Chapter 123: The Tour
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 123: The Tour
“A cruel employer? Don’t you think that’s a bit much to call someone who tolerates his employee getting dead drunk in the middle of the day and passing out on the main road?”
I was dumbfounded. Where else would he find an employer as easygoing as me?
Besides, I had seen with my own two eyes how he’d taken full advantage of being my friend back in Polton.
And now he was complaining about being a cruel employer just because I gave him some work to do?
Where’s your conscience?
As I stared at him with that exact expression, Zaenbold flinched and began to ramble on with an embarrassed look on his face.
“You think I wanted to drink? I’m at the point where I’ll puke just from the smell of alcohol.”
“You’re not puking now, and you reek of it.”
“Ahem. That’s because I’ve already emptied my stomach.”
Tsk.
I clicked my tongue, took a waterskin from my saddle, and handed it to him. Zaenbold’s face lit up as he grabbed it with both hands and squeezed it dry, not leaving a single drop.
“Ahhh, now I feel alive.”
Only then did Zaenbold greet my companions. Aenya and Piole covered their noses with one hand and shook his hand as if they were touching something filthy.
“That’s so harsh…!?”
Zaenbold looked deeply hurt, but that feeling lasted only until Archbishop Raceni began his mind-numbingly boring sermon.
Something about alcohol being the root of all evil. As Zaenbold’s face contorted with every passing moment, I couldn’t stand it anymore and cut in.
“I trust you finished your work before you started slacking off.”
Having barely escaped the swamp of the sermon, Zaenbold grinned brightly.
Of course, the archbishop looked on with disapproval. I had a feeling he would pick up right where he left off if he got another chance. I offered a silent prayer for my childhood friend’s future.
“Hoo, hoo, hoo. Follow me.”
Oblivious to my thoughts, Zaenbold gave a smug laugh and led the way. He took us to a massive warehouse.
Inside, ripe grapes were piled up like mountains. On the opposite side, numerous workers were using presses to extract the juice.
Piole glanced at the color, tilted her head, and looked back at me.
“Don’t tell me the new source of income you were so confident about is white wine?”
The white wine made from Melbourne grapes wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t an attractive enough product to sell across the sea.
“Of course not. This is just an ingredient.”
Zaenbold came to a stop in the warehouse’s backyard.
In a fairly large, open space, kilns made of brick and clay were scattered about.
Smoke billowed endlessly from chimneys made of the same material, making the area look as hazy as if a massive forest fire had broken out.
Atop each kiln sat a curved, gourd-shaped copper pot. The single opening at the top was connected to another pot by a copper pipe.
“What… what is all this?”
Archbishop Raceni’s expression hardened. To be fair, to an unknowing eye, it did look like a wicked sorcerer’s laboratory.
If this had been a gloomy basement, he might have tried to smash everything on the spot. He gripped the staff in his hand tightly.
“This is where we make fine liquor, Father.”
“Liquor? Here?”
Instead of answering, Zaenbold went to the pot at the very end, opened its tap, and filled a cup with its contents.
My companions, except for me, wore dubious expressions as they cautiously brought their noses to the clear, water-like liquid in the cup. They regretted it almost immediately.
“Cough, cough. Whoa, this is incredibly strong! I thought I was going to suffocate.”
“Tsk, tsk. Sir Piole, the Water of Life is meant to be savored slowly.”
“Oh… is it sweet?”
The strong alcohol mixed with the sweet aroma of grapes, creating a luxurious scent. The taste was deep and the flavor rich.
It made all the wine I’d had until now feel cheap. Of course, I knew this wasn’t even the best it could be.
“Heeey… Water of Life, you say? I like this.”
After confirming it tasted good, Piole downed the cup in one go and promptly got drunk.
The proof was her forgetting she was in full armor and pulling my arm into her embrace.
Piole clung to me like a leech, grabbing my hand as I tried to push her away. But it seemed I was mistaken.
“Are you acting right now?”
“Hic.”
Aenya, who had been watching quietly, spoke up, and didn’t Piole just hiccup?
Finally freeing my hand, I stared at Piole with a look of disbelief.
“Ah, no. It’s just…”
Under the sharp glares of the siblings, her face instantly turned crimson. She was so red it looked like she would pop if pricked with a needle.
“Come here.”
“Okay…”
Subdued by Aenya, Piole was dragged away like a criminal whose death sentence had just been confirmed.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Raceni seized the opportunity to unleash a sermon upon Zaenbold.
“How impudent! The Water of Life? Is that a fitting name for mere liquor?”
“Well, when you take a swig, it feels like vitality is surging through your body…”
“That is precisely the Devil’s whisper!”
No matter how slick Zaenbold was, he was powerless before the archbishop’s authority. Still, he was my only friend, so I couldn’t just stand by and watch.
