Kays Translations

Chapter 90: Made in Barrels

　Mr. Henry has been reaching out to herbalist stores throughout the capital to buy herbs for potions. He also seems to be sending people to the lost forest to collect fresh medicinal herbs.

“I’ve been buying up everything I can get my hands on, but couldn’t you have used transformation magic to turn the grass around there into medicinal herbs?”

“I wasn’t sure. The coffee and seasonings I made through transformation all tasted slightly different. Even if they looked the same, I don’t think they would be the same product unless all the ingredients were present. It would be a problem if the potions didn’t work, so I want to play it safe.”

“I’m sure you’re right. That would be better.”

　

　At night, many barrels and mountains of herbs were brought into the backyard of the “hideaway”. Driving the two wagons were Mr. Henry and the Howler family’s driver. I wanted to make the barrels myself with magic, but I didn’t have enough iron for the tag to fasten the barrels. The iron pot store was ‘closed for the time being. ‘ I asked one of the neighbors and he said they were temporarily moving out of the area.

“Is it because of the epidemic?”

“I doubt it. She went to the mountains where her parents live. Her husband’s parents are also blacksmiths, so she’ll probably work there.”

　I could have bought ironware at another store, but that store was convenient because they just called me an iron pot-head and didn’t pry too much.

“Henry, do you know how much a wine barrel holds? How many people would each potion serve if it was 200ml?”

“The barrel’s capacity is roughly 300 wine bottles. Which is  about 750 milliliters of wine in it… so that’s enough potions for 1,125 people.”

　You are very fast in your calculations. Kyrias-kun’s portion was about 150 milliliters, but I think I’ll distribute a little more.

“Let’s do a rough calculation and think of one barrel as enough for 1,100 people. Understood. We’ll allocate the pile of herbs accordingly.”

“I’ll have our cooks sort them according to the capacity of the barrels. It will take too much time if we do it alone. Mai, please use all your strength, energy, and magic to make the potions.”

“I understand that too. How will you explain this to the cooks?”

　Mr. Henry lifted the ends of his mouth slightly, “Huh.”

“Not only the cooks, but all the servants who work in our house keep their mouths shut about what they see and hear. My mother chooses ‘tight-lippedness’ as her first requirement. More importantly, what about the cellar that’ll house these barrels and the medicinal herbs?”

“Oh, I’ll make that now.”

“Now?　May I take a look?”

“Of course.”

　The time now is nine o’clock at night. There are many shops around and not many people living there, but I still have to be careful. I’ll try to work without making noise or vibrations as much as possible.

“First, we need to build a stairway to the basement.”

　I have an idea of how to do this without digging out the ground. I use earth magic and fire magic at the same time. I heat the soil while compressing it, removing the moisture and making it hard. A tremendous amount of steam is generated, and the steam becomes a steamy vapor. I use wind magic to blow it up into the sky. I don’t use heavy machinery, so the construction is quiet and there’s little vibration. Nice!

　A stairway to the basement is created. Mr. Henry is looking at it with a blank look on his face, but I get the feeling he is surprised.

　Next, I went down the flight of stairs and stood at the bottom, completing a decent-sized basement. The walls, ceiling, and floor were smooth and hard. A basement that looked like it was made of black granite was completed.

“You used three spells at the same time? That’s amazing. Mai-san, as expected…”

“As expected?”

“No, ……, it’s nothing.”

“Well, now we have to get the barrels into the basement. I’ll use transformation magic to move them.”

　After moving the pile of barrels into the basement without touching them, Henry lets out a small “huff” of breath.

“I’m not surprised by anything anymore, but transformation magic is just too convenient. Mai-san, are you out of magical power?”

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem to get tired even after casting so many spells. That’s why, you continued releasing message magic with all your might until you ran out of magic power.”

“I, I’m very sorry about that.”

“I don’t mind. It was a valuable experience. Why don’t we call it a night and start making potions tomorrow?　I will bring in the barrels tomorrow, too. Also, if we supply this many potions, people will definitely be wondering who made them. So make sure you lock the door properly at night.”

