Selling Chocolate with Lily (1)
Nine days. That was the short window we had, and to rack up real results in that time, we needed something that produced instant feedback the moment we laid hands on it.
Inventions like the air conditioner or the pneumatic hammer?
Good options, sure. Unlike the pneumatic hammer, which won over the dwarves, the air conditioner had genuine mass-market appeal.
But if you asked me whether I could expect an immediate response from either of them, well... The air conditioner had gone through a free trial-rental period just to build word of mouth. Looking at how its sales sat quietly at first and then shot up like an exponential function, it was clearly not the kind of product that delivers results on a short timeline. There was also the problem that mass production took ages.
And then—a flash of insight!
Food. Something that gets a reaction the instant it touches your tongue. The shock of that very first taste. And on top of that, an addictive quality you couldn't easily shake off.
Wasn't there something that checked every single one of those boxes?
Narcotics.
Ah, to be fair, drugs are the undisputed king of that particular category. But considering why the Opium Wars happened, that's dangerous territory you shouldn't touch lightly. I'm a man who always keeps his cool, even when it looks like I'm stirring up trouble without a second thought. Anyway, drugs were beyond what I could handle at this stage.
So the compromise I landed on was something in the sweet spot—below the threshold of what counted as a drug.
"A-An aphrodisiac?"
Lily let out a deliberately flustered voice.
"You're going to make something like succubus or incubus secretions?"
"That's right."
"Owen, no matter how much of a hurry we're in, you can't make things like that...! Succubus and incubus secretions are strictly regulated, you know!"
I winked at her to tell her not to worry.
"It's fine. This is already at a level the Empire permits."
"Aphrodisiacs" weren't really a big deal. By my old world's standards, coffee was once classified as an aphrodisiac, if you can believe it. Arguably, the coffee craze sweeping the Imperial Capital owed much of its popularity to the stimulation you got from drinking it. That perception faded in modern times simply because people became so accustomed to coffee.
Anyway—the thing we were about to make was a food product much like coffee.
"What we're making is chocolate."
Chocolate? What does that have to do with aphrodisiacs?
You might say that. But here's a fun fact: in actual history, chocolate was once banned for causing excessive excitement. It contains stimulant compounds, much like coffee. The amounts are tiny compared to actual drugs, but for people unaccustomed to such stimulation, the effects tend to stand out—which is exactly what led to those real-life chocolate bans.
"Cho... chocolate?"
"Maybe you'd be more familiar with it as xocolatl."
"Sho... xocolatl?"
Lily reacted as if she'd never heard of it, which, fair enough. Xocolatl in this era wasn't exactly a food for the masses either. As far as I knew, only adventurers who needed a quick stimulant boost consumed it, more as a medicine than a treat.
"Sorry. There's a lot I don't know."
"Nothing to be sorry for. Not knowing is normal. If anything, I'm the weird one for knowing about it."
With that, Lily and I left the academy and headed for the market. The streets of the Imperial Capital were as lively as ever, packed with people, their voices, and the temptations of food designed to snare the footsteps of passersby.
Lily, whose hand I held captive as she trailed along behind me, fell victim to those temptations too, glancing this way and that. Her attention would land on the food displayed at a stall, and then—seemingly reminded of her own wallet's dire situation—she'd whip her gaze away in a hurry. It was quick, but every single move she made was caught by yours truly.
"...What? Why are you staring at me like that...?"
Lily, who had turned her head away pretending nothing happened only to meet my eyes, asked awkwardly.
"Ha. This won't do."
My reaction set Lily's mind visibly racing. Before her—blinking rapidly, mentally retracing her steps to figure out what she'd done wrong—I opened my wallet, heavy with coin.
"Our vice president can't keep her head straight when there's food around. I'll have to take measures so she can focus on club activities."
Only then did Lily finish processing the situation, waving her hands in refusal.
"No! No! You don't need to do that! I told you I hate just freeloading off you!"
"Backtalk from a club member? At this rate, you'll be taking my job as president next."
"Noooo..."
I pressed a few skewers of lamb and drumsticks into the hands of a hungry Lily. She kept apologizing for only ever being on the receiving end, but once the food was actually in her grip, she ate away happily—sauce smeared all over her mouth and all.
"If you keep handing me stuff like this, it's going to feel like a burden, you know..."
So we wandered the streets, feeding food into Lily's mouth one bite at a time, until finally I spotted the shop I was looking for.
Its exterior was hardly what you'd call tidy. It catered to adventurers about to set off on expeditions, so the whole place had a rough-and-ready feel. Through the glass window I could see armor and swords on display inside, while the shelves out front held jerky, dried fruit, and the like.
And there it was—what we'd come for. The cacao beans were right there.
"I couldn't be sure, since I never paid close attention before, but going by my memory, they're in dried form."
