I Became A Genius Of The French Royal Family [EN]: Chapter 331

I gathered the reports summarizing the incoming telegrams in real-time and placed them on my desk.

News poured in from all over the world, but one phrase, in particular, caught my eye.

[Italy Dispatches Expeditionary Force to Thailand]

Wow, look at these guys. I was half-expecting it, but they actually went through with it.

Napoleon, who was having a cup of tea beside me, asked with a puzzled look.

“Is something amusing you, Your Majesty?”

“Does it seem that way?”

“Yes. Your Majesty hasn’t worn such an expression lately.”

Was it that obvious that even my subordinates noticed?

I chuckled dryly and handed Napoleon the report I had just read.

“What do you think? Italy has triumphantly dispatched its troops.”

“I heard it from Ran, but they really did set out. Interesting.”

Napoleon, the Grand Marshal of the French army, was thoroughly familiar with intelligence gathered not only from his own country but also from other nations.

Moreover, his strategic insight was the best in Europe, so there was no one more suitable to resolve my doubts.

“So, I’d like to hear your prediction?”

“Italy’s expedition to Asia… Difficult, it’s difficult. Who is the commander-in-chief?”

“The commander-in-chief is General Pellegrino, and the deputy commander is Garibaldi. Come to think of it, you must have heard of Garibaldi’s name as well.”

Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian hero well-known to me.

Even in the original history, he was revered as one of the most outstanding heroes in Italian history, not only in his time but also in modern times.

Even in this era, Garibaldi had quite a reputation as a genius commander who had appeared like a comet in Italy.

In Italy, they were promoting him as the ‘Napoleon of Italy,’ so he was quite famous in France as well.

Of course, the French reaction was along the lines of, ‘Oh, really? The Napoleon of Italy? Wow, that’s amazing,’ with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

“I hear he’s a promising young man.”

“Is that all? He’s the Napoleon of Italy, after all.”

“He’s a young man more than 30 years younger than me, so I just hope he grows up well. But I’d like to emphasize that I had already conquered Nouvelle France [New France, a former French colony in North America] and crushed Prussia by that age.”

I knew it. With his petty personality, there was no way he wouldn’t hold it against him.

Just from his tone, I could sense his feelings dripping with, ‘How dare a mere youngster use my name?’

“Of course, he can’t compare to you. Still, isn’t he a hero who played a significant role in the Italian unification war?”

“I’ve seen it all. Tactically, he seems to have remarkable qualities. But Your Majesty knows well that simply being good at battles is different from coordinating a war as a commander-in-chief.”

“That’s right. So, it seems he went to an ambiguous position as deputy commander?”

Considering his age in his twenties, it was quite a groundbreaking appointment to become the deputy commander of the expeditionary force.

He must be the fastest-rising star in the Italian army to have earned at least a star at that age.

“But this time, I think he should have gone as the commander-in-chief instead of the deputy commander. Honestly, I don’t remember the name Pellegrino.”

“But might he be a surprisingly outstanding general?”

“I pride myself on having heard of all the noteworthy individuals in Europe in some way or another. Like Garibaldi. In the end, if I don’t know him, it means he’s just that level of commander. An expedition to Asia led by a second-rate commander and a second-rate army… It’s going to be tough.”

“I don’t know about the rest, but you’re wrong about one thing.”

“Yes?”

Since I rarely ever challenged Napoleon in the military field, he immediately reacted with surprise.

He asked again, suspiciously.

“What am I wrong about? Does General Pellegrino have some special ability that I don’t know about?”

“No, not that. It’s just that the expression ‘a second-rate army led by a second-rate commander’ is the wrong expression. A third-rate army led by a second-rate commander. That would be the accurate expression.”

In the original history, Africa was nothing more than a playground for imperialist powers.

They would just invade whenever they felt like it, beat up any country that caught their eye, turn them into colonies, exploit them, and kill those who didn’t listen.

Rather than fighting against African countries, they often harmed themselves by fighting among themselves to seize valuable land.

In the midst of all this, there was one great power that was defeated by Ethiopia in Africa, and that was the Kingdom of Italy.

While other great powers were enjoying themselves in Africa in real-time, they were the only ones who suffered a defeat—not just any defeat, but a crushing defeat—and signed a treaty of reinforcement, so how much of a laughingstock would they have become?

So much so that the people who heard this news rioted, and the Italian government had to mobilize its troops.

Italy is just such a place.

That’s why this Asian expedition already seemed to have a predictable outcome.

It would be different if the commander-in-chief was a capable person, but after hearing Napoleon’s words, it seemed that wasn’t the case either, so wasn’t the answer already out?

“Well, it seems your opinion roughly matches mine, so I’ll tell Guangdong to keep this in mind when establishing future plans. Anything to add?”

“No. I just hope Italy does well.”

Napoleon drained the last of his tea, a smile that could only be seen as a sneer on his lips.

It was the manifestation of his inner thoughts that there was no way that would happen.

※※※

Italians have tremendous pride in their cuisine.

We often think of France when it comes to pride in cuisine, but Italy is by no means inferior to France.

If France takes pride in being the pinnacle of European cuisine, Italy feels a sense of superiority from the title of being the origin.

In fact, this is by no means wrong.

In modern times, France has gained a reputation as the essence of European gastronomy and a leader in cutting-edge gastronomy, but the story was different until the Middle Ages.

To put it bluntly, medieval France was no different from England, which they so ridiculed.

They didn’t use forks and knives properly, of course, and it was common to just pick up roughly cooked meat with their hands.

You couldn’t find soups full of aroma and umami [a savory taste], and all they did was gulp down bland porridge.

The development of French cuisine began when cooking was introduced from Italy during the Renaissance.

