CHAPTER 8 Taking in Two Servants (Part 2)
During their conversation along the way, Marin learned that Kahn's family had originally been serfs on a nearby landlord's estate. However, after Kahn began to grow a few years ago, his appetite increased drastically, and he could eat as much as three people.
Although Kahn was strong and had the potential to become a fierce warrior, the landowner who owned their estate was just an ordinary gentry and had no use for a strong but overly hungry worker. Furthermore, the harvests in recent years had been poor, so last year, Kahn's family was kicked off the estate.
Kahn's father, Zimmermann, knew some carpentry, so he went to work in a carpenter's shop in the city. Meanwhile, Kahn stayed with his mother, two younger brothers, and a little sister. Together, they built a small, crude wooden cabin on the edge of the Black Forest. Kahn would usually collect dead branches from the forest (chopping down trees required the lord's permission) and sell them in the city to make a little money.
Kahn's mother, along with the younger siblings, would gather wild fruits and mushrooms from the forest, and dry them for food. Despite Kahn's large appetite, even with Zimmermann's decent income and everyone's efforts to make ends meet, the family was still struggling.
This year, Kahn turned 18. Zimmermann had taken Kahn to the city earlier in the year, hoping to find him an apprenticeship. But after seeing Kahn's enormous appetite, all the workshops refused to take him in (apprentices were unpaid but provided meals).
With no other choice, Kahn returned to stay with his mother and siblings. Unfortunately, his mother, Jenny, fell ill and became weak. After spending all their savings on her medical treatment, the whole family began to go hungry. Desperate, Kahn decided to try his hand at hunting in the depths of the forest (the local lord was lenient about hunting, with most caught poachers receiving only a beating). However, Kahn's first attempt at hunting ended with him becoming the prey, falling into a trap instead.
Arriving at the cabin, Kahn put down the wild boar, pushed open the broken fence in front of the house, and called out loudly:
"Mom, I'm back! We have a guest!"
Soon, a haggard-looking middle-aged woman appeared, accompanied by a boy of about 15 or 16, a younger boy around 12, and a little girl of about 10.
"Kahn, who is this gentleman?" The middle-aged woman sized up Marin and immediately recognized that he might be a knight.
"Honorable lady, my name is Marin. I am a knight," Marin introduced himself, giving a polite bow.
"You are too kind, Sir Knight. We are just common folk and cannot accept your courtesy!" The middle-aged woman, Jenny, was terrified. In her memory, only commoners bowed or knelt before nobles, not the other way around. And as a lowly woman without even a surname, she felt unworthy of being addressed as "lady."
It was just that Marin, being a modern person who had traveled back in time, didn't care much about social hierarchies. Any other knight would not have even bothered to look at a commoner, let alone speak to one.
Upon hearing that Marin was a knight, the younger boy and girl hid behind Jenny in fear. Only the 15- or 16-year-old boy stared at Marin with curiosity, unafraid.
"Kohler, what are you staring at? Show some respect to the knight!" Kahn scolded his younger brother.
Kohler snapped out of it and quickly bowed to Marin, but after the bow, he continued to glance at Marin with curiosity, though it wasn't an impolite stare—more like the way a young boy would sneak a peek at something intriguing.
"Kahn, bring the wild boar inside!" Marin casually ordered.
"Sir, are you planning to...?" Jenny asked nervously.
"I thought we could have a meal here. Let's eat together."
"No, no, how could we dare eat your food, Sir Knight?" Jenny shook her head repeatedly.
"It's fine. It's settled. But, madam, could you help me prepare some food?" Marin could tell that Jenny's illness had passed, but her body was still weak—probably due to both illness and hunger.
"All right..."
"Kahn, do you know how to butcher a pig? This wild boar hasn't been processed yet," Marin suddenly remembered that the boar still needed to be prepared.
"I do, sir. Earlier this year, I worked for a few days in a slaughterhouse in the city, so I know how to butcher pigs. Watch me!" Kahn confidently took the sharp new knife Marin handed him and set to work on the wild boar.
Although his skills were a bit rusty, Kahn managed to process the wild boar reasonably well. However, the boar's hide was damaged from the arrows Marin had shot into it earlier.
Following Marin's instructions, Jenny cut ten pounds of wild boar meat and went to the kitchen to cook it.
An hour later, Marin looked at the food on the table and frowned...
"Madam, do you only know how to roast and boil meat?"
"Huh? Yes. Isn't that how everyone does it?" Jenny didn't understand what Marin meant.
Marin suddenly realized—Europeans didn't know how to stir-fry...
He couldn't bear to see the delicious wild boar meat wasted by the primitive methods of ancient Germans...
Then Marin asked:
"Madam, do you have a pan?"
"A pan? Yes, yes, we have a frying pan!"
"A frying pan..." Though not ideal for stir-frying, it was better than nothing.
Marin then astonished Kahn's family by removing his armor and walking into the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, Marin called for Kahn to tend the fire while he prepared to cook.
However, to Marin's dismay, Kahn's family didn't have any cooking oil...
Not surprising, since at that time in Europe, the only oils available were expensive butter and olive oil, typically reserved for the nobility. Some people use animal fat...
"Right, animal fat!" Marin slapped his forehead, then took his knife, cut some fat from the wild boar's carcass, and rendered it into lard.
After rendering the lard, Marin added the meat slices Jenny had cut and started stir-frying...
