As they crossed the wide bridge over of the wide ca.n.a.l, the view outside the window changed altogether.
“Ohh, interesting.”
Jin reflexively blurted out.
As he had thought, there were a lot of waterways in Roizato, vertical and horizontal, all of which were being used for transportation.
There were also some houses mounted on top of these waterways which looked quite fascinating. Hearing Jin mutter that, Reiko started sending the scenery information to Laojun, thinking that it might be helpful as reference data.
Although Jin himself hadn’t seen the cities in person, to him it looked like a combination of Edo and Venice.
But as they went closer to the center of the city, the number of these waterways decreased as they connected to the inner moats of the royal castle, surrounding it.
Naturally, there were numerous water gates along the way, making it very difficult to get to the castle.
“The inner moats are about 10 meters, eh…”
He was somewhat reminded of the Imperial Palace of j.a.pan in Tokyo.
There was just one entrance into the castle which wasn’t a moat and the group advanced through it.
And then after a while, a squad of imperial guards were lined up in the way and they stopped the carriage there. That was the first time they got off the carriage after entering the city.
The imperial palace was completely surrounded by the moats.
All of their carriages were stationed at the garage and the horses, except Jin’s golem horse, were left with the person in charge.
His golem horse was taken in with a look of admiration from the handler.
“Jin, please ride in this carriage. Miss Reiko too, please.”
Three carriages without roofs came to take them.
Reinhart was riding on the first carriage and Jin was on the second. The third one seemed to be for luggages and so Jin left his hand luggage there.
The three carriages advanced down a beautiful, stone-paved road.
They then crossed a st.u.r.dy looking door and beyond that was the imperial palace.
“Oohh…”
He couldn’t let out a loud voice because of the place but he couldn’t help but feel amazed.
There lied the Shouro empire’s imperial palace, boasting 300 years of history.
The Shouro empire imperial palace was built with granite and was three storied. Its breadth stood out more than its height.
It wasn’t like a spire, rather it looked like a tough-looking western castle.
Jin and the others walked into that castle which was being guarded by knights and soldiers.
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Reinhart went to report, along with Matheus, and Jin was left in the reception room.
Two attendants accompanied Jin, one male and one female.
“Please, help yourself.”
Jin was a bit surprised when he sniffed the fragrance of the tea they served him. It was a very nostalgic fragrance.
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He sipped a bit.
“….roasted green tea?”
It was a taste very similar to that. And so, he tried asking the two with him.
“Is this tea a Shouro empire specialty?”
The male butler answered.
“Yes, it is a specialty of Shouro empire’s southern part.”
“Do you know how it is made?”
When he asked, the butler answered,
“….I am not sure if I can talk about that.”
Jin could a.s.sume. If it is a specialty, then there’s probably a secret production method. He can’t just tell it to a foreigner at a moment’s notice.
“I understand. I will be talking to myself then. After picking out green leaves, you steam it and then dry. Afterwards, you heat it till it releases a sweet-smelling fragrant.”
The moment he said that, the butler’s expression changed.
“H-how do you know that?!”
“….As I thought. No, it’s just that it resembled the tea from my hometown.”
The butler regained his composure after Jin said that.
“Is that so? I had heard that you are a very outstanding magi engineer but to think you are also knowledgeable about tea.”
He had just known of it because the director liked tea and he had to listen to the director talking about it, but he didn’t say that out.
“Do you perhaps also have tea which is made by heating the leaves immediately after picking them?”
Jin tried asking the butler, to see if they also had green tea.
Tea leaves go through oxidative fermentation naturally as they have enzyme in them. If this goes well and is left alone, it turns to black tea. If it picked and heated immediately, it stops the enzymes and green tea is made.
“Y-you even know of that?! That is the production method for green tea which was developed over a 100 years ago!”
Ah, so they also have green tea, Jin thought happily.
The tea leaves they were cultivating at Hourai island was an imitation of the Kaina village product, so the taste is a bit different.
But the one here is exactly the same.
“Can I get a refill?”
As Jin said that after drinking it all, the female attendant cheerfully poured him more.
“Ah, delicious.”
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Hearing Jin say that while drinking, the female attendant made a happy face.
“Her family are tea farmers, you see. She is happy you like it.”
As the butler said that, the female attendant’s face reddened.
Even so, she is pretty silent. As if she was forbidden from opening her mouth.
“Is it cultivated in a warm area?”
“You know your stuff. That’s right. Roizato is the northern limit to cultivate it.”
At this rate, there might also be rice, Jin thought and so he tried asking boldly.