54 Chapter 54 Ignite Fire (2/2)
”Why aren't there any towns up here? Is the soil too poor?”
”No, it seems, just from what little I can tell after talking to the few people we've seen, that people are too afraid of the barbarians.”
”Then we shouldn't have a problem finding a good sight to build on.”
”No,” Daniel agreed.
”Why haven't the barbarians killed the few people, or tax-evaders, that live up here/”
”They trade with the barbarians. I think the barbarians see them as kindred spirits and leave them alone.”
”Then, maybe we'll be able to have some peaceful talks after all.”
”Your scouts have identified 7 city sites, and they told me that you intended to develop them all?”
”Yes, three on the central site this year, two next year and the year after, then there will be two full years for all seven to grow and prepare before I have to take over. I have lots of ideas on improvements that I've seen during my travels with my dad. And if we build with a plan in mind, we should be able to account for anything we missed along the way. Have the scouts had a chance to check on things like growing conditions and what the people eat in the winters?”
”Well, the people we talked to, who would talk to us, said they generally plant rotations of wheat and potatoes for three to five years in the same field and then let it sit empty for a year to recover before planting a local vegetable called crown.” He held one up for Joseph to see.
It looked a lot like desur, only smaller.
”They use this for animal feed?” he asked.
”Yes, it tended to taste bitter and gave people diarrhea.”
Nodding, Joseph knew how to prepare it. The roots needed to be cleaned properly in order to remove those side effects. He could think of just a dozen recipes for it, off the top of his head. He imagined they only tried to eat the leaves instead of just the root, which was where the vitamins were. It would take some work to boil the roots and skim off the froth that floats to the top, but it would make them edible to people, and open up a whole realm of food for them.
He talked with Daniel until lunch time, telling him about his plans for bath houses and public sanitation. He had even taken into account the freezing in the winter on the sewers and runoff from the town affecting the rivers. While Daniel didn't understand all of it, he understood enough to know that Joseph was full of ideas.
As lunch time rolled around, Joseph started thinking more about the desur and a stir fry with fish. If he had everyone cook things up, he could always cast test food to make sure it wasn't poisonous.
He wouldn't be able to cast the spell for every dish, but he only needed it for the test recipes. He was so excited about the idea, that he was up very late that night, with Stella, Daniel and a bunch of other slaves, cooking and working on things. He wanted the next day to be completely free so he could finish the last hours of IGNITE FIRE before they arrived at their destination.
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