Dictator From Outer Space

Leobold was a lord, but his diet was not much different from other commoners.

He ate bread mixed with grains and cheese, meat slaughtered from his domain, and steamed potatoes.

Occasionally, he added fish and shellfish caught from the Vandus village.

It was a pity to think of the abundant seafood that he could see from the sea, but he had no choice.

The people considered most of them as monsters, except for the familiar ones.

Especially, they had a strong perception that crustaceans were monsters.

The sea that the Vandus self-reliant spirit possessed was full of crustaceans.

There were large crabs, shrimps, and strange creatures that could only be seen in Astera, but no one thought of them as food ingredients.

It was because they were not used to them after the sea had been closed for a long time, but the main reason was the existence of a huge monster called the mud crab.

This creature, which had only the same name as the mud crab on Earth, was a sea monster that was about 3 meters long and could live on land as well.

It seemed slow because of its size, but it moved agilely and its main weapon was a shock wave from its claws.

It could crush an ordinary house in one blow with its sharp power, and human flesh was no match for it.

Sturdy armor was useless, as the shock wave attacked both armor and flesh.

To fight against it, one needed a Goliath, but there were many mud crabs and they often moved with the shadow elf pirates.

The countries chose to evacuate the coast rather than fight against them.

―We have to fight against those pointy ears first. There’s no need to protect the useless sea.

―It’s better to send troops under the floating continent and mine resources than to build ships.

It was a self-justifying thought that those grapes were probably sour anyway.

Anyway, for that reason, most of the seafood was unfamiliar to Astera people.

The beastmen ate some of them because they had little food to eat, but the dwarves and elves hated them.

Especially, the elves treated humans who ate seafood as barbaric races.

―They must have been born in the sea to endure that vile smell.

―That’s why they lose to us.

Most of the elves were vegans who only ate grains, fruits, and vegetables, and this was another reason for them to despise other races.

“In that sense, the elves would have tried to flip this table if they saw it.”

“It would be like cooking bugs and eating them.”

That was only from the elves’ point of view.

Leobold looked at the steamed crab and grilled lobster appetizingly.

They were caught by offering a bounty to fishermen and cooked by Arma.

He could have used a net to catch them with an exploration ship, but Leobold wanted to make people aware that he ate them.

When the crustaceans caught by fishermen were transported to Ohmel City by horned bird carriages, various rumors spread.

Rumors that Leobold ate monsters.

“My goodness, they say the lord eats monsters.”

“Shouldn’t they have stopped him? They might be poisonous.”

“The lord is very stubborn… The administrator tried to dissuade him, but he insisted on eating them.”

“I hope it ends with a stomach ache…”

Not only the residents but also the people in the lord’s mansion ran away in fear when they saw the crustaceans.

From their point of view, it was like seeing monster corpses.

They looked like they had lost their minds when Arma took them to the kitchen and said he would cook them.

After such twists and turns, the crustaceans were able to reach Leobold’s table.

The crab was a huge creature with a shell as big as a palm, and the lobster was also enormous.

“Did they eat well? They are not usually this big.”

“It’s because the sea has been closed for almost 200 years. There are only top predators as enemies, so most of them grow to their limit.”

“That makes sense. The worst predator is human after all.”

Humans did not eat them, so the ecosystem was healthy and the size of each individual increased overall.

There were monsters, but Astera was a world where monsters were natural, so it would be better to think that the ecosystem was designed with that in mind.

Anyway, he needed a way to use that healthy marine ecosystem efficiently.

Leobold picked up a large crab leg that Arma had prepared and sucked out the flesh inside.

“It tastes almost like crab. The sweetness is strong.”

“Try this too. It’s grilled with butter.”

There was a slight drawback that butter had a strange smell, but overall it tasted great.

“It’s such a waste that people don’t eat this. Especially in terms of protein supply.”

About 20% of animal protein that 21st century humans needed came from the sea.

It would have been a little lower in the past, but it would have been about 10%, which meant that Astera people lacked protein intake.

The result of Arma’s investigation of Bagran’s food situation was also like that.

“Carbohydrates are relatively okay, but protein and fat supply are about 20% less. The total calories are also like that.”

This nutritional imbalance was especially fatal for children in their growth period.

According to the measurements at the school built in Ohmel City, the height and weight of children in their early teens were significantly lower than those on Earth.

