Chapter 104 It'S Decided At The Maiden'S Tower
After breakfast, Sara and Rebecca headed towards Paracelsus's laboratory. They had finally received word that the maintenance on the distillation furnace was complete and it had been reinstalled in its original position.
Since Rebecca was driving a small, one-horse carriage, Sara only had to sit beside her. The carriage was a 2-wheeled, cabriolet-style vehicle with a collapsible canopy, and Sara couldn't help but think, "I feel like I'm off to Green Gables," when she got in. However, as they approached the tower, Sara tried to come up with names for the scenery they passed, but couldn't think of anything like "Lover's Lane," and ended up despairing at her own lack of naming sense.
"By the way, we still haven't given the tower a name, have we?"
"Everyone's been calling it the Maiden's Tower, though. Apparently, it means 'The Tower where the Maidens of the Secret Garden Gather,' but that's a bit of a mouthful."
"I see. If it's already caught on, then I suppose it's fine."
"Yes, it's certainly easy to understand."
Rebecca knew that Sara's naming sense was a bit lacking, so she was relieved that Sara wouldn't be coming up with a name, but she didn't say anything.
The interior of the tower had changed greatly since the early days. The windows were sparkling clean and bright, and the curtains and carpets were all new.
"""Welcome back, Lady Sara!"""
When Sara arrived, Alicia the Alchemist Girl, Teresa the Blacksmith Girl, and Amelia the Pharmacist Girl all rushed over to greet her.
"Oh, you're welcoming me back with 'welcome home' here?"
"Of course, we did! We've renovated the room that used to be Paracelsus's private quarters especially for you, Lady Sara!"
Alicia the Alchemist Girl reported this with a smile.
"Oh, you've prepared a room for me too?"
"Of course. I also consulted with Ms. Maria to create a comfortable room for you. Please check it out later. If you need anything, I'll prepare it for you."
"Thank you."
"Also, I've made sure the guest room is tidy."
Sara looked at the 3 of them with concern.
"But what about your rooms? Did you prioritize them properly?"
"Sir Robert made arrangements, and in less than 3 days, we were able to use the servants' quarters, kitchen, bath, and even the water closet. Actually, the 3 of us were each given our own private rooms."
"And we were planning to do the cooking and cleaning ourselves, but Sir Robert arranged for servants to do it, so we can focus on our own work!"
'Oh, Uncle Robert is amazing!'
"Lady Sara, please take a look at the distillation furnace first."
"Yes, that's the main reason I came today."
Teresa the Blacksmith Girl entered the library section from the second-floor entrance and headed towards Paracelsus's laboratory. The library was still impressive, and it seemed brighter than before, perhaps because the dust had been cleaned off.
"The library seems brighter than before."
"That's thanks to the cleaning and window washing. We also repaired some of the broken magic stone lamps, which might be contributing to the brightness."
"This is truly amazing. It's a collection of the wisdom of many people, starting with Paracelsus."
Sara gazed at the library in awe. The beautiful and functional library reminded her of the Trinity College library she saw during the Sarasa era.
"Lady Sara, over here."
Teresa the Blacksmith Girl called out to her, and Sara snapped back to attention. Teresa the Blacksmith Girl was waiting for her in front of the laboratory door.
"Sorry. I got lost in the library."
"I understand how you feel. It's really beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is. We'll probably need a librarian to manage this place."
"Now, Alicia (Alchemist Girl) is looking happy, but just organizing the materials is a huge task, so I don't think we can catch up."
"I guess we have no choice but to ask Mr. Theofrastos for advice."
Just then, Alicia the Alchemist Girl interrupted.
"If I ask Father for advice, he'll probably say he'll do it himself!"
"That would be a problem, but it's true that we don't have enough people."
"Why don't we limit the recruitment to women?"
Sara shook her head to the side.
"I agree with actively employing women, but I don't want to discriminate based on gender when hiring people. We should choose based on pure ability."
"But, as you said... office maids are only women, right?"
Amelia the Pharmacist Girl expressed her doubts.
"I think it can't be helped for now. Most men with office skills are aiming to be bureaucrats or working in commerce, so they wouldn't want to be office maids, right?"
"That's true. You're right."
'I guess we really do need a school after all. Especially one for girls.'
As Sara was thinking to herself, she arrived in front of the door to the laboratory where the distillation furnace was set up. Teresa the Blacksmith Girl quietly opened the door, and inside, a beautiful copper-colored distillation furnace was sitting. Fran was standing in front of it.
"Welcome, Lady."
"Fran, it's not 'welcome', it's 'welcome back'. This is Lady Sara's tower, after all."
"Oh, right."
