Upstart Pastry Chef ~Territory Management of a Genius Pâtisserie~ - Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Distance with Jorg

Several days had passed since Vorg and the others arrived and began building the mansion.

So far, their presence had been beneficial for the Arnold territory.

Trade had become active to transport their household goods, and thanks to the money received as compensation for inconveniences like noise and as payment for land, projects that had been abandoned due to budget constraints could now be started.

In the raspberry flower fields where beekeeping was carried out, Kurt pondered his younger brother Jorg.

After the duel, Kurt had visited Jorg to offer condolences, but his wounds were deep, and he was unconscious, unable to converse.

Kurt had decided to wait a while before visiting again, hoping Jorg would have regained consciousness by then. It was about time he’d be okay.

There were many things Kurt wanted to talk to Jorg about.

He wanted to mend the rift that had formed between them, for Jorg’s sake as well as his own.

Kurt planned to bring some pastries suitable for brothers when he visited.

“As you said, Kurt-sama, there’s a white liquid accumulating in the beehive.”

“Yeah, it’s going well. That liquid contains larvae that will become new queen bees.”

Kurt and Tina were currently cleaning the beehive boxes while doing additional tasks.

It was work to increase the number of bees.

Bees, as creatures, only lay eggs as queen bees. And in one hive, there can only be one queen bee. Therefore, by intentionally creating a queen bee and transferring it to another hive, a new hive could be established around that queen bee, efficiently increasing the number of bees.

“But it’s strange, isn’t it? Being able to intentionally produce queen bees.”

“That’s human ingenuity for you.”

The only difference between a queen bee and regular bees was the diet they consumed as larvae.

Only those larvae given royal jelly, a white liquid, grow into queen bees, larger, stronger, and possessing the ability to lay eggs.

Normally, several larvae are selected as queen bee candidates and fed royal jelly, with one of them eventually growing into a queen bee. Once a queen bee is established, the other larvae intended for queenship are killed off by the workers until the queen’s vigor wanes, at which point they may consider creating a new queen bee.

However, it’s possible to artificially induce the birth of a queen bee.

By manipulating a part of the hive, workers can guide royal jelly to specific larvae. Bees have a natural instinct to feed royal jelly to larvae situated in special chambers called queen cells. Therefore, by creating these queen cells, one can effectively breed queen bees.

Moreover, royal jelly, rich in nutrients capable of turning a larva into a queen bee, can also be made into high-end medicinal products. Kurt had plans to harvest and sell it in the future.

“Looks like the larvae in the queen cells we set up are developing into queen bees. We should move some worker bees and drones with them to another hive. Then, they’ll start laying eggs on their own, and the bee population will grow.”

Kurt said.

This would result in the establishment of new hives.

Currently, they only had ten hive boxes, but their goal was to increase that number to fifty by next year.

Thanks to their newfound financial flexibility, they were gradually purchasing materials to expand the hives.

“Kurt-sama, while it’s true we can increase the number of bees and hives, it might be hard to keep up with the care they require.”

Tina pointed out.

“I’ve thought about that.”

Tina’s concern was valid.

The settlement was already stretched thin with its efforts in colonization, leaving no surplus manpower. Additionally, with recent additions like chickens, manpower shortages were becoming more acute.

In such circumstances, there was simply no one available to take care of the bees.

With just Kurt and Tina, managing ten hives was already a stretch. Managing fifty would be entirely unmanageable.

“Are you thinking of bringing in people from other villages?”

“That’s true. My village is the newest, so everyone’s busy with colonization. But in other villages, there might be too many kids, so I think we could recruit some people if we put out a call. We’ll keep it to a minimum this time and explore other options quickly.”

Kurt explained.

Some of the land they’d colonized was intended for the settlers, but due to the pace of colonization and the number of children, some settlers couldn’t inherit land. They would scout for such talents, like second or third sons.

This would benefit both parties: surplus people from other villages would find a place, and Kurt’s village, lacking manpower, would benefit.

But Kurt wanted to avoid this approach as much as possible this time.

After all, if their large-scale beekeeping with fifty hives succeeded, other villages would likely follow suit. This would create a need for manpower even in villages with surplus people.

“Are there any other plans?”

Tina asked.

“I’m planning to visit Duke Fernande’s estate to make sweets as a gift, and I’m considering recruiting immigrants for the colonization village. Their region is much more stable than ours, and they’re stuck with colonization. There’s a surplus of people there. Honestly, I want to increase the population of the Arnoldt territory.”

Kurt replied.

“That’s wonderful! It’ll make the territory even richer!”

Tina exclaimed.

“Yeah, but it’s actually quite tough. Whether they’ll come or not is one issue, but if the income doesn’t increase with the increase in people, it won’t work. We need them to believe that life will be richer here than it is now, or no one will come.”

Kurt explained.

“Arnoldt is known for being poor, so they might not come.”

Tina muttered worriedly, eliciting a wry smile from Kurt.

“True, for now. This time might not work out, but if the honey business goes well, we can quickly dispel that image. After all, our honey here is so delicious that even Duke Fernande recognizes it. If we start a business, the village will become prosperous in no time.”

Kurt said.

Honey would surely bring immense wealth.

Well, the problem was that they lacked the manpower for that.

Realistically, they would recruit as a last resort this time, borrowing people from other villages if necessary on a small scale, start the business, and then recruit again once things stabilized.

With these thoughts in mind, they continued their work to increase bee production.

For a while, they couldn’t harvest much honey because the bees were using up the accumulated honey to raise new bees. But this was an investment for the future.

Next year, they would harvest much more honey than now.

◇

After finishing the tasks, Kurt found himself in the kitchen.

He was there to make sweets for Jorg.

It occurred to him that it was the first time he was making sweets for him.

Thinking about it, it might have been odd.

But making sweets for him, the one closest to him, was what he should do as his brother.

If only he had looked at him properly, loved him, their relationship might have been different.

But the past couldn’t be changed. However, the future could.

So Kurt began making special sweets.

Sweets to mend the bond with Jorg and send him off to a new stage.