"Oh... Oh! ...Oh!"
"This is, this is, thiiis iiis...!"
"What, what indeed, what in the—wha, what is this?"
In the depths of a dim, sparsely populated warehouse, middle-aged men let out groaning cries.
"If we sell this off, we'll certainly become wealthy."
"Wait, we should limit the quantity, drive up the price, and see how high it can go."
"No, rather than that, unless we hide the production method, we won't be able to generate wealth."
This isn't a suspicious meeting.
It's just a tasting event.
"As I mentioned earlier, we haven't yet established a mass production system. However, it will definitely sell. I am certain of this. Therefore, we must create the proper framework to sell it reliably before bringing it to market."
Molly stepped forward to explain, while I remained hidden.
And I'm making alcohol.
The reason it's dark is because of my schedule for slipping out, and since Helkov couldn't leave me alone, we ended up watching this suspicious presentation together.
Molly began explaining the plan for selling the alcohol.
This is a tasting event to recruit investors.
"The previous batch was too small in quantity, so we couldn't distribute it as we wished."
"Is that the lesson learned? Hmm, but if the quantity increases, won't our advantage decrease?"
"However, if we're to prepare for that now, we'll need considerable time and money."
The candidates selected as investors were wealthy individuals who knew the taste of alcohol, as known by Molly.
They included a baron met at the merchant guild, a viscount from a wealthy earl's family, and a man who was a baron in the empire but an earl in his home country.
They were apparently the ones who bought the alcohol Helkov initially brought in.
Molly had apparently tested raising the price, and they had paid a large sum to buy it, then persistently demanded more.
Because they had such cash cows—rather, customers—they had clung to Helkov.
"Ohoho, this is just the beginning. Here, we have something more refined, with greater attention to quality, taste, and ingredients."
"Give it!"
"How much!"
"I won't hesitate!"
Fast, so fast.
The moment Molly tried to present the luxury-oriented alcohol, the three interjected as if competing.
"And this hasn't even been properly aged yet."
"So, Dinker, don't tell me you've come up with a way to make alcohol even better than this?"
Helkov, hiding behind the folding screen with me, asked timidly.
Normally, distilled liquor should become whiskey or vodka after several years of aging.
Mine is just a cocktail where I make tasteless alcohol and add scent and flavor afterward.
If we're really going to invest money, I'd want to make the real thing.
"It requires management and takes several years, so I'm not doing it."
"Several years... longer than wine, won't it turn sour?"
In this world, it seems wine turns to vinegar if left too long.
Come to think of it, vinegar is made from wine, right.
It's probably a management system issue.
Also, I think if we searched, we might find some monastery or other place secretly producing good alcohol.
In my previous life, there were stories like that—the bartender used to tell me about them.
I'm not an expert in alcohol production, so I plan to sell those ideas once the distillery is established.
"I don't think it will turn to vinegar, but if you fail at management, it will become bad as alcohol, just the same. What I'm making is just extracting the common components of alcohol."
"Being able to do that is what's amazing about you, Dinker—though I suppose anyone can do alchemy."
If you just know the method.
And I've vaguely understood why alchemy declined in this world over several centuries.
As the alcohol enthusiasts said earlier, special techniques are monopolized.
On top of that, when secrets leak, inferior products circulate, and when it spreads, people say it's no big deal and it declines.
Along with the original alchemy.
Apparently, because of that, distilled liquor is unknown—no, forgotten.
However, some traditions of delicious alcohol remain.
And like the Small Thunder Lamp, there were cases where only the genuine article remained for posterity, with even the fact that it was alchemy being forgotten.
"That's a bit sad."
"No, it's rare to see adults blinded by greed acting so unsightly. Dinker, please don't become disillusioned with the world yet."
Helkov misunderstood and tried to comfort me.
But indeed, their disgraceful behavior after drinking one glass was terrible.
They clung to Molly to negotiate prices, and when rejected, negotiated for refills.
Molly also refused, saying she would drink the rest herself.
And thus completed the three alcohol enthusiasts, lamenting without regard for dignity.
"I didn't make anything with hallucinogenic effects, right?"
"Even if you ask me that..."
I'm starting to get worried.
What I made should have been a pseudo-Kahlua.
Coffee was available here, though treated as a luxury item.
And I was able to find another type of alcohol made from sugarcane.
The sugarcane alcohol was a byproduct of sugar making, treated as a local liquor.
Molly obtained it using her connections as a merchant.
I experimented by mixing coffee and sugarcane alcohol because my knowledge was incomplete.
I later realized it needed to be aged to blend properly.
However, alchemy has a time-saving device called an alchemy furnace.
Using this, what would take two months was completed in two days.
Yeah, alchemy is amazing.
However, the alchemy furnace seems to have too specialized a structure to make large ones.
Steady effort is surely best for alcohol production.
"It's not a coffee addiction."
"Ah, there are people who get irritable if they don't drink coffee occasionally."
"Maybe the vanilla used for flavoring? No, the smell shouldn't be harmful."
"Well, the reasons people go crazy depend on their own tastes and preferences. It's not something you should worry about, Dinker."
While we were talking, Molly had begun gently persuading them.
"If you want to drink delicious alcohol, you must build a factory to make it possible. If you say you wouldn't hesitate to pay any amount, then you have no reason to hesitate in investing in the factory. You already understand the wealth and happiness the factory will create. We are asking for your cooperation in establishing it. Of course, we would not begrudge promising you the right to regular purchases in recognition of your contributions."
"I'm in!"
"Of course!"
"How soon can we start!?"
Fast, so fast.
They're too eager.
"Now then, this would normally call for a drink with adults to celebrate, but please accompany me for a bit."
Just when I thought we had made progress, it seems Helkov is taking me somewhere.
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