Kays Translations

Just another Isekai Lover~

Chapter 62. Plum Work in Progress – Sidenote: I’ll leave this here as a memo.

I received a polite greeting from Hakasé-san, the vice guild master of the Alchemy Guild.

“Well, I should be the one thanking you for such a profitable request.”

Yes, it was a delicious request.

I was honestly pleased that they recognized my work.

“We were really grateful that you were able to collect so much high-quality Yogimogi Sashimo.”

Now that I think about it, I think I gathered considerably more than the amount specified in the delivery request. It was a request for a minimum of this much, so collecting more wasn’t a problem—they bought it without any issues.

The thing is, when you boil mugwort, it becomes shriveled and its volume decreases.

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I picked a lot, thinking that the more the better.

Apparently, there was an urgent request from the royal capital for a potion, which required the medicinal herbs I gathered. I’m glad I could be of help.

The royal capital, that’s where the royal castle is, right? The royal castle…

“You want to buy some sugar and alcohol today? If you like, you can use my quota.”

Hakase-san said, bringing me back to my senses.

“Quota?”

What is a quota?

“Yes, you can buy at a discounted price,” hakase-san recommended with a warm smile.

It seems that the number of discounts available to Alchemy Guild members is determined by rank, and as vice guild master, he apparently has a lot of unused quotas.

Is it like doing through a proxy, asking a friend who has an employee discount to buy something for you?

I was worried if it might be a misuse of the member discount, but if the vice guild master says it’s fine, then probably it’s okay.

It’s worth asking just in case. It’s a kind of benefit offered as part of the guild’s employee welfare system. Aspiring alchemists can even sell the guild’s products using this discount system to earn a profit.

However, if you do it too much, you won’t be able to buy your own training materials at a lower price to improve your skills, so balancing that seems to be tricky. Practicing alchemy must be costly…

While as you get to a higher level, the discount rates increase and you get more quotas, but it’s obvious that you’ll make more money by making advanced potions than small profit margins from minor sales. That’s why they have surplus quotas.

I was told not to tell others about the high-level discount rates for master alchemists—but they’re incredible…

Of course, the guild prefers for them to buy lots of materials and produce expensive potions that sell for a high price, and deliver them to them. I get that, but…

Even in Japan, I imagine discounts offered to big clients or those with high transaction values must be quite impressive, and I found myself wistfully contemplating that.

Lured by the discount rate, I gratefully borrowed a quota and bought sugar, alcohol that resembles white liquor, and containers for infusion. Since I was at it, I also bought some glass containers a bit pricier than usual, small ceramic round containers, slime lids, and waxed cloth lids. I even bought oil, since they handled that too. I bought them all.

Because most of the items won’t spoil and they were cheap!

I’m weak when it comes to good bargains. I really am. I feel like I’ve gotten some return on the payment for the mugwort-like medicinal herbs.

Money really does circulate like that.

And, honestly, Hakase-san is really good at what he does.

He only lent me the quota; he’s not actually spending his own money. So it was easy for me to accept his offer. Still, I feel grateful, so if they make another request, I’d probably give them priority.

The guild sells them at a discount, but since I bought a lot, and the discount is factored into the employees welfare expenses, it’s fine.

I like their way of strengthening ties with adventurers who gather good herbs without hurting their own wallets.

“Thank you very much,” I said with a smile.

“You’re welcome. Please come again,” he replied with a gentle smile—he’s quite capable, isn’t he?

—

I ended up buying a little too much, so my luggage was quite heavy and large, but Mimi carried most of it with ease.

I’m surprised, considering how thin they look. Where do they get all that muscle strength from?

“Mimi, thank you. Isn’t it heavy?”

“Not heavy at all.”

I’m grateful. I couldn’t carry all this alone, and even if I use storage, there’s a high risk of things disappearing unnaturally in the middle of town being seen.

Kirara is carrying lighter items like the slime lids.

“Kirara, is it not too heavy for you?”

“I’m okay!”

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Both Mimi and Kirara said they were okay, so we went shopping for a little more food and daily necessities before returning to the hut.

Honestly, I was really glad they came along. I wouldn’t have been able to bring back this much loot all on my own.

—

So, continuing with the plum work.

I’d like to quickly weigh the weight, if possible, even if it’s just roughly.

So I will make a simple hanging scale.

With a wooden stick, string, a basket to hold items, and a weight, I should manage!

Thread a string through the beams of the shed and hang the stick. Attach the basket to one end of the string, and a movable weight to the other.

For now, I just need to be able to measure 1 kg, so I put two 500 ml plastic bottles in the basket and move the weight until the stick is level, and mark that point. I wonder if I’ll need to use this again. I’ll also mark the 500g point just in case.

This way, I should be able to measure 1 kg and 500 g.

I like to use about 1kg of sugar for every 1kg of plums! I like things sweet!

The basic ratio of plums, sugar, and alcohol is 1:1:1.8.

I alternated putting in the purchased sugar and plums, then poured in the alcohol.

Put the lid on, then shake it to see how it goes. The slime lid is super convenient—it stretches a little and then seals tightly.

When I was little, shaking the jar was a very important job that I was entrusted with. I enjoyed watching the ice sugar slowly dissolve and the mixture become rich.

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Plum syrup can be made with just sugar and plums. Adding a little vinegar is nice too, but I plan to use rock sugar to make it!

After all, rock sugar is widely recognized as the go-to when working with plums.

I alternate between adding rock sugar and plums, using the rock sugar I bought with my thousand-yen repeat purchase.

Since I prefer it sweeter, I put a bit more sugar to my plum syrup than the 1:1 ratio of plums.

When I’m on a diet, I cut back a little.

I believe it’s better not to skimp when it comes to sugar and salt, in order to preserve the food.

I also like very salty pickled plums that make your mouth pucker.

I also like salted salmon where just a small piece is enough to eat with a whole bowl of rice.

I give Mimi and Kirara each a piece of rock sugar to suck on.

“it’s sweet!”

“It’s hard.”

Some people try to chew candy right away…

Yes, rock sugar is sweet and delicious.

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It has no expiration date, and since it doesn’t become sticky even in hot weather, I kept rock sugar in my car and in my emergency kit. I tend to forget to replace foods with expiration dates…

I’ve heard that making plum wine and syrup with rock sugar makes it dissolve slowly, which helps prevent wrinkling due to osmotic pressure.

But I read a blog by someone who did experiments and found no difference in the final product whether using regular sugar or rock sugar.

It seems that whether it wrinkles depends more on the amount of sugar.

I love people who do these kinds of experiments—like changing the ingredients ratios for scones or experimenting with baking times-I’ve devoured blogs by people who experiment with these.

I also loved blogs by people who tried baking bread using cake flour or attempted to make various types of bread from around the world at home.

With the disappearance of Sugar Cities, a lot of information has vanished.

Since free blogging services are also disappearing one after another, even more valuable information will likely disappear

I like having something like a simple diary, but I thought it would be a problem if I lost it.

You know, that kind of thing like:

“I replaced my laptop HDD, so I’m making a note of it.”

“What I did when I got a blue screen while doing XX ____. This is a record.”

That kind of thing.

It’s because of those, that even someone like me who isn’t very tech-savvy could manage to do a lot of things…

How much I’ve been saved by phrases like “I’ll keep this as a memo,” “I’ll leave this here as a note,” “This is a memo,” “My personal record,” and “This is a tip.”