The Tasting Event and the Challenge
The plan I had meticulously carried out over the five days of the tasting event was proceeding without a hitch.
“Hey, did you hear the rumor?” “What rumor?” “You remember that lager from the tasting at the tavern last time? The guy who made it is selling another beer now.” “For real?” “Yeah. I heard he’s doing another small tasting at the tavern again.” “Oh? Then let’s get over there right now!”
To some, it was a rumor. “Adventurers get an extra discount? What a polite young man!” To others, it was a benefit. “You want me to hand out flyers? Well… I do owe you one, so sure, I’ll do it.” To still others, it was promotion. “Mmm! It’s somehow both sweet and bitter! That was delicious!” And to the rest, it was an evaluation.
That was how the days passed until the date for the official tasting event and sales was finally set. And of course, the Domino Brewery immediately took the bait. They began advertising a product similar to mine.
And they were releasing it on the exact same day as my tasting event.
“Hehehe… perfect… everything’s going exactly as planned…”
I let out a wicked laugh as I watched my scheme unfold so beautifully. Just thinking about finally landing a solid blow on them made my mouth water.
“Bel… are you sure this is really okay?” Coriander asked, clearly suspicious after hearing me cackle.
“Of course. What do you take me for?”
“Um… a country bumpkin. A maniac. A reckless idiot. The guy who dragged a dragon home?”
“Fair enough.” She wasn’t wrong on a single count.
Right as I was thinking that, the door to our lodging opened and a red-haired dragon girl stepped inside.
“I have returned…”
The girl wore an exhausted expression the moment she entered. She immediately flopped onto the bed.
“Good work out there.”
“It was exhausting… You must be the only human in the world who works a dragon like this for free…”
“No beer, then?”
“I take it back! I can work for free after all!”
The moment she heard the word “beer,” the girl perked up, scampered over, and plopped down in a chair. A dragon whose daily wage was a single bottle of beer… what a world.
“What are you staring at?”
Madeleine noticed my gaze while she was happily sipping the beer I’d poured for her. Her speech had become noticeably smoother after Coriander and I spent the last five days teaching her common sense and proper conversation etiquette from the human world. Of course, she still spoke casually and occasionally called people “human” without thinking, but for only a short period of instruction, it was remarkable progress.
“Still, I really don’t get it. Is this method really enough to punish those bastards? Wouldn’t it be faster if I just hit them with one breath?”
“No… that way they’d eventually rebuild.”
I didn’t think someone like John Domino would invest every coin he earned into his brewery. He was definitely hiding money somewhere. Even if Madeleine burned the place down with her breath, people would remember it as an unfortunate accident rather than divine punishment for stealing my beer. Eventually he’d just build another brewery and repeat the same crap.
That was why I chose a war of public opinion. There’s an old saying that the most important thing when selling a product is reputation. A company’s image affects purchases more than the product’s actual quality or value. I never studied business, so I’m not sure if it’s completely true, but from my experience, the moment you hear a company did something shady, you can’t help but think of that scandal every time you see their product. It makes you hesitate to buy.
Therefore, I wasn’t just going to destroy the brewery. I was going to shatter their reputation so thoroughly they could never rebuild. I would make the very name John Domino a taboo word in the entire beer industry.
“Hehehe… I can’t wait for tomorrow…”
I smiled again, thinking through the plan in my head.
“This human seems insane.”
“I completely agree.”
*****
“Is this the place for the tasting event?”
Early morning. The square was packed with adventurers and townspeople who had heard the rumor about the tasting. We were preparing to serve and sell our beer from a small stall we’d borrowed from a shopkeeper we knew in the middle of the square.
“Mmm… it’s time, human.”
“All right!”
Hearing Madeleine say it was time, I stepped out of the stall and shouted loudly.
“The beer tasting event and sales begin now!”
The moment the words left my mouth, people formed a line in front of the stall at lightning speed. I’d been worried about managing the crowd, but thankfully my party members, Madeleine, and the guides took the initiative to organize the line.
“Please form a single line!”
“Second tastings are not allowed! Please make a note of this!”
“Stand up straight!”
Once the line was neatly organized, I checked that everything was ready, opened the stall’s counter, and began proper operations.
“Hmm…”
The first customer was the middle-aged drunkard I often saw at the taverns. He was at every tavern so often that at first I thought he was a doppelganger. When I learned he was simply a man who loved alcohol, I felt strangely disappointed.
“Vanilla… stout? What’s a stout?”
“Ah, it’s a type of beer. It has a deep, dark flavor.”
“Hmm… black, you say…”
The uncle rested his chin on his hand, looking skeptical about the black color.
“Give me one.”
“Yes. That’ll be ten coppers.”
“What? Isn’t that expensive?”
He looked shocked when he heard the price. Normal tavern beer usually cost two to three coppers per glass. Since one copper was roughly a thousand won, three coppers got you a full mug. But I was asking for ten coppers—the price of three normal beers.
“It’s brewed differently from regular beer, so it costs a bit more.”
“Hmm… I see. Honestly, I still regret missing that lager you sold last time. I can’t miss this one too.”
He handed over the ten coppers. I took the coins, placed a mug under the tap, and pulled the handle.
— Psssssssssh!
“That sound is unusual.”
It wasn’t the usual sound of beer being poured. The uncle looked fascinated and asked me about it.
