While Flora and Chen Mian were cooking in the kitchen, Luolin ran down excitedly and stopped at the kitchen door. “Mr. Chen Mian! Miss Flora! My Mana Level has increased! I woke up this morning and found that my mana has grown a lot stronger!”
“How much did it increase?” Chen Mian asked, turning around to look at the excited Luolin.
“From Level 14 to Level 16!” Luolin said excitedly. After saying this, she even tried to condense a wind blade in her hand. Although it was very weak, the intensity of her mana had indeed reached Level 16.
Chen Mian looked at the wind blade in Luolin's hand and thought for a moment. “It might be because you drank the fruit wine.”
“The fruit wine...” Luolin repeated, her eyes widening.
“Was the fruit wine in that clay pot the batch you brewed earlier and left in the Brewing Workshop?” Chen Mian nodded and continued to ask.
“Mmh!” Luolin nodded vigorously. “Everyone in the village followed your instructions, Mr. Chen Mian, and poured the fermented wine from the shed into the Brewing Workshop to age. It didn't take long before we could smell a rich aroma of fruit wine. When Sister Tina heard that everyone at the apartment was having grilled fish, she had me bring over a small pot.”
“How much wine is in the Brewing Workshop right now?”
“There are five barrels in the aging room—that's the batch everyone brewed earlier. The rest is still fermenting in the vats. However, all twelve fermentation vats are currently full, so we'll have to wait two days for them to finish fermenting before we can make new ones,” Luolin explained after thinking for a moment.
Since Chen Mian had put Luolin in charge of the farm, she carefully made sure to understand the details of all the farm's products every day.
“Then have Tina and the others bring out a barrel, and tell everyone in the village to gather there with a cup,” Chen Mian instructed after a brief thought.
“Okay!” Luolin nodded, grabbing her wooden sword and running excitedly out of the apartment, leaving only the two of them in the kitchen once more.
Flora continued to add the ground Moonlight Grass powder into the batter, gently kneading it until the dough turned a light green. “Mr. Chen Mian, does the fruit wine brewed in the Brewing Workshop actually increase mana?”
Chen Mian handed her the plate in his hand. “Mmh, Luolin's sudden breakthrough is probably because of the fruit wine. The Brewing Workshop is just like the farm—it improves the quality of its products.”
“But I didn't feel any increase at all?” Flora blinked, a hint of confusion in her voice.
“Because you are already a Red Jade Rank mage, Flora. This tiny amount of mana is less than what you would naturally absorb on your own.”
“That makes sense...”
“However, the wine brewed later on might be a different story,” Chen Mian said with a smile as he looked at Flora. “What we drank was just a semi-finished product that hadn't gone through much processing in the Brewing Workshop. The mana increase was probably mostly due to the effects of the mana grapes.”
“Does that mean we can get stronger just by drinking wine in the future?” Flora asked, a touch of wonder in her voice.
“Probably. We won't know for sure what level it can reach until the fully processed fruit wine is ready, though the yield of that kind of wine won't be very high.” Chen Mian looked at Flora's surprised expression and continued, “The special containers needed for brewing are limited in number. However, we can probably brew a lot of wine with weaker effects like the one from last night. I'll have them all drink a cup later and see how it affects them day by day.”
Flora blinked, her movements slowing down. “Does that mean I can also drink mana-enhancing wine in the future?”
“Mmh... but with your alcohol tolerance, Flora, you can only drink a tiny bit each day. Otherwise, you'll be talking nonsense every single day.”
Flora imagined the scene and couldn't help but laugh as well. She then placed the kneaded dough onto the cutting board and gently flattened it. “It's not nonsense! What about you, Mr. Chen Mian? Do you ever get drunk...?”
“Not really,” Chen Mian said, leaning against the stove counter. After a moment, he added, “But I think the way you look when you're drunk is very cute, Flora.”
Flora's face flushed red. She lowered her head and earnestly rolled the dough, pretending she hadn't heard him.
Only after a good while did she mumble in a soft voice, “...I didn't do anything after I got drunk.”
“Mmh, you didn't do anything,” Chen Mian agreed, nodding along. “You just held onto me and wouldn't let go.”
“Mr. Chen Mian!” Flora looked up, giving him a shy and annoyed glare, though her eyes were filled with amusement. “...If you keep teasing me, I won't make you any Moonlight Grass pastries.”
“Then I'll help you knead the dough.”
“No need~ Leave it to me. Just watch, Mr. Chen Mian.”
After a while, the kitchen was filled with the fresh aroma of pastries and Moonlight Grass.
“Mr. Chen Mian! Everyone in the village has gathered,” Luolin said, running back and standing at the kitchen door.
“Flora, I'm going out for a bit.”
“Mmh! The pastries will be baked by the time you get back, Mr. Chen Mian,” Flora said, turning her head to point at the pastries in the oven.
When Chen Mian walked out of the apartment, over a dozen demi-human villagers had already gathered in the open space. They stood around an oak barrel filled with wine, their faces filled with curiosity and anticipation.
“Mr. Chen Mian is here!” someone shouted, and the crowd automatically parted to make a path.
Chen Mian walked up to the wine barrel, looked at Tina next to it, and said, “Open the wine and let everyone have a cup to see the effects.”
“Is it... really okay?” Tina looked up from the wine barrel and asked.
“Drink. You all brewed this wine anyway,” Chen Mian said with a nod. “This way, we can also see the effects more directly.”
Tina nodded and carefully opened the sealed lid on the oak barrel. A rich aroma of wine instantly spread through the air. It was even more mellow than the wine in the clay pot on the rooftop last night, carrying the distinct fruitiness of grapes and the woody scent of the oak barrel. After aging for one more night, the fragrance of the fruit wine had become even more intense.
She poured a cup for Chen Mian first. “Please try it first.”
Chen Mian took the cup, lifted it, and took a sip. The aroma was indeed richer than last night, and any astringency was completely gone. The taste wasn't bad at all, even compared to the wine he had drunk in Wigtan. If it aged a bit longer, wine of this quality would be hard to find, not to mention its ability to enhance mana.
Seeing Chen Mian drink the wine, the villagers finally lined up to get their drinks from Tina. Soon, everyone held a cup of wine in their hands.
Sari lifted the wine to his nose and sniffed. He knew very well how precious this wine was. Brewing a single barrel required at least three hundred pounds of grapes, and they were grapes grown in the Mana Orchard. Drinking such fruit wine was something they wouldn't have even dared to dream of before.
Finally, he brought it to his lips and took a small sip. A rich aroma of fruit wine instantly burst across his palate.
“...It's so delicious!” Sari said, his eyes wide.
A wine like this probably wasn't much inferior to the legendary brews of the dwarves...
“Uncle Sari, Mr. Chen Mian didn't gather everyone here just because the wine tastes good,” Luolin said from the side, holding her own cup. “Feel the changes in your body carefully.”
Hearing Luolin's words, Sari focused on his senses. Then, his eyes suddenly widened. “M-My mana is slowly growing stronger?!”
Rate on N.U.
