Chapter 9
Chapter 9. Ugly Flower (5)
Getting up at the crack of dawn in the demon realm.
Going around the 4th floor reward rooms in circles and having Vic store the materials.
Coming back down through the demon realm's 3rd, 2nd, and 1st floors.
Even finishing customs procedures by paying 25% tariffs in kind at the customs office.
Though they hurried somewhat, by the time the two left the premium lounge, it was already close to midnight.
Nortaris is a city that shines brighter at night.
The square bustled with adventurers finishing day trips and wholesalers purchasing goods fresh from demon realms.
The row of inns and hotels lined up achieved bustling success with guests checking in.
Penelope looked very tired.
"You really worked hard yesterday and today."
"Ugh, I feel grimy. I want to take a bath..."
Penelope, who would normally have said snippily 'Is that all the gratitude for my hard work?', was dragging her shoes as she walked.
"It's too late... Miss Penelope, is your home far from here? I'll get you nearby lodging. Rest well."
Personally, he was very grateful.
Not only did he benefit from her permit, but he never imagined she would help so enthusiastically.
Though he still doesn't quite understand the reason.
"It's fine."
"Didn't you also use expensive alchemical catalysts? I want to show that level of sincerity too, so don't decline."
"Hmm~ Well, I'll accept the thanks. But I don't need lodging."
Life suddenly filled Penelope's voice, which had seemed ready to collapse.
The change was so drastic it was bewildering whether she had been exaggerating all along.
"I have VIP membership at The Richfield Hotel."
"You sure have a lot of things."
"...Did you hear properly? The Richfield Hotel VIP?"
'The Richfield Hotel' was, as its name suggested, the top hotel in Lichfield Square.
A landmark visible from anywhere in the square with its overwhelming height of 12 floors.
"150 years of tradition. Elegant mid-Britannia architectural style. A high-rise hotel owned by the Rosemore family that has never once lost the title of Nortaris's finest since opening. Don't you know?"
"I know it. Where would you find someone living in Nortaris who doesn't know that hotel? It's clearly visible over there."
"...Never mind."
Penelope, whose vitality had disappeared again, finished her greeting carelessly and disappeared.
"Hmm."
She really was an unpredictable young lady.
***
Though Nortaris shines brighter at night, that's limited to bustling streets.
The ghost commercial district Brellum Shopping Street, where it's hard to find people even in broad daylight, was submerged in silence as if ghosts really might wander around.
—Jingle jingle
Entering the shop and lighting the lamp, warm orange illumination eased the bleakness.
Being in a familiar place put his mind at ease, and as his mind relaxed, tension released and fatigue was felt.
"It's been a while since staying up two nights in a row."
It must be because he couldn't sleep last night either, keeping watch.
During the height of conquering demon realms, there were times when he defended against monster waves for a whole week without sleeping a wink, half-dozing.
"I've become much weaker compared to the past."
—Hisssss
He brewed coffee strong to chase away drowsiness and went up to the 2nd floor.
Originally, the 2nd floor was a workshop used for making coffee machines, but it's currently left empty.
The reason Jurgen didn't go straight to nearby lodging was because there was work to do here tonight.
"Vic. Would you take out the materials?"
Namely, processing the materials obtained from the Labyrinth Demon Realm.
Since the reward room resources weren't in finished form, this kind of work required effort.
[Here]
Vic's tentacles moved swiftly and piled cinnamon, nutmeg fruits, neroli, and vanilla beans one basket each on the work table.
Coca-Cola's recipe is top secret, strictly stored in bank vaults.
Only 2 people in the world know the recipe, and even partner companies with licenses for production don't know the exact manufacturing method...
...which is part of mystique-maximizing marketing, and now many people know that's a lie.
It's not semiconductor dealing with nano units, and the components of a mere liquid come out easily when run through machines.
According to analysis by Britannia's advanced liquid analyzer, ingredients going into cola are largely two categories.
