NOVEL WEB Chapter 16
In the 21st century Korea, childbirth is a very challenging endeavor.
Especially in the Albania Continent, where medical and nutritional advancements are lacking.
To exaggerate a bit, if you give birth ten times, you could say that one out of those times, the mother would die in childbirth.
“Nobles, merchants, and serfs alike can’t help but be sensitive about childbirth, right?”
Even if the mother manages to get through childbirth, her body tends to weaken significantly.
Whether noble or poor, seeing a weakened mother would surely cause worry.
In such times, seaweed soup is effective for postpartum care.
“It’s definitely going to be good. If it’s considered that effective, some postpartum care centers serve only seaweed soup three times a day!”
I sat on a chair near the hearth, watching it boil away.
The unique nutty and salty smell of seaweed.
If you mix it with rice, it’s a meal down in no time.
Not having kimchi is a bummer, but just thinking about it makes my mouth water.
“Lord, I mean Young Lord. Let me handle the cooking. You should rest a bit.”
Noble Young Lords, or someone as exalted as the lord of a village, don’t usually cook.
Well, the most they do is go hunting to butcher the beasts they catch and barbecue them.
“No, Chloe.”
In our entire continent, there’s probably no one else who can cook seaweed like I can.
Since it’s been boiling for about 20 minutes, should I take it out and try?
“Could you bring me two bowls and spoons over there?”
“Isn’t it just for you?”
High-ranking individuals usually eat delicious food alone.
But rice is always better shared with someone.
If that someone is a beauty, even more so.
So, I plan to let Chloe have a taste of the good food under the pretense of being considerate, even if it means not standing on ceremony.
Of course, I’ll treat her as comfortably as possible.
As a result, Chloe has started to speak to me in a slightly more casual tone than before.
‘If I only think about making money and developing products, my head will explode…’
“Let’s eat together.”
As I ladled the seaweed soup into the bowl, its unique ocean scent wafted up.
To me, it smelled delightful, but Chloe made a slightly wary expression.
Having been born a serf, she wouldn’t have had the luxury of being picky.
But that doesn’t mean she’d be free from caution towards unfamiliar foods.
“Is it a bit of a strange dish?”
Chloe nodded in agreement to my words.
“It looks like it has a lot of thin green cloths floating in it, which makes it strange. Like, like…”
She couldn’t say it was food I made, but I could guess what she was thinking.
It probably looks like something only heathens would eat.
Seaweed soup might be enjoyed by Koreans and Japanese, but foreigners often find it oddly intimidating just to look at it.
For someone unfamiliar, it might as well be a soup with green plastic scraps floating in it.
If I don’t wrap it in suitably kind words, I can already foresee how it’ll be received.
Other nobles would probably call me a monster selling strange ingredients.
Of course, anticipating such remarks, I prepared ample countermeasures.
“Actually, this seaweed is known to be used as a very special medicine from the East.”
“A weed that grows in the sea?”
Chloe tilted her head.
“When I was young, I saw something similar in my father’s study; a seaweed that grows between the stones by the beach. In a country called Joseon, it’s given to mothers who have just given birth as a tonic.”
In the Albania Continent, many harbor a sense of mystique and curiosity about the unknown world of the East.
Thus, there are even tales of a king believing in Deus who rules over a place called Prester John.
Stories of a fantastic city made entirely of gold exist so commonly that they are considered true.
Because of this, every noble can’t claim to have been scammed regarding medicines, artworks, or jewels brought from the East.
Chloe eased her wariness at my description of the Eastern tonic.
“Even though it looked like a strange weed, to find out it was a medicine is surprising.”
After taking a spoonful, I tasted the familiar flavor of the seaweed soup.
Ah, it would’ve been nice to add some dried fish.
“It’s nutty and tastes good. Chloe, you should try some too.”
She hesitated to eat the unfamiliar food, but eventually took a spoonful and brought it to her mouth.
At first, she seemed to expect a strange taste, scrunching up her face.
“It’s nutty and delicious!”