It was similar to 18th century Britain, which was very serious.

Fortunately, Leobold started to rule and sardines was supplied, but young children did not like the fishy fish.

As a result, the nutritional imbalance was still ongoing.

“Is there no other way than forcing them to eat?”

“The best way is to make them unable to eat.”

“Are you saying they won’t eat it?”

“Friedrich II, who was once called the Potato King, issued a decree that only he could eat potatoes when the promotion of potatoes was unsuccessful. He also ordered strong soldiers to guard the fields where potatoes were grown.”

“I think I’ve heard that somewhere. Did the people steal them?”

“They stole them when the soldiers were gone at dawn. It’s human nature to crave what is forbidden.”

“Well, yeah. The more you tell them not to do something, the more they want to do it.”

But he doubted if that would apply to seafood, including crustaceans.

The reason why the people of this land didn’t eat them was not because they were unfamiliar, but because their perception of them was very low.

They were almost on par with insects, and Arma, who brought them to the kitchen as if he cooked them, even got a strange rumor.

To change that perception, Leopold had no choice but to set an example.

He ate the crayfish butter grilled that Arma had prepared for him and said,

“From now on, only bring this to my table. And teach the young maids how to handle it and make them do it themselves.”

“Yes, sir. And the Count of Lantis has started to move. He gathered the merchants who do business in the eastern part of Bagran and declared that he would reduce the supply of wheat for the reason of famine.”

“What does he want if we listen to him well?”

“Exactly. He will sell off 20,000 people’s worth of wheat somewhere else.”

The Count of Lantis must have judged that he couldn’t do anything with force against Leopold because of the pirate subjugation.

Of course, he had a considerable amount of troops as a grand lord.

He had 20 Goliaths and 10 knights, which was not as much as Granden, but still impressive.

But it was obvious that he would shake his head if he had to face thousands of pirates and sea monsters with those troops.

Leopold did it, so it was impossible to confront him directly.

It was his calculation to starve him out by reducing the food supply.

It was soon the wheat harvest season, and there would be no one to complain about the wheat supply being cut off a bit in Vandus while people were starving everywhere.

“That’s a pretty good plan. It would have worked if it wasn’t for us.”

Arma had already predicted the Count’s actions and prepared a concrete countermeasure.

It was not for nothing that he sent a fleet to the floating continent and brought back potatoes, strawberries, and other things.

Leopold finished his meal and Arma brought him some tempting strawberries.

“The maids are crazy about these. They must be delicious.”

“They’ve been improved over and over again, so they should be.”

The strawberries currently distributed in Astera were very small.

Most of them were similar to wild strawberries, and the strawberries as big as a child’s fist that Leopold put in his mouth were hard to find.

Even the wild strawberries that the elves proudly exported were incomparable to these strawberries.

In such a situation, these strawberries would be very popular if they were properly distributed.

There was no need for refrigerated wagons either. All he had to do was send the airship directly to Wangdo.

From there, he could send them by train to Zaium and other places, so there was no problem with distribution.

“The problem is those bastards from Elvrande… They’re blocking the sky going to the floating continent now.”

“Yes. Almost 100 airships are patrolling around the floating continent.”

“They can’t go up there themselves, but they’re pissed off by seeing three airships from some rural territory landing there.”

They hadn’t attacked yet, but it was only a matter of time before they fired their ether cannons from their attitude.

He thought about sending Zion, but there was a possibility that his identity would be revealed if he exposed himself too often.

“Duke Prozan’s airship will be here soon. Let’s go around next time.”

“I’ve already set up the route. They won’t be able to access it because there are a lot of fragments falling down.”

Leopold nodded his head and tapped his finger on the hologram showing the floating continent.

“I want to build a forward base here soon… Let’s think about it when we start mass-producing airships.”

“Yes, master.”

***

Some territories in Bagran have a unique food culture.

When the lord finishes his meal, the people below fill their stomachs with the leftover food.

It was a measure of meat distribution because food was scarce.

The lord had to invite many guests for dinner because of his position and always had to prepare plenty of food.

Lack of food meant poor financial situation and stinginess of the lord, so most of them tried to make their tables abundant.

Naturally, there was always food left over and the people below took care of it.

If there was still some left, they would share it with the starving people of the territory.

It was a scene that was hard to see in small territories, but if you go to the nearby Count of Lantis’s territory, you can see a long line of people at the entrance of the lord’s castle.

