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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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“A ruthless employer? Isn’t that a bit much for an employer who forgives his employee for passing out drunk in the middle of the street in broad daylight…”
I was dumbfounded. Was there a more lenient employer than me?
And hadn’t I seen with my own two eyes how he had taken full advantage of our friendship back in Polton?
And yet, after a little work, he was calling me a ruthless employer.
Where was his conscience?
As I stared at him with a look that said all of this, Janbolt flinched and began to spout excuses, his face shown a mixture of embarrassment and guilt.
“Do you think I wanted to drink? I’m at the point where I feel like throwing up just from the smell of alcohol.”
“You’re not doing that now, are you? Even though you reek of alcohol.”
“Ahem. That’s because I’ve already emptied my stomach.”
-Tsk.
I clicked my tongue and handed him a waterskin from my saddle. Janbolt, his face brightening, squeezed it dry, not leaving a single drop.
“Ah… Now I feel alive.”
Only then did Janbolt greet my companions. Anya and Fiore held their noses with one hand and shook his hand as if touching something foul.
“That’s harsh…!?”
Janbolt looked hurt, but that didn’t last long, as Archbishop Racheni began a long and tedious sermon.
Alcohol was the root of all evil, he said. Janbolt’s face contorted with each word, and unable to watch any longer, I intervened.
“I trust you finished your work before you started slacking off.”
Janbolt, finally escaping the swamp of the sermon, smiled brightly.
Of course, the archbishop looked at him disapprovingly. He would probably continue his sermon if he got the chance. I offered a silent prayer for my childhood friend’s future.
“Heh… Heh… Heh… Follow me.”
Unaware of my thoughts, Janbolt led us with a smug smile. He took us to a large warehouse.
Inside, ripe grapes were piled high like a mountain, and on the other side, many workers were pressing juice with a press.
Fiore, glancing at the color, tilted her head and looked at me.
“Don’t tell me your new source of income is white wine?”
While the quality of the white wine made from Melbourne grapes wasn’t bad, it wasn’t an attractive enough product to sell across the sea.
“Of course not. That’s just the raw material.”
Janbolt stopped in the backyard of the warehouse.
In a fairly large open space, brick and clay ovens were scattered about.
Smoke billowed from the chimneys, which were made of the same material, making the area look as if a large forest fire had broken out.
On top of the ovens were curved copper pots, shaped like gourds. The only opening at the top was connected to another pot by a copper pipe.
“W-What is all this?”
Archbishop Racheni’s expression hardened. To an outsider, it probably looked like an evil wizard’s laboratory.
If it had been in a dark basement, he would have probably tried to destroy it on the spot. He gripped his staff tightly.
“This is where we make fine liquor, Father.”
“Liquor? Here?”
Instead of answering, Janbolt opened the spigot of the pot at the far end and filled a glass.
My companions, except for me, cautiously brought the clear, water-like liquid to their noses, then immediately regretted it.
“Cough, cough. Wow, that’s strong! I thought I was going to suffocate!”
“Tsk, tsk. Dame Fiore, the water of life is to be savored slowly.”
“Uh… it’s sweet?”
The strong alcohol and the sweet grape aroma combined to create a luxurious scent. The taste was deep and the flavor was rich.
It made all the wine I had ever tasted seem cheap. Of course, I knew this wasn’t the best it could be.
“Hee… the water of life? This is good.”
Fiore, having confirmed that it tasted good, downed the glass in one gulp and got drunk.
The proof was that she forgot she was fully armored and pulled my arm into her embrace.
Fiore clung to me like a leech, grabbing my hand as I tried to push her away. However, it seemed I had been mistaken.
“Are you, are you acting?”
“Hiccup.”
Anya, who had been watching silently, spoke up, and Fiore hiccupped.
I finally retrieved my hand and looked at Fiore, dumbfounded.
“N-No. That’s…”
Fiore’s face flushed crimson under the siblings sharp gaze, as if it would burst at the slightest touch.
“Come here.”
“Okay…”
Fiore, subdued by Anya, was led away like a condemned criminal.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Racheni, seizing the opportunity, began to lecture Janbolt.
“How dare you! The water of life? Is that a fitting name for a mere liquor?”
“Well, it feels like a surge of energy when you drink it…”
“That’s the devil’s whisper!”
Even the glib Janbolt was no match for the archbishop’s authority. Still, he was my only friend, so I couldn’t just stand by.
