"Is this the taste of civilization? Your Majesty not only gave us grain but also personally found fish for us."
In the center of Withered Willow Town, apart from those few large pots rolling with the fragrance of wheat and umami, another small charcoal fire pile, temporarily set up with a few bricks, became the focal point of everyone's gaze.
Willow rolled up her cuffs briskly, revealing forearms as fair as frost and snow.
She did not let those clumsy soldiers interfere but squatted by the fire herself. Four cleaned, fleshy silver-scaled fish were split down the back and skewered horizontally on sharpened wooden sticks.
The special ignition method developed by Irene still had lingering power, and the red wood emitted a stable high temperature. Willow looked focused, turning the wooden sticks in her hands from time to time to let the fire evenly roast every inch of the fish meat.
As the heat penetrated, the originally silvery-white fish skin quickly turned golden yellow. Tiny beads of oil sizzled out from under the skin, sliding down the tight texture and dripping onto the charcoal fire, kicking up a string of white smoke carrying a charred aroma.
Willow's slender fingertips pinched a pinch of fine sea salt and sprinkled it evenly over the fish. When the crystalline salt grains met the scalding oil, they instantly made a pleasant crackling sound.
That kind of pure, fresh sweetness unique to fresh aquatic products, mixed with the smoky smell of charcoal fire and the slight saltiness of sea salt, did not disperse in the cold wind; instead, it was set off even more intensely by the frozen air. The soldiers maintaining order around them couldn't help but swallow their saliva in unison, the sound of throats sliding rising and falling one after another.
For these people who had eaten dry rations for a few days, this taste was simply a judgment on the level of the soul.
"Your Majesty, it is roasted. Be careful, it is hot."
Willow selected the fattest one with the most perfect heat control and handed it to Sophia with both hands.
Sophia took the wooden stick. The golden, crispy fish skin shimmered with enticing oil under the setting sun, with parts slightly showing a brownish scorched pattern—the sign of an extremely crispy texture.
She lowered her head slightly, a strand of hair sliding past her shoulder. Sophia puffed up her cheeks and blew gently a few times on the steaming fish meat. This action added a few points of lively girlishness to the originally cold and severe Queen, making Daphne, who was watching from the side, slightly dazed.
Crack—
Sophia parted her vermilion lips lightly and took the first bite.
So fragrant!
This skin is actually as crispy as the thin pancakes Irene makes! The juices inside are locked in tight, and the sea salt perfectly stimulates the clear sweetness of this wild silver-scaled fish.
Although it lacks the sauce fragrance of braising, this original savory deliciousness... This Queen feels that the regret of not eating venison just now has been filled flat! This trip was worth it!
Sophia chewed elegantly, her facial lines still maintaining that reserve which kept people a thousand miles away. She swallowed the fish meat, casually tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear, and her clear, cold voice rang out in the heavy snow.
"The heat control is grasped quite well, and the saltiness is also moderate. To be able to eat food of this standard in this desolate wilderness, Willow, you have worked hard."
Hearing the praise, Willow's heart, which was originally somewhat nervous, instantly settled, her brows and eyes full of joy that couldn't be hidden.
"That Your Majesty is satisfied is this servant's greatest honor."
Chancellor Victor, at the side, also received a roasted fish. He did not rush to eat but first stared at that golden fish body for a moment, his old tears actually showing signs of dampening.
Look quickly! Your Majesty eats so simply yet is so satisfied.
She could have requested the chefs to build the most luxurious roasting oven, could have allocated the best spices in the Royal City, but she didn't. She just sits beside these broken bricks in this world of ice and snow, eating this game food sprinkled with only a little salt, just like us ministers.
Your Majesty is leading by example!
She is telling us through this mouthful of roasted fish that Mason's rise is not yet complete. Even as a monarch, one should maintain this arduous, simple, wolf-like nature of facing nature directly! This isn't roasted fish; this is a Holy Meal bestowed by Your Majesty to cleanse the soul!
Victor took a fierce bite of the fish meat, grimacing from the heat, yet his blood boiled as he chewed.
I feel this tenacious taste! I feel Mason's unyielding will!
Daphne held her fish, eating in small bites while looking at Sophia with worship. Your Majesty seemed to always be like this, able to discover things ordinary people couldn't discover and sharing them with everyone without stinginess.
As the last mouthful of delicious fish porridge entered stomachs, the dead water-like silence of Withered Willow Town was finally broken. The warm food not only filled the emptiness of stomachs but was more like reigniting a fire inside these cold shells.