They are people who are trying to get a piece of bread in the spring.

In that sense, the maids of Vandus were lucky.

Arma knew their situation and always prepared a rich table.

The table included desserts from Wangdo brought by the merchants and exotic dishes made with exotic ingredients.

They were very satisfied because it also included desserts from Wangdo brought by the merchants.

But one day, unidentified food started to come up.

They were crustaceans such as crayfish, shrimp, and crab.

The smell was decent, but the maids didn’t touch them because they were disgusted by their appearance.

How could they eat something that looked like a monster?

“How can the lord think of eating such a thing…”

“Well, sometimes he might want something different…”

“Does it have any poison in it? It smells good.”

“Ugh, I don’t want to eat it.”

The crustacean dishes were ignored.

The people of the territory who took the food also didn’t touch those dishes, and the only ones who ate them were the horned birds raised in the stable.

These big birds ate anything without being picky.

The maids who brought them the crustacean dishes were shocked to see the horned birds devouring the flesh greedily.

“How can they eat this?”

“By the way, they eat really well… Maybe it tastes good.”

“It must taste good to them.”

The days of crustacean dishes being shunned continued.

And one day, a new maid came to the lord’s mansion.

She was a girl named Jenny, who had lost her parents and wandered around the territory without a place to stay, until Arma brought her and appointed her as a little maid.

She was young, so all she could do was cleaning and errands, but she seemed satisfied with just being able to eat and live.

She had never seen a monster, so she didn’t think much of shrimp or crayfish dishes and tried to eat them.

She was in her growth period and the food from the mansion was not enough for her.

But the other maids stopped her.

“Jenny, you can’t eat this.”

“Don’t you know what a crab is? There’s a huge monster that looks just like it.”

“The only ones who eat this in this territory are the lord and Arma.”

“But if the lord and Arma eat it, it must be good.”

The others were speechless at Jenny’s words, but they insisted on their own logic.

It was obvious that it would taste bad because it looked hideous.

Jenny didn’t give up and reached for the crayfish grilled.

“I still want to try it. It smells so good.”

“Go ahead.”

“Don’t complain if your stomach hurts later?”

Gulp gulp.

She silently swallowed a chunk of flesh covered with butter.

The maids waited for Jenny to make a crying face, but that didn’t happen.

Instead, she licked her lips with her tongue and reached for another chunk.

A brave maid asked.

“Doesn’t it taste bad?”

“No. It’s delicious. Really delicious.”

“You think this is delicious? How can you say that?”

“Are you forcing yourself to eat it because it looks like a monster?”

Despite the maids’ confusion, Jenny ate all the crayfish grilled and even touched the crab legs.

The dish disappeared from the plate, and by then the maids realized that Jenny was really enjoying it.

A monster-like thing, that is.

“…Is it really good?”

“They say kids don’t have any bad taste buds, but this is weird…”

One of the maids who had courage tried a shrimp grilled and chewed it hesitantly.

“Oh, it’s not bad? The chewy texture is good.”

“You like this? It looks like an insect?”

“It looks like an insect, but the flesh is delicious. And there’s a hint of sweetness as you chew.”

The maids denied it, but Jenny also said it was really good and peeled off the shrimp shell for them.

“Try it. You won’t regret it.”

“…”

They all doubted and tasted it, and were surprised.

They didn’t know there was such a taste in the world, and it was unfair.

This salty and sweet taste was incomparable to the sour and hard bread or the bland steamed potatoes.

“…”

“This is good.”

“Mo, monster or not, it tastes good…”

After that day, the horned birds never ate crustacean dishes again.

The maids who knew the taste ate them all in between.

The soldiers, including Granden, also fell for that taste for the same reason.

Granden, who was a former royal guard and also responsible for the defense of the territory, often dined with the lord and learned the taste of crustaceans.

He even said this:

“Gentlemen, are monsters our enemies?”

“Yes!”

“Then shouldn’t we eat them? Do you intend to leave countless monsters that threaten the safety of our citizens alone? Are you going to abandon your duty to protect our citizens?”

“No!”

It was a weird speech, but there was no soldier who could oppose Granden.

That’s how crustacean dishes came up on the soldiers’ table, and at first they hated it, but they got used to it as they ate it forcibly.

