The Elven mother, Melty-san, began managing the Sanctuary Orchard, and her two children, the sisters Melanie and Malorie, help with the grape harvest too.
It was at that time. Absurdities from Undine and Dryas were waved at me.
「Takumi, please make some wine.」
「Because I want to drink it soon, Takumi, make it using magic.」
I was dumbfounded for a moment from sudden selfishness thrust upon me by two of the Great Spirits.
「Well, I can reduce the fermentation time with magic, but in the end, the natural yeast has to take its natural course. Which yeast could give the wine good flavor, that I don’t know. Even so, you’re okay with that?」
Right, transmuting the raw materials and shortening the time for making wine is possible with alchemy, but the taste is a different issue.
「We will manage so it will be fine. We have wine that has taken ample time as well.」
「That’s fine then, I guess. You want to drink that bad, huh.」
「Obviously. You’re making wine from the grapes grown in the sanctuary. It will, without fail, have a special taste, so I’m looking forward to it.」
Although that contained her feelings, the crops and fruits grown in the Sanctuary were all remarkably delicious. They were definitely not normal produce.
Actually, I can’t recommend making wine with magic. Although the first reason is that I wouldn’t know the flavor of the wine, the process of the yeast and sugar turning into alcohol is a mixture of multiple complex reactions that give the wine its flavor. My knowledge and experience is overwhelmingly lacking to recreate that with magic.
「Well, the typical fermentation can be entrusted to someone, so it’s fine as long as I make a portion for Undine and Dryas right? 」
「So you understand it well. Truly a good child you are, Takumi. It’s regrettable you are a human.」
As I listened to Undine’s strange compliment, I thought about the tools I’d need.
A wooden cask is essential. I needed to make a large cask for the fermentation. A wine pressing machine is also necessary.
I thought about this and that in my head and Undine hurried me into making the wine with magic. In any case, we’re short of hands if we’re gonna tackle genuine alcohol production, so I decided to put the thinking on hold.
「Yes yes, I get it~」
Having the newcomer elven familyー Melty-san, Melanie, and Malorieー assist me, we harvested grapes.
We squeezed the gathered grapes using a hurriedly made press machine.
「Can I do this right~ I can’t help but worry~」
I transmuted the juice of the pressed grapes, breaking down the sugar and altering it with by invoking【Fermentation】. The grape juice in the container was engulfed in light.
「………… h-how is it?」
Should I strain it with a cloth?
Just in case, I strained in a cloth once I was sure the reactions were over.
「Normally it would lie idle in the cask, wouldn’t it? What reactions could be happening in the maturation? I think it could be reproduced with alchemy, but I don’t get it so it’s impossible.」
I stored it in several casks, and placed them inside a maturation warehouse. And there, not only Undine, but Sylph, Dryas, Gnome, Salamander, and even Selene and Nyx came rushing in.
「So? Is it done?」
「No, I can’t mature it, so I don’t know the taste.」
「Leave the maturation to me. There is nothing relating to water that I can’t do!」
Brimming with confidence, Undine’s chest swelled in pride.
When Undine waved her arm towards the lined up casks, the wine casks were wrapped in light blue light.
「The maturation should be complete with this.」
「Let’s see, we should sample it.」
Since Gnome said to give him a drink quickly, I opened one cask.
「…………mm, it’s better than I expected.」
「Oh my, isn’t it quite delicious?」
「As expected of the Sanctuary grapes.」
「It’s good, but it’s lacking in alcohol content for me.」
「It’s tasty, isn’t it?」
「Indeed.」
「Fumu, ………… Takumi, make additional wine quickly.」
It seems it’s popular with Undine and the Great Spirits. But a request to make more wine came in from Gnome at the satisfactory impressions.
「………… I haven’t even tasted it.」
No one was listening to me anymore.
Tch, the habit of the spirits. Aren’t they just drunkards?
Haa, let’s go make casks.
I gave up. Leaving the Great Spirits who’ve begun merrymaking in that spot, I returning to my house to make casks.
I need to return to Volton temporarily to stock up on the wood that I’d use for casks. If I recall correctly, wine casks use oak wood.
I used the established transfer gate, teleporting to the basement of my house in Volton. I then climbed the stairs to the first floor and entered that room.
My companion as usual is Sophia.
Even though Sophia had been released from slavery, she is obstinate about continuing to be my escort.
Though one of the reasons is that she’s bad at cooking and sewing, it seems she doesn’t want to give up the duty of being my guard to other people.
「If it isn’t Takumi-sama. It has been a while.」
When Sophia and I were walking around in town, I was greeted by a person I know well.
「Ah, Papeck-san, it’s nice to see you again. Thomas-san, you look well too.」
「Takumi-sama, you seem quite active a well.」
The ones who greeted me were the president and head clerk of one of the companies in Volton, Papeck-san and Thomas-san, who were curiously in a walk.
I met them when I came to Volton and had been in their care, but lately I’ve been so busy that we’ve had few chances to meet.
「So, the two of you went out today?」
「Yes, I just wanted a little bit of wood.」
「Oh my, if Takumi-sama wants some wood then wouldn’t it be Treant Wood? If my memory serves me right, did you not hunt for a large amount of Treant Wood yourself?」
It seems Papeck-san remembers the time we went hunting for Treants in the outer edges of the Forest of Death, but I’ve used all of it on making furniture and buildings in the Sanctuary.
「No, I want oak wood today.」
「Oh, oak wood, is it…………? Though impolite of me, may I ask you to tell me what it would be used for?」
「Yes, I’m not making anything particularly different. I just want to make casks, after all.」
Hearing my answer, it felt like Papeck-san’s eyes shined.
「Takumi-sama, are you aware that even though it is called oak wood, there are types?」
「Eh! There isn’t just one type of oak wood?」
Who would have thought that there were various types of the same tree, I never would have guessed.
「Yes, the place they are taken from are different. The oak woods obtainable in Volton are three types; White Oak, Cecil Oak, and Common Oak.」
Afterwards, Papeck-san walked together with us to a lumber dealer while explaining the different types of oak wood.
・White Oak
Having few leaks, it is the most stable cask material among the three types.
It has little tannin, and is well known for having plenty of vanillin and oak lactone (sweet).
・Cecil Oak
It has relatively few tannin, and comparatively more oak lactone (component for the aroma of whiskey and the like). Rich in aromatic components such as polyphenol, it is well balanced.
・Common Oak
It is rich in tannin and polyphenol, and has especially small amounts of vanillin and oak lactone.
I question why Papeck-san came along with us, but his extensive knowledge had been a surprise as we walked, and we arrived at the largest lumber dealer in Volton town.
Papeck-san had definitely sniffed something out.
***
Footnotes:
1. In case you get isekai-ed with alchemy skills, be prepared with this in depth explanation on wine making! A small thing to note as well, from my searching, an easy way to remember the terms is that Maturation = wine processes before being bottled; Aging = time after being bottled. Most of the terms here can easily be googled for more information. please refer to Scathe’s comment for a bit of info