The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 233: The Taste of Distilled Liquor is Incredibly Poor (First Update)
The night before departure.

Baron Liszt had made a special trip to the brewing workshop in the workshop district, where brewers Frank Dregs, Bording, and Huntera had been fiddling with distilling spirits for over a month.

Yet the results had never been delivered to the castle.

“So, after all this time, besides continuing to make beer, rice wine, and fruit wine, you still haven’t managed to produce spirits?”

He asked with a displeased expression.

Compared to Levis’s home tutor Frank, the Brewmaster Frank Dregs was the one in charge of the brewing workshop, and he answered uneasily, “Lord, we have figured out the method and principle of distillation, but the spirits we distilled don’t seem to have the right taste of white spirits.”

“Bring out the spirits you’ve made.”

Quickly, the spirits they had distilled were presented before Liszt.

Frank explained, “Following the method you provided, Lord Landlord, we found that in the distillation process, the alcohol from the fermented wine evaporates first, leaving behind water. Duplicating the distillation should yield white spirits, yet every time we distill it multiple times, there are always odors of stench, sourness, astringency, and saltiness.”

Liszt took a small taste of the white spirits.

Although he did not like drinking white spirits, he had tasted the juniper wine in the castle. Compared to juniper wine, the white spirits brewed in Fresh Flower Town had a very bad taste and a strange flavor. He could discern some stinky and sourness, and the aroma of the drink was also very faint, feeling as if the alcohol content was not high.

“You’ve repeatedly distilled and this is the strength of the spirits you ended up with?”

“There are stronger spirits, but, that might… might not be wine anymore.”

“Bring it out.”

Even stronger spirits were quickly brought forth, and Liszt almost choked with just a slight taste. The drink was not only spicy but also had a heavy stench and a rotten flavor.

This was definitely a problem with the fermentation or distillation process.

Seeing Liszt’s reaction, all three brewers, Frank included, stood aside uncomfortably, looking ashamed. Distilling white spirits was not a highly difficult task, and yet after a month of research with guidance from Liszt’s ideas, they still couldn’t produce a satisfactory white spirit.

“An astonishing work efficiency!”

A surge of frustration swelled within him, yet he could not vent it.

The three before him were the only brewers in Fresh Flower Town.

If they had any real talent, they wouldn’t have been sent to Fresh Flower Town. They were probably just the leftover craftsmen, so he couldn’t hope for more.

After venting with one sentence, Liszt managed to contain his anger, “Forget it, continue to refine the process… First, bottle some of the low-strength spirits; I will take them with me.”

In the end, he did not punish the three.

At least the distilled spirits had indeed been distilled, and sooner or later, a way to remove the strange taste would be found.

To brew a special product of Fresh Flower Town – the Fresh Flower Brew.

Having Thomas carry the bottled spirits, Liszt returned to the castle, still planning to take this semi-finished white spirit to Tulip Castle.

Not as a gift, but rather as a lure for Levis, painting a grand vision for the other party.

Given the business of white spirits, a venture bound to be highly profitable, his trip to Tulip Castle was sure to grant him top-tier guest treatment and gain a share of ironware and iron ore.

…

The next morning.

The servants bustled about, moving gifts from Fresh Flower Town onto the carriage.

Rondo and Lasse, along with the Retainer Knights, were warming up. They had confirmed they would follow Liszt to Coral City. The Liszt of today was extraordinary, and setting out without a proper entourage wouldn’t be fitting for his status.

Servant Thomas led Douson, the Intermediate Magical Beast, which was part of Liszt’s display of prestige.

Another servant, Tom, held a beautiful Jade Box in which slept Thorn Minor Elf Jela. Her birth was destined to be the center of attention, and the messenger knight had made it clear that the Earl wished for Liszt to bring Jela to Tulip Castle so he could see the newest member of the Tulip Family.

To the Nobles, Elves were akin to family members.

Goltai also arrived early, but unfortunately, he had no part in this affair, as Liszt had commanded him to stay behind in Fresh Flower Town. He felt deeply regretful being unable to join the lavish feast, but the matters he needed to worry about were far more serious than missing out on any feast—his wife and children were coming to Fresh Flower Town to celebrate the yearly festival.

If things went poorly, his affair with Freya and their illegitimate child in her belly would be exposed.

The Sun rose in the east.

Fresh Flower Town, enveloped in ice and snow, became exceptionally bright.

“Mr. Carter, I don’t know how many days I will stay at Tulip Castle, so I’m entrusting the estate to you,” Liszt, impeccably dressed in Flack·Abbieye, was accentuated with an almost noble aura.

“My lord, rest assured.”

Carter led the remaining servants, watching as Liszt set off on his journey.

Mounting his horse, Liszt rode his Li Dragon Horse to the front of the procession. Behind him, Paris, who had donned a new set of leather armor and bore a great sword on her back and wore a face cloth, rode on horseback following him. As a guardian, she naturally had to ensure Liszt’s safety on such an occasion.

The party set off with great momentum.

On the main road from Fresh Flower Town to Thorn Ridge, the journey was smooth with stone-paved roads, and the snow had been shoveled away by town residents. But beyond Fresh Flower Town, the path turned into a mire of muddy roads that contrasted sharply with the earlier route.

Fortunately, everyone either rode horses or traveled by carriage, and none were on foot, allowing them to maintain a swift pace.

Enjoying the snowy scenery along the way, outside of Fresh Flower Town, where the snow was thickest, upon leaving North Valley City and entering Elm Forest City territory, snow became hardly visible, leaving only the muddy roads.

Around ten in the morning.

The procession entered Coral City, where the faint stench already reached Liszt. Luckily, he was prepared and had fastened plentiful dried Tulip flowers to his chest.

This was the red Tulip, with a rich aromatic scent.

In Coral City, both fresh and dried Tulips were hot sellers, as even those who lived there year-round could hardly get used to the constant unpleasant odor.

Thankfully, the convoy was merely passing through, heading straight for Tulip Castle.

The majestic Tulip Castle was surrounded by a sea of flowers, with multicolored Tulips fluttering in the cold wind. On the southern slope, one could see a large area of purple-black Tulips, the expanded Magic Potion Black Tulips that now dominated the largest area of the flower sea.

The Coral of the Tulip Great Sprite Xiangxiang was among these black Tulips.

Ascending the slope, Tulip Castle’s guard knights soon came to welcome the convoy. They led the team to the grand entrance of Tulip Castle and handed them over to the castle’s servants for reception.

Butler Louis was now needing the aid of a walking stick to move about.

But every time the Earl’s offspring returned to the castle, he personally greeted them at the gate—after all, he had watched these young Tulips grow up with his own eyes.

“Every day, as I see the rise of the Sun, I am reminded of the Earl’s offspring, like the rising of red suns. But the happiest thing is to see all of you return to the castle like weary birds flying home.” The old man’s words, like reciting poetry, were full of various metaphors and rhetoric.

As Liszt dismounted, he greeted with a smile, “Grandpa Louis, you’ve come out to meet us in person again. How have you been feeling lately?”