Little Tyrant Doesn't Want to Meet with a Bad End[1-200]

Chapter 184: Mine Now!

What natural wonders did the Ascart Fiefdom contain?

Despite being the proxy fief lord for several years now, Roel still couldn't give a confident answer to that.

Transportation had never been very developed on the Sia Continent, and the Ascart Fiefdom was fairly big. Even the fastest steed pulling the best carriage available would take ten days to travel between the north and south borders, and that was after taking into consideration the new roads that Roel had constructed. Prior to the infrastructure upgrade, the innumerable detours one would have to take could easily extend the journey to over a month.

Since travel was so circumscribed, most fief lords would choose to remain in the financial and political hub of their domain in order to maximize the efficiency in relaying their orders. As for those fief lords who chose to tour their country in the name of work... well, that was just plain extravagance and, possibly, an excuse to slack off too.

As a result, despite being the Ascart Fiefdom's proxy fief lord, Roel never got to enjoy the beautiful views and local snacks of his territory. Just the immense pile of administrative work he had to wade through every single day regarding various development projects was more than enough to keep his hands full.

He told himself that he would make sure to travel around the Ascart Fiefdom once everything settled down, and that was what had been driving him all along. He hoped that when he finally started touring the fief, instead of a suffering populace, he would see healthy and driven civilians working with dreams of a brighter future.

Unexpectedly, Charlotte's 'outdoor recuperation trip' had allowed him to catch a glimpse of the fruits of his efforts in advance.

"Oh? Is this the specialty of the southern villages, almond wine? Just as I've heard, it has quite a peculiar smell."

Roel took a sip of the wine inside his cup, and his brows immediately shot up. The auburn-haired girl beside him also took a sniff of the wine's aroma, only to be surprised by the strong almond scent.

"It does have a unique smell to it. What's in it?"

"If I recall correctly, it's a special local almond variation named Pamela. It means 'cannot be bitten through' in the local dialect."

"Cannot be bitten through?"

"Yes. The fruit has a hard, elongated exterior, and it's often used by the monkeys as a weapon. I heard that the monkeys in the region are quite remarkable fighters."

"Pft. What is with that?"

Roel's introduction made Charlotte burst out laughing. She took a sip of wine before her eyes widened.

"Sweet!"

"Isn't it? I knew that you would like it."

Leaning back in his wheelchair, Roel observed the sweet-toothed girl before him and smiled helplessly. Charlotte, on the other hand, couldn't resist taking yet another sip of the wine.

"It's really sweet. Why is that so?"

The almond has a hard exterior but also a high sugar content—very high, in fact. If not for its hard exterior, it would have been devoured by the wildlife by now. Also, the wine you're drinking right now is actually the improved version."

"The improved version?"

"Yes. The Pamela almond has an unpleasant aftertaste to it. In order to conceal it, grapes are added during the fermentation process, which further enhances the sweetness."