I Became a Food Developer in Another World

Chapter 12: This is called canned food (2)

The military’s request came before ice cream’s popularity had even waned.

“You mean to improve the army’s combat rations?”

“Yes. The Imperial Army is aiming to increase the shelf life of its combat rations.”

The soldier who came to make the request didn’t sound too excited as he spoke.

I was a mage of the White Tower who specialized in civilian magic.

It was unreasonable to expect me to solve a problem that even the military wizards couldn’t solve.

“I know it’s not your area of expertise, so if you don’t want to do it, you can refuse……”

“I can.”

“Yes?”

“You said your goal is to increase retention?”

“Oh, yes. We’re aiming for a minimum of four months, but even if you could increase it by one day, that would be really helpful……”

“Twenty years. Is that about right?”

“……?”

*

The soldier who came to make the request thought I was an ignoramus who didn’t know anything about the military, but he was wrong.

Having spent two years on the front lines of Gangwon province as part of my mandatory military service in a previous life, I was well aware of how closed and conservative the military can be.

The South Korean army was the only one that kept the same canteens and mats from the Korean War, even half a century later.

If it was a foreign army, the conditions were worse, not better, especially if it was combat rations but the solution to the problem was easy.

“It’s canned food.”

In my previous life, canned food had been the common ratio for all armies around the world.

It is the ultimate preserved food that has been discovered to not rot even after being opened a hundred years later.

The preservation power of canned goods was so great that some reviewers specialized in reviewing only old canned goods.

On the other hand, the method of canning was surprisingly simple compared to the preservation power.

Heat a sealed container over a fire to kill microorganisms, and that’s canning.

The catch was the canning jars…….

“This will do.”

Looking at the design of the canning jar, Ciel replied without much thought.

In this world of dwarves and alchemists, manufacturing technology was hard to ignore.

This was a world where even items like the magic-powered refrigerator, known as the “madonggo,” existed.

“But it’s going to cost a lot of money, isn’t it?”

“The military will take care of that.”

Our role was limited to showing them the finished canned goods.

It was purely their choice whether or not to adopt it.

*

“……twenty years, did I hear twenty days wrong?”

“Twenty years is correct, sir.”

“…….”

The Marquis of Hughes opened his mouth in disbelief.

Twenty years for battle rations that would only last three months at most? That was too long to be realistic.

“Does the White Tower actually know about our army? What a lie.”

“That’s what we suspected at first, General, so we had our mages verify it…….”

“And what were the results? Three months?”

“Twenty years is the minimum, they say. The results show that with proper preservation, it can last not just twenty years, but a hundred.”

“…What, a hundred years?”

Marquis Hughes stammered, bewildered.

“But the cost of one canned food is the price of two and a half battle rations, so it’s a costly proposition-”

“What’s the matter with the cost now, we’re going to wipe out those damned savages, and if you don’t have the money, sell your helmets to make up for it!”

The Marquis of Hughes, whose eyes had been blinded by a hundred years of preservation, shouted.

“As soon as we have the canned goods, we’ll wipe out the savages!”

* * * *

The Imperial troops marched out.

“It’s the Empire! The Empire is here!”

“Flee!”

The savages roaming the prairie turned their horses and fled when the Imperial troops appeared.

Their method of warfare was not to fight the Imperial army, but to flee and stall.

If they stalled, the Imperial army, unable to withstand the harsh climate of the prairie, would collapse on their own.

Conversely, the Imperial army was in desperate pursuit of the savages, hoping to catch them.

However unlike before, the Imperial army did not chase the fleeing savages.

“Hmm, so that’s how it goes.”

A snorting Marquis Hughes ordered.

“Form up and rest.”

“All troops, camp and rest!”

The Marquis of Hughes’ words carried through, and the soldiers took up positions in the meadow and sat down.

Soon the soldiers were pulling out the canned goods they had brought with them.

The Marquis de Hughes and other officers also took out canned goods.

Up until this point, Marquis Hughes had been frankly skeptical.

Even though the wizards had tested the canned goods, this was the first time he had ever tasted them on the prairie.

‘I don’t know if it’s any good without the preservation spell.’

The troops have been marching long hours in the scorching prairie sun.

If it wasn’t preserved, it would have spoiled a dozen times over.

The Marquis of Hughes opened the can with some trepidation, but then a smile spread across his face.

“Hahahaha, that’s it, that’s it, that’s it!”

What emerged from the tin was jabasco, a southern fish.

Jabasco is a perishable fish, making it unsuitable for combat rations.

But the jabasco in the can was still intact, not spoiled in the slightest.

The other canned foods were also in good shape.

“Look at this, the meat is still intact!”

“I never thought I’d see the day when I’d be eating soup and salad on the prairie.”

“Hahaha! It’s not brick bread! I’ll live!”

The soldiers exclaimed as they savored the delicious food.

The imperial soldiers had been surviving the harsh conditions of the prairie by eating brick-hard black bread soaked in water.

For them, canned food was like the opening of the heavens.

They were no longer afraid of the prairie climate.

They had canned, non-perishable battle rations with them.

Time now belonged to the Imperial army, not the savages.

*

At first, the savages thought the Imperial Army was bluffing when they saw them taking their time.

“Leave them alone,” they said, “they’ll get tired of this and go back behind the walls.”

“You think that’s going to rattle us.”

The Imperial Army were no strangers to bluffing.

The same tactic had been tried before, and the savages had responded to it with the same disregard as they do now.

And then the Imperial Army, tired of the bluff, would retreat but this time was different.

As the week wore on and the month passed, the Imperial Army showed no signs of exhaustion.

In fact, it was the savages who were growing impatient with the Imperial Army encirclement.

“They must be running out of supplies now.”

“They’re hiding, waiting for a supply route.”

Assuming that the Imperial Army must be running out of food, the savages set their sights on the supply lines.

Sure enough, a parade of wagons loaded with munitions was coming through the supply route leading to the prairie.

“Take it!”

“The supplies must not reach the Imperial Army!”

The barbarians attacked the caravan.

But when they removed the cloth covering the wagons, the warrior leading the barbarians was stumped.

The cart was loaded with nothing but bulky bundles of straw.

“There’s nothing in the straw bundles!”

“There are no supplies here either!”

‘We’ve been caught!’

The barbarian warriors, realizing in hindsight that they had been set up, tried to flee.

“Pounce!”

“Don’t miss a single one!”

“Kaaaah!”

As if waiting in the wings, soldiers appeared from all sides and captured them all before they could escape.

This was the moment when the Imperial army scored its first victory over the barbarians.

*

The Imperial army continued to win a series of battles against the savages.

In the first place, the savages were stalling the Imperial army, not matching them in combat power.

News of the Imperial army victories reached the military elsewhere.

It was also reported that the reason for the Imperial army victory was a new battle food called canned food.

“Hmph, what a civilian wizard in the capital knows about the military…!”

Of course, the closed-minded military cadres didn’t believe it at first.

“So, how many weeks is the preservation period?”

“Twenty years.”

“What!?!?”

But when it was revealed that the canned food had a shelf life of twenty years, they had no choice but to believe it.

“Call the White Tower! We’ll get the canned goods!”

“Canned goods! Bring us canned goods!”

What started in the South began to spread throughout the Empire.