "This is called 'honey roasted mushrooms'. Some were made by me and others by Nightingale. And this is mushroom soup, made from the spices of common vanilla.
"It looks delicious." Roland licked his lips. "Sit down and let's eat it together."
Anna nodded and sat down against the desk.
"Where's Nightingale? Why didn't she come?"
"She said that she doesn't know what kind of expression she should use to face you," Anna answered, "I don't quite understand why she would care about this."
I see. Roland sighed discreetly. Even though Nightingale had seemed confident when she’d said the words and shown no regret, and even said that, "This isn't your fault. I just did what I wanted to do." However, she was actually just like a squirrel that had finally taken up the courage to come out of the hole. Oh dear, was that courageous or timid? "Then, let us eat first."
Roland pinched a slice of mushroom and put it into his mouth. The sweetness of honey melted in his mouth instantly and then his mouth filled with the succulence of the mushroom. In this age without MSG, this rich, juicy flavor was incredible... and perhaps the salt enhanced its flavor. Finally, he felt the texture of the mushroom. It was smooth and chewy. It was perfection.
"These aren't normal mushrooms?" Roland swallowed the mushroom and detected the differences. Normally, it would be good enough to keep the smooth and chewy texture of the mushroom after roasting it. How could a mushroom be so juicy? It was not boiled in soup.
"Yes, it's the local specialty from the Misty Forest, the people in the town call them Bird Beak Mushrooms," Anna smiled and told Roland the history of the mushroom, "That's why I wanted for you to taste it too."
Roland ate another mushroom that was soaked in soup. It was also very delicious and even more delectable than the last. He felt as if he was eating soup dumplings, there was even a slight crunchy texture when he chewed it. Such flavor made Roland recall the very common and multi-purpose seasoning in the previous world—MSG. Before sodium glutamate had been discovered, chefs could only enhance the flavor of the food indirectly. For example, chefs would use hens, bones, mushrooms, or beans to make soup stock. Although future chefs preferred to use original ingredients to demonstrate their exquisite skills, Roland had to say that even for newbies, with MSG they could take it up a notch.
If the Bird Beak Mushroom was naturally juicy, it would be the perfect extraction ingredient for MSG. Perhaps the Bird Beak Mushroom was not promoted because it grew on trees and was difficult to pick. However, that would not be a problem for Roland.
"Are there a lot of this type of mushroom?"
"I don't know. Maybe. Quite a lot I think." Anna took a bite. "Maggie said that she flew around the border of the forest and picked a whole bag of the mushrooms for me."
"That's a piece of good news." Roland soon ate all the roasted mushroom slices that Anna had made, and stretched his chopstick to the other dish. "I'm concerned that the steak is always seasoned with either pepper or honey. I've grown tired of eating that... Oh gosh."
"What's the matter?"
"No... nothing." Roland was crying inside. Oh dear, this slice was really salty. Did Nightingale accidentally throw it into the salt jar? Despite his thoughts, Roland still swallowed the mushroom. After that, Roland discovered that the rest of the mushroom slices were either burnt or still somewhat raw. There were mushroom slices that were half burnt and half raw. Fortunately, the Bird Beak Mushroom itself was very delicious, and that largely concealed her clumsy cooking skill.
"I'm... full." Roland put down his chopsticks. He tried hard to finish the second dish and ate all the soup. Roland's stomach was bloated. "Thank you."
"Yes, and Nightingale too." The way Anna smiled was extremely adorable. Roland could not help but pinch her nose. Anna cried out softly and leaned forward to kiss Roland on his cheek. "I'll go to wash the plates now. Remember to rest early."
Roland sighed lightly after Anna left.
Although he did not want to ignore Anna's feelings, some things were hard to talk about. Roland thought helplessly, perhaps it was because he’d been a mechanical engineer. When Roland was still a student, he rarely acquainted himself with any females. Even though he’d gone on to a large-scale design institute and began to have considerable income, that part of him remained unchanged.
Luckily, they were still on a long journey to eradicate the church. He could take time to ponder what he should do next. Right now, he should focus on his work.
...
The next morning, Roland climbed up to the temporary wooden stage in the square. There were already swarms of people around him.
Border Town looked completely different now compared to its previous poor and dilapidated look. It could be said that the town had been completely renovated.
The old houses in the town had all been torn down and replaced with operating construction sites and uniform brick house. The latter was constructed according to the urban planning of the neighborhood. The area looked neat and organized. Although it only took up one-third of the land of the town, it was able to inhabit 2,000 locals.
By the time the three and four story houses were put into construction, with the further development of the neighborhood, the same land would be able to contain more and more people. Right now, the name "Border Town" did not seem to fit its actual performance. No town was able to hold 20,000 people and a professional army of 600 soldiers. Roland planned to promote the town as an actual city the following spring.
Under the power of Echo, Roland's voice soon made the crowd calm down.
"Today is the first Honor and Awards Ceremony in Border Town. Today's ceremony is to award and encourage people who’ve made a major contribution to the town. It has been more than half a year since the first day I arrived here. We've defeated the demonic beasts, conquered the duke, and many people have sacrificed for all these achievements. There were strong performers among all the contributors. These people aren't the noble or rich merchandisers. They are normal people like you, all of you, before you started to work for me."
He looked around and said loudly, "Right now, they'll receive plentiful returns! Each of them will receive a medal that's crafted by myself, 100 gold royals and a land of 0.8 acres!"
The news caused waves of impacts among the crowd. Not to mention the medal and land, only 100 gold royals was a huge sum of money that would make people envious.
"This isn't a one-time ceremony. From now on, every year we will have an Honor and Awards Ceremony. Regardless of your background or wealth, as long as you make great contributions, you can receive this highest honor!"
As soon as Roland finished his sentence, the gun salute that Echo imitated started to reverberate in the square. Among the continuing roar of the gun salute, Iron Axe, Kyle Sichi, and Nana Pine walked on to the wooden stage with the cluster of the First Army.