Sophia stood by the carriage, looking at this incredible scene before her eyes. The people who were originally curled up in corners waiting to die began to sway and stand up less than an hour after eating their fill.
A few strong men with slightly better bodies spontaneously found worn-out brooms and wooden shovels and began to sweep away that layer of heavy accumulated snow on the streets.
Women no longer just held their children and cried; they began to learn from Daphne's example, fetching warm water to carefully wipe the foreheads of those who were seriously ill. Someone even tore the piece of Black Bread they received into crumbs to feed the elderly with bad teeth.
Truly a wondrous species, Sophia exclaimed secretly in her heart. As long as you give them a tiny bit of carbohydrates and protein, they can rapidly switch from dying animals back to civilized creatures. This vitality, to some extent, is even more unreasonable than those inventions of Irene's.
Willow stood quietly behind Sophia, watching Withered Willow Town, which was originally like a graveyard, recover the aura of human habitation bit by bit.
"Your Majesty..." Willow spoke softly, her voice carrying a tremor that was hard to detect. "This servant never thought that this kind of change, bordering on a Divine Miracle, would actually require only a few mouthfuls of hot porridge. Watching them pick up brooms again, this servant just feels my heart is warm and toasty. All of this is because of Your Majesty's benevolence."
In Willow's view, what these subjects were clearing was not only snow but also their awe for Mason's Royal Authority and their surrender to a new life. Her worship of Sophia had long been carved into her marrow; when she called herself 'this servant,' her tone was full of the gentleness of willing submission.
Sophia turned her head to look at her and found that this girl's eye sockets were actually somewhat red.
Because the houses in Withered Willow Town were mostly crude stone and wood structures, many roofs had completely collapsed under the continuous blizzards, exposing the pitch-black ruined walls inside. Sophia watched for a while and frowned slightly.
"Victor, tell the soldiers not to just focus on warming themselves by the fire. Go help those fellows with no houses to live in to block up their roofs. If Mason's subjects didn't starve to death but froze to death, then This Queen's disaster relief work would only be half done."
"As you command! Your Majesty!"
Victor immediately signaled that squad of musketeers to move. The soldiers did not have Irene's precise calculations; they simply exerted the ruthlessness in the bones of Mason people.
Several people worked together to shoulder heavy logs, using them as temporary beams to press onto the broken walls. Broken stones, worn-out wooden planks, and even surplus hemp sacks from the grain carts were quickly and crudely stuffed into the cracks by the soldiers.
Although they looked like clumsy patches, in this kind of weather, patches that could block the cold wind were the key to saving lives.
"Heavens, those soldier lords holding lethal weapons are actually helping us repair houses! If it were before, it would be good enough if they didn't tear down our last roof beams to burn for fire. Your Majesty not only bestowed upon us sacred fresh fish but actually ordered her private soldiers to build nests for us. Mason really is no longer that old wasteland!"
Night gradually enveloped Withered Willow Town. Although the sound of the wind still sobbed in the willow forest, the bonfires in the center of town reflected faces filled with hope.
Sophia returned to the warm carriage, listening to the occasional sound of wood knocking and the low exchanges of the subjects outside. The wind and snow outside gradually intensified, so much so that Mason's unit could not leave Withered Willow Town that day. Leaving forcibly wasn't impossible, but doing so would mean suffering the cold, and the journey would be relatively dangerous.
Therefore, Sophia decided to rest and reorganize in Withered Willow Town for a day.
Not long after, the Mayor of Withered Willow Town shrank his neck and knelt in the snow, sweat freezing into ice shards as soon as it flowed out of his sideburns.
"Y-Your... Your Majesty... This guilty subject deserves death!" The Mayor's voice trembled terribly. "Withered Willow Town has been impoverished for many years; even passing traveling merchants rarely stop. We really... really cannot find a decent tavern to receive you. Currently, there are only a few stone houses that have long been uninhabited. Although they have been cleaned, how can such crude places accommodate your body of a thousand gold?"
Hearing this, Chancellor Victor's old face immediately dropped, his beard trembling with heartache.
"Absurd! Your Majesty is a body of ten thousand gold; how can she make do in this leaking stone house?"
Victor spun around in anxiety. He looked at Sophia, his eyes full of guilt. "Your Majesty, it is this subject's incompetence that has let you suffer grievances. Even if we pave the floor with three layers of felt blankets from the grain carts, I fear it cannot compare to a shred of the warmth of the soft cushions in the Bedchamber!"
