The evening glow showered the Red Tide Territory.
Inside the smoking shed near the hot springs, several smoked fish hung on wooden racks, their golden skins slightly wrinkled, exuding a rich smoky aroma.
Louis stood by, scrutinizing these fish smoked for hours.
He then lightly pressed the surface with his finger, the dry, resilient texture satisfied him, and he nodded approvingly.
"L-Lord..." Sally stood beside him, speaking cautiously, her hands unconsciously twisting together.
Her eyes carried nervousness, afraid that her smoked fish was not good enough.
Upon hearing her, Louis lifted his head and praised, "Well smoked, the texture and color of the fish are great."
Sally let out a sudden sigh of relief, a hint of a nervous smile appearing on her face, "All- all according to your method, without- without your guidance, we wouldn't have managed."
"You have deft hands." Louis casually tore off a piece of fish meat and tossed it into his mouth.
Though the fish meat was dry and hard, its rich smoky fragrance slowly spread in his mouth as he chewed, and the taste was not bad.
Standing nearby, Hillco yawned tiredly, his dark circles almost falling to the ground.
It wasn't that Louis deliberately overworked him, just that they were the only two literate people in the entire territory.
So he had to reluctantly have him work 996.
Today, to comfort him, he brought him here to eat fish.
"Here, have a taste." Louis casually handed over a smoked fish.
Hillco's weary eyes sparked with some interest, and he took a bite, "Tastes better than I expected."
"This is Sally's hard-earned result," Louis praised.
Hearing her name, Sally was suddenly a bit flustered, quickly waving her hands, "No, no, no, being able to smoke these fish is all thanks to your guidance, I don't know this..."
Louis quietly listened to Sally's words, but his gaze lingered on the smoked fish.
The Red Tide Territory was located in the cold Northern Territory, where food resources were limited.
Though fishery was an important supply source, every winter and early spring, the rivers nearly froze over, leaving almost no catch.
To avoid falling into famine, he had to find an effective way to preserve food through the long, harsh winter.
So Louis came up with an innovative method—using geothermal heat to smoke fish.
"Hot spring smoked fish? Can it really work?" Hillco was full of disbelief when he first heard of this plan.
"Compared to simply air drying, this method removes more moisture, extending preservation time," explained Louis.
Regardless, this method was worth trying.
So he selected the meticulous Sally to lead the women in an initial attempt.
Step one, process the fish body.
First, they had to open the fish belly and remove the innards, but keep the fish skin intact.
Fish skin not only prevents the fish meat from falling apart during smoking but also locks in the fragrance, making the smoked fish taste better.
Next, they cured it with coarse salt, for varying durations from several hours to a day, depending on weather and humidity.
This not only removed the fishy smell and enhanced flavor but also removed a portion of the moisture, preparing it for subsequent smoking.
Step two, build the smoking rack.
In the hot spring area, they wove a row of smoking racks using branches, bamboo strips, and vines.
They also installed simple windproof and insulating facilities on both sides of the rack, maximizing the penetration of hot spring steam into the fish while preventing heat loss.
Step three, the smoking process.
Geothermal resources were not stable, so the smoking time was split into 2 to 3 days over multiple rounds.
If the temperature was too high, the fish meat would harden, too low, and preservation would be difficult, so each batch of smoked fish required careful adjustments in time and temperature.
All these seemed tedious, but after some time and Sally's continuous attempts, they had achieved small-scale success.
The fish hanging on the smoking racks had become one of the hopes for surviving the winter in the Red Tide Territory.
Louis nodded slightly, "We can increase the scale now."
A hint of delight flashed in Sally's eyes; she and the women under her had worked hard for several days for this.
In a world dominated by force, women's status was always low.
If they could take on the responsibility of smoking fish, their status in the Red Tide Territory could improve considerably.
She pressed her lips together, cautiously asking, "Lord, are you saying you want us to take charge of smoking fish?"
"You've already done well, haven't you?" Louis gave her a light glance, his gaze sweeping across the smoking rack, "If the scale expands, naturally experienced people should be in charge."
Sally's heart raced, and she couldn't help but grasp her apron tightly, feeling an unprecedented sense of certainty.
"Thank you, Lord!" She instinctively bent down to bow, her voice carrying a slight tremor.
Louis chuckled, "It's I who should thank you all."
Just then, a knight came over and whispered in Louis's ear, "Lord Lambert has returned."
Louis's eyes lit up, this was indeed a double blessing.
He immediately strode toward the residential area, heading to meet the three who had just entered the area.
Lambert knelt on one knee, murmuring, "Mission accomplished."
Louis nodded slightly, a hint of comfort flashing through his eyes.
The dependable Lambert always brought a sense of reassurance.
"You've worked hard," he said solemnly, then glanced at the two elite knights behind Lambert.
Though they seemed slightly more fatigued than Lambert, not one of them complained about the hardships of the journey.
"We'll discuss the detailed report tomorrow," Louis said with a gentle smile, "Tonight, rest well. At tomorrow's award ceremony, you'll receive your deserved rewards."
The three saluted in unison, an attitude of respectful acknowledgment, "Yes!"
"Leave the seeds behind, then you can go rest."
The three knights handed the packages over to the attendant without hesitation and left with their travel fatigue.
Using fighting energy for long-distance journeys, even elite knights couldn't avoid physical and mental exhaustion.
Louis watched them leave until their figures disappeared before turning and heading to his office, the attendant following with lots of seed packages in hand.
One package after another was neatly stacked on the office desk, all results of this procurement.
Louis waved his hand, signaling the attendant to withdraw.
When the door softly closed, he stepped to the desk and, following the intelligence system's tips, found the seeds he was looking for.
He gently picked up one, examined it in his palm.
The seed was reddish-brown, smooth-skinned, indistinguishable from ordinary cranberry seeds at first glance.
If not for the intelligence system, he might have mistaken it for a common seed.
But it was anything but ordinary.
This was the Frost Blood Redberry, a magical fruit from the extreme cold of the Northern Territory.
Consuming it not only strengthened the body but had peculiar effects on a knight's fighting energy refinement.
This meant, once successfully cultivated, it not only could become a unique specialty of the Red Tide Territory.
It could also become a strategic resource coveted by all major nobility.
Louis looked at the seed, as if seeing mountains of gold and silver beckoning.