Spoon after spoon.
Like a squirrel nibbling acorns, she happily continued to eat.
“I thought it would be used as some Eastern medicine, but it’s really tasty!”
Hearing her praise the first Korean dish I made in this other world made my shoulders lift with pride.
“They say it tastes even better when mixed with rice.”
I scooped rice with the ladle and mixed it in for her.
Chloe’s face lit up with a smile as she tasted the warm rice and seaweed soup.
“Lord, you should try it too.”
That combination couldn’t possibly taste bad.
The rich flavor of the seaweed and the white rice.
It would surely please the Toscan people.
I took a bite, and it was so delicious that I felt like shouting, “This is insane!”
“This should definitely please the nobles too.”
The only problem is that its appearance might be a bit off-putting, but if it’s hailed as a precious medicine from the East, there will be plenty of people lining up to buy it.
An elixir from the East, great for mothers, exceedingly rare.
All the holy trifecta to drive nobles crazy is assembled, and once the effects are proven, there’s no way it won’t sell.
“So now, we need to see just how effective this medicine is.”
They say to strike while the iron is hot.
We’ll have to experiment on the mothers in this village right away.
In Bio Village, everyone was highly curious about the new lord.
In a world without newspapers, the daily concerns often revolved around trivial things, like how the neighboring pigsty had collapsed.
Fabio has been notably different since he took over compared to other lords.
Being different alone is a good topic of discussion, and naturally, the village’s fresh new bride, Maria, took great interest in the tales of the lord.
“I think our lord seems like a really good person.”
In places where no one is watching, even kings can be criticized.
Thus, it wouldn’t be unusual to gossip about the lord.
“Right? No one else is taking care of us lowly souls like that!”
“Why does he lavish so much food just because we’re giving birth? It’s no big deal.”
While it may be different for Fabio living in 21st-century Korea, in the Toscan Empire, giving birth is simply not that big of a deal.
Regardless of being a noble, merchant, or serf, women, specifically wives, give birth to at least 5 to 7 kids in their lifetime, if not 10.
“Gifting salted meat, flour, and barley is rather generous.”
Fabio limited his support to mothers who are over 9 months pregnant or within 2 months postpartum.
These mothers received generous provisions of salted meat, flour, and barley enough for four people.
The reason behind doled out portions meant for four people for a single pregnant mother is that…
If you didn’t give out this much, the mother wouldn’t get enough nutrition before and after childbirth.
“How’s that lady when she gives birth?”
Maria asked, glancing at her slightly rounded belly.
“It’s nothing special, it just hurts a lot on the day of birth, that’s all.”
The woman providing counsel to Maria chuckled lightly.
“There’s no need to fear. It’s just like everyone else. And you know, these days, with Young Lord providing assistance during childbirth, they wash everything down to the last drop with lye? No one dies anymore!”
“I haven’t heard anyone die during childbirth recently.”
Exaggeration aside, the rumor of women dying during childbirth in this village was distressingly common.
One out of ten would undoubtedly die in childbirth.
Thus, a tiny church in the village holds a funeral for a mother who died in childbirth about once every fortnight.
“And that seaweed, that supposedly precious medicine from the East, turned out to be quite something.”
The villagers reluctantly accepted that seaweed.
Pregnant mothers had to eat it at least once a day as they approached their due date.
“Once they give birth, they find it hard to go to the toilet; but eating that seaweed makes it easier to go, and their physical condition improves quickly. I managed to get up and about just two days later!”
Of course, Fabio would never want to see that firsthand.
Mothers who had given birth less than two weeks before were mandated to rest at home.
“Well, there must be something to it; that seaweed from the East really seems remarkable. After giving birth, your body improves quickly. I might have to sneak some home and give it to my husband.”
“Is that so…”
“Maria, you should eat some too. It’s good for mothers.”
Fabio planned to sell the seaweed as an expensive medicine for mothers, just as in Korea.
But in the village, it was already starting to be hailed as a miraculous tonic.
And soon, Fabio sought out the Duke.