Jasmine led the people carrying the wild boar straight into the kitchen area behind the castle.
The female cook was lighting a fire and seemed very experienced in handling prey; seeing this, her eyes lit up, and she hurriedly ran over to help, working together with the Bull-headed Man and the other slaves to hoist the entire wild boar onto a sturdy wooden rack next to the water well for convenient cleaning and skinning.
This wild boar's fur was jet black and very long, stiff as bristles. Although its body was not as fat and round as modern domestic pigs, its muscles were very firm and it was not small, estimated to be around 100kg. In this era of scarcity, it was considered a fairly robust beast, a big bargain.
"Don't process it just yet; bleed the wild boar a little longer." Jasmine saw they intended to butcher it immediately, so she told the female cook to quickly go inside and bring out a clean wooden basin.
The wild boar had died not long ago; although carrying it back took some time, its body was still warm and soft, and the blood had not completely coagulated.
Now that the wild boar was hung upside down on the wooden rack, the shattered wound on its head was still oozing a stream of bright red blood, slowly dripping onto the ground and soaking into the mud, wasted.
Jasmine naturally could not let this source of nutrition go to waste; one must know that blood pudding is also a delicious and nutritious dish.
The female cook cooked meager meals all year round, which did not suit Jasmine's picky palate. The days ahead were still long, and she did not want to make her mouth and taste buds suffer any longer.
It was hard to get such fresh prey; although Jasmine did not know how to hold a knife and process it herself, she could still use her mouth to direct others to do as she wished.
After spending nearly half an hour patiently waiting, the boar blood collected in the wooden basin was not much, but it was enough for a meal.
Jasmine told the female cook to mix in some diluted salt water to let the blood coagulate into a block, and only then did she signal for them to start disemboweling the wild boar to clean the internal organs.
Jasmine still held the Dragon Egg, standing to the side and observing, not missing a single detail.
The Old Butler even carefully brought out a reclining chair for Jasmine to sit on so she wouldn't get tired, then poured a glass of red wine and placed a piece of black bread fresh from the oven that morning on a small table where Jasmine could easily reach it; it could be said that the service was extremely attentive.
Black bread, when left to cool, was no longer crispy but became very hard and tough; biting a piece required grinding with force, and eating it was very damaging to the teeth and dry.
People here usually only ate two meals, morning and evening, to save food; it was only because Jasmine was a noble Lord that the Old Butler made an exception to prepare this lunch for her.
Although the meal was meager and not delicious, apart from Jasmine, the others present, including the slaves who were working, looked at that simple piece of bread and could not help but secretly gulp down saliva, their eyes revealing a clear look of craving.
Because the Bull-headed Man had just exercised vigorously, his stomach growled loudly a few times. He was afraid Jasmine would blame him for disrespect, so he hurriedly blushed and used his old leather belt to tighten his belly firmly; this way, the stomach being compressed would no longer feel the gnawing hunger.
"There must still be bread in the kitchen, right? Take some out for everyone to eat; they have worked hard all morning." Jasmine heard the stomach growling and turned to say to the Old Butler.
"This... My Lord, that bread is the food reserve for your entire coming week; how can it be arbitrarily shared with slaves?" The Old Butler was startled and hurriedly advised against it.
"If we eat it all, we can just make more; what is there to worry about?" Jasmine actually wanted to eat softer and fresher bread, but to save firewood and manpower, the female cook usually made a large pile at once. The bread would harden and could be kept for a long time, stored to be eaten gradually over many days.
The Old Butler looked slightly embarrassed and stammered: "My Lord, the problem is... we have completely run out of wheat flour."
If the bread made today was shared with others, then for the long period ahead, the noble Jasmine could only eat bland bean soup with them. Moreover, even the quantity of beans was not much; the female cook wished she could count every grain daily to cook enough portions.
"No wheat flour?" Jasmine was stunned, the piece of bread in her hand pausing.
She hadn't had time to check the territory's supplies in detail yet, so naturally, she didn't know how much food reserve was left in the castle.
She thought for a moment, put down the wine glass, and seriously ordered the Old Butler: "Take me to see the storage room right now."
The castle's storage room was located right next to Jasmine's bedroom. The space was a bit smaller than Jasmine's bedroom, dark inside with a mild smell of mold.
Do not look at the Black Dragon Castle as poor, but the storage room contained quite a few miscellaneous items, covered in dust. Many were junk items left by the previous Lord, such as old-fashioned clothes, heavy velvet curtains, broken canes, and various unknown types of ore.
Of course, glittering gold coins were impossible to find; even some silver tableware used daily had long since been taken by someone to sell for money to make up for the tax paid to the Royal Capital every year.
Jasmine did not rush to examine the other useless junk but followed the Old Butler's guidance to stand before two giant oak barrels placed in a hidden corner. These were specialized barrels used to store food to prevent mold, previously usually placed in the vast cellar of the castle.
Later, the cellar collapsed due to lack of repair, so the Old Butler moved the wooden barrels into this storage room for preservation.
The Old Butler carefully opened the heavy lid of a barrel and stepped back a few paces to make room for Jasmine.
This oak barrel was nearly as tall as a person; Jasmine had to stand slightly on tiptoe to see the contents clearly under the dim light.
One wooden barrel contained less than half a barrel of various mixed beans; the other barrel was empty, with only a thin layer of wheat that had not yet been ground into flour at the bottom.
"Is there only this much left?" Jasmine asked in astonishment. The crops in the territory were still a few months away from harvest season; could relying on this meager amount of food be enough for over three hundred people to hold out until then?
"Last year, our fields were destroyed quite a bit by a herd of wild boars, and the harvested food was consumed almost entirely during the harsh winter." The Old Butler sighed and explained: "This food was bought by Isaac from Ankera town using his own money a while ago."
"Isaac?" The unfamiliar name caught Jasmine's attention.
"That is your Guardian Knight, My Lord."
The Old Butler then remembered that he had not yet had time to introduce the personnel in the castle to Jasmine, and hurriedly bowed to apologize to Jasmine for the error in his work.