“Archbishop, don’t be so quick to judge. With the invention of this new liquor, the number of jobs in Melbourne has greatly increased, and the number of poor has drastically decreased. And the Lord said, ‘Do not give a man a fish, but teach him how to fish.’ Janbolt has simply followed those words. He should be praised.”
“But such a strong liquor is a temptation for the devil.”
“Too much wine also leads to drunkenness. Is that the wine’s fault? What’s important is the human will to resist temptation.”
After all, this was an era where people drank wine like water. The archbishop, grumbling, relented. I asked Janbolt, 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 seemed larger than the warehouse itself.
Numbers were carved on the barrels, which Janbolt explained were the year the aging process had begun. However, the difference in the numbers wasn’t large. It meant they hadn’t been made long ago.
“Even the oldest one hasn’t been aged for half a year, but it’s much better than the wine.”
He was right. Everyone’s eyes widened after a single sip. Even the archbishop, who had been looking displeased all along, turned around in surprise.
“I-I can’t believe it! How can it have such a taste and flavor…!?”
I had only provided the idea for brandy, but the result was quite impressive.
Of course, the quality was nothing compared to modern brandy, but it was a product that could cause a cultural shock in this era. It was a remarkable achievement for just half a year.
Now the only thing left was how to promote the brandy. Marketing was the most difficult field in this era of limited communication.
So I made a subtle suggestion.
“Archbishop, how about using this liquor instead of wine for the mass? It’s made from the same ingredients as wine, just with a little more processing.”
The archbishop was a religious idol. If he used this brandy in his mass, other churches would follow suit.
Since every small village had a church, the news of brandy’s birth would spread throughout the continent in an instant.
And with so many churches, the consumption would be enormous, resulting in a huge profit. It was a win-win situation.
“It’s too strong a liquor. I’m afraid I’ll make a mistake.”
The archbishop, who had only been slightly swayed by Anya’s beauty and quickly regained his composure, wouldn’t fall for the temptation of a mere liquor.
Of course, the other priests would be different. Wasn’t the priesthood a way for nobles without inheritance rights to maintain their status and position?
The reason Archbishop Racheni had gained such a reputation was because there were no other incorruptible priests.
Didn’t they say that the Pope in the Northern Continent had so many illegitimate children that he couldn’t count them on his fingers?
If even the most pious man had fallen, there was no need to mention the others.
Once the brandy spread, problems were bound to arise.
And that was what I wanted.
‘The archbishop’s reputation must grow even greater.’
The archbishop’s reputation, who wouldn’t make a mistake while drinking the same brandy, would grow even greater.
And the moment his authority surpassed the Pope’s, at least on this continent, would be the moment I had been waiting for. I continued to persuade him.
“Still, this liquor would be a perfect offering for the Eucharist. Doesn’t the Bible say to offer the best as a sacrifice? Surely He would be pleased.”
“Hmm…”
Unable to refute, the archbishop sighed. I delivered the final blow.
“There are many ways. You can mix it with water, or just add a little to the wine for flavor. And I’m willing to provide it to the archbishop for free.”
Janbolt’s face contorted as he heard my words from behind the archbishop.
‘Hey, are you crazy? Do you know how much this costs…!’
The price of brandy, which required distillation, various post-processing steps, and aging, was several times that of wine.
And the archbishop’s church was surely enormous. So he was bound to be shocked by my offer of free liquor.
If my plan succeeded, the return would be greater than the investment, but Janbolt, who didn’t know that, crossed his arms in an X shape, protesting.
Of course, I ignored him.
“Hmm. I’ll think about it.”
“By all means.”
Knowing that the archbishop’s words were a virtual acceptance, I smiled.
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“I worked so hard on that, and you’re giving it away for free? You just throw out ideas, but I’m the one who has to make them a reality. I was lucky the people of Melbourne had experience with distilling, otherwise I wouldn’t have even been able to start.”
Back at the mansion, once we were alone, Janbolt vented his pent-up frustration.
Anya and Fiore, both drunk, were asleep. The archbishop had decided to stay at the Melbourne church, likely to ask his religious brothers about the situation in Melbourne.
“The variety, the method, the additives, the fermentation, the distillation temperature, the aging… I had to check everything one by one, with no prior knowledge. I almost died from tasting it so much last time. And you’re giving it away for free? I can’t! No, I won’t!”