"Hehe, it's okay. Don't mind it, Fran. More importantly, show me the distillation furnace quickly!"
"Yes, Lady."
Teresa the Blacksmith Girl started explaining the distillation furnace with a cheerful expression. The distillation furnace they had brought last time was badly damaged when they took it apart, so in the end, Teresa the Blacksmith Girl had remade it under Fran's guidance.
"That was a lot of trouble. Thank you, Ms. Teresa."
"No, thank you for giving me such an interesting job. I was really happy."
"Let me thank you too. I was able to take over my great-grandfather's work for the next generation. Thank you so much."
Fran also bowed his head.
"Considering how much work you put into this, Mr. Fran, maybe it's time for you to have your own workshop? Don't you have enough funds yet?"
Rebecca asked Fran.
"No, I received a considerable amount of money as a supervisory fee this time, so I think I can open a workshop... but..."
"Oh my, it seems like there's something going on. Let's not pry for now."
Rebecca was smiling as she looked at Fran, who was looking down with a slightly red face.
'Ah, this feels like he's preparing to propose to Ms. Teresa!'
Sara also caught on. It seemed like the other girls had the same idea, and Teresa the Blacksmith Girl herself was looking tense.
"Well, let's put that aside for now. Can I start using it right away?"
"Yes!"
Teresa the Blacksmith Girl replied hastily in a loud voice.
"By the way, Ms. Sara, didn't you want to use this to distill Elma liquor?"
"Yes. And I want to fill a barrel with the distilled Elma liquor and let it age. It'll take at least 3 years."
When Teresa the Blacksmith Girl turned to Fran, he nodded and got up from his seat, bringing in a barrel on a cart from the next room.
"This is the Elma liquor my mom made, but I brought it for experimentation."
"Oh, didn't your mom get mad at you?"
"I explained the situation, and she said she'd be happy if Lady Sara used it."
"Fran's mom is a famous Elma liquor brewer in the neighborhood, you know."
"Well, that's something to look forward to."
"The cleaning and test run are already done, so we can start distilling right away. Want to give it a try?"
"Let's see... Distilling takes a lot of time, so we'll have to ask Ms. Teresa, Mr. Fran, and Ms. Alicia (Alchemist Girl) to keep an eye on it constantly. Will that be okay?"
"""Of course."""
The three of them replied energetically.
"Okay, let's do the distillation twice for now. I want to increase the alcohol content. Depending on the result, we might increase the number of times and raise the alcohol content even more. Then we'll put it in a barrel and let it mature."
"Got it."
"Choose an oak barrel, okay?"
"My mom loves oak barrels, so we can get one easily."
"That's great."
And so, the first distillation of Elma brandy began. Making liquor requires trial and error to reach new heights. First, they'll establish a rough method, and then leave it to the liquor-making experts.
'Oh, I almost forgot. We need to sell the cider too.'
"Mr. Fran, does your mom's Elma liquor have carbonation?"
"Carbonation?"
"Uh, does it fizz?"
"We pack it tightly into the barrel early on, so ours is relatively fizzy. But if we overdo it, the barrel might burst, so we release the air a bit."
"I see."
Personally, Sara wanted to savor that "fizz" feeling. Preferably in a chilled state. Which means we should do a secondary fermentation in the bottle?
In Sara's mind, she was going through the process of making champagne. In her past life, she had visited various breweries around the world for work and had even stayed at a winery for a month to finalize a deal.
"Mr. Fran, how much Elma liquor does your mom make every year?"
"We prepare around 100 barrels, since our family is an Elma farm. But to be honest, we hire young people from the neighborhood only during the preparation period."
'That's already at a brewery level, isn't it?'
"I see. So, Mr. Fran, could you introduce me to your mom sometime?"
"You want to meet my mom?"
"Yes, please. Not only is she providing the liquor we're using this time, but I'm also interested in the Elma liquor itself. However, since it's about liquor, I might send a representative instead of going myself. After all, I'm not old enough to drink yet."
"I'll let my mom know."
Sara suddenly felt a catch.
"By the way, Grandchester cultivates so much wheat, but doesn't it make beer?"
"Some people do make beer, but there are fewer farms that cultivate barley compared to wheat. We do make some for ourselves to drink, and there are also breweries that supply to bars, but it's not on a large scale."
'So wheat as a food takes priority, huh?'
"I see. I understand now. Mr. Fran, you seem to know a lot about liquor."
"Most of it is just what my mom has told me. She's the expert, not me."
"She sounds like a wonderful mom. Let's make sure to succeed in this distillation so we don't waste the Elma liquor we made!"
"""Yes!"""
And so, the 3 of them began preparing to distill the Elma liquor.
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