Saving Labor Turns Everything To Shit (3)

Princess Riana stayed three days this time as well. If no mishaps occurred like last time, she would leave without issue, and a week later I expected she would send the items I wanted.

However, I couldn’t stick to the princess all day; I had to leave the manor for work—specifically, to set up a place to brew “medicinal spirits.” First I stopped by the kitchen, received a suitable amount of yeast used for baking bread, and headed for the site that would serve as a wine cellar.

There I checked the pre-made oak casks and examined the medicinal ingredients already prepared.

“Mm, these were mostly herbs high in sugars…”

Brewing alcohol was simple. Add yeast to clean, sugar-rich liquid and let it ferment. In a more advanced process you’d have pasteurization and the like, but those were intermediate steps; my aim was simply to make pure liquor using sugar-rich medicinal plants.

“If this were Earth, I’d add soju or something and make a rough ‘aged’ liquor—but in this world, there were few high-proof spirits…”

Brewing was a fairly advanced art. More precisely, while techniques for making alcohol were broadly known, the techniques for raising alcohol content were truly high-level.

I didn’t know that part; my plan was to infuse aged liquor with medicinal properties and sell it.

It might mostly be consumed within the domain, but in any case I was trying a bit of everything.

The reason was simple: I had too many idle hands.

Even the small batches of herbs brought by the beastkin were more than the princess could consume. The shipment she would take this time was sizable, but only about enough to fill two warehouses.

We currently had twenty warehouses. That was a lot, and I wanted to move the stock quickly. Otherwise, I would use it for something else—and that was when “liquor” came to mind.

Long-term storage would be a drawback, but land was what I had in surplus; I planned to bury the casks here and there underground and forget about them for a while.

Moreover, yesterday I had confirmed a certain magic with Hare.

Because I learned there was such a thing as “time-acceleration magic,” I intended to experiment.

“But I still didn’t know what exactly a ‘magic stone’ was.”

To designate a fixed area for time-acceleration magic, a “magic stone” was required—supposedly a stone formed by naturally condensed mana. I’d never seen one. I asked Hare to procure some, but who knew when she would return; for now, I planned to trial-brew the liquor.

As I recalled, alcohol fermented in the short term with yeast had a short shelf life. So I intended to add a separate stage—distillation and impurity removal—to keep the liquor long-term.

For that, I would need technicians in various fields.

“Should I start by crushing the sugar-rich herbs?”

“Pharmacy” whispered methods in my head: you couldn’t simply sprinkle yeast on sugar-rich herbs. You had to score them to draw juice, then mix yeast with a suitable substitute for water—sweet, moisture-laden fruits. After that, fill the cask partway with lukewarm water, seal the oak lid tight, and carefully caulk the seams with kneaded flour paste.

Honestly, that step was the hardest.

I still doubted whether this would really become liquor, but Pharmacy had never betrayed me; and since I intermittently breathed mana into the mix to draw out components and efficacy, I expected no problems.

“I was looking forward to the result…”

Smiling at the thought of human anticipation, I moved the cask to a deep corner of the cellar. I was told I should wait about a week, and I scratched my head.

“How odd that something so simple becomes alcohol at all…”

I knew yeast was used for fermented drinks, but with no grain added, I wondered why yeast was necessary for a general fermented liquor.

I had heard that people sometimes used yeast to make makgeolli, but did you use it for common fermented liquors, too? It puzzled me.

Still, liquor was an art completed by time. I turned to leave the cellar—just then, the sunset bled across the sky.

I hadn’t done anything special, and yet the day had flown. While I’d been holed up in the cellar, I saw maids searching all over for me; it was the princess’s first day here, so I assumed they were preparing a banquet and headed back to the manor.

Watching Princess Riana drink wine like water again, I spoke to Agnes, who stood beside her with an embarrassed look.

“Ingrad has many venomous insects at night. Do not, under any circumstances, let Her Highness open the windows because she feels hot.”

“…I heard about that. You detoxified her after a bite, didn’t you?”

It seemed she hadn’t revealed the process. I nodded with an awkward expression and added for Agnes:

“You should be careful as well. The small blessing is that the nights have grown a bit chilly, so it won’t feel too hot. In any case, lock up well and be cautious.”

