Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: The Struggle to Recreate Cola's Flavor
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* * *
After completing the "zesty water"—
The next task was to replicate the flavor of cola.
Truth be told, this was an even greater challenge than what they had accomplished before.
"Could it be mixed with some kind of spice?"
"If we drink it a few more times, we might figure it out..."
The most critical issue was that the amount of cola they had tasted was absolutely insufficient.
It wouldn't be easy to imagine its flavor after sipping it repeatedly, especially when they'd only had about a single small shot glass worth!
"For now... since we detected a sweet taste, it must be some kind of fruit, right?"
"Was there a fruit that tasted like that?"
"Maybe it's a blend of various fruits, or perhaps some processed form..."
Reina, who had drunk the largest quantity of cola available here, racked her brain to recall the taste as best she could—
*...Should I go to the cathedral right now, get some holy water, and try making it again?*
...No. It would waste far too much Plain Fact just to confirm the flavor.
Wasting Plain Fact was something neither Saintess Erin nor she wanted.
Moreover, there was no guarantee that drinking more cola would reveal the flavor.
"...For now, let's think about the color rather than our sense of taste. What do you think?"
Right.
Just as the zesty sensation lingered in their mouths, what had captivated their eyes was that deep brown hue.
What on earth could produce such a subtle color?
"Hmm..."
They huddled in small groups, pondering as best they could—but in truth, no matter how much they thought, they faced an insurmountable limit.
They were mages.
They could leverage magic a hundred times over for the "zest" aspect, but when it came to flavor, considering only crops or ingredients like a chef or farmer, their knowledge level wasn't much different from that of an ordinary person.
Just as they were thinking of throwing everything together and experimenting—
"Um... excuse me for a moment."
Luca, who had quietly sheathed her longsword—its aura dispelled—and hung it at her waist while listening to their discussion, cautiously raised her hand.
"Don't you think it's better to consult someone who knows more about this?"
"That would be ideal, but... is there anyone suitable...?"
"Well... I met an imperial chef during the recent chicken service. What if we bring him here?"
"Oh? That would be great...!! But we've been imposing on you so much already, Lady Luca..."
"No, it's fine. Helping you all carry out God's will is the duty of a Holy Knight like me. I'll fetch him right away. Please wait just a moment!"
After Luca left, the Magic Tower mages unanimously praised her character.
"The workload of the Dish of Holy Knights must be beyond imagination, yet she helps without a hint of fatigue... Truly remarkable."
"Thanks to Lady Luca, we're making faster progress than expected."
"Among the three, she was the one whose fame fell short, and I looked down on her for it... I feel ashamed now."
Compared to icons like Ophelia of this generation or Second Princess Linea, Luca's renown was practically nonexistent.
That was probably why, when the concept of the Dish of Holy Knights first emerged, she drew the most question marks from the public.
Some extremists even spouted absurd conspiracy theories, claiming she had bought her Holy Knight position through some deal.
Thanks to the Holy Knights' subsequent actions, such opinions had vanished as if they never existed.
"Let's at least support Lady Luca to the end. In return for her help."
"Quite right."
"Let's become the Plain Fact that stands with Lady Luca!"
In the mage world, where rising stars of the Wood Magic Tower were falling into mannerism without competition—their hearts turned toward the Holy Knights, icons of the religious world second only to the Saintess.
—Mages inspired by God's will were increasing, even without private audiences like the Fire Magic Tower Lord had with Erin.
* * *
"Hmm..."
The imperial chef brought by Luca rested his chin in thought.
After pondering the description of a "sweet, subtle fruit that produces a brown color," he cautiously spoke up—
"I'm not certain, but this should get the color close enough, so I brought some."
The chef carefully pulled something from his bosom.
"What is this...?"
"It's called 'crumble,' a fruit that grows wild deep in dungeons. Its defining trait is its incredibly high sugar content. Lately, among us chefs, the hottest topic has been utilizing demon ingredients."
With the sudden surge in exchanges with demons, humans had access to all sorts of unfamiliar ingredients—
And this crumble was one of them.
"Could you light a fire for a moment?"
At the chef's request, Yunos easily fetched some wood and kindled a bonfire atop it.
He skillfully crushed the crumble into small pieces and heated them.
