Chapter 42
Chapter 42. The First Secret Plan (6)
In Britannia, gastronomy was merely a luxury for some eccentrics, not a matter of public interest.
But when it came to alcohol, the story was different.
In a harsh world without any decent entertainment, alcohol was one of the few pleasures and comforts in life, regardless of social status.
The liquor tax of 15% per bottle was also a massive financial resource the royal family could never let go of, so they had immense interest in the production and distribution of the alcohol market.
Among them, the North, which had to fight against brutal cold, was especially famous as a place that brewed and drank a lot of alcohol.
It was partly to overcome the fierce cold, but it was also largely thanks to being a treasure trove of abundant ingredients overflowing with grains and fruits that became ingredients for all kinds of alcohol.
It was because of this background that the tavern street on one side of Lichfield Square in Nortaris had become one of the kingdom's most notable attractions.
The first floors of the old stone buildings that surrounded the plaza were, as if by agreement, taverns, beer halls, or bars.
The shops competed with each other to densely place tables and chairs toward the plaza.
Since they handled higher-quality liquor than End of the Galley and were more expensive, it was a place where off-duty lower officials, adventurers, and wealthy merchants gathered to noisily raise their glasses.
But today was different.
A crowd five times larger than usual was all drinking Cola instead of alcohol.
Rex muttered a low curse.
"Fuck, what the hell happened..."
It was impossible by common sense, arithmetic, and physics.
Y&P Trading Company's production capacity was at most one factory that couldn't even fill 3% of demand.
Even if they had completed Factory No. 2, which they were pushing forward, at superhuman speed, 7-8% would be the limit.
Wasn't Berrymix's strategy targeting the massive market gap created by that?
It wasn't like Cola was breeding—what on earth was going on?
"Move! I said move!"
Rex roughly pushed the people around him and entered the nearest tavern.
And he forgot to breathe at the scene unfolding before his eyes.
He saw a strange machine sitting on the counter.
A machine that looked somewhat like a pump for drawing groundwater had a nozzle attached like a faucet.
"One more draft Cola!"
"Yes! I'll pour it overflowing!"
Every time the owner pulled the lever attached above the nozzle, black Cola poured out instead of water.
The customers cheered as they received their glasses.
"Aaahh! Fresh, so fresh!"
"It tastes different from the bottled stuff!"
"My mother who passed away last year should have tried this..."
Rex, feeling blood rush to his head, shouted and pressed the owner.
"Hey! Hey! Owner! Wh-what the hell is that damn machine?"
***
"It's a Cola Dispenser."
Going back in time one month, at the point when Berrymix's offensive had just begun in earnest.
Jurgen shared his 'stratagem' for this.
"Cola Dispenser?"
"That's right. The first stratagem to herald the counterattack."
Penelope tilted her head at the unfamiliar term.
After looking at the Cola Dispenser proposal, she tilted her head to the other side too.
A dispenser in alchemy was equipment that distributed liquids in set amounts.
But it was hard to imagine the role and use of a Cola Dispenser.
"Miss Penelope, what do you think is the most inefficient process in the Cola business?"
"Probably the bottling process. It's very labor-intensive too."
"This dispenser is a slightly evolved form of a Soda Fountain. It mixes syrup with water and automatically injects carbonation."
"We're already doing that at the factory. Is there a need to make it this small?"
"Don't you see?"
"Hmm, wait, let me guess. Don't tell me. I said don't tell me?"
Penelope made an expression like she almost understood.
Seeing her brow still furrowed, she didn't seem to grasp it with just this much.
"Ugh, I don't know."
Well, that was normal.
In modern times, you could easily find beverage dispensers anywhere—fast food restaurants, buffets, restaurants, etc.—but not in Britannia.
It was common sense that all beverages, including alcohol, were distributed in barrels or bottles.
Breaking preconceptions was such a difficult thing.
If even the quick-witted and clever Penelope missed it, it would be perfect as a surprise attack to stab a careless enemy.
"What if we could skip the bottling process and simplify the distribution process?"
Penelope's body, which had been tilting her head left and right, stopped stiffly.
"...You're going to supply Cola Dispensers or whatever to retail stores?"
"Exactly."
Once she grasped the outline of the picture from the hint, the big picture drew itself like dominoes.
Penelope jumped up from the sofa and exclaimed.
