episode_0037

After a hectic day of rescuing elves and interrogating demons.

On a moonlit night, I stood alone in front of the World Tree.

“Phew… .”

‘The moon is so beautiful.’

It’s a situation where no one’s eyes can reach you, so no matter what you do, no one will know except that moonlight.

It was the first time I felt so free since falling into this game world.

It could be said that these are the optimal conditions to create a large amount of pure white, sweet liquid that only I can make.

and… I’m so full.

I couldn’t hold back any longer and rolled up my clothes.

-Sigh.

‘Oh, I’m so tired that I won’t be able to do this for long. ‘I need to sleep soundly.’

… Of course, it was the sleeves that were rolled up. The cooking I’m going to do now requires all my arms.

After that, I started busily purchasing cooking ingredients.

-Tung, Tung.

“Ha… .”

Items piled up on the table that Lucia brought in advance for the day when she would cook alone.

I couldn’t help but sigh when I saw the combination of items that were quite different from the food ingredients I usually used.

Because, the things I bought were glutinous rice, yeast, and bottled water.

… Because they were used when making makgeolli.

‘I used to spray makgeolli on pine trees instead of fertilizer, so wouldn’t this work too?’

Sprinkling Makgeolli on the World Tree.

This was a conclusion I came to after much thought in order to apply the effects of my cooking skills to the World Tree.

I’ve seen it before. It is said that makgeolli is sprinkled on pine trees and used as a substitute for fertilizer.

And, unlike sap, makgeolli probably falls into the category of cooking.

I was planning to make makgeolli in large quantities and pour it over.

‘I’ve always wanted to make alcohol… ‘It’s not easy to try to create something in a situation where you can’t fail.’

However, this is my first time making makgeolli myself.

Fortunately, I have read an episode related to makgeolli in a famous cooking comic, so I have a vague idea of the principle…

If I were to ask whether I had confidence or not, I would definitely say that I had none.

I have heard all too well how difficult brewing is.

‘But whatever. ‘Let’s give it a try.’

-Help.

However, since I am determined to heal the World Tree, I cannot give up.

I yawned lightly from sleepiness and started cooking.

Brew makgeolli on moonlit nights until you succeed. It was the beginning of that long journey.

* * * * * *

20 minutes later.

“… The color looks good, right?”

The first makgeolli was completed fairly quickly thanks to appropriate use of the acceleration function of ‘Kronos’ Blessing’.

At first, I thought there was nothing I could do about it rotting away, but surprisingly, the white color came out and I was excited.

… However, it didn’t take long for me to realize that this makgeolli was a failure.

‘for a moment. Why doesn’t the success effect appear? Hey, it’s hot, it’s hot.’

Until now, every time I cooked, the status window sparkled in the corner of my eye and congratulated me.

The fact that it doesn’t even have a success effect, let alone a huge success… Of course, it must have failed.

Feeling my excited heart subsiding, I scooped up some makgeolli and brought it to my mouth.

Afterwards, I let out a loud alcohol breath.

“Phuheap!!!”

‘It’s so cool!!!’

As soon as you put it in your mouth, makgeolli has an intense sour taste that indicates that something is seriously wrong.

I, who had become a human makgeolli sprayer, felt myself suddenly waking up and threw away the vinegar makgeolli.

Of course, we did not forget to consistently analyze the cause of failure.

‘Has it oxidized like wine? Or some other reason… ah!!! Come to think of it, I didn’t sterilize the jar!!!’

And thanks to you, it dawned on me that I had made a very basic mistake.

Just as you need to be careful about cross-contamination when cooking, when making alcohol, you should thoroughly disinfect the container to prevent germs from entering.

I summoned the pottery but did not disinfect it at all.

After finding the major problem, I quickly started making the next makgeolli.

‘where… Since the taste of alcohol was clearly there, I think you can cook godubap like last time. Should we try again?’

