Chapter 139 Product Planning Meeting Iii
"Sara! Beekeeping means you keep bees, right?"
Suddenly, Blaze raised his voice and asked Sara.
"Yeah, that's right."
"Then I want to eat honey! I've heard about honey, but I've never tried it. It's really sweet, right?"
"Eh?"
Everyone around looked surprised at Blaze. Honey is indeed a luxury, but it's something commoners can occasionally afford. Sara deeply felt how tough things must have been for Blaze while he was in the mercenary group.
"Maria, bring honey and bread right now. Slice the bread and lightly toast the surface."
"Understood!"
Maria hurriedly went to the kitchen.
"Hey, I didn't mean right now!"
"No way. We're in the middle of planning a product. If we think of something, we need to try it right away. By the way, Scott and Blaze, you haven't drunk much herbal tea, have you? Was it hard to drink?"
"Um... it might be a little sour for me?"
"Yeah. It's not undrinkable, but..."
"Rose hip does have a bit of sourness. I don't dislike it, though."
"Miss Sara, many men say they don't like sour things."
Amelia the Pharmacist Girl stood up and took various dried herbs from several jars and put them into a pot. She slowly poured hot water and checked the aroma.
"How about this?"
She offered the newly brewed tea to Scott and Blaze.
"This is delicious."
"Yeah, I like this one better too."
Since their reactions changed, Sara decided to taste the herbal tea as well.
"Looks like a normal tea flavor. It has a faint smell of peppermint and lemongrass, maybe."
"They're both in there. If you don't like it, adding sugar makes it tasty too."
Just then, Maria returned with a plate of thinly sliced toasted bread and honey, along with a bowl of roasted nuts.
"Here you go, Sir Blaze. Please try it with the herbal tea. I also recommend drizzling honey on the nuts before eating."
Blaze, looking a bit nervous, gently drizzled honey on the toast and took a bite. Suddenly, he started eating with great enthusiasm, a big smile on his face.
"Is it good? Please try drinking that herbal tea too. I blended it to go well with sweet things."
Encouraged by Amelia the Pharmacist Girl, Blaze took a sip of the herbal tea.
"It's super delicious!"
"I'm glad to hear that."
Watching this, Pochi whispered to Sara.
"The Aklar Mountains have sugar maples growing wild."
"Really? I didn't know that!"
"It might not be well-known because it's a bit hard for people to get there."
"Pochi, I'm sorry, but could you go to the Aklar Mountains and bring back some sugar maple sap?"
"Okay. I'll borrow a container."
With that, Pochi transformed into a human form, borrowed an empty pitcher from a nearby maid, and headed into the fairy path.
After a while, Pochi returned with a pitcher full of sugar maple sap. Sara took the sap to the lab, poured it into a beaker, and used fire magic to boil it down quickly, removing the moisture and filtering out impurities.
"I'm not sure if it's the same as the real thing since I made it in a hurry, but this is maple syrup made from sugar maple tree sap. Blaze, could you give it a try too?"
Since Blaze had already eaten the toast earlier, Sara placed a bit of maple syrup on a simple, slightly hard biscuit that was originally served with the tea and handed it to Blaze.
"This is good too. Sara."
"Right? I love maple syrup."
As Sara drizzled maple syrup on her own biscuit and put it in her mouth, a unique, nostalgic flavor spread in her mouth.
"Mmm, delicious!"
"Isn't it?"
Seeing Blaze and Sara, the others also wanted to taste the maple syrup.
"Oh, this is quite something. I can't believe this is made from tree sap."
Marquis said thoughtfully.
"Do you not get to eat maple syrup around here?"
"This is my first time, but what about the others?"
No one had ever eaten maple syrup before.
"Pochi, is there no place in Avalon that processes maple syrup?"
"As far as I know, there isn't any in Avalon or the surrounding countries. Because sugar maple trees only grow in the Aklar Mountains on this continent. There are countries on the northern continent that do process maple syrup and maple sugar, though."
"Oh dear, it was a rare treat. Thanks for getting the sap out of season, Pochi."
"You're welcome."
Sara patted Pochi's head and generously shared her magical power.
"Ah, we can't produce this maple syrup as a product without collecting sap from the Aklar Mountains, so it's not possible for now. However, honey is a product we'd like to sell, considering we could use beeswax from other products."
"Hmm. Many farmers who cultivate Elma also raise bees. This honey is probably the same."
"Speaking of which, I've heard from the bureaucrats before. But isn't that already decided?"
"It seems that both buyers have been decided. The honey producer always sends it to the same place."
"It's better to find or raise new beekeepers instead of competing with other businesses. That way, we can avoid trouble."
"That's what I think."
"I want a large quantity, so I'm looking for many beekeepers. I'd like to choose the flowers too. Elma is fine, but I also want to try other flowers. Considering that, commercialization might be a bit later..."
As soon as Sara said she would delay commercialization, the women in the room turned their gaze towards her.
"Even if it's just a limited quantity, I'd like to commercialize it."
