I Became a Food Developer in Another World

Chapter 26: Chicken (3)

The news of the distribution of the oil fruit Lukon caused a stir in Imperial society.

Oil was the exclusive domain of the aristocracy, and even they were said to have no use for it.

The news that such a luxury would be freely available was revolutionary.

While this may seem like a good thing at first glance, the distribution of lukon was met with fierce resistance from the nobility.

“Oil for the common people, what a ridiculous idea!”

“That’s right, oil is a gift from Heaven, only for us nobles.”

“We can’t let the common people know the nobility of oil.”

The nobles were deeply concerned that the common people would be able to use oil freely.

“It’s not just about the oil. It’s the fact that the commoners want to enjoy the same things we do.”

“This is a challenge to the divine hierarchical order of things.”

The Empire was a strictly class society.

Although there were many criteria that divided the nobility from the commoners, the importance of ‘luxury’ was not small.

If the commoners were allowed to use the things that were reserved for the aristocracy, the lines would become unclear.

It was a problem that could shake the foundation of the Empire as a class society.

This may have been an exaggeration, but most of the younger nobles were in favor of it.

Older nobles, on the other hand, opposed the distribution of oil for different reasons.

“How can we release such a luxury as oil to the people?” they asked.

“If we indulge in luxury, the Empire will have to bear the wrath of Heaven.”

The older generation of aristocrats, raised in an atmosphere of asceticism, had practiced frugality as a virtue.

For them, oil was a luxury to be used sparingly and only on special occasions.

The release of such a “poisonous” substance into imperial society was of great concern to the older nobility.

Opinions differed between the generations, but they were united in their belief that the oil should not be distributed.

However, not everyone was opposed to the distribution of oil.

“For the development of the Empire, oil must be popularized.”

“Don’t you realize that those who block the progress of society in order to preserve their own position are a poison to the Empire?”

The first words were spoken by Duke Gerz, while Marquis Hughes, a general in the army, was the one who voiced the sour criticism.

Both nobles were giants with strong opinions in their respective realms.

Since there were many forces supporting and following them, the decision-making authority regarding oil distribution eventually passed to the Ministry of Finance, the Empire’s economic department.

The Minister of Finance, Count Jandersen, was the man in charge.

“Heh, they’re leaving all the hard decisions to me.”

Count Jandersen clicked his tongue at having to do the heavy lifting.

He was being told to make the decisions but take the responsibility and had been caught in a bombshell.

“I don’t understand why Duke Gerz would go to such lengths.”

In fact, Count Jandersen was against the distribution of oil.

He questioned whether the oil was valuable enough to be distributed over the objections of the nobility.

He was right: the food shortage of the common people had been largely solved by ramen noodles.

Count Jandersen could find no reason to develop the food culture of the common people any further.

This was largely due to his clerical background.

In keeping with his former church’s values of asceticism, Jandersen was frugal enough to limit the number of branches in his diet.

He believed that as long as people weren’t starving, they didn’t need more luxuries but that didn’t mean he was against the distribution of oil.

“Duke Gerz is not entirely wrong,” he said.

Duke Gerz was right that the distribution of oil could lead to the development of the Empire, even if it was not necessary for luxury.

Will you follow the teachings of Heaven or prioritize the advancement of the Empire?

Count Jandersen chose the former.

In fact, his mind had been set on the former from the beginning but his indecision is due in large part to his concern for Duke Gerz’s public image.

Even if he disagreed, it was his honor to at least pretend to consider it.

And so it was that Count Jandersen while procrastinating on his decision the wizard of the White Tower came to see him.

“I heard you wanted to see me.”

“Yes, I’ve come to see you for something.”

Count Jandersen was visited by a clean-cut young wizard but he knew who he was.

Yuri Grail, the wizard who revolutionized the Empire’s food culture.

He was a genius who was credited with advancing the Empire’s food culture by hundreds of years but Count Jandersen’s expression when he saw Yuri was one of disbelief.

In fact, he didn’t like Yuri at all.

To put it bluntly, he hated him.

Other people might have hailed Yuri as a great man, but not Count Jandersen.

He couldn’t eat most of the processed foods that Yuri created.

He couldn’t eat ramen because he couldn’t handle spicy food, and he didn’t like snacks, so he didn’t reach for Pringles.

And because of his age, he couldn’t eat cold foods like gelato or ice cream because his teeth chattered.

These personal reasons, coupled with his status as a clergyman, may have contributed to his diet.

In Count Jandersen’s eyes, Yuri was a “pendulum of evil” that spread luxury and indulgence.

“Something you want to give?”