First, I soaked 1 kg of glutinous rice in water, then steamed it well and made godubap.

Afterwards, 200g of malt, which is 20% of the weight of the rice, is added to the well-cooled godubap.

Hands that had been thoroughly washed and disinfected with vinegar water were carefully tossing the rice and yeast until everything came together.

In the cartoon, this process was described as failing to make makgeolli, so it was even more thorough.

​

‘Ugh, I feel bad… .’

-Squishy.

Just as I was appalled by the gritty taste, the grains of rice and yeast were mixed well.

The last ingredient to go in there was bottled water, which I had specially ordered.

Normally, I would just boil it anyway and cook it with groundwater drawn from a well…

In this type of cooking that is not heated, pure water without mixed ingredients is the water of life.

anyway. After adding bottled water and mixing it well, I carefully put the contents into a jar that had been sterilized by boiling it in boiling water.

All that’s left is to cover it with a cloth and let it ripen while watching it bubbling at an appropriate temperature.

‘Fortunately, it’s cool because it’s night, so it’s perfect for making drinks.’

I enjoyed the romance of watching the moonlight for a while and making sake under the full moon, but that was only for a short time.

Soon, I used acceleration to advance the jar’s time by roughly a day.

The reason for not accelerating for about 3-4 days at once is to stir it well in between.

After going through so much trouble. The mixture, which had been a strange color, soon became a cloudy milky color.

The previous stages of makgeolli. It was the completion of Takju.

‘The color is okay this time too… ‘I guess I’ll skip it for now.’

On the surface, it appears to be well-aged, but when you drink it again, it may taste sour.

I carefully filtered the takju through a cotton cloth and mixed it with an appropriate amount of water to make makgeolli.

and,

-Tiring! You have succeeded in producing ‘Makgeolli’. Cooking skill bonus increases cooking effectiveness by 100%.

‘… what. ‘I didn’t know I would succeed the second time.’

Soon I was able to confirm that my decision to sterilize the container was absolutely correct.

Unlike the makgeolli that I made for the first time, which was so sour that I couldn’t drink it, even Sangtae Chang acknowledged, ‘This is good makgeolli.’

… However, my expression, which brightened for a moment, became distorted again after tasting the makgeolli.

‘It’s still a little sour. Write it.’

Because the makgeolli still tasted a little sour.

It was clear that the reason my cooking skill didn’t give me a ‘great success’ verdict was because I couldn’t catch this sour taste.

‘… ‘The success or failure of makgeolli is determined by how well you can control the sourness.’

“Ha… .”

But even though I had set a goal, only a sigh came out of my mouth.

Now that the basic problem has been solved, all that remains is to experiment by changing conditions such as the amount of water and temperature to be added during the first fermentation. Because it was just so-called ‘hard work’.

‘I don’t know if I’ll finish before I fall asleep. ha… ‘I’ll have to work hard.’

* * * * * *

While Sihyeon kept making makgeolli.

In Fraun’s dormitory, the voices of the two sisters were echoing loudly.

“Sister. Why did you hide the fact that I am a warrior?”

Among them, the voice with no pitch or emotion belongs to the blind elf, Lucia.

Fraun, sensing the rebuke contained in that flat voice, lowered his head in regret.

“… You can’t see what’s ahead. But I thought you would feel burdened if I told you that you had taken on the great task of becoming a hero.”

After that, what came out of her mouth were words full of worry for my younger brother.

She seemed like an older sister who even transferred all of the World Tree’s blessings that she deserved to her younger sister…

Lucia’s anger did not subside at all.

“Still, it’s too much to keep hiding it for weeks. If you knew that I was a hero, I would have told you… .”

“… To the warrior?”

However, the anger that was subtly boiling under the voice calmed down with just one word, ‘Hero.’

Fraun is puzzled by her sudden change in attitude.

Lucia, who was choosing her words for a moment, somehow felt a little embarrassed and changed her words.