First, the base: carbonated water, phosphoric acid, sugar, caffeine, caramel coloring.
But mixing just these creates only black, sour, oddly bitter carbonated sugar water.
The second ingredient, 'flavoring,' was the kick of the cola recipe.
Depending on what ratio this flavoring went in, the taste and thickness and breadth of the drink's aroma would change dramatically.
Jurgen was trying to implement that flavoring with locally sourced materials as much as possible.
"Help me a bit too."
[Candy?]
"I'll give you plenty of candy."
[Plenty!]
Vic, who had been peeking eyes out from between bags, came crawling over using tentacles with delight.
"I'll teach you one by one. Watch well and follow along. First, peel the bark off the cassia wood. That's right, like that."
The first ingredient was cassia wood.
He used a scraper to peel only the bark parts from the cassia wood that Penelope had chopped into good pieces.
[Easy] [Vic] [Genius]
"As expected of you."
Since Vic often helped with processing alchemical materials, it followed along skillfully after seeing just one demonstration.
"Next is how to process nutmeg fruit."
The second ingredient, nutmeg.
Once the queen of spices that traded for more than its weight in gold on Earth.
The fruit resembles a western pear and has the characteristic of a large seed stuck in the center like an avocado.
Actually, the flesh itself has no value; the seed in the center is important.
The red membrane covering the seed is 'mace,' a separately classified spice, and after removing the mace, drying and grinding the seed kernel becomes nutmeg.
A cool, refreshing scent like mint, while also feeling like a mix of round cinnamon and ginger fragrances?
"We'll only use the seeds, so you can eat the flesh. Ah, that red thing too."
[Vic] [Joy]
The third ingredient is neroli, orange blossoms.
Not the commonly known orange, but flowers harvested from bitter oranges.
Due to their fresh citrus scent, they were often used as perfume ingredients.
"Miss Lily really liked this scent and wore it every day."
[Mom?]
"Hey, Miss Lily gets angry when she hears such things. Anyway, for neroli, just throw away the wilted flowers."
[Roger!]
Since these white flowers will be pressed whole to extract essential oil, no special processing is needed.
"Hmm... The problem is this one."
However, the last ingredient, vanilla beans, was somewhat troublesome.
Vanilla beans freshly harvested from the demon realm looked like giant green bean pods.
Inside the pods are sticky grains called 'vanilla bean caviar,' which become the core of vanilla fragrance.
"The problem is we can't just use this as is."
Simply scraping out the caviar isn't enough.
Freshly harvested vanilla beans lack sweetness and flavor while having strong grassy and bitter tastes.
They must be blanched until the pods turn brown, then undergo fermentation and drying in cool places.
However, for Jurgen, Britannia's greatest alchemist, it's just labor-intensive work, not difficult.
An alchemist's skill is also related to how well they process materials.
"I'll have to give it a try."
He prepared a large pot and heated water to 80 degrees.
When the plump, elongated vanilla beans were put in hot water, they began showing brownish color in less than a minute.
This work prevents spoilage during fermentation and promotes aging, but conversely, it's troublesome if they get too cooked.
Keep the time short, 1-2 minutes.
"Take them out around now..."
Afterward, he needs to cover the vanilla beans with white cloth and maximize vanilla fragrance through fermentation.
Normally a week is needed while maintaining 40-50 degree temperature, but where's the time for that?
He needs to make cola as quickly as possible, even if it's just one day sooner.
Jurgen projected magic power into the vanilla beans.
"Acceleration."
Simple alchemy consisting of only one 'code.'
There wouldn't be many alchemists on the entire continent who could implement that without catalysts.
Magic power penetrated the vanilla beans and accelerated enzyme fermentation.
After timing it, he moved to the second task.
"Drying."
The vanilla beans, longer than adult palms, instantly shriveled and turned dark brown close to black.
Jurgen withdrew his hand at the appropriate moment.
