Allrounders!! - Chapter 23: Isn't it fine to make new one if all the liquor is gone? - Part 1

When I entered the guild the next morning, I was welcomed very warmly.

"Please tell me the recipe for the liquor you gave me!"

"Indra! That food was a dream. Thanks a lot!"

The guild master begged me while I was being hugged by the receptionist lady.

"Ah man, you folks are so damn noisy. ――I've got somethin' to discuss with you as well."

We headed over to the guild master's room.

"Rent us one of the warehouses run by the guild. Or have the guild manage a warehouse I'd buy."

"...Now listen, I'm not a convenient problem-solver."

"Look, I'd be troubled if someone sneaked in an off chance 'n stole things from there."

The guild master scratched his head, looking rather bothered by this, "...Would it be an issue to go with a merchant's warehouse?"

"I'm lookin' for a place to store liquor. If the merchant found out, they'd give me an ear full, no?"

"Alright, I got it. I'll arrange everything."

...Just what did you get?

"If you had a dark and quiet place at hand, you'd be able to brew alcohol, right?"

"Pretty much. But, the cook and the servants had been faithfully cleaning and checking the quality regularly, you know?"

"I'll handle that part."

Somehow the guild master is full on board with this all of a sudden?

"...It sounds like I'm quite the clean-freak, but yet they kept it so clean that I couldn't find a single fault with it."

I told them, just in case.

"It's alright, leave it to me." The guild master drummed on his own chest.

"...Oh well, whatever. It's just about the alcohol you people are going to drink anyway. If it fails, we just need to make it anew."

"We won't get anywhere if we assume it'll fail. We'll make this town our base. Even if we were to go on a journey, things will be fine as long as we come back several times a year to check, right?"

"...The tools available in this world are pretty sloppy in their making. Just look at the barrels. When we gathered them, we had to trash 80% because they were leaking, don't you remember? Succeeding on a first attempt would be close to a miracle under such circumstances. It'd be much safer to beg the cook and the servants, and buy their wine for a big amount of money."

"I've already taken measures on that end."

"Hah?"

Did that guy strike a bargain with them or some such? Moreover, he totally looks as if he let something slip he didn't want me to know.

"...Hey, if you don't want me to unveil the great spell that will destroy everything on this planet right here and now, spit out everything."

The guild master slapped the back of Sword's head, "For heaven's sake, you're always such a goddamn troublemaker!"

＊

...This sneaky bugger apparently got all chummy with the cook and the servants behind my back. Isn't he awfully sociable considering he's got no friends whatsoever? No, I guess it's his resourcefulness rearing its head when it comes to things that are of advantage to him.

Anyway, it looks like brought up the idea with them to continue the alcohol brewing and sell the products since he'd finance them after I was gone. Apparently he went even as far as declaring that they'd suffer no losses since he'd buy up everything they couldn't sell. Almost everyone, with the cook in the lead, agreed to his proposal.

However.

"All of this depends on Lady Indra giving her approval."

So said the cook.

"Hoh, so you're saying I'll be able to buy that alcohol if I go to the brewery involved with Sword?"

"Ah, sorry. I don't think they'll sell you the alcoholic beverage I gave you, guild master."

I robbed him of any false hope early on.

"Why not!?!"

"You can't make that liquor without magic. I won't say it's completely impossible if you create the appropriate magic tools or utilities, but even though I know the underlying principle, I wouldn't know how to go about actually making the necessary tools. I'm sure it'd be a series of trials and errors at the start. Then again, you should know that it took me quite a number of failures when I created the alcohol I gave you at first."

"...That's because you were aimin' for perfection, no? When I asked the cook n' the others, they seemed to be confused as to why you'd label your trial products as failures."

They sure don't get it, do they? If I say it's a failure, then it's just that.

"T-Then, please let me drink the liquor they're selling. Just to sample it."

So early in the day?

Oh well...if it's just sampling, it should be okay, I suppose.

I took out wine from the cooling magic bag.

"That's..."

"Ah, I won't give you all of it. Just a cup for testing."

"Eeeehhh!?"

"Me too!"

......

With a sigh, I filled their cups.

"Such a tiny amount!?"

"You don't drink alcohol so early in the day. A component called "'alcohol'" is included in the wine."

"Gotcha, just taste testing, okay?"

Sword chugged the whole thing down in a breath.

"The taste is really different when it's cooled."

"It loses some of its aroma, I think. Well, I've opened this wine several times for cooking, so this also plays a role."

"Awesoooooooome!!!"

I got super startled when the guild master shouted all of a sudden. Dude, you made me jump up from my chair!

"This is great stuff! It's easy to drink since it's cooled, and this aroma! It's marvelous! This is wine, right!? How is it so different from the stuff available for sale on the markets!?"

"I'd say because they're sloppy in their brewing procedures. Wine is alive."

It's just that they haven't realized that fact. Or to go even further, they aren't even aware of the living beings contained in the air or water. You people should really try using your brain why things are rotting, sheesh.

"I see... It's alive, huh...? So you're saying it becomes so lovely, if you raise it dearly...?"

Ah, the personification of alcohol has started.

＊