Chapter 19: Brewing at Age Seven

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Father quickly sprang into action.

He gathered the townsfolk at the mansion and threw a sake-tasting party. I assumed it wasn’t just an excuse to drink… right, Father?

“What is this sake?!”

“It’s unbelievably good!”

“It’s strong, but so easy to drink!”

Peeking through a crack in the door, I saw that Horse King was a big hit among the gathered villagers.

“Delicious, right? So, would you be interested in making this sake yourselves?”

“Huh?”

“Haha, this is the sake my son Toma made, and we’re calling it ‘Horse King’!”

“Horse King?!”

The name might sound intense, but it’s just because the base ingredient is horse barley. There’s nothing fierce about the actual drink.

“B-but, did young Master Toma really make this?”

“Oh yes, the boy’s a genius. And that’s not just me being a biased parent—he really is a genius.”

Please, spare me the “genius” label.

At any rate, after tasting the Horse King, the adults became enthusiastic about producing it.

The next day, with pounding hangovers, the adults began discussing who would be involved in brewing. It was hard not to laugh as I watched them clutch their stomachs with blue faces.

“The carpenter Byrd is making two types of barrels for us.”

There were the large five-gallon barrels for brewing and the one-gallon barrels for selling.

We decided that for transporting and working inside the tunnels, five-gallon barrels were the maximum manageable size.

Additionally, some tunnels could be used while others couldn’t, mainly due to size limitations.

Father selected five locations, including the Third Tunnel I’d visited before.

I inspected the tunnels myself, reinforcing the walls with my Transformation skill. This used quite a bit of mana, but by the time I’d reinforced all five tunnels, I’d leveled up by ten—a pleasant surprise, as it had been a while since I’d gained that many levels in such a short time.

Next, we decided to cultivate horse barley.

If we wanted this to be a long-term industry, we’d need a stable supply.

We cleared forested areas for horse barley cultivation. The wood could be used for firewood, and horse barley grows easily with minimal care, so we just needed to create the space for it.

Winter is the off-season for farming, so we had plenty of villagers available to help. More than half of the village men joined in, laying the groundwork for brewing.

By the time spring arrived, sturdy doors had been installed at the tunnel entrances, and a brewing workshop had been constructed at the front of the tunnels.

Father was fully committed. I wondered if we’d be able to recoup the expenses with the sales of Horse King, so I resolved to do my best to support him.

Oh, and I turned seven.

In this world, a year consists of twelve months, with each month having thirty days.

The start of spring falls in January, and on the first of January, everyone ages by one year. There’s no concept of birthdays; instead, age is calculated based on the year you were born (starting at zero), with everyone adding a year on January first. This means a child born on December 30 would turn one on their second day of life.

Today, we’re brewing a new batch of Horse King.

Father decided that the brewing process would remain a family secret, so I’m only teaching two people.

One of them, Jin, is a former soldier with deep blue eyes and dark blue hair. He’s twenty-five and was injured in a battle with a monster, rendering him unable to fight. Though the injury doesn’t affect his daily life, he can’t manage in combat, so he’s been working as our gatekeeper. I know him well.

At Father’s recommendation, he’s now overseeing the brewery.

The other person, Ram, is a red-haired, spirited woman of twenty-two with a strong love for alcohol. She applied eagerly for this role.

Ram is a tall woman, standing at about 180 centimeters.

Since Jin is nearly 190 centimeters, when they stand together, Ram doesn’t seem too petite. Either way, I have to look up at both of them.

“Now, I’ll explain and demonstrate the brewing process for Horse King. Feel free to ask questions at any time, and I’ll answer unless I’m in the middle of a step that requires focus.”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

“We’ll start by removing the husks from the horse barley. Any leftover husks can affect the taste of the final product, so this step is essential.”

“Understood!”

To remove the husks, we put the horse barley into hemp sacks and beat them with sticks.

It requires just the right amount of force so as not to crush the barley.

I had Jin and Ram take turns with the sacks.

“Ram, you’re using too much force. This won’t work.”

“S-sorry…”

“It’s normal to have some trouble at first. Try loosening up a bit and go again.”

“Alright.”

“Jin, if you relax your grip just a little more, you’ll be doing fine. Keep it up.”

“Got it!”

Ram’s barley kept turning to powder, while Jin seemed to have a good sense of how much force to use.

After they each did five sacks, Jin had already reached a passing level.

Ram, however, still had trouble with the pressure.

“Ram, how about trying with your hand instead of the stick?”

“Let me give it a try!”

Pounding with her fist worked better than the stick, but still wasn’t ideal. When she tried slapping it with her open palm, it was finally usable.

By doubling the sack layers and having her use an open palm, she managed to get it just right.

“If something doesn’t work, it’s important to think of creative solutions. By trying different methods, we can produce a high-quality product.”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

“Next, we move on to steaming the horse barley.”