When split in half and scraped in the center with a thin metal rod, stickily concentrated black caviar emitted rich vanilla fragrance.
Needless to say, it was a great success.
"I'm getting the hang of it."
As expected, not difficult but quite labor-intensive.
However, it's trouble worth enduring for cola.
"It seems overtime is confirmed for today."
[Overtime] [Candy] [Lots]
"I'll give you ten."
[Ten!!!]
Vic, who had been peeling cassia bark with dozens of tentacles, danced joyfully.
***
The Richfield Hotel is different from the lobby.
Marble floors shining like a black and white chess board.
An antique chandelier extending long from the center of the high ceiling and ivory decorations wrapping the stair railings.
Throughout the hotel, abundant roses—the symbol of the Rosemore family—show off their freshness, forgetting even the season.
Dress hems swaying like tropical fish tails to piano music and the genteel laughter of men dressed in tailcoats.
People packaging themselves in exaggerated elegance as if proving they're upper class.
Just crossing one revolving door felt like stepping into another world.
This might not be a simple metaphor.
Ordinary people would never step on even the lobby's marble in their lifetime, and only carefully selected customers can have their names on Richfield Hotel's guest registry.
Richfield Hotel wasn't simply a symbol of wealth but a symbol of dignity representing Nortaris.
Meaning it's a space that suits Penelope perfectly.
But for her, this luxurious scene was more suffocating than the square bustling with sweaty adventurers.
"......"
"......"
"......"
As Penelope entered the center of the lobby, silence flowed around them.
The gaze of a lady covering her mouth with a fan, and the gazes of gentlemen acting arrogantly with chins held high.
They keep glancing at Penelope.
But only briefly.
As Penelope headed toward a corner of the lobby, the commotion that had been cut off like broken audio continued.
What content might be contained in the lowered whispering.
She was no longer curious.
'That's Penelope. The third daughter of the Rosemore family, right?'
'That's right, it's amazing how shamelessly she walks the streets? If it were me, I couldn't even hold my head up.'
'Incompetent, arrogant, and shameless too? Hmph, that's why there are no marriage proposals coming and going.'
'Ahem, still, her face is decent, so she'd be fine as a lover? If she begged from her side, we couldn't not meet her.'
'Watch your mouth. No matter what, that's still Rosemore.'
'What's there to fear? They say the family doesn't care about that child.'
Roughly this kind of content.
When Penelope turned her head with an expressionless face, those whose eyes met hers hurriedly avoided their seats.
"Have you arrived, young miss? Shall I contact Manager Ritz?"
"It's fine. I'm tired, so could you guide me to my room?"
Guided by the butler, Penelope took the elevator and arrived at the top floor guest room.
"Please have a comfortable rest..."
"Thank you. Go on in."
—Click
Only then did Penelope gasp for breath as if she had been trapped in a fishbowl.
The guest room was, as always, so luxurious it would make even the lobby's extravagance pale.
"Haa..."
Penelope, who carelessly threw off her shoes and clothes, walked barefoot across the red rug toward the bathroom.
The bathtub, indistinguishable between artwork and household item, had thoughtfully drawn bathwater.
She checked the water temperature with her toes.
Perfect.
Penelope gently lowered her body into the steaming bathtub.
"I feel somewhat alive..."
Her voice echoed because the bathroom was too spacious for one person.
Yes.
This is the life that suits Penelope.
Not getting covered in sawdust while logging trees in demon realms, or sleeping outdoors wrapped in blankets by campfires.
A destiny determined from birth, decided the moment she inherited Rosemore family blood.
When the bath ends, Penelope will wear a soft robe while drinking spring water from crystal bottles to replenish moisture.
If she gets a bit hungry, she'll take fresh fruit from the basket on the table and sleep in a bed fluffier than clouds.
If she's a bit bored, she might read books while viewing the night scene visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
As always.
Naturally.
Alone.
"I want to drink cola..."
Penelope lightly rested her head against the bathtub's side.