Father wasted no time. He gathered the townspeople at the mansion for a drinking party.
It wasn’t just because he wanted to drink… right, Father?
“What… what is this sake!?”
“This is incredible!”
“The alcohol content is strong, but it goes down smooth!”
Peeking through a crack in the door, I saw that the crowd was very impressed with the “Horse King” sake.
“Delicious, isn’t it? How about making this sake?”
“Eh?”
“Hahaha! This sake was brewed by my son, Toma. We call it ‘Horse King!’”
“‘Horse King’!?”
The name sounds intimidating, but it’s only called that because the main ingredient is horse barley. The drink itself isn’t dangerous—though its high alcohol content means moderation is advised.
“B-but did Toma-sama really make this?”
“Yes, he’s a genius! And it’s not just parental bias—he really is a genius!”
Please spare me the “genius” title. That aside, the adults, inspired by the Horse King’s taste, were eager to take on the challenge of brewing it.
The next day, despite their hangovers, the adults began organizing teams for the brewing project. Their pale faces and occasional retching made for an amusing sight, I must admit.
“Carpenter Bars is making two types of barrels.”
One was a large five-bucket barrel for brewing, and the other, a smaller one-bucket barrel for sales. It was decided that the five-bucket barrel would be the limit for working inside the mining tunnels.
Only certain tunnels were usable due to space constraints. Father selected five, including the third tunnel I had explored before. I entered those tunnels myself to give my input.
During this process, I reinforced the tunnel walls using transformation magic to make them sturdier. This consumed a lot of mana, but by the time I had reinforced all five tunnels, my level had increased by ten. It had been a while since I’d leveled up so quickly, so I was quite pleased.
Next, we began cultivating horse barley. To sustain an industry, a stable supply is crucial. We cleared a forested area to create farmland for the barley.
The wood from the cleared trees would serve as firewood, and since horse barley grows with minimal effort, it only needed the space.
Luckily, winter is the off-season for farming, so the villagers were available as a labor force. Over half of the village’s men participated in building the foundation for brewing.
By spring, sturdy doors were installed at the tunnel entrances, and a brewing workshop was built nearby.
Father was highly motivated. I couldn’t help but wonder if the expenses were manageable. To ensure he could recoup the costs with Horse King sales, I resolved to support him as best I could.
Oh, and by the way, I turned seven.
In this world, a year has 12 months, each with 30 days. The calendar marks spring in the first month.
Everyone’s age increases collectively on January 1st. There are no birthdays as we know them. Age is counted starting from the year of birth (zero years old), and it increases with each New Year. For example, someone born on December 30th would turn one year old on their second day of life.
Today, we began brewing the Horse King. Father decided the brewing method would be a family secret, so only two people would be taught the process. Even so, the unique sake yeast only works in the Ashud domain, so it’s impossible to brew the sake elsewhere.
The two selected for the brewing team were Jin, a 25-year-old former soldier with blue hair and eyes, and Lam, a 22-year-old woman with red hair who was an avid sake enthusiast.
Jin, who had been injured in a monster battle and could no longer fight, had been working as our gatekeeper. Father recommended him for the role of workshop manager.
Lam, though a woman, was incredibly enthusiastic and applied herself to the role with great passion. She was tall, about 180 cm, and her sturdy build complemented Jin’s towering 190 cm frame. Standing beside them, I had to look up at both.
“Today, I’ll explain the Horse King brewing process while demonstrating it. Feel free to ask questions as we go. I’ll answer unless I’m in the middle of something crucial.”
“Yes!”
“First, we remove the husks from the horse barley. Leaving husks affects the sake’s flavor, so this step is essential.”
“Yes!”
The barley was placed in hemp bags and pounded with sticks. This required precise control to avoid crushing the barley.
Both Jin and Lam tried pounding the bags.
“Lam, you’re using too much force. The barley is unusable like this.”
“S-sorry…”
“It’s normal at first. Try to relax your shoulders and give it another go.”
“Yes.”
“Jin, your force is almost perfect. Keep it up!”
“Got it!”
After five bags each, Jin passed with flying colors. Lam, however, kept crushing the barley.
“Lam, how about using your hands instead of a stick?”
“Let me try!”
Using her fists was better, but not ideal. Switching to open hands and doubling the bag layers finally yielded usable results.
“If something isn’t working, there’s always a way to adapt. Don’t give up; with creativity, you can achieve great results.”
“Yes!”
“Next, we’ll move on to steaming the barley.”