More than anything else, the title of “the food that the highest person in this territory eats” was tempting.

As always, even their food was different from that of commoners.

When the maids started eating and even the soldiers joined in, some taverns and restaurants in Ohamel City also quietly started serving them.

Arma had prepared for this beforehand, and even made up a catchy phrase.

—The taste that the lord praised!

—Limited to 30 servings per day! If you don’t order now, you’ll miss your chance!

—Price rising due to high demand! You won’t be able to eat it at this price later!

It was a brilliant propaganda that included the appeal of authority, the psychological stimulation of limited sales, and the pressure of possible price increases.

The last phrase was not a lie, because it was an immutable truth that prices would rise as demand increased.

Most people saw the phrase and suffered from the impulse to order and try it.

It was a universal desire to want to eat the food that the high-ranking people ate.

It was even more so because it was Leobold, the lord.

To most of the people in the territory, Leobold was like the sky itself.

“The lord eats it, so I have to try it too.”

“I heard that these days, there’s no food coming out of the mansion. The maids eat them all.”

“I feel like I’m falling behind if I don’t eat monsters, since it’s a trend.”

At first, Leobold got a stupid nickname of a lord who eats monsters, but now they all ate monsters together.

It was a pity that the recipes were limited to steaming and grilling, but it was impossible to push raw shrimp to them right away.

The potatoes were in a much better situation.

They looked similar to potatoes and there was a rumor that they tasted good when dipped in salt.

There was a salt mine in Vandus’s own territory, so they could use salt relatively abundantly.

Thanks to that, the maids were happy to eat potatoes dipped in salt that Leobold had left.

“It’s really delicious, the fluffy texture.”

“Why does it taste sweeter when you dip it in salt? Weird…”

“Are there any more potatoes?”

When the news spread that Arma, the exclusive maid, personally tended the garden and grew potatoes carefully, the people of the territory became interested.

It was also a realistic reason that the supply of wheat decreased as spring famine approached, so people didn’t care about food.

Thus, without any need for a potato ban or anything like that, potato dishes began to be distributed throughout Vandus territory.

If you look at Ohamel City, you can see children roasting and eating potatoes everywhere.

The merchants who traveled through the territory licked their tongues at seeing only the children here plump up.

“They’re all struggling, but this place seems to be doing better, huh.”

“I tried it too, and it was pretty good. It’s incomparable to potatoes when you cook it.”

“There must be a lot of things in the floating continent.”

“But there’s one thing that’s strange. It hasn’t been long since they brought it in. Can they meet the demand? There’s a growing period, right?”

The answer was in the fleet of airships.

Two airships sent by Duke Prozan joined the fleet, making it a total of five ships.

This fleet brought tons of potatoes and poured them out, so they could meet the demand in the territory.

The merchants who objected didn’t know what kind of place the floating continent was and had to shut their mouths.

Thanks to potatoes and crustaceans, Vandus viscounty was relatively fine even though it was spring famine when people died in other territories.

Count Lantis exploded with anger as he heard reports from his aides.

“Why is that bastard’s territory so fine! Why!”

“It seems that the food from the floating continent is having a great effect.”

“Then we just have to put pressure on them and reduce the wheat going into them!”

“If we reduce it more, the royal family might notice…”

“Reduce it!”

Who would dare to disobey the count’s order?

As a result of putting pressure on the merchants, the amount of wheat going into Vandus viscounty was reduced by 50%.

This was not something that could be overlooked, and even the merchants said it was too much.

The supply of wheat at harvest time was a serious matter that even the royal family cared about.

Of course, even Prince Ruad, who had lost his power, could not order Count Lantis.

But if the reduced wheat went to another country, it would be a different story.

Especially if it was Galisto Kingdom, which had a lot of conflicts with Bagran.

Arma took advantage of this opportunity and confirmed the procession of countless wagons heading from Lantis County to Galisto Kingdom.

“So that’s where all the wheat went.”

“This is treason. Bagran and Galisto are not on good terms.”

“They gave us an unexpected reason.”

Of course, even if there was no reason, he wouldn’t attack them.

The future waiting for Count Lantis and Bagran was being eaten by him.

Anyway, this time he seemed to be able to rob both Count Lantis and his cooperating merchants at once.

“Let’s gather up some bankrupt merchants and try setting up a company.”

“Yes, I’ll prepare for it.”