"That's right! If retail stores use dispensers, they can just pour it into glasses, so bottling won't be necessary! We just need to deliver the syrup? One box of syrup... makes 200 glasses, so distribution becomes much easier too!"
"Exactly that."
This was innovation.
By installing the machine just once, they had essentially eliminated the process and distribution in one fell swoop.
If they went one step further from here...
"You're trying to sell syrup, not Cola, aren't you?"
Penelope's eyes sparkled with hope.
If they built a factory with only a 'syrup process' at the New Industrial District lemonade factory where Factory No. 2 was originally supposed to be built?
If they sold it by supplying that syrup to Cola Dispensers?
If they skipped the other labor-intensive processes and produced only syrup at full capacity...
They could multiply the production volume, which would have only increased by 20,000-30,000 bottles, by several times at once.
"Let's build Factory No. 2 as a syrup factory."
"You're quick on the uptake."
"What are you saying when you've laid it all out for me?"
She joked, but Penelope brushed away the goosebumps on her forearm.
The advantage of this Cola Dispenser structure wasn't simply production amplification and distribution simplification.
If the core of marketing was 'how much does the consumer want the product?'
The core of distribution was 'how easily can consumers get the product?'
As long as Cola Dispensers were distributed to retail stores everywhere, there would be no need to wait in line—they could directly dispense and drink Cola.
'Pleasure within reach.'
Truly a revolution in distribution and supply.
"With this, we can reverse it in one shot. You really are a genius."
However, there was one problem.
"But how many dispensers do we need to make?"
After that...
"So how many of what do we need to make?"
"Well, we need to make quite a few... For now, the order itself is about 100 units?"
"...What? Ahaha, how witty... You're joking... right?"
"I'm not joking though?"
"What's the deadline...?"
"As soon as possible."
"But it's 100 units, so the funding..."
"I'll borrow it and give it to you later."
"Ah..."
Apparently, this behind-the-story was hidden.
***
Y&P Trading Company's Factory No. 2 ran at full capacity 24 hours a day as soon as it was completed, producing syrup at a terrifying speed.
They even requisitioned skilled workers from Factory No. 1 and attached them to the syrup factory.
The syrup produced this way was delivered to stores where Serena had diligently made and deployed dispensers.
The result?
Naturally, it was successful.
It was Cola that had even drawn public outrage for not meeting demand.
Something that you had to go to the direct sales location and wait four or five hours to maybe buy—now they just serve it to you if you go to a tavern?
And for just 1 Pence per glass.
The Cola sold at stores under the name 'Draft Cola' sold like hotcakes until the syrup barrel received that day hit bottom.
"To think we can drink Cola to our heart's content like this..."
"I know, until recently we were consoling ourselves drinking Berrymix."
"With this, the alcohol goes down smoothly. Let's go for a third round today too."
"This pitch-black beverage is the North's specialty? It doesn't quite whet my appetite."
"Oh my, brother, you don't know Cola? Then your Nortaris trip was wasted! Drink, drink!!"
"Oooh?! Oooooh?!"
"Killer, right?"
Travelers visiting Nortaris, adventurers from the Demon Realm, citizens living ordinary lives.
For everyone to fall for Cola's charm, just one glass was enough.
Meanwhile, the successful distribution of Cola Dispensers dealt a fatal blow to Berrymix.
They were losing market share at a frightening speed, which they had maintained through low-price volume offensive.
"Fuck... dog-like Cola, fucking Cola..."
Rex glared with bloodshot eyes and tore at his hair.
Cola didn't just steal market share.
As Cola was distributed to retail stores, Berrymix's sales began to drop like crazy.
In a way, it was natural.
Customers had chosen Berrymix as a 'substitute for Cola' from the start.
When Cola was hard to get like before, they paid money thinking 'Should I try it for the cheap taste?' but now they could drink Cola with just a little effort.
Even when the substitute Berrymix was right in front of them, they thought 'Why bother?'
The biggest problem was that five local production factories had been completed in Nortaris.
In the warehouse next to the factory that had been spewing out volume, inventory piled up day by day, and eventually, production stopped in four buildings just one week after the factory opened.
Just because the factories stopped didn't mean maintenance costs disappeared, so losses were piling up day by day.
"Is this the situation where you said there were no problems?"
