Collect The Mountain Grapes! Start Making Wine!

"My Lord, the speed at which they're growing is amazing!" Bark comments respectfully over the wheat.

He was currently surrounded by several elderly villagers who looked at Lynn in reverence.

"Please forgive our previous ignorance. We thought that they would not grow…"

The strong village men sincerely apologized. The answer was simple for Lynn.

"Just continue to work. The remaining wheat seeds can still be planted for another five acres, and furthermore you will be reclaiming the land."

Several villagers became embarrassed, and some even wanted to say something to Lynn. Yet, they kept silent and saluted.

"We will obey your orders, my Lord."

Lynn nodded and did not ask for more. He just turned to the plantation and walked over. Inside, five fire mushrooms had sprouted. There were a few buds left, but it seemed that they would not grow well. Buno looked after them carefully, and commented when he saw Lynn.

"Lord, some of the fire mushrooms did not grow," Buno said. Lynn inspected the mushrooms closer and came up with a plan of action.

"Leave the five good ones, and remove the rest." Buno was stunned at his words.

"The nutrition in the soil is not enough for more than five," Lynn said while smiling. "This caused the rest to wither. So, get more soil and sprinkle the spores in a line there." Buno understood Lynn's meaning.

"You understand a lot. I am afraid that I might raise dead plants." Lynn nodded at his words.

"These five plants are growing pretty well, and they seem to have some magical presence," Lynn pointed out.

"I did not feel anything!" exclaims a surprised Buno. "You can already feel fluctuations in magic? That is amazing!"

To be a magician, one must first feel the presence of magic. In order to achieve this, a person had to meditate. The more sensitive a person was to magic, the easier it was to feel the magic in their body. Once you master your core magic, you become a first-class magician. Lynn also noticed the difference.

"Archfiend meat must have a better effect than you think," directs Lynn. Buno had a pained look at his words.

"I should have known. Then, I would have gotten you Archfiend meat earlier…"

Lynn patted Buno's shoulder in reply.

"Uncle Buno, leave the past behind. We have magic potions and Archfiend meat now, along with an army. Everything is going to be fine."

Buno nodded at his words in understanding.

"So, one more day, and if five mushrooms grow well we can start a large scale planting process. Our spores are probably enough to grow four hundred flame mushrooms," explains Lynn.

"We should build two more plantations," Buno suggested. "The ground needs to absorb the magic in the air." Lynn nodded at his words.

"A good proposal. It is as you say. I will get the villagers to start building today along with the beast warriors. It should proceed quickly."

After he made the arrangements, Lynn went out of the plantation and called for the half-beast warriors and ordered them to cut down some wood in the forest. Lynn thought for a second and realized that there were also women and children in the village. He gathered them together and gave them a task.

"I have some jobs for you. I want you to help me collect grapes in the mountain with the protection of the warriors. Do not worry, it is safe. For a basket of grapes, I will give you a copper coin."

The women and children were overjoyed! Although there was nowhere to spend money in Fenglin Village, they could travel to the closest city and shop there. They could buy sugar and soft bread from the markets! Three copper coins could buy a kilo of bread! All of the people carried baskets made of branches and went to pick the grapes. Before they left, though, Lynn had them put in clean grass inside of the baskets. The grapes would need to be washed, but this way they would be cleaner.

Lynn arranged his work and went back to the castle to meditate. Mastering magic was a difficult process. Rich nobles with a large amount of Archfiend meat and magic potions may not be able to become magicians because of the difficulty. Lynn was sixteen years old with a worse foundation, so the task was more problematic and would require more time and effort. Yet, Lynn was in no hurry.

He could grow magic potions at home and there were a lot of monsters in the back of the mountain. Lynn knew that he would become a magician; it was just a matter of time. The day passed by, and while Lynn did not master magic he became more perceptive.

The women and children picked a hundred baskets worth of grapes over the day. Lucy had never seen anything like them and wanted to taste them, while Lynn smiled and said nothing to warn her about the new experience. She ate a grape and then spat it out with her tongue out of her mouth.

"You knew they were sour, didn't you!"

"Yes, I knew."

"Well, I will just ignore you!"

In response, Lynn took out a sweet berry and taunted her.

"If you do not take care of me, I will eat this."

Lucy felt a chill go down her spine at his words. She instantly went to his side and smiled at him sweetly.

"I will take care of you, so give it to me."

Lynn gave her the berries, and when he saw that she was eating them in bliss he smiled. When all of the grapes arrived, Lynn took out a cylinder that was prepared in advance. The cylinder was big and there were a total of four of them. Lynn had long awaited to make wine, so of course he was ready. Although the yield of the grapes was more than expected, he was afraid of wasting them.

The workers that collected the grapes had not been paid, so Lynn gave out a silver coin in total. The cost was so low that it was comparable to nothing. Lucy looked at Lynn curiously and prodded him with questions.

"How is this going to make wine?" When she said that, she suddenly remembered something and became embarrassed.

"Sorry, this is a secret. I should not have asked. I will leave."

The secret of winemaking was possessed only by a very small number of nobles. Grapes in themselves were very cheap, but once it became wine the price was at least dozens of times greater. This was a lucrative process, which of course should not be spreaded. Even among families who made wine, only a few knew how to brew it. Lucy was afraid of embarrassing Lynn and offered to leave, but he stopped her.

"Want to try?" he asked. "You can help with the work."

"I can stay?" Lucy said in shock.

"Of course."

Lynn and Lucy let the village women and children wash the grapes for them. Once they finished, they let the grapes dry, and when that was completed they began the brewing process. Wine brewing was not difficult. The grapes needed to be stalked, crushed to the pulp, and then peeled. They had to make sure not to crush them too much and to not remove any impurities. In fact, the best grapes were the ones that had white frost on them. If the grapes were clean, it was best not to wash them any more. The white frost would help the wine fermentate better.

However, the mountain grapes were not clean, so they needed to be washed in order to avoid deterioration of the wine's quality. Each cylinder left the top portion of the container empty in order to leave space for the rising gas. The lid was also not completely closed. If it was, the carbon dioxide that would be produced during the fermentation would destroy the cylinder.

The grapes fermented naturally. The half-beast warriors followed everyone to help with the work, and by midnight the four barrels were ready. Since there were so many grapes and nowhere to put them, they were wasted. After packing up, Lynn and Lucy took a bath and were ready for bed. After Lying down, Lucy commented on the process apprehensively.

"I have heard of this method of winemaking, but the rumor is that the wine produced this way tasted bad and was very easy to spoil."

"Of course, there are other things besides this," Lynn said while smiling mysteriously. "The next part is the real secret."

"What?" Lucy asked excitedly.

Lynn smiled and went to sleep instead of answering. Lucy clutched her hair in frustration. These were secrets that she could not know. She was afraid she would not be able to sleep from curiosity.

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