Xocolatl, the drink adventurers consumed. It's made from cacao beans that have gone through fermentation and drying, then roasted, ground into powder, and mixed with chili and water. As you might guess from the process, its taste is a far cry from the sweet chocolate we all know. Which is exactly why it's unpopular.
But what if you added cacao butter and sugar here? Dark chocolate, finished with a whisper of bitterness weaving through the sweetness. And then, if you added milk on top of that? You'd have milk chocolate—sweet and smooth.
As we browsed the shelves, the shopkeeper crept out of the back. One look at us—obviously nothing like adventurers—and he'd clearly decided we were just window-shoppers, clicking his tongue in disdain.
Thud.
I set down a hefty money bag, casual as anything. Deliberately widening the cinched opening, I let the gold coins inside catch the light and flash.
His eyes went round as saucers. The shopkeeper, who had been about to retreat into his store after writing us off entirely, came scrambling out and planted himself in front of us with a beaming smile.
"Well, bless my soul, customers! What can I do for you today?"
His entire attitude flipped in an instant. Financial therapy really is the best cure for human nature. That's precisely why I'd made a show of the gold coins.
"I'd like to buy some cacao."
"Ah, yes sir! How much would you like?"
I swept my hand across the shelf in one long stroke. The shopkeeper's mouth fell open in proportion to the range I indicated. And I didn't stop there—I pointed all the way past the shelves, to everything laid out on the fine mesh nets drying in the sun.
"From here, to over there. All of it."
The shopkeeper nearly died of joy.
Making chocolate, as it turns out, is something you could easily learn from a dozen videos back on YouTube. In other words, it isn't hard at all.
First, you roast the cacao beans in a pan and separate the husks from the nibs. The cacao nibs you get that way go into a mortar to be ground into powder, then you add sugar and keep grinding them over heat. The fat inside the nibs comes out as you work, turning everything thick and glossy—and that, right there, is the chocolate we all know and love.
"Oh... it's like magic."
Lily, chin propped on the table as she watched, couldn't tear her eyes away from the thickening chocolate.
"And she can't take her eyes off my forearm."
Lily's gaze slid sideways. Not toward the chocolate, but toward my rolled-up sleeve, where veins and corded muscle were on full display.
She yanked her eyes back and shot to her feet, denying everything.
"N-no! I wasn't looking at your arm, I was looking at the chocolate!"
"Naughty girl."
"I am not naughty! I'm perfectly normal! Average, even!"
"I'm not telling you to stop looking, so don't mind me. Keep staring all you want."
Putting on a show of it, I deliberately flexed my hand. The tendons on the back of my hand rose like a ridgeline, running down past my wrist to my elbow.
"......"
Lily's mouth, which had been rising in pitch to bury her embarrassment, snapped shut. I watched, plain as day, as a dry gulp traveled down her throat. I shot her a sidelong glance, and out came the defense: "I swallowed because of the chocolate...!" A bullseye, frankly. I knew it wasn't true, but I let it slide.
"Now we pour this into molds and let it set for eating chocolate. If you add nuts or dried fruit and set it thick, you get chocolate bars."
I poured the melted chocolate onto the prepared trays. Plain chocolate, milk chocolate, and— for the nobles who threw money at any luxury—salted chocolate dusted with salt flakes, plus chocolate spiked with liquor for those wanting a slightly stronger effect. I made a whole lineup so customers could pick and choose to their taste.
But I didn't pour all of it into the molds. We'd gone to all this trouble—we had to taste it ourselves, didn't we? A few of the molded ones would be set aside for Muriel, a few more reserved for us to eat, and besides, set chocolate and melted chocolate have completely different textures anyway.
I dipped my finger into the leftover chocolate in the bowl. Then, while Lily was busy tapping the tray against the table to knock the air bubbles out—her guard completely down—I drew my finger smoothly across her lips.
"Wh-what are you doing?!"
Startled by the sudden ambush, Lily jolted and touched her own lips. When she registered the chocolate on my finger, the tip of her tongue poked out and licked her mouth clean.
Thoroughly, industriously, she even sucked the chocolate off my fingertip.
"Mmh—! It's insanely sweet! I've never had anything this sweet in my whole life!"
Like a baby raised on nothing but milk tasting the world's finest delicacy for the first time, her eyes went wide and the corners of her mouth floated toward heaven. I had dumped in that much expensive sugar, after all. To Lily, it must have been the devil's own flavor—something she'd never once experienced.
"There's plenty left."
I scooped up a big spoonful and handed it over. Lily took the spoon into her mouth, and the smile melted across her face in a goofy, blissful spread.
"Ah."
Then she made a dazed little sound. She popped the cleaned spoon out of her mouth and turned toward me, checking something.
"Wait, didn't you say this was an aphrodisiac...?"
"Ah."
Right. I'd completely forgotten.