"Baron Keystone, I'm sorry. I didn't know those bastards had such a scheme."
"I put you forward to check that kind of thing. I didn't hire you to get hit by the opponent's hidden card and come back making excuses. If your capacity is only that much, there was no reason to share a table with you."
Baron Keystone, who had rushed over on a train from Golden Hill, threw cold accusations at Rex.
Though Rex had a temper, he held back now.
He had poured massive investment from Salisbury Financial into the Berrymix factory.
It was a factory built by throwing in extra money, judging it to be a matter of every second.
If they declared surrender in the war like this, the losses would be enormous.
At minimum, they had to persistently resist until Y&P Trading Company proposed a ceasefire agreement.
It wasn't something he could do alone.
"I need Baron Keystone's help."
"Help? Look here, Rex. I trusted your big talk and suffered big losses too. I'm the one who should be whining for compensation, so what more are you trying to squeeze out?"
"It's the same for me. Didn't my blood money also go into establishing the local factory? None of them are operating properly now."
"I have eyes too. So what are you suggesting?"
Rex spoke coolly.
"...I'm going to swing the sword. I'll hold the hilt."
"Heh, you're completely crazy. You told me what happened to Blyton. You're going to follow that example? If you want to shove your head under the wagon wheel, do it alone."
"N-no. I'm not thinking of targeting Rosemore."
"I heard rumors that the Nortaris mafia played dirty, and seeing you today, it's true. I'm not interested in methods that get shit on my hands."
Baron Keystone spoke firmly with a serious expression.
"I'll dispose of the idle local factories and settle for eating moderately. There won't be any demand for Berrymix at all."
"Don't you regret the volume we threw at a loss? You're going to accept all those massive losses? We should clash like men!"
"We already clashed and got soundly beaten. Rex, you should admit it like a man. Anyway, I'm pulling out now."
Rex's anger exploded.
For Salisbury Financial, this loss was enough to make his back buckle, but for Keystone Company, it was just a corner of the business.
Moreover, in regions outside Nortaris, Berrymix still had a clear advantage.
No matter what, it would take quite a while for Cola to reach there.
Baron Keystone had reason to be leisurely.
In other words, even if the joint investment project collapsed, only Rex would die crushed under the debris.
"Damn it!"
After Baron Keystone left, Rex packed his things in a rage.
He couldn't collapse like this.
Taking the risk, he directly contacted the Black Fang Gang in the Labyrinth Demon Realm.
This time, he would definitely kidnap Serena and properly extract the core technology, or kill that commoner bastard next to her to frighten Penelope.
He would show them through force.
Rex infiltrated the Demon Realm through unofficial routes and went straight to the Black Fang Gang's stronghold.
"Frank! Frank! Where are you!"
Crossing by using the mangrove roots as stepping stones, Rex loudly called out the contacts' names.
"Schwill! Harok! I am Rex Salisbury, 8th Seat of the Council! I am your patron! Come out right now!"
However, no answer returned.
Rex felt an unsettling feeling.
No matter how lax the discipline of those outlaw bastards was, if there was this much noise, a response should normally return.
However, the swamp was abnormally quiet.
Only the sound of the swamp bubbling and occasionally the eerie wind rustling small branches.
Rex, his mouth firmly shut, headed toward the Black Fang Gang's stronghold with faster steps.
And soon he encountered it.
Bloodstains spread everywhere, foul miasma, traces of fierce battle, and a mountain of half-decayed corpses.
And the Order's altar, thoroughly destroyed.
The Black Fang Gang had been annihilated.
"Damn it..."
He finally understood.
Why no contact had come from the Black Fang Gang.
How Serena, who had disappeared, had returned unscathed.
The traces of the horrific catastrophe overlapped with the image of Penelope, who had come threatening in the morning.
'I won't say much.'
'Return Serena.'
'If you return her even now, I'll let it slide.'
Rex had sneered at her threat, and this was the price.
Cold sweat ran down his spine.
Even the swamp's muggy air now felt like a frigid cold.
He had completely misjudged.
Penelope Rosemore.
She possessed the violence to wipe out an elite criminal organization that included no less than an Order priest overnight.
And while holding such power, she had the cunning to choose to become a laughingstock to hide her strength.
She was that kind of existence.
He would die.
Rex felt her grip clutching his neck.
Very vividly.