“Yes, I thought I’d bring you something to help you decide how to distribute the oil.”

Yuri placed a paper box on the table.

A pungent garlic scent assaulted Jandersen’s nose as he unwrapped the box.

Inside was a pile of unfamiliar dishes wrapped in golden skins.

The dishes, still hot from cooking, were covered with brown sauce and minced garlic.

“What is this?”

“It’s chicken fried in oil. It’s called garlic soy sauce chicken.”

“Garlic soy sauce chicken?”

“Yes, I heard you like roasted garlic, so I brought it.”

Count Jandersen was intrigued by the unfamiliar dish.

It was lunchtime, and he was hungry, so the savory smell of the dish whetted his appetite.

“Thank you, I will eat well.”

Count Jandersen was used to eating frugally, but he was not one to turn down food.

“You may eat with your hands.”

As Yuri said, Count Jandersen picked up the chicken leg.

‘Rough.’

The surface of the golden skin was as rough as bark.

Count Jandersen looked at the chicken in his hand as if exploring it, then carefully brought it to his mouth.

The moment he took a bite, his eyes widened.

“!”

The crispy batter crisped like the finest confectionery, giving off a salty flavor.

The tender meat underneath was so juicy that when he bit into it, a burst of hot juices exploded in his mouth.

“Mmmm…!”

Jandersen snorted at the ecstatic taste he was experiencing for the first time.

He’d been eating food that he thought tasted good, but he’d never tasted anything like this.

Salty and subtly sweet, crunchy and tender, hot and juicy, with a hint of garlic in the background, everything was in perfect harmony and tasted heavenly.

“What’s the name of this dish,” he asked.

“It’s chicken.”

“…Chicken.”

Count Jandersen muttered the name as if it were etched in his mind.

In this moment, his decision to restrict the distribution of the oil was completely reversed.

This was a heavenly food that the entire nation must taste.

*

……Oil Fruit Lukon has been approved for distribution!

News that the Minister of Finance had authorized the distribution of Lukon spread quickly throughout the Empire.

As the lukon went into circulation and oil began to be produced, jubilation erupted across the Empire.

“Long live Yuri!”

“Oil! It’s really oil!”

The people were ecstatic that the luxury of the nobility had been lifted.

Since the most readily available meat in the empire was chicken, roasting chickens became a popular pastime among the people.

This would have been unthinkable in the past.

Not so long ago, ‘hens’ and ‘young chickens’ were only available to the nobility.

What the common people had access to were old roosters, which were of no use to them.

However, the meat of an old rooster is stiff, so when roasted, it becomes the worst dish that even teeth cannot properly penetrate.

The solution to this problem was ramen noodles.

With the spread of cheap and tasty ramen noodles, people’s pockets were freed up and they were able to enjoy a proper chicken once a week.

The oil was like a blessing from heaven for the Empire people, who were able to eat relatively young chickens.

“What a taste!”

“I never knew such delicious food existed in the world!”

The people’s reaction to the taste of “chicken” was overwhelming.

The juiciness of chicken was a shock to the people, who had only known the stiff flesh of an old rooster as meat.

“I’ve never tasted anything like this in my life.”

“Alas, I guess I’m lucky to be alive.”

The feast of juicy meat that exploded in their mouths like ripe fruit was violence in the name of taste.

“Alas, how is this skin so crisp?”

“It must be Heaven’s gift to the Empire.”

The chicken fad spread to social circles.

The combination of crispy skin and tender meat could not be praised enough.

The insatiable popularity of chicken naturally led to a demand for ‘chicken’.

“Move over, I’m first in line!”

“Will there be one today, today?”

Even chicken, the most abundant poultry in the Empire, began to become scarce.

Chickens became so hard to come by that people were lucky if they could eat them once a month.

And it was a coincidence.

“If you think about it, chicken is also a ‘dragon species’, right? Then wouldn’t the same dragon species taste similar?”

“Have you been drinking? You sound weird.”

“I’m serious now.”

A knight from the Gerz Duchy had a crazy idea.

“Let’s see if they taste the same or not.”

“Mmm, that might work.”

In the Gerz Duchy, wyverns were a common sight, and their carcasses were not uncommon.

It was a joking remark exchanged between two knights returning from guard duty when they stumbled upon a wyvern carcass.

The wyvern, a small dragon, looked exactly like a flying chicken, except it had no feathers, hence the nickname, flying chicken.

Of course, they didn’t have high expectations.

Despite the similarity in appearance, wyverns are a separate species from chickens.

But

“…… Why is this delicious?”

The flavor of the wyvern chicken they stumbled upon was unbelievably delicious.