Besides lard, the only seasoning Kahn's family had was salt. With no other choice, Marin used just a bit of salt.
Half an hour later, the aroma of cooking wafted from the kitchen, making Kahn, Kohler, and the younger children drool with anticipation.
When the stir-fried meat was served, everyone except Jenny stared at it with hungry eyes.
"Don't just stare. Let's all eat!" Marin started eating first. The others hesitated briefly, but once Kahn took the lead, the younger children began to devour the food. In no time, the dish was gone...
"I'm sorry, sir. The children were too greedy!" Jenny panicked, realizing the children had eaten the knight's food. Wasn't that a capital offense?
But Marin didn't mind. The stir-fried meat hadn't tasted particularly good, mainly due to the lack of seasonings. Still, it was Marin's first time eating stir-fried food in this era, so he didn't mind.
"It's fine. I'll just cook another dish!"
This time, Jenny insisted on doing the cooking herself. Under Marin's guidance, she managed to stir-fry another plate of meat that turned out passably well. Once again, the children quickly devoured it.
"Ah, that was delicious! If only we could eat meat like this every day!" Kahn said contentedly after eating his fill.
"Dream on, brother. Unless you become a noble's servant, you won't get that kind of life," Kohler said sharply. Even as a servant of a noble, you might only get to eat leftovers. As a commoner, all you could expect were hard, black bread loaves...
"A noble's servant..." Everyone's eyes turned toward Marin—wasn't he a noble?
"Sir... do you need a servant to run errands for you?" Jenny asked nervously. She could tell that Marin was a knight, and he didn't seem to have any squires with him yet, probably because he was still young.
"A servant... I don't have one yet. I plan to recruit a few after I join His Majesty the Emperor." Marin shared his plan, which wasn't really a secret.
"The Em...peror..." The family was stunned. In their eyes, knights were already lofty figures. The Emperor? He was said to be far more powerful than any knight...
Kahn's family concluded that Marin had a bright future ahead of him. A knight serving the Emperor surely had great prospects.
Kahn immediately looked at Marin with longing eyes:
"Sir, can you take me on as a servant? I'm very strong!" Kahn said, flexing his muscles to show off his strength.
"Strong, huh? Can you lift that stone at the door?" Marin asked casually, pointing to a large stone outside the house that weighed about 300 pounds.
"Watch me!" Kahn said enthusiastically, then ran over and lifted the stone, raising it above his head...
Marin was astonished. Being able to lift 300 pounds was quite impressive. To put it into perspective, Marin himself could only carry (not lift) 200 pounds in his previous life, which was considered strong.
What Marin didn't know was that the 300-pound stone was Kahn's usual "exercise equipment," and Kahn's real strength was far beyond that—he was extraordinarily strong...
"Good, you've got some strength. You're perfect for carrying armor and lances!"
"So?"
"As long as you're willing, come with me. I'll pay you three pennies a day!"
"Well... what about food? Sir, Kahn eats quite a lot..."
"Eats a lot? How much can he eat?" Marin wasn't surprised; usually, strong warriors were known for their big appetites. For example, Xue Rengui, a historical warrior, ate his meals by the measure, not by the bowl.
"At least 6 pounds of food a day. If he eats freely, it might be 8 to 10 pounds..." Jenny said with some embarrassment. This was an important issue, and she didn't want to deceive the knight. Generally, adults needed only 2 pounds of food a day, but Kahn, their family's big eater, needed at least 6 pounds...
"Uh... he can eat a lot. But Kahn, are you willing to follow me into battle? It's a place where you might die at any moment!" Marin didn't care about food consumption but valued courage and bravery.
"No problem, sir! If I get to eat enough with you, I'll do whatever is needed and am not afraid of dying!" Kahn said earnestly.
"Good, I like brave men. Alright, I'll take you!"
"Thank you, sir, for recognizing me!"
Jenny was thrilled. She was happy not only for Kahn's promising future but also to relieve her family of the burden of feeding one more person...
"Sir... do you think I could be of any use?" Kohler, seeing his older brother become a knight's squire, was also eager.
"Kohler, do you have any special skills? Your older brother is strong; what are your abilities?" Marin was reluctant to recruit someone without any skills.
"I... I have a good memory and can do accounting..."
"Accounting... have you been educated?" In the Middle Ages, accounting was not common knowledge. Generally, only noble families, merchant families, and wealthy households taught their children accounting.
"No, I learned it secretly from a Jewish merchant in town. I can use Arabic numerals..."
"Secretly learned..." Marin was speechless. It was impressive that Kohler had learned accounting this way. But, considering Kohler's intelligence, it made him wonder if Kohler and his not-so-bright older brother Kahn were truly biological siblings. Perhaps one of them was adopted?
Marin then tested Kohler with some three-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems and found that Kohler answered them well. However, when tested with mixed four-operation problems, Kohler struggled.
"Looks like Kohler's math level is roughly equivalent to third grade..." Marin recalled that mixed four-operation problems were usually covered in fourth grade.
Third-grade math level was likely sufficient for bookkeeping...
Kohler was also proudly accepted as one of Marin's squires. As for the younger Clemens, even though he was talented, Marin wouldn't recruit him for now. He wasn't running a daycare and didn't know how to handle young children.
Later, Kahn was tasked with going to the city to find their father, Zimmermann. After all, it was important for a father to know when his son had become a squire.