Ch.160Ambitious Challenge, Small Failure

Upon returning to the Paracelsus Workshop, Lady Linda immediately shut herself in the laboratory after dinner and began developing a treatment.

She said that even at the earliest, results wouldn’t be available until tomorrow morning, and even if the treatment was successful, they would need to monitor the condition for about a day.

Meanwhile, Mina had left the emergency treatment room after taking painkillers provided by the workshop and was resting in her guest room. Though she occasionally felt mild pain from her enlarged breasts, which hindered her analysis of the artifact, it was much more bearable compared to the severe pain from the night before. However, Jessica decided to sleep in the same room as Mina in case her condition suddenly changed during the night.

Fortunately, there were no significant changes in Mina’s condition overnight, and in the morning, Lady Linda came to Mina’s room with the completed treatment. Though I wanted to observe the treatment process, I was kicked out of the room since Mina needed to remove her top and apply the medicine directly to her bare chest. Judging by how Lady Linda’s chest had become as modest as Phyllis’s… there was probably no need to doubt the medicine’s effectiveness.

The treatment with the medicine took about an hour, and it would take roughly three hours for the effects to fully manifest. I was allowed to see Mina after lunchtime.

“The master has returned!”

“You’ve been through a lot.”

Mina got out of bed and struck a victory pose, her chest having returned to its original size. After seeing how enormous it had been before, I almost felt like it looked smaller than before, but that was probably just an optical illusion.

“Yeah~ People really should live as they are. I tripped so many times because I couldn’t see my feet.”

“This time, I truly don’t know how to apologize…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine! Anyway, I’ve safely returned to normal, and I got to experience what life is like for a woman with large breasts!”

“Are you really okay with letting it go like that? Strictly speaking, this incident was a medical accident caused by the workshop’s negligence in verifying side effects. You have the right to claim compensation.”

At the word “compensation,” a visible crack seemed to appear on Lady Linda’s haggard face. True, Mina’s chest had returned to normal, but the pain and side effects she experienced couldn’t be undone, and our party had been stuck here for two days and forced to fight dangerous monsters, all because of the Breast Enhancement Cream. However, Mina shook her head gently, indicating that she wouldn’t press charges against Lady Linda.

“I’ve failed several times with gun modifications and magical tool crafting while traveling with you all, but you always supported me until the end. So I don’t want to criticize someone else’s failure when they were working hard on their research.”

“Customer…!”

“Well, even if a successful version is created later, I don’t think I’ll need it anymore! Hehehe.”

After saying this to Lady Linda, who was tearing up with emotion, Mina looked at me and gave me a wink. It seems her reason for wanting larger breasts was indeed to appeal to me.

And so, the series of events related to the Breast Enhancement Cream came to a heartwarming conclusion. The cost paid for the cream was naturally refunded, and detailed examinations after the cure confirmed that Mina’s body had no aftereffects or side effects. With everything back to normal, it was time to head toward our next destination. Departing from the Paracelsus Workshop at the somewhat late hour of 2 PM, we set off in our covered wagon pulled by Ancestor, heading toward the third outpost of the Southern Bypass.

“Pitter-patter… pitter…”

“Oh, it’s raining.”

About three hours after leaving the Paracelsus Workshop, just as we were thinking about finding a suitable campsite, we heard raindrops falling on the wagon’s canopy.

“This is troublesome. I don’t see any good spots for camping nearby.”

“Let’s just set up tents around here. We’ve already loaded firewood in the wagon, so we can start a campfire right away.”

“That’s what we’ll have to do. We should hurry before the rain gets heavier.”

For safety, it would be better to find a clearing in the forest where we wouldn’t be easily spotted, but when that’s not possible, we have to accept camping in open areas. Other travelers on the same route would also have to stop due to the rain anyway. With Jessica’s Repellation Field, we wouldn’t have to worry about surprise attacks during sleep, so we could get through one night without major issues.