Willow and Daphne also gathered around, their two pairs of eyes written full of heartache. In their view, letting this Girl Queen, who was like a flower on a high peak, live in this kind of place was simply a blasphemy against Her Majesty.
Sophia looked at these faces before her appearing as if facing a formidable enemy, but her heart was as calm as a pool of dead water. Isn't it just camping? In her past life at school, she could fall asleep lying on a classroom desk with no heating. Compared to freezing into an ice lolly in the snow or making do in the carriage, a stone house that didn't leak water was simply five-star treatment.
She gently smoothed the creases on her black fox fur, her tone indifferent.
"Victor, put away that expression like you are going to be buried with This Queen. In this kind of weather, having a place that can shelter from wind and rain is already a grace. This Queen is not yet so delicate as to be picky about a roof. Go arrange it."
After the order was conveyed, the subjects of Withered Willow Town moved. Although they were poor, the energy just saved by the fish porridge hadn't dissipated yet. Hearing that Her Majesty wanted to stay the night in the town, everyone felt like they had received a Divine Oracle, diving into their homes one after another to rummage through chests and cupboards.
Before long, a few shy peasant women ran over holding thick bedding. There was no expensive cotton here; the bedding was mostly rough linen wrapped around dried reed flowers and broken animal skins.
Sophia noticed that although those beddings were washed until white and even had dense patches, they revealed a faint, clean scent of having been dried in the sun. The remaining stone houses weren't enough to live in, so many subjects voluntarily vacated their only warm kangs, inviting the soldiers to make do there.
Sophia reached out and touched the somewhat scratchy linen quilt cover, her fingertips feeling a faint but sincere warmth.
Inside that stone house temporarily designated as the "Temporary Palace," Willow was deftly laying out those patched beddings, while Daphne used her staff to carefully maintain the circulation of air inside the room.
"Your Majesty..." Willow's eyes were red, her voice choked with emotion. "This servant has never seen a monarch like you in my life. If other Kings went on patrol, if there were no goose feather blankets and gold and silver vessels, I fear they would chop off the Mayor's head. But you... you actually just sit on this rough stone stool like this and are so kind to these subjects."
Daphne also stopped the movements in her hands, her eyes full of agreement.
"That's right. Your Majesty, are you personally practicing the equality of civilization? Although our world of Magical Girls is peaceful and doesn't have ruling monarchs like this world, I have heard these stories too. You would rather endure this poverty to breathe together and share the destiny of your subjects. This kind of great character, even those Saints in the temples may not be able to match one ten-thousandth of yours! Anyway, in those stories I've heard, there isn't a single person who can be like you."
Victor, guarding at the door, heard the dialogue inside the room, and his heart surged with turbulent waves.
I understand! I understand it all! Your Majesty's move is called lodging in a humble room, but in reality, it is conquering the souls of the people!
By enduring this physical discomfort, she is transmitting a terrifying and grand signal to the entire Mason territory: The Queen is with you all. After this night, even if the people of Withered Willow Town have to go through fire and water for Her Majesty, I fear they won't even blink. This kind of people-friendly method that transcends class is the true highest realm of an Emperor! High, it is truly too high!
Sophia sat on the hard wooden plank bed, feeling the cold wind leaking in from the window cracks, and sighed silently. Sophia slept in the same room as Willow and Daphne tonight. Fortunately, this bed was very large; even if one or two more girls slept there, it wouldn't be too crowded.
Willow was currently organizing the bedding sent by the subjects, spreading the rough cloth and linen mattresses underneath to pad it softly, then spreading the soft cushions from the carriage on top. Even though Sophia felt that was already very good, Willow still felt it wasn't enough.
She and Daphne didn't find it troublesome at all, taking out two more blankets from the carriage and hanging them high up to block some of the cold wind from outside the window.
Sensing Sophia's gaze, Willow turned her head, taking advantage of the dim light to meet her eyes. Willow said softly: "Your Majesty must be tired; it will be ready soon."
"You've worked hard," Sophia said. She was indeed a bit tired. Even though the carriage was padded with soft cushions, sitting for a whole day still involved bumping, and she was in a standing state continuously when distributing grain midway. Both her legs and feet and her buttocks, which had been pressed down all day, were sore and aching.
In her past life, when taking long-distance buses, sitting for seven or eight hours would make one feel like their butt was dying, let alone a carriage that was bumpier and harder.
"It is not hard work." Willow wrapped the quilt with a soft blanket and said seriously to Sophia, "I only feel that being able to serve Your Majesty in this life is truly this servant's honor."
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