Agnes and the escort knights led the princess away. Princess Riana was deeply drunk; I wondered if they would have a peaceful night.

“Incredible… how did the imperial household educate her, to let her drink herself senseless in the domain of an unrelated man?”

You never knew a person’s drinking habits until you saw them, but Princess Riana had the kind where drink swallowed the person and they passed out.

If some boorish noble knew this, he would ply her by force and try something.

And if he pulled it off, the throne would be as good as his.

“Pfft—whether that would be a blessing or a curse…”

I thought of the empress. Such a future—I declined. Being a lord was hard enough. Emperor?

“Ha… I’d rather burn incense at a roadside shrine.”

I would be tormented day and night, age rapidly, and collapse. I refused that life.

Anyway, the banquet ended once the princess left. Aside from the princess, the only noble present was Agnes; the knights, in plain clothes, merely filled the hall. Just then Aenia spotted me, approached, and carefully asked:

“The slaves are learning their skills well. The potion you gave us last time is being put to good use. But I have a request…”

I wondered what this one wanted. Aenia leaned in to make sure only I heard:

“Lately the maids’ skin has grown unrecognizably beautiful… Is that perhaps because of your ‘Tiger Balm’ cosmetic, my lord?”

Aenia was a woman too, after all?

Judging by the other knights stealing glances, they had put forward Aenia—the one who spoke with me most—to ask on their behalf.

“Do you need it?”

“…We are women as well, so… if our looks improved…”

Aenia trailed off, embarrassed. I chuckled and said:

“It isn’t hard to give you some. But the maids are working for me—what are you knights doing for me?”

Since the beastkin began to follow me, the knights here were basically freeloaders. Aenia at least had some technique, but the rest?

They did nothing but consume potions and meals. And now they wanted cosmetics. I even felt sorry for Aenia; she spoke, looking awkward.

“As expected… money won’t do?”

“Her Highness sends slaves because money is useless to me. The next batch will be skilled slaves, and I’m about to petition that you knights may return home.”

Aenia’s face hardened. Their role truly neared its end. Perhaps because of that—

“I will discuss this with my comrades… and come see you.”

What exactly did they plan to discuss?

I was puzzled, but if they wanted it, I intended to give it. The method wasn’t difficult, and thanks to Aenia and the slaves she trained, we had been stockpiling a great deal of monster byproducts.

I also thought I should discuss that with the princess—but as the to-do list grew, one body felt woefully insufficient.

Thus the banquet ended. Since the princess would be lodging at the manor tonight, I took several attending maids and headed to the inner keep.

“Because of the venomous insects we blocked the windows with wood… It looks rather grim.”

Seria answered me.

“I think it has its own charm.”

“Charm, huh… True, the world seen through an open window is lovely.”

Moonlight in this world was quite bright. Rarely were there nights so dark you couldn’t make out things under the moon; tonight the moon was especially bright, and I could see slaves strolling by its glow.

Some time had passed since they came here; each was enjoying a little leisure. They had lived ordinary lives before becoming slaves, hadn’t they?

I had no intention of enforcing harsh oppression or forbidding them from doing anything.

As long as each did their work, I wanted their off-hours to be free. The maids sometimes said they couldn’t understand this thinking, but I believed time would sort it out.

“Active labor is more efficient than forced labor for the time invested; besides, most slaves now feel gratitude toward me. That means they’re working harder…”

There were a few shirkers, but I sent those types with the beastkin to outside jobs.

After that, they came back remarkably compliant and meek… I sometimes wondered what scenes they had experienced.

I had no intention whatsoever of following to find out…

“Everyone, rest well tonight. Venomous insects may roam the halls, so please don’t leave your rooms. Understood?”

Everyone obeyed. Beni and Allena looked at me with regret, but while the princess was here, I intended to forbid them from entering my room at night if at all possible.

I sent everyone back to their rooms. Just as I was about to shut my window, a woman walking this way caught my eye.

There were only two blondes in this domain—one was Agnes, the other Aenia.

Agnes wouldn’t leave the princess to come here. As the figure drew close enough for me to make out her features, I confirmed it was Aenia and felt mildly surprised.

“What did the lofty knight want at this late hour…?”

I had a few guesses… but only thought, “Surely not.”