　Mr. Henry left with a worried look on his face.

　The entrance to the basement was sealed with thick wooden planks and covered with soil to hide it. It would be troublesome if it became known that there were large quantities of special-grade potions in here.

　The next morning, I woke up to the sound of bells ringing in an unfamiliar rhythm: clang, clang, clang.

　Dion, who brought Sophia-chan over, told me, “That bell is a signal that the disease Control law has been implemented today.” When I said, “I’m worried about Sophia-chan,” Dion looked around and then replied in a small voice.

“We beastmen are resistant to ordinary people’s illnesses and diseases. It doesn’t mean that we don’t get sick at all, but even if we are unlucky enough to get sick, it’s usually just a cold. Three-year-old Sophia will probably be fine.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.”

“On the other hand, there are some diseases that only beastmen can get. In those cases, there is a specialist doctor a short distance away. There is no need to worry.”

　I wonder if he means Dr. Gonza.

“I’m relieved to hear that. Sophia-chan is always so energetic.”

“Fee-chan, I’m fine!”

“That’s good. Being healthy is the most important thing.”

　Henry also came to the restaurant for lunch and ordered take-out.

“Because of the new disease control law, it is forbidden to eat out. No one, regardless of status, is allowed to eat out. For me, who came here to relax, it’s sad that I can’t eat inside the restaurant.”

“Is It impossible to bring in the barrels?”

“I can come. We are still in the process of banning eating out, not going out. However, the disease is spreading quite rapidly among the nobles and their servants. The disease will spread to the commoners soon. I hope you don’t get it, Mai.”

“I think it’ll probably be okay.”

　I have already been vaccinated for chickenpox. If the chickenpox virus in this world is similar to the virus in the other world, the symptoms should be mild even if I am infected. I hope the viruses are similar.

　The disease control law came into force, and the number of people in the city suddenly decreased. “The Hideaway” only serves takeaways, and there are few orders for them.

　Henry said, “I’d like to see how the potions are made,” so I said, “Come in,” and led him down to the basement.

　I stand facing the barrel with my feet apart and pour water vigorously with water magic. I’m making a large amount, and kyrias-kun said that “potions don’t have a definite effect unless you pour strong magical power into them,” so I want to pour as much magical power into it as I can.

　Suddenly, I remembered the time when I attended a neighborhood karate class from kindergarten to junior high school graduation. Let’s try to do it in a tile-splitting motion to pour a lot of magic power in an instant.

　I moved my fist slowly, checked the trajectory twice, and then with a burst of energy, “Hi-yah!,” I released magic power from my fist.

　The pile of medicinal herbs nearby was instantly and soundlessly turned into fine powder.

　After making a barrel of potion, I said, “That’s it!” and looked at Henry, and he looked at me with a blank stare.

“Maybe my cry surprised you? This is from a martial art I was learning …….”

“It’s not boiled.”

“Boil?　The medicinal herbs?　What, boil them?　But according to my grandma’s knowledge, …… do other people boil herbs and then pour magical power into them?　My goodness, I’m super lucky that I didn’t say anything extra to anyone about how to make potions!　Ah ……”

　I shouldn’t have done that, I shouldn’t have. I was just using the language of the other side.**

“I see. I didn’t know you had to boil it to extract the ingredients. That makes sense. But, if it’s been appraised as special grade when made this way, then there shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“Would you share some of that potion with me?　Yes, I think Mr. Glidden can be trusted. I will ask him to give an accurate appraisal.”

“No, please wait. If the disease is spreading among the nobles, I will bring it to him. Henry-san, it’s possible that you are infected but just haven’t developed any symptoms yet. I heard from Dion that beastmen are less susceptible to diseases that affect ordinary people.”

“Oh? I’ve never heard that before. I see, that’s why I’m so strong and never get sick.”

　So that’s how I ended up going to Mr. Glidden to have my potions appraised.

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