“Airy Curtain!”

With Jessica’s Airy Curtain blocking the rain, we quickly got off the wagon and began preparing our camp. Once we lit the campfire before the firewood got wet, secured a safe zone with the Repellation Field, and finished setting up the tents, we wouldn’t have to worry even if the rain intensified. Once the Repellation Field was activated, the campfire would change from a natural fire to a magical phenomenon, meaning it wouldn’t be extinguished by ordinary rain.

With sleeping arrangements settled, the next step was preparing dinner. Having obtained a cheat-level item like the Crafting Tablet, we no longer needed to eat dry bread and jerky while sheltering from rain, or struggle to heat food around a campfire. With just ingredients and plates, we could enjoy completed dishes more conveniently than with a microwave.

“Tonight’s dinner menu is buttered potatoes, potato cheese soup, and apple juice.”

“Wow~ The Crafting Tablet really is amazing.”

“It’s not quite that simple. After using it for a few days, I’ve started to figure out which dishes work well with it and which don’t.”

Dishes that worked well with the Crafting Tablet were those with little room for variables between ingredients and completion, where following a memorized recipe would guarantee consistent quality. Things like sandwiches, roasted sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, salads, and so on. Conversely, it didn’t work well with dishes like stews or hot pots that required seasoning adjustments based on ingredients, or roast beef that needed cooking time adjustments by checking the meat’s doneness.

“Still, just cutting down on preparation time makes it an incredible item. If we had obtained it before tackling the Corcas Mine, we could have fully equipped all the Water King tribe with scale shields and recaptured it in one go.”

“Wait a minute. So the Crafting Tablet can skip the middle process if the path from ingredients to result is clear, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then couldn’t we make alcohol too? Like 30-year-old whiskey in an instant?”

“Hmm…?”

Using the Crafting Tablet to shorten the fermentation process and create decades-aged wine or whiskey in the blink of an eye? It might be possible…?

“…Let’s test it.”

“Do you know how to make alcohol?”

“No. But since grapes can naturally ferment into something like wine, just verifying the fermentation part should be enough.”

I’ve seen people make homemade fruit wine by putting fruit, soju, and sugar in large water containers and letting them sit. As it happens, we have 1kg of apples from the Paracelsus Workshop’s grocery store, and we always keep basic seasonings like sugar and salt on hand.

“Alright. Let’s try it right away. I’ll use my water bottle as a container, and with apples and sugar… how long should we set the fermentation period?”

“Two months should be enough to get a decent result.”

“Good. Then, imagining fruit wine that’s been aged for two months… activate.”

When I placed the apples, sugar, and water bottle on the Crafting Tablet and channeled mana into it, all the ingredients except the bottle disappeared completely. If the tablet worked as intended, the bottle should now contain a fragrant apple wine with a sweet aroma. Mina, who enjoys alcohol, as well as Jessica, Seti, and Phyllis, all watched the experiment results with excitement.

“Alright, then I’ll be the first to taste…”

“That’s not fair! I want to try it too!”

“I suppose Mina, being a dwarf, would know more about alcohol. Let’s each have a sip.”

When I opened the bottle cap, a thick apple scent and alcohol smell wafted out. I wasn’t sure about the quality or taste, but the attempt to make alcohol itself seemed successful. We poured the yellowish liquid into camping tin cups and toasted to the success of our experiment. Mina boldly downed hers in one shot, while I chose to take a small sip and savor the taste slowly. And then, the next moment,

“”PFFT!?””

We both simultaneously turned our heads toward the outside of the tent and spat out what was in our mouths.

“Blech! *cough* *cough* This is vinegar!”

“Gah… *hack*.”

Mina clutched her throat, coughing and shedding tears. I couldn’t bear the overwhelming vinegar smell filling my mouth either. It was a moment that firmly taught us not to attempt making alcohol or fermented foods with amateur knowledge.