It was the marriage of Catherine de Medici, the daughter of the Medici family, to Prince Henry II of France in the 16th century that was the beginning of salvation for France.

It was only at this time that forks became widely available in France, so the more you dig, the more you can see that the reputation of the country of gastronomy is not entirely deserved.

For this reason, Italians never recognized France as the ultimate king of European gastronomy.

“France? Those bastards stole our country’s cuisine.”

It was ridiculous that such guys were calling themselves the country of gastronomy.

This thought was a common sentiment shared by all Italians.

Italians should be proud of the fact that Italian cuisine is the best in the world.

Could that be why?

From the first day he arrived in Thailand, Commander-in-Chief Pellegrino was dedicated to making pasta in this unfamiliar climate.

“···Commander-in-Chief. You need to go to the strategy meeting soon.”

“Ah, Garibaldi. Wait a moment. My masterpiece is now complete. You should taste it too.”

“No, now is not the time to be eating pasta······.”

“We do this to live, so we must fill our stomachs first. Or do you prefer fettuccine or linguine [types of pasta]?”

“No. The pasta that the general makes is, of course, the standard.”

In fact, Garibaldi, who liked fusilli [spiral-shaped pasta], said something he didn’t mean, and accepted the plate from Pellegrino.

If he said that he didn’t even treat long noodles as pasta, the human in front of him would surely get angry.

As expected, the commander-in-chief looked at the noodles he had boiled with fascination and poured sauce on top.

“In Emilia-Romagna [a region in Italy], where I was born, pasta naturally means tagliatelle [a type of pasta]. Moreover, this is a special rabbit meat sauce that I brought from my home country. I mixed basil in it as a hidden flavor.”

“As expected of the Commander-in-Chief. Your skill in boiling noodles has already reached the realm of mastery.”

“Hahaha, of course.”

If the commander’s ability was determined by his noodle-making skills, Pellegrino could be said to be a general who surpassed even Napoleon.

Of course, the sad reality was that no matter how well you pulled and boiled noodles, it wouldn’t help in war.

Anyway, if he didn’t empty the plate quickly here, this human wouldn’t move.

Garibaldi ate all the food almost by sucking it in, wiped his mouth, and urged the commander again.

“Thai dignitaries will also be participating in this meeting. Let’s go before it’s too late.”

“Well, if we civilized people are late for our appointment, that would be a problem in itself. Let’s go.”

Pellegrino, who had put the secret sauce in a safe place so that it would not spoil, left the barracks with Garibaldi in front.

Fortunately, Pellegrino and Garibaldi were not late for their appointment.

It wasn’t because they arrived on time.

Pellegrino was about 5 minutes late, but the Thai dignitaries were about 2 minutes later, so they were able to avoid being caught.

Of course, the fact that both sides showed a senseless attitude of being late for their appointment did not change.

“As expected, these uncivilized Asians have no concept of time.”

Pellegrino smiled brightly, openly cursing, as the Thai people were unlikely to understand Italian.

Of course, the interpreter sweated and translated his words appropriately.

“Thank you for welcoming us so warmly as we come to Asia for the first time.”

“Haha, of course, since you came to help us. We are very sorry for being late. In fact, it seems that you have not had a proper meal, so we have prepared our traditional food like this.”

Pellegrino, who heard the interpreter’s conversation, stared intently at the plates brought by the servants, his eyes shining.

“Hoo···Are you trying to take the lead with cooking?”

It didn’t seem like that at all, but Garibaldi didn’t bother to stop Pellegrino’s delusion.

Even though he had eaten pasta before coming, he was interested in Thai food, so he quietly accepted the plates they handed him.

“It’s Pad Thai [a stir-fried noodle dish] and Tom Yum Kung [a spicy and sour soup]. To make it easier to compare, you can understand it as Asian-style pasta and soup.”

“Oh~ This is Oriental pasta.”

Pellegrino’s expression changed in an instant after trying it, wondering how delicious it could be.

“Hoo···These guys. They’re not ordinary. Is this the taste of the Orient? It’s pretty good.”

The sweet, sour, and salty tastes were all mixed in a balanced way, and the slightly spicy taste was quite attractive.

Not bad.

No, to be honest, it was incredibly delicious.

“The East may be inferior in technology, but it has a deep history. The food culture itself is not at a level that can be underestimated······.”

“There was also ridicule that Britain’s conquest of India was intended to improve its poor cuisine.”

“Wait. Come to think of it, there was an evaluation that France’s cuisine became more diverse after merging Guangdong [a region in China].”

The food I ate in France when I went to see the Olympics a while ago was definitely at a level that I couldn’t help but acknowledge.

The traditional classics were of a high standard, but what was introduced as Guangdong French cuisine was enough to hurt Italy’s high pride.

“They combined spices and cooking methods brought from that distant Far East with our methods. There has been considerable research and the level is very high. I felt a sense of crisis that the gap between France and us could widen further if this continues.”

So, couldn’t they use similar methods?

If the food here is delicious, then Vietnam, which is right next to it, must also be enjoying a decent level of gastronomy.

“Good, good. We can not only improve the level of our army, but also gain practical benefits. Today is a very happy day. Isn’t that right?”

“···That’s right. Commander-in-Chief.”

The Thai dignitaries smiled with satisfaction after hearing the evaluation that the interpreter desperately translated as, ‘We really like your country’s cuisine.’

Anyone who saw it would mistake it for a gourmet trip, but this is clearly a state of war.

Garibaldi suddenly felt a headache as he watched this chaotic situation.

Originally, he was going to do his best to win the war, but the strategy has changed.

Let’s go back to our home country with minimal damage.

If he could do just that, he felt like he could return home with his chest puffed out, saying that he had really done his best.