“Archbishop, you shouldn’t look upon this so unfavorably. With the invention of this new liquor, jobs in Melbourne have greatly increased, and the number of poor has drastically decreased. Furthermore, the Lord said, ‘Do not give a child a fish, but teach him how to fish.’ Zaenbold has simply followed that teaching faithfully. If anything, he should be praised.”
“But such strong liquor is a means of tempting the Devil.”
“Drinking too much wine also leads to incapacitation. Is that the wine’s fault? The important thing is the human will to not succumb to temptation.”
Besides, wasn’t this an age where people drank wine like water? The archbishop relented with a groan. I turned to Zaenbold, who was sighing in relief.
“Where’s the real stuff?”
“In the basement. Follow me.”
In the warehouse basement, countless oak barrels were stacked in layers. The basement actually seemed larger than the floor above.
Numbers were carved into the barrels, which Zaenbold explained were the years they began aging. However, the numbers weren’t very far apart, meaning they hadn’t been made long ago.
“Even the oldest one has been aging for less than half a year, but it should be much better than wine.”
He was right. Everyone’s eyes went wide after a single sip. Even the archbishop, who had been wearing a look of constant disapproval, turned around in surprise.
“My, how can it have such a taste and flavor…!?”
I had only provided the idea for brandy, but the result was quite sellable.
Of course, compared to modern brandy, its quality wasn't even half as good, but in this era, it was an item capable of causing a cultural shock. For an achievement made in just six months, it was astonishing.
Now, the only thing left was to figure out how to market the brandy. In an era with no proper means of communication, marketing was the most difficult field.
So, I made a subtle suggestion.
“Archbishop, how about using this liquor instead of wine as an offering for Mass? It’s made from the exact same ingredients as wine, just with some extra processing.”
The archbishop was an idol in the world of faith. If he used this brandy during Mass, other churches would start to follow suit one by one.
Since even small villages had a church, we could announce the birth of brandy across the entire continent in an instant.
Moreover, with so many churches, consumption would be high, leading to enormous profits. It was killing two birds with one stone.
“It is a very strong liquor. I fear I might make a mistake.”
He had wavered slightly upon seeing Aenya’s beauty but had quickly regained his composure. There was no way the archbishop would fall for the temptation of mere alcohol.
Of course, other priests would be different. Wasn’t the clergy a way for nobles without inheritance rights to maintain their status and position?
The very reason Archbishop Raceni had gained his fame was because there were no priests who didn’t fall to corruption.
Weren’t there rumors that even the Pope in the northern continent had so many illegitimate children you couldn’t count them on ten fingers?
If even the one who should be the purest had fallen, there was no need to speak of those beneath him.
This meant that once brandy spread, problems were bound to arise.
And that was exactly what I wanted.
‘The archbishop’s reputation must grow even greater.’
By drinking the same brandy without making a single mistake, the archbishop’s fame would soar.
The moment his authority on this continent surpassed even the Pope’s was the moment I was waiting for. For that, I continued my persuasion.
“Still, this liquor would be a perfect offering for the Eucharist. Doesn’t the Bible say to offer the best things as a sacrifice? I’m certain He would be pleased.”
“Hmm…”
Unable to deny it, the archbishop let out a groan. I delivered the final blow.
“There are many ways. You could add water, or mix it with wine just for the aroma. Furthermore, I am willing to provide it to you, Archbishop, free of charge.”
Behind the archbishop, Zaenbold’s face crumpled when he heard my words.
‘Hey, are you crazy? Do you know how much this is worth…!’
The amount of brandy decreases during distillation, and it requires all sorts of post-processing and aging, making its price several times that of wine.
Furthermore, a man of the archbishop’s stature would preside over an enormous church. So, of course, he’d have a fit at the mention of giving it away for free.
If my plan worked, the returns would be far greater than the investment, but Zaenbold, unaware of this, crossed his arms in an ‘X’ to show his opposition.
Of course, I ignored him.
“Hmm. I will consider it.”
“By all means.”
Knowing the archbishop’s words were essentially an acceptance, I smiled.
*
“How hard did I work on that, and you’re just giving it away for free? For you, it’s just tossing out an idea, but for me, who has to actually create it, it was like starting from absolute scratch. It’s a good thing the people of Melbourne had experience making distilled liquor, otherwise I wouldn’t have even been able to take the first step.”
Back at the mansion, once we were alone, Zaenbold unleashed the anger he’d been holding back.
Aenya and Piole, both drunk, were asleep. The archbishop had decided to stay at the church in Melbourne, likely intending to ask his brothers in faith about the situation in the town.
“The grape variety, the method, the additives, the fermentation process, the distillation temperature, and the aging method. I had to figure everything out by testing them one by one from a state of complete ignorance. Seriously, I thought I was going to die from all the taste-testing last time. And you’re giving that away for free? I can’t do it! No, I won’t do it!”
As expected, Zaenbold was a good worker. If only he could fix his habit of slacking off at every opportunity, he’d be even more useful.
