Alcohol

If Shekuri-san and Jinga-san joined forces, we should somehow be able to manage.

That vague prediction of mine turned out to be spot on.

Shekuri-san, who was always gentle in manner and lately made me wonder, “Wait, was this person a Priest all along?”

And Jinga-san, who could get along with anyone, even in unfamiliar lands, as long as he held a cup and shared a drink.

Since the two of them, apparently acquaintances from long ago, worked together, the people of Jinga Village also quickly grew accustomed to the people of Tree Village.

The village had grown into quite a large group of nearly eighty people, but even so, the existing orchards provided more than enough fruit without needing further expansion.

Yet, for some reason, points increased more than before, and now over one hundred points were steadily accumulating each day.

The trial and testing of the Element Fruits had also been completed, so I could provide enough supplies for Nadja and the others.

Thanks to that, I finally gained a little breathing room in my own life.

So, since Aira had also finished her lessons with the apprentice magicians and was free, I decided to walk around the village with her.

“Run-run~”

“Aira, you’re in quite a good mood.”

“I’m happy I get to go out with you alone again, Woody-sama.”

“What’s this, saying something that cute?”

“—C-cute!?”

Teasing Aira, sometimes getting teased back in return, we toured the village together.

Since sand did not enter within the range of the Sanctuary, the villagers had already shed their cloaks and were wearing ordinary clothing.

Their hemp garments made them look like nothing more than normal villagers from anywhere else.

“By the way, you built a brewery for winemaking, right? Ale is unstable since we can’t supply sand oats consistently, but with grapes, we can try as much as we want.”

“Heh, wine huh? I’ve only had it a few times…”

Wine was a luxury in the kingdom, where grape production had never been abundant.

Of course, Father and Mother drank it fairly often, but since I wasn’t of age, I had never had any.

I remembered someone once told me it tasted like bitter grape juice.

When I replied, “If it’s bitter, why not just drink grape juice?” they only gave me a wry smile.

Apparently, there was someone in Tree Village who had once been apprenticed to a sake brewery, so I provided him with a place to serve as both brewery and sake cellar.

To prevent the absurdity of being unable to make alcohol for lack of grapes, I planted a few Grape Trees around the site.

Now that I thought of it, I had left it completely unchecked.

It might be a good idea to go see how things were progressing.

Since I had some free time, why not go now?

When I asked, Aira agreed without any objection.

“That drink Chief Jinga often carries around, that’s ale, right?”

“Yeah, but since it’s made from sand oats, they say it only tastes a fraction as good as the ale we know. Bitter and harsh—Jinga-san himself admitted it’s, to put it mildly, disgusting.”

“H-how can he gulp down so much of that stuff then…?”

Honestly, I hadn’t had much alcohol in my life.

If I’d attended parties, I probably would have drunk plenty, but ever since my Tree Planting was revealed, I had no such opportunities.

I could probably count on one hand the times I had actually drunk alcohol.

Even then, it was things like the alcohol Jinga-san gave me during the fruit party, or ale-water that I drank to avoid stomach issues from raw water.

“Nadja seems to be able to drink quite a bit though.”

“She’s been of age for three years, and since she has the ‘Sword Saint,’ I’m sure she’s attended plenty of social gatherings.”

When Nadja had drunk the alcohol Jinga-san offered, she’d gotten rather tipsy.

I didn’t say it out loud since she’d get angry, but at the time her breath carried a strong drunkard’s smell.

I wasn’t good with alcohol yet, but I did understand its power well enough.

Just watching Father made it clear—wine carried great meaning for nobles and the upper class.

And as Jinga-san demonstrated, it could also serve as a communication tool among ordinary people.

Alcohol was the lubricant that connected people.

At the same time, it was also fuel—something that allowed people to relieve stress and think, “Alright, let’s work hard again tomorrow.”

In a village surrounded by harsh environments, with little outside exchange, entertainment was scarce. It would be wonderful if alcohol could be brewed, letting everyone enjoy their daily lives even more.

With that thought in mind, I held Aira’s hand and headed toward the brewery…