“… anyway. What should I do if other warriors look at me negatively because of my sister? Sister, you changed your words several times about the hero. A person called Elizabeth has already set her sights on me.”

“Huh? All humans are like that. Selfish people who only care about themselves… .”

“A warrior doesn’t do that.”

“… Because the hero is a hero.”

“That’s it.”

But the conversation didn’t last long.

This was because Lucia, who was really young for an elf at 43 years old, did not like my older sister’s old-fashioned way of thinking, saying ‘humans are inherently’.

She stopped talking and immediately shot back coldly.

“Really, if the hero succeeds in restoring the World Tree to his condition… Please apologize to the warrior with me. sister. I’m sorry for lying to you all this time. ‘Politely’.”

“I apologize politely. Could you… … ?”

“Yes. That.”

“Whoo, whoo… okay. I will do it. Instead, I’ll just do it myself. Because it was me who was at fault. Only I should experience that kind of humiliation.”

“… … .”

However, Lucia’s heart softened a little when she heard Fraun’s words for her sister until the end.

Although I can tolerate it, it must be a very humiliating apology for my sister. Because he said he would put down all his pride as a high elf for himself.

“Okay.”

-Squeak.

“… Lucia? Where are you going?”

“Walk.”

Lucia, feeling slightly embarrassed by her sister’s devoted love, slowly got up and headed outside.

‘No matter what, I guess it was too much to ask him to do ‘that’’, ‘No. I keep repeating thoughts like ‘I have to do that much to be forgiven’ in my head.

-Tsk, tsk, tsk.

‘The World Tree. He said it would heal my eyes… If you really say so. How should we repay that favor?’

Afterwards, she took a walk under the moonlight to collect her thoughts.

Clicking your tongue continuously. After losing my sight, my hearing became more sensitive.

-Hmm… .

“… … ?”

However, her leisurely walk came to an end before she knew it.

The warrior’s friendly voice could barely be heard through enhanced hearing.

That voice is full of sleepiness. No, she realized that it was more like sleep talk and nodded her head.

‘You said you stayed up all night, but you fell asleep? … They told me not to let anyone in, but if you sleep outside, you’ll catch a cold. ‘I can’t help it.’

With her excellent hearing, she noticed that Sihyeon was asleep.

Ta-bak-ta-bak. My steps turned towards the World Tree.

“Lucia? What are you doing at this time of night?”

“I came to check on the hero. Get out of the way.”

“Yes.”

The Elven Knights, who had been on guard around the World Tree after hearing the order not to let anyone in, lightly let down their guard when the princess gave the order.

Leaving the girls behind, Lucia continued to click her tongue and headed forward.

Soon she was at the closest point to the World Tree. We reached the place where Sihyeon was cooking…

And Lucia tilted her head at the sight before her eyes.

“Hmm… … .”

‘… ‘Smell of alcohol?’

Because there was a small man, presumed to be a hero, lying on the floor.

There was something about the sight of him sleeping with his face red and drunk, something that stimulated the lust of many women…

Fortunately, since she was blind, she didn’t even notice the lustful appearance.

———Makgeolli sprinkled on one of the world tree’s vines, and the vine’s particularly green color.

“Hero. If you sleep in a place like this… .”

Lucia was only thinking about moving the warrior to his bedroom.

She carefully crouched down next to Sihyeon and tried to pick him up, but… …

-Kkook.

“… Hero. Please let go. Well, it’s difficult.”

“Hehehe… Mugwort injeolmi… … .”

-dump.

When Sihyeon turned around and hugged her, she fell on her butt in surprise.

He got drunk while tasting makgeolli and thought what I was holding was a body pillow, so he hugged me even more.

Because of this, Lucia was put in a position where Sihyeon was crushing her and she couldn’t move.

-Kkooook.

‘… … World tree. Why this ordeal?’

A few weeks ago, it was the moment when Lucia was hit by the same unconscious hug attack from the vision that Elizabeth suffered.