How many minutes passed?
"Ooh..."
A sticky liquid oozed from between the crumbled bits, filling the air with an indescribable aroma.
The fragrance was sweet yet thick and mellow, something like that.
Just smelling it evoked that imagery in the mouth—clearly no ordinary fruit.
"Here you go. Tower Master. Why don't you try adding this?"
Reina took the heated crumble juice from the chef and poured it into a cup of "lightning-infused water," stirring it in.
The moment the stick clinked against the glass—
A brown swirl formed in the clear water, gradually turning a deep brown.
"Wow... this is really close, isn't it??"
"Not perfectly identical, but at this level..."
Reina cautiously took a sip.
Gulp, gulp!
Zing!
A faint spark lightly tingled her mouth and throat, followed by a rush of sweetness.
It was certainly... drinkable as a beverage in place of alcohol—
"But... it's tasty enough, yet it doesn't taste like cola."
After Reina drank, everyone present eagerly grabbed a cup and downed it.
"It's sweet enough to be plenty delicious."
"But God commanded us to make it as close to cola as possible..."
"By the way, Lady Luca, what exactly are you doing right now?"
"Well..."
At the chef's question, Luca briefly summarized the situation.
"A beverage bestowed by God... Similar to the chicken incident? Back then, the Saintess gave us the full recipe."
"I think this process of discovery is the trial God has given us."
"Honestly, I don't quite get it... but the Saintess serving Lord Igugwoden wouldn't issue a frivolous command. Anyway, I should head back soon. Is that alright? I'll ensure plenty of crumble is sent here immediately upon my return."
"Yes. You've helped us so much already. Thank you for today."
"Oh, and this is a bonus I brought along—"
The chef said, unpacking his bundle.
"This is...!"
Inside were various ingredients of different shapes and colors, gathered together.
Even roughly estimating, about seventy percent were fruits—the moment he unpacked, a pleasant medley of fruit scents tickled their noses.
"Based on the Holy Knight's description of a 'sweet, subtle flavor,' I brought every type of fruit and sweet-tasting ingredient I could gather. I don't know the taste of this 'cola' beverage, but those of you who have tried it might figure it out somehow."
"This... this will really help...! Thank you...!"
The imperial chef scratched his cheek bashfully at Reina's words.
"Not at all. Since the Saintess cares about advancing culinary culture, we must help when we can. I'll take my leave then."
After the chef departed.
With a fresh abundance of ingredients, the enthusiastic Reina's eyes sparkled as she shouted loudly.
"Let's get started right away...! We'll try simple combinations one by one, step by step!"
And so, everyone dove into the task of recreating cola's flavor with overflowing zeal—
* * *
—Unfortunately, even combining all the ingredients in every possible way, they failed to replicate that mystical taste.
If it had come close even once, that would be one thing—but since it didn't, their spirits naturally deflated.
"Maybe it's impossible with ingredients accessible to mere humans?"
"No way. This is a command from the Saintess herself... There must be a way to get at least somewhat close."
In a situation with no leads whatsoever, the mood might have sunk even further—
But unexpectedly, a few among them began suggesting entirely different alternatives.
"This tastes better than cola. Why not just show this to the Saintess?"
"Cohen. You mean...?"
"The very first one we made! Zesty water with crumble syrup and orange juice mixed in."
Cohen gulped down the provisional "orange juice cola."
"This! This taste! It's incredibly delicious! At least for me, I like this better than cola. God might accept it since we've made something even tastier, right?"
"You... that's blasphemy..."
Isaac spoke in disbelief—
But in truth, not all the results were failures, just as Cohen said.
"Orange juice cola," "strawberry juice cola," "lemon juice cola," "cherry juice cola," and the like received high praise among the mages.
Most were inedible—but they simply differed vastly from the target cola flavor. Plenty of beverages with their own distinct charms had been produced.
"Hmm... This is tough."
"Yeah..."
"Lady Luca. We're grateful, but... it's getting late. Are you sure you don't need to return to the cathedral?"
At Stella's words, Luca slowly smiled.
"it's fine. As I said, helping you all is following God's will. The Saintess will understand. My comrades know my whereabouts too."