"I'll raise bees here! I'll make my family's beekeeping business!"
"I want to learn the skills of raising bees from my family's experience."
The usually reserved maids suddenly raised their voices.
"Ugh, it's not like I can just use magic to raise bees, so until we can produce honey and beeswax ourselves, we can only buy it from existing beekeepers or the businesses that buy it from them. It looks like it'll be a bit expensive."
Marquis, who was watching, was slightly taken aback by the women's enthusiasm.
"Good grief, it's amazing how popular this is..."
"I had a feeling this would happen. Grandfather, it seems that we will have more female customers at first. If that's the case, it might be hard for male customers to enter the store, so we should consider a sales method where we just take their orders and deliver blended tea."
Marquis rested his chin on his hand, thinking for a moment.
"The issue is more about social class than gender. Nobles usually don't go out to buy things themselves. It's often considered an honor for merchants to have purchases from noble families, so it's common for the store to make deliveries. If it's a large business, they bring various products to sell outside. Otherwise, it's usually the servants who go to buy things or they go through other merchants who are connected to that family. Naturally, if they go through other merchants, they have to pay a fee."
"It would be great if they liked us enough to send their servants to buy, but it might be hard because we're not well-known yet. Plus, considering the price of herbal tea, paying a fee can be a bit tough."
Thomas, who had been quietly watching Sara and the others, finally spoke up.
"I heard Ms. Sara plans to sell books too, but aren't you going to make a product catalog? I think it would be easier to take orders with a catalog."
"I want to, but I think at first the products in the store will be changing a lot. I don't want to revise the books too many times."
"From what I heard about Ms. Amelia (Pharmacist Girl), it seems like using herbal tea for medicinal effects requires choosing the right one based on the situation. If that's the case, we'll need materials about the characteristics of the herbal teas and what they're good for. If we prepare detailed resources, we can also use them as training guides for the staff."
"As things stand, it seems like we're creating a dictionary for herb tea rather than a product catalog, don't you think, Mister Thomas?"
"Probably, but Ms. Amelia already has materials like that prepared, don't you?"
Amelia the Pharmacist Girl was surprised by this question.
"Ah, yes, Mr. Thomas. While it's difficult to say that my recipes are well-organized enough to be put into a book, I do record the characteristics of the flavor, color, effects, and cautions together in my recipes."
"Of course, you would think that. After all, you must have tried many blends to establish the optimal one, so you would have written it down."
Thomas turned to Sara with a beautiful expression and a gentle smile.
"Ms. Sara, while promoting our products at the hunting tournament is important, if we want to appeal to our customers over a long period of time, we should put together a catalog. At the tournament, only the nobles can participate, but if we publish it in book form, I'm sure we'll get orders from outside the territory."
"Will it really work out that way?"
"I think that Ms. Sara's planned development will be suitable for a simple, affordable book that eliminates decorations. The nobles will return to their own territories or the capital, and they may serve herb tea to their acquaintances, but it won't promote the products they didn't bring back. Or, if there's a woman with a strong sense of vanity, she may not reveal her secrets to others. However, if the secrets of beautiful women are written in a relatively affordable book, I think the wealthy women will do something like that. You can see what the maid staff will do if you look at them."
"Ah, I see."
One of the maids then spoke up.
"Um, I think I heard that essential oils are refined, right, Milady Sara?"
"Yes."
"Is it okay to put that on your skin?"
"I don't recommend applying essential oils directly to the skin because they can be too irritating. It's better to dilute them with other plant-based oils before using."
"My mom is a midwife, and sometimes she visits pregnant women's homes to massage their swollen feet. She uses olive oil for the massage, but wouldn't it be nice if there was an oil with a nice scent that could help them relax?"
'Whoa, she's really getting to the point, isn't she?'
"To be honest, I was too scared to say anything because of my mother's (Rebecca) stares, but... "
"But?..."
As the women's "Eagle Eye" started to take effect, a shiver ran down Sara's spine.
"By combining essential oils and other oils, we can create basic cosmetics that give moisture and firmness to the skin, or add shine to hair. Of course, we can also make massage oils, and even blend them with beeswax to create perfumes."
'That's why your eyes are so scary!'
Sara felt extremely uncomfortable as sharp gazes poured in from all directions.
"However..."
"However...?"
"Since it's something we apply to our skin, careful development is necessary, and it can't be done overnight. It's a challenge for the future, I suppose. I'd like Ms. Amelia (Pharmacist Girl) and Ms. Alicia (Alchemist Girl) to work hard on it."
Everyone around them let out a disappointed sigh at the same time. Amelia the Pharmacist Girl noticed this and smiled softly.
"Don't worry, I'll do my best to make it available as a product as soon as possible!" she replied.
From that day on, Amelia the Pharmacist Girl became super popular among the maids and servants at Grandchester Castle. However, every time she saw the gifts of sweets and fruits that were frequently delivered to her, she would feel the pressure of being watched by Eagle Eye and her stomach would start to hurt.
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