“It’s because I’m using nitrogen instead of carbonation.”
“Nitrogen?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Carbonation gives a sharp, tingling sensation, while nitrogen makes it smoother and lighter.”
I answered while continuing to pour. When the mug was full, I closed the tap and handed it to him.
“Here you go.”
“Oho…”
He took the beer with an intrigued expression and stepped aside. The moment he was out of the way, he immediately took a drink.
Gulp. Gulp.
The sound of beer sliding down his throat was clear.
“Mmm.”
He tilted his head after the first sip, then drank again.
Gulp. Gulp.
“Mmm.”
Having apparently made up his mind, he immediately walked to the very back of the line.
“Didn’t you just drink?” the young man who had been at the end of the line asked.
“I did. But I need to drink it again.”
“Why?”
“The flavor is incredible.”
Hearing that from a distance, I continued pouring beer with a smile. For some I poured small tasting portions. For others I filled large mugs to the brim. Soon the square was filled with people holding big cups, chatting in groups.
“It’s completely different from the beer I usually drink!”
Some praised the completely new flavor.
“It goes down strangely smooth, but the finish is crisp. This is dangerous.”
Some adventurers gave compliments mixed with caution.
“The rich taste is superb.”
“Right? I’ve never tasted anything like it before, but it’s weirdly addictive.”
“It’s the best beer I’ve ever had!”
Some simply sang its praises.
“Wow… how did he even make this?”
Others expressed pure admiration.
Listening to their varied reactions, I smiled. Then a familiar new customer approached.
“Bel!”
“Hart! It’s been a while.”
“It has! I heard you were selling a new beer and came running. I even brought my adventurer brothers!”
“Hello.”
Hart introduced the men standing behind him.
“Nice to meet you. Shall I prepare three glasses, then?”
“If you would.”
“That’ll be twenty coppers total.”
“Hm? Isn’t it ten coppers per glass?”
Hart looked puzzled. He must have seen the person ahead pay ten coppers or overheard me from a distance.
“It’s normally ten coppers per glass, but I’m giving adventurers a fifty percent discount.”
“Haha! If you sell at that rate, what profit is left? In all my years I’ve never heard of a fifty percent discount.”
“It’s all about helping each other out.”
I poured the beers while speaking. Hart and his brothers accepted the three mugs with thanks and moved away from the stall.
“Hmm…”
I stretched during the brief lull and looked around the square.
“It should be about time now…”
The moment I muttered to myself, as if on cue, an enormous mobile stall several times larger than mine began rolling into the square. The company name written on the front read Domino Brewery.
Finally.
I stepped out of my stall. Walking toward me was the owner of the Domino Brewery—John Domino himself. He had golden hair, a potbelly, and waddled as he walked.
He really is a walking stereotype.
I watched him with a surprised expression. When he reached me, he glanced at my stall, sneered, and spoke.
“Hmph. You put in some effort. A tasting event… and even discounts. Planning to ride word-of-mouth, are you?”
“Something like that. By the way, what brings the Domino Brewery all the way out here?”
I feigned ignorance.
“I’ll be direct. Hand over all your recipes.”
John Domino spoke arrogantly, not a flicker in his eyes. Anyone listening would think I’d left my recipes with him for safekeeping.
“My, my. You want me to sell my recipes to a brewery that couldn’t even copy my lager properly…? Wouldn’t that ruin the taste of the beer?”
“So you knew?”
John Domino gave a slimy smile.
“Struggle all you want. I won’t stop you. Hahaha!”
Still sneering, he turned and walked away.
“Can I kill him?”
Madeleine had appeared beside me at some point.
“No. Hold back.”
“But…”
“Don’t worry. Everything is going according to plan.”
I looked at the massive stall John Domino had brought. Sure enough, a short while later the Domino Brewery began the exact same event.
“Domino Brewery’s new product! We are now holding a tasting event!”
The announcement rang out from their stall. The people in the square were surprised by the sudden additional tasting and began showing interest.
“Domino Brewery?”
“They have a new beer.”
“But why right next to the other one?”
With those conversations, a line gradually formed at the Domino stall. Some came out of curiosity, others to compare.
“Here you are!”
“How much?”
“It’s a tasting event, so it’s free.”
John Domino even refused to take money, filling massive mugs to the brim and handing them out to everyone in line. Was this the tyranny of a large corporation?
While I was thinking that—
“I got the beer!”
Coriander, who had secretly joined their line among the citizens, called out to me with a sample of Domino’s beer. I looked at the mug she brought.
“…”
“Isn’t this garbage, human? How can the same drink be this different?”
At first glance, the beer was a murky, dull color. It wasn’t the natural dark hue of a properly brewed stout—it looked like someone had simply added food coloring to regular beer. The taste was even worse.
“Ugh. It’s awful.”
Not only Madeleine, but Coriander and Oakfoot as well took one sip and immediately shook their heads, refusing to drink more. The citizens reacted the same way.
“Um… the taste is…”
“It’s… mediocre?”
“The vanilla stout is way better.”
The citizens who had already tasted a properly made beer began returning the Domino product after only a few sips. From a distance I could see John Domino starting to panic.
Seeing my chance, I walked over to the Domino stall.
“What do you want?”
John Domino snapped at me sharply, as if angry that I had witnessed his failure.
“Sir.”
I seized the moment and got straight to the point.
“Would you care to have a match with me?”