"I'm sorry. I thought we'd resolve it quickly..."
Watching Luca wave it off as Stella bowed apologetically—Reina felt a complex mix of emotions.
*She says it's fine, but... it doesn't seem like we'll find the answer.*
An imperial chef would have brought every ingredient available on the continent.
Demon ingredients remained, but waiting for them would consume more time.
They couldn't cling to cola forever, so perhaps, as Cohen suggested, presenting "this is our cola" to the Saintess was best—
*...No.*
That zest.
That refreshment.
That intensity—felt closest by Reina herself. She wanted to present something as close as possible to the original cola to everyone.
Reina gently closed her eyes.
She clasped her hands together.
Prayer.
The rational mage Reina now prayed to the Sole God Igugwoden, whose existence no one doubted anymore.
*Lord Igugwoden. Are you watching? We're trying hard, but we can't replicate cola's flavor. Even a simple hint would be fine. Please illuminate the path forward for us.*
*If you're watching... and you don't wish for us to suffer without answers, please help us, Lord Igugwoden...!*
Her prayer was crude and worldly, as she wasn't a religious person—
But it brimmed with sincerity, carrying profound appeal.
* * *
*Wow.*
I thought it'd just be a matter of clicking without much thought—
But recreating cola is tougher than I imagined.
I figured the author would casually describe something like a "cola fruit."
Indeed, in the story, a unique dungeon fruit appeared, plausibly solving the "caramel coloring" dilemma—
But they still couldn't perfectly replicate the cola flavor.
Is this the author's stubborn attention to detail?
*Well, I can't replicate that taste either.*
Honestly, even I don't know how to make cola flavor, so how could characters in a world far behind in food science?
[ Igugwoden: Ha... Putting in cola is really tough fr. Harder than reforming the Demon King ]
[ Igugwoden: I underestimated spreading modern stuff to another world. Reflecting on it ]
[ Please Donate: Under the condition of minimizing use of divine power, recreating an item from God's domain as closely as possible ]
[ Please Donate: We deeply apologize, but it inevitably requires significant effort. We ask for your understanding ]
[ Please Donate: Please cherish young Reina as she undergoes this arduous journey to find the answer ]
[ Igugwoden: Nah lol just messing around no worries ]
After all, the mangaka drawing the comic has the biggest headache.
The demand of "add cola, but use minimal money by leveraging the world's elements to make it plausible"—isn't that the kind of entitled customer request?
Still.
Tingling the tongue with lightning or using exotic fruits—they'd plausibly created a carbonated drink.
No actual carbonation bubbles, but it apparently mimicked sparkling water somewhat.
*Described like this, it actually makes me want to try it.*
An author this obsessive about worldbuilding details... rare even among major mangakas.
*Hmm...*
After a moment's thought, I typed what came to mind.
[ Igugwoden: Hey ]
[ Igugwoden: Instead of cola itself, how much for just the cola flavor... like 'cola scent' exactly? ]
[ Igugwoden: Since similar carbonation's invented, less than full cola, right? ]
[ Please Donate: Implementing only the 'scent' would indeed require relatively less divine power ]
[ Please Donate: Even so, drawing something from God's domain here means absolute consumption won't be negligible ]
[ Igugwoden: How much? ]
[ Please Donate: Hard to measure exactly as it deducts from subscription sponsorship account ]
[ Please Donate: Cautiously estimating, an additional 300~500 won would continuously deduct at a non-slow pace ]
[ Please Donate: Apologies, as it depends entirely on how young Reina utilizes it, we can't confirm ]
At that level... it's manageable, right?
Even mass-producing cola, without a factory system, they couldn't churn out modern quantities anyway.
I checked the balance.
After sending real cola once, making extra fertilizer, binding lightning to water—the amount had indeed decreased—
*But I can handle this much.*
Reina said it.
Help if it's not just about the ordeal.
Watching their otherworld journey to cola flavor isn't bad—
*But I wanna see the kids chug cola and freak out ASAP.*
[ Igugwoden: Just spend money on cola scent ]
[ Igugwoden: Pull from balance yeah ]
Tens of thousands remained in the balance.
And—
*If it runs low, just add more cash.*
—The online gaming mindset from back in the day started resurfacing within me.
* * *