My inner thoughts must have shown in my eyes. Zaenbold’s eyes met mine, and he recoiled, taking a step back.
“What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like a master who’s just found a hardworking slave!”
Now that he was sober, his intuition was sharp again. I clicked my tongue inwardly and said.
“Once we’ve produced this batch for export, you can take a vacation.”
“…Ahem, can I really?”
Zaenbold beamed, as if he’d never been full of complaints. Perhaps all his prior whining was just for this moment.
“But you have to abstain from alcohol during your vacation.”
Feeling a bit spiteful, I added a condition. It was purely out of concern for my childhood friend’s health.
In an age without proper medicine, drinking high-proof alcohol like water was a surefire way to ruin one’s health.
We were already short on talent; it would be a terrible waste to lose a resource like him.
“So how are you planning to sell it?”
Zaenbold flinched, then changed the subject with a nonchalant expression. He clenched his jaw and ignored my pointed stare, continuing.
“You know how it is, right? All those merchant bastards are devious. They act all subservient on the outside, but inside, they’re treating nobles like fools. They’ll definitely try to haggle down the price with all sorts of excuses. We’ll do all the work, and they might be the ones who reap the profits.”
I continued to stare at Zaenbold without a word. After avoiding my gaze for a while, he let out a deep sigh and confessed.
“I’ll drink in moderation. Moderation. Happy now?”
“I’ll have the secretary keep an eye on you.”
“Ugh… So what’s your plan, about the merchants?”
“I have something in mind.”
Among my memories as a modern person, there was something as valuable as the System.
It was something modern people were so used to that they didn’t realize its importance: a map.
‘A map drawn without a single inch of error?’
With just the map from the game, I might be able to pioneer the new eastern sea route that everyone yearned for.
It was more than enough to make the ocean-faring merchants, who treated even shoddy maps like treasure, lose their minds.
I planned to use the map as bait to draw out the merchants’ cooperation.
Of course, my hand would probably die from the effort of perfectly recreating the map from memory. But compared to the profits the map would bring, it was nothing.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
Zaenbold didn’t ask any more questions. Perhaps it was this ability of his to respect boundaries that allowed us to remain friends despite the changes in time and status.
That night, we drank brandy until late. Maybe it was because we were reminiscing about the past, but the drink tasted even sweeter.
*
We set out as soon as dawn broke. Our schedule was a bit tight if we were to survey a location for the new capital city during our journey.
Thanks to our hurried pace, we reached the border between the two baronies on the afternoon of the third day after leaving Melbourne.
“Huh? Didn’t you say there were no villages around here?”
Piole, who had ridden ahead out of boredom, stopped on a hill and looked back at me.
“A village?”
Only after I rode up beside her did I understand what she meant.
Beneath a sky stained red and a backdrop of twilight descending along the mountain ridges, a field of golden wheat stretched out.
Being further south than Roxwood, the harvest was already about half-finished. Farmers were relentlessly cutting down what remained.
“A village of shifting cultivators.”
This was a place that could become a battlefield at any moment due to the conflict between the two barons.
I had assumed no one would live here, but it seemed some people had settled down, willing to take that risk.
The problem was that the cultivated land was too large to have been created by a small group of shifting cultivators.
As we slowly approached, the farmers who spotted us were startled and began to flee. Ownerless farming tools and harvested wheat were left scattered on the ground.
Soon, a bell rang. Following the sound, we advanced a little further and found a proper village surrounded by a palisade.
“There must be well over a hundred households.”
“How could we not have known about a village this large?”
Leaving Aenya and Piole, who were beyond surprised and now utterly astonished, I slowly approached the village.
The entrance was shut tight, and on top of the palisade, I could see people armed with clubs, pikes, and farming tools like scythes.
“Who goes there-!”
A man on the palisade above the entrance shouted. He was a shaggy man whose exposed skin was covered in hair.
Everything about this displeased me. I was the ruler of this land. Who dared to build a village without my permission and then look down on me, demanding to know my identity?
This was an era where one’s attire proved one’s status. For a mere shifting cultivator to be so rude to someone who was clearly a knight meant they were prepared to die.
I took a spear from my saddle and spoke.
“I believe that’s my line. By whose permission did you build this village?”
I could get an answer after I made them pay the price for their insolence.
I lightly threw the spear I was holding. The result, of course, was not light.
The spear, imbued with transcendent, superhuman strength, shot toward the insolent man in the blink of an eye.
He didn’t react until the spear was nearly upon him. It was the moment just before he was about to be skewered and killed.
I saw his eyes glow blue. He desperately threw his upper body back. Almost simultaneously, the spear grazed his forearm.
I had aimed for his heart, yet I hadn’t even managed to properly pierce his arm. Looking at the man staring down with a horrified expression, I clicked my tongue.
‘Just as I thought. He had something to rely on.’