Chapter 143 Workaholic Faces
As the bureaucrat in charge of agriculture, Pollux knew most of the farm owners in Grandchester. To be precise, he simply loved Elma and Elma liquor, which wasn't exactly the case for all agriculture bureaucrats.
Pollux was also acquainted with Fran's mother, Tonia. Rather, he was a VIP customer of Harlan Farm.
"Your eyes are on Harlan Farm's Elma liquor, just like Miss Sara. And I'm surprised you know Fran too. I thought you'd left your family a long time ago."
"By the way, Mr. Fran is the older brother of one of the maidens, right?"
"The blacksmith girl who Fran apprenticed with is Lady Teresa, isn't she?"
Pollux had a satisfied look on his face.
"But, since his father is also a blacksmith, why did he apprentice with Ms. Teresa's father?"
"Fran wanted to make weapons instead of farm tools. The blacksmiths in that family are all eccentrics, and even parents and children have completely different interests. Fran's father is good at making farm tools, his grandfather is skilled at making furniture and small locks. His deceased great-grandfather was famous for making alchemy magicians' and pharmacists' distillation furnaces, but it turns out he was actually better at making knives and tableware. That's why he didn't take his father as their master."
"Ah, they're certainly an unusual family."
"Well, Fran's older brother didn't become a blacksmith, but he married and works together with him on the farm, though."
"It's great that there's a successor for the farm too. I don't want to lose Elma and Elma liquor. It's great that Ms. Tonia is making Elma liquor with her bride-to-be."
"That's true."
'I see, so Mr. Fran also wanted to create weapons, huh. Maybe it's a good thing I relied on the distillation furnace...?'
As Sara was deep in thought, the Marquis approached her.
"Sara, you seem to be thinking deeply, but won't you serve us some Elma brandy soon?"
"Grandfather and the others had some last night, but today priority goes to the others."
"Hmmph..."
Sara instructed the maid, and even the office maid, to serve a shot of Elma brandy to everyone, including Marquis and Robert, who were watching with keen eyes.
"How is everyone's first taste of Elma brandy? Although it's still in the trial production stage, we plan to mass-produce it later and make it a specialty of our new territory."
The first to react was, of course, Pollux.
"This is a new liquor made from Elma liquor, isn't it? Although it's a completely different liquor, the flavor of Elma is still condensed... This is amazing!"
James and Benjamin were also nodding in agreement.
"There's no doubt it will be accepted as a new specialty product."
"How much of it can be produced, I wonder?"
"If I say this, Mr. Pollux, who loves Elma liquor, might be disappointed, but it takes 5 to 10 barrels to make just 1 barrel of it. We're using the highly-recommended Elma liquor from Harlan Farm, which is so good that you can drink it straight, so it's definitely a luxurious liquor. By the way, what Fran is currently brewing in the Maiden's Tower is the Elma liquor made by the lady of Harlan Farm."
After hearing this, Pollux stared at his glass, frozen. Benjamin glanced at him sideways and asked,
"So, I understand it's a super valuable liquor, which means the price is also going to be high, right?"
"Until we can mass-produce it, the selling price will also be reasonable. For a few years, it might only be used as a tribute to the royal family or as a gift from the Grandchester House to other houses."
"Hey, Pollux, don't space out. If we're going to make this a serious specialty product, we can't expand Harlan Farm fast enough. Only you know how much Elma can be harvested and how much Elma liquor can be made from it, right?"
'This is bad... I might need to ask for help not just from Mike, but from Pochi too!'
"Ah! That's right. We can't afford to have any defects in our product for the royal family."
"Mr. Pollux, the truth is, we're planning to debut this liquor at the hunting tournament. We were originally going to debut it in about 3 years, but we borrowed some fairy power and managed to create a pretty good prototype..."
So, if Sara couldn't borrow Mike's power, it would take at least 3 years to mature. Sara had originally planned for a period of that length, intending to gradually increase the harvest of Elma by expanding the distribution of Elma liquor in the first few years.
"I'm hurrying to build a facility to distill Elma liquor. However, I expect that if we don't expand the Elma farm and build many breweries, we won't be able to keep up. For now, we'll only distribute trial products that have been rapidly matured using the fairy's power, but originally, everything is made by human hands."
"In other words, what Miss Sara is asking for is an increase in Elma production, expansion or establishment of breweries for Elma liquor, and construction of new distilleries, right?"
"That's correct. We'll also need a warehouse to age the barrels."
"I see."
Pollux has already started taking notes, and James and Benjamin have quickly returned to work mode.
"At first, we'll have to buy Elma liquor from my merchant guild and distill it to make products, but eventually, if we can distill it at the brewery, I think we can create unique Elma brandies with their own characteristics."
"Wouldn't it be good to have a shared distillery in the village or town?"
"That's a great idea!"
In the Sarasa era, it was common for villages and towns to engage in brewing and distillation as a community.
"Is distilling Elma liquor difficult?"
"You need a certain level of expertise. And, since the flavor varies from barrel to barrel, when you start making Elma Brandy seriously, you'll need to grasp the unique characteristics of each barrel and blend them to decide on the final flavor of the product."
"It's really deep, isn't it?"
"It's extremely deep, like a bottomless swamp."
Sara gave a faint black smile.
"Actually, there's a reason I call this liquor 'Elma Brandy'."
"What's that?"
"Actually, brandy is a type of liquor that already exists elsewhere."
Pollux took a slight breath.
"Wait, does that mean Elma liquor isn't distilled?"
"Yes. Originally, brandy is made by distilling wine."
When they heard that, the bureaucrats all lost their voices at once.
"Brandy refers to 'burnt wine', a term that originated from a distant foreign land. We're not entirely sure, but..."
'It's a different world, after all!'
"Apparently, they even make special wines specifically for brandy production. These wines aren't particularly tasty when drunk as is, but when distilled, they become amazing with their aroma and flavor."
"I've never heard of such a liquor."
"It seems they don't make it in Avalon."
Castor, who was chatting with Robert, approached them, noticing Pollux's serious face.
"Hey, Pollux. Isn't this a fun party? Why do all these bureaucrats look so serious? Your faces are really stern."
"Ah, sorry about that. It was supposed to be a party, but we got caught up in work talk again."
However, it was Castor who had taken on a disappointed attitude towards Sara's statement. He wore a peculiarly lonely expression.
"Miss Sara, it's all about Pollux being in charge. I think that if the merchant guild gets serious, Miss Sara will even talk to me, but it's somehow... lonely."
"Hey Castor, are you drunk or something?"
'Is Mr. Castor a heavy drinker?'
"I'm sure Mr. Castor will get busy too. With this Elma brandy, we need to consider filling the bottles, and at first, we'll need a luxury gift box as a high-end present. The artisans' arrangements are essential."
"Wow, that sounds fun."
"And the maidens are developing various merchant guild products. Of course, the artisans' arrangements are necessary, but we should also discuss distribution."
Castor had already switched to his work mode face.
"Wait, wasn't he drunk just now?"
The bureaucrats from Grandchester territory were also workaholics, rivaling Sara.
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