As expected, Janbolt was good at his job. If only he could fix his habit of slacking off, he would be even more useful.
My thoughts must have been reflected in my eyes. Janbolt, meeting my gaze, flinched and took a step back.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like a master who’s found a good slave!”
Sobered up, his intuition had returned. I clicked my tongue inwardly and said…
“Once we’ve produced enough for this export, you can take a vacation.”
“Ahem, can I… really?”
Janbolt’s face brightened, as if he had never been displeased. Perhaps his previous complaints were all for this moment.
“But you have to abstain from alcohol during your vacation.”
Feeling a little mischievous, I added a condition. It was purely for my childhood friend’s health.
In an era without proper medicine, drinking high-proof alcohol like water would definitely lead to health problems.
And with a shortage of talented people, it would be a shame to lose such a valuable resource.
“So how are you going to sell it?”
Janbolt, flinching, changed the subject, avoiding my gaze. I continued to stare at him, and he sighed and confessed.
“I’ll eat moderately. Moderately. Alright?”
“I’ll have a scribe watch you.”
“Ugh… so what are you going to do, about the merchants?”
“I have a plan.”
Among my modern memories, there was something as valuable as the system.
It was something modern people took for granted and didn’t realize its importance: a map.
‘A map drawn with no margin of error?’
With the map from the game, I might be able to pioneer the new eastern sea route that everyone was hoping for.
It was enough to make the ocean-faring merchants, who treated even a crude map like a treasure, go crazy.
I intended to use the map as bait to secure the merchants’ cooperation.
Of course, it would be a lot of work to perfectly replicate the map from my memory. But compared to the benefits I would gain from the map, it was nothing.
“Well, you’ll figure it out.”
Janbolt didn’t ask any further. His ability to know where to draw the line was perhaps what had kept us friends, despite the changes in our ages and statuses.
That night, we drank brandy late into the night. Perhaps it was because our memories of the past were our side dishes, but the liquor tasted even sweeter.
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We set off as soon as the sun rose. If we were to survey the site for the new capital on our way, we were on a tight schedule.
Thanks to our haste, we reached the border of the two Baronies on the afternoon of the third day after leaving Melbourne.
“Huh? Didn’t you say there were no villages nearby?”
Fiore, who had been riding ahead, bored, stopped on a hill and looked back at me.
“A village?”
Only after I rode my horse to her side did I understand what she meant.
Against the backdrop of a red sky and the setting sun, a golden wheat field stretched out before us.
Since it was a lower region than Roxwood, the harvest was already half finished. The farmers were relentlessly cutting down the remaining wheat.
“A slash and burn village?”
This place could become a battlefield at any moment due to the conflict between the two Barons.
So I had assumed no one lived here, but it seemed there were people who had settled here, despite the risk.
The problem was that the cultivated land was too large to have been created by a few slash and burn farmers.
As we slowly approached, the farmers who spotted us were startled and began to flee. Ownerless farming tools and harvested wheat were scattered on the ground.
Soon, a bell rang. Following the sound, we discovered a proper village surrounded by a wooden palisade.
“There must be well over a hundred households.”
“How could we not have known about such a large village?”
Leaving the stunned Anya and Fiore behind, I slowly approached the village.
The entrance was firmly shut, and on top of the palisade, I could see people armed with clubs, skewers, and sickles.
“Who goes there!”
A man on top of the palisade shouted. His exposed skin was covered in hair, like a beast.
I was displeased. I was the ruler of this land. Who dared to build a village without my permission and look down on me, asking for my identity?
In this era, clothing was a proof of identity. For a mere slash and burn farmer to be so rude to someone who clearly looked like a knight meant he was prepared to die.
I took a spear from my saddle and said…
“I think that’s my line. Whose permission did you get to build this village?”
I could get the answer after I had made him pay for his insolence.
I lightly threw the spear I had taken out. Of course, the result was not light.
The spear, imbued with my superhuman strength, flew towards the insolent farmer in the blink of an eye.
The man didn’t react until the spear was inches away. Just as he was about to be impaled and killed on the spot…
I saw his eyes glow blue. He hastily leaned back. At the same time, the spear grazed his arm.
I had aimed for his heart, but I hadn’t even been able to pierce his arm properly. I clicked my tongue, looking down at the shocked man.
‘So, he had a reason to be confident, after all.’
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