Book 3: Chapter 8-4: Maple Syrup
The work was finally complete after around 3 hours.
All the hoses were inserted into trees and each jug had a hose flowing into it. All that was left was putting up barbed wire so animals wouldn’t disturb the jugs and we would be finished.
The members of Nettle did their best and completed the job.
「I’m looking forward to trying such a delicious thing that made Roleau-san go into a daze. With so much here then we’ll be able to eat as much as we want and then still have enough to sell I think.」
Kuu said as she finished cleaning up.
「Well unfortunately that’s not the case. Before I had you evaporate the water from the sap. Just to make 1 liter of syrup you need to use around 40 liters of sap, so even after using a big jug we’ll end up with 4~5 liters each. Since we have 140 jugs we’ll be able to get 700L if we’re lucky. If we split this evenly among the population of Erucy then everyone would get a little more than 2 Liters. Do you think 3 liters of syrup once a year is enough for everyone to be satisfied?」
Every year you can only harvest the syrup for 3 weeks, and each tree only produces 1 liter of syrup…truly a luxurious item.
Each person only having 2 liters makes it unacceptable for daily use. If we sold these 700L in 500mL batches then we could possibly make 1,400 gold (84 million yen) for a piece of truly delectable business.
If things went well, that much money was more than enough to purchase an entire year of food for Erucy.
Even better, maple syrup was very hard to imitate.
Even if someone noticed the smell of maple from the syrup and tried to copy it, they would only be able to gather it next year. Plus, because of the trial and error involved in making the product, they would waste that year’s sap harvest by testing how to create the syrup.
「But if we have three weeks and can collect every five days, then can’t we do this three times more at least? With that we’ll each have around 10L each. That should be enough for all of us.」「Well that’s true. That’s only if everyone works properly and safely collects all the sap possible. Right now I’m prioritizing the acquisition of foreign currency, so if we don’t gather enough we’ll lose the portion for making alcohol since we need to use part of it for selling and part of it for eating.」
I wanted to secure at least 1,000 liters to sell. Our own portion would come only after that.
「I’ll do my best! If it’s for sweets then I’ll do anything necessary!」「That’s the spirit. Well, that’s about all there is for today, we can wrap this up.」
The members of Nettle had finished setting up the barbed wire and returned. Everyone else was watching the sap drip into the jugs as they chatted and relaxed.
「Everyone listen up. Thank you for your efforts today. Thanks to that everything proceeded well and we finished up for the day. All we need to do is wait for 5 days to pass and come back for the full jugs.」
I looked around at them and saw one unifying expression on their faces…
….please let us try a bit of maple syrup.
「I can see that after witnessing Roleau’s dazed display that you all want to try some maple syrup. I understand why you feel that way….but please be patient.」
I said and saw that they all looked disappointed.
Well, if we wanted enough for them all to try it then it would take a long time to wait for it to gather.
Plus, I needed them to be motivated for the next task.
「Of course, I won’t say you have to hold out this entire time. In five days, we’ll reconvene here, collect the sap, and insert hoses into different trees. At that time I’ll treat you to some maple syrup. All of you make sure to bring some bread! I’ll pour plenty of delicious maple syrup on top of it!」
I called out and saw their depressed expressions light up in an instant. Most likely none of them had experienced proper sweetness besides for when I gave Lucy her donuts.
I was sure that it would be delicious enough to make them cry out.
「Cyril-niisama! I have a question!」
Kurone the black fox cried out as she raised her hand high in the sky.
「What is it Kurone?」「Do we have to bring a piece of bread?」
Kurone asked as her tail wagged while awaiting my answer.
I was a bit troubled. The Fire Foxes had very little wheat and usually only ate potatoes and barley. There was no way they could prepare two pieces of bread just for that day. This girl was probably thinking that if she gave up her meal the day before then she could possibly get two pieces of bread for syrup.
It was a situation where she would hold back for one day to get extra happiness the next day. I’m sure she would show me the cutest little smile I ever saw. I wanted to see her happy.
However, if I gave an OK here then I suspect it wouldn’t end with just one or two. She would cut out certain meals in her day in exchange for bringing more bread here. There was no limit to a girl’s passion for sweets. If I let her cut out meals like that then it would have a negative influence on her growth.
Be that as it may, I couldn’t completely betray the glittering hope in my cute little sister’s eyes.
「If it’s only two then that’s fine. More than that is no good.」
After considering everything, I decided that a single day wouldn’t cause too much harm and gave the OK.
「Got it Cyril-niisama」
Kurone said and thanked me before throwing her diminutive chest out in pride as she whispered her ‘secret plan’ to Kemin and Yukino.
I saw the three of them get happy and excited as they praised Kurone. It was an adorable sight and my lips couldn’t help but curl into a happy smile.
「Well, that’s it for today. I’ll be waiting here for all of you in five days.」
I said bringing things to an end as everyone started chatting and gossiping.
Surely, everyone here would spend the next five days feeling anxious and excited.
They would anticipate the delicious sweet treat within their hearts.
「Now, it’s about time for me to get some letters. I wonder how the reconnaissance party is doing.」
I gazed at the sky.
It was just in time as I saw a large pigeon in the sky with a piece of paper tied to its leg…it was one of the pigeons I raised during the winter. It was flying back to the coop I had set up.
It wasn’t only the reconnaissance party, the special squad was working hard too.bonus,
Commercial City Erin Price List
This is the price list made by Cyril in Chapter 2.
Item name Quantity Price Price (Japanese Yen conversion)
1 piece of blank paper 10 copper coins ¥400
1 book 30 silver coins ¥36,000
Drama (standing) 1 seat 20 copper coins ¥800
Theater (free seat) 1 seat 2 silver coins ¥2,400
Theater (special seat) 1 seat 1 gold coin ¥60,000
Horse-drawn carriage (Regular commercial route to the village) 1 seat 10 coins ¥12,000
1 cotton cloth 9 silver coins ¥10,800
Outerwear (for plain people) 15 silver coins ¥18,000
Skirt/trousers (for plain people) 10 silver coins ¥12,000
Shoes (for plain people) 5 pairs of silver coins ¥6,000
Pumpkin 1 piece Copper coin 15 pieces ¥600
One turnip, eight copper coins ¥320
Beef (for meat and dairy cattle) *If it is crushed for agriculture, half price or less 1kg Three silver coins ¥3,600
1kg of pork 2 silver coins ¥2,400
1 kg lamb and 1 silver coin and 20 copper coins ¥1,800
Goat meat 1kg Silver coin ¥1,200
1 kg of sugar 2 coins ¥120,000
1 kg of salt 1 silver coin ¥1,200
One stall soup (with noodles) 10 copper coins ¥400
1 kg of wheat 1 silver coin ¥1,200
Barley 1kg Copper coin 20 pieces ¥800
1 prostitute 10 silver coins ¥12,000
Slave (labor man) 1 person 30 coins ¥1,800,000
Slave (woman under 20 years old. Standard) 1 person 20 gold coins ¥1,200,000
Slave (woman under 20 years old. Beautiful) 1 person 40 gold coins ¥2,400,000
Slave (Lucy class * Can read and write, beautiful girl, virgin, good at dancing, elf) 1 person 500 coins ¥30,000,000
Ale (poor) 1 bottle *1 L copper coin 20 sheets ¥800
1 bottle of wine (poor) *1 L copper coin 25 sheets ¥1,000
1 bottle of vinegar*1L silver coin ¥1,200contemporary romance
done.co