256 - - Episode 254 is back.

With time to spare, I asked Dolly to grow some coffee berries so that we could have coffee whenever we wanted. Three of the Great Spirits were at a tea party and did not participate in the harvest, but Belle, Gina, and Fuchu happily joined in the harvest, and a large amount of coffee berries were gathered at hand.

So far, so good. But now the most difficult task awaits us. Processing the seeds...... I can sort of imagine, but I guess it will be a lot of work to actually do it.

I know that roasting is done, but I don't know how much I need to roast to get the coffee I like, since I'm an instant coffee specialist. There are so many things like deep roast, richness, sharpness, etc. that it makes me feel uneasy. ......?　Maybe the sharpness is beer. Is there such a thing as sharpness in coffee?

I guess there's no point in thinking about roasting now. First of all, what are we going to do? We need to get it to a roasting stage. I take a piece of coffee berry in my hand and look at it carefully.

There is the outer skin, the pulp, some kind of slimy part, and two seeds. At any rate, I wonder if these seeds are coffee beans?　Or is the inner Tenjin-sama part, as in pickled plums, the coffee bean?

...... don't need the outer part anyway. There are not many edible parts, so we should separate them first. It would be a waste if we fail to process all at once, so let's try just one barrel. Is one barrel too much?　Yes, let's keep it to about half of a barrel.

The way to separate the pulp is to rinse it with water. Ask Deanne. ...... Deanne isn't here right now, is she? Or Dolly might be able to manipulate the seeds and take them out.

Or you can ask Rain ...... to do it. I imagine that if I ask Dolly, the pulp will break by itself and only seeds will come out from the inside. It's a little creepy.

"Rain, come here a minute."

I call out to Rain, who has been hopping around the barrels filled with the harvest, snacking on the food.

"Cue!"

Rain comes flying in like "What? By default, the bell on top of him comes with him, even if he has materialized.

"I need you to rinse about half of the berries in this barrel with water and take out only the seeds inside, can you do that?

"Cue?"

Rain makes a gesture as if he is tilting his head to see if there is some question. Can't you do it?

"The sweet part is saying..."

The pulpy part. It's a waste for sure, but it's hard to pick them out one by one, isn't it? Yes, it's sweet and tasty, but there are usually other fruits that are even better than that, but not as much to eat. This is probably one of the reasons why coffee berries are not a major part of this world.

"We're only using the seeds this time. I'll put the sweet part together with the peel for fertilizer later.

It was kind of hard for me to say "throw it away," so I'm going to use it as fertilizer. With all the death around us, it shouldn't matter how much fertilizer we have.

"Cue."

Seemingly convinced, Rain started to form a ball of water in front of him.

"Help!"

As Belle said this, the wind enveloped the barrel and lifted it up, tilting it and pouring the coffee berries into the ball of water. A combination play, I see.

The coffee berries start to spin around in the ball of water. I've had people wash vegetables and such before, but I wonder if it would work to take out just the seeds.

After watching for a while, the contents gradually split in two in the ball of water. The seeds are gathered at the bottom, and the pulp and skin at the top. It's a simple thing to do, but very dexterous, isn't it?

"Coo-coo-coo!"

"You're done. Thank you, Rain. Put the seeds on this table. Put the pulp and peel in this empty barrel.

"Cue."

Now, what to do with the seeds, which looked hard before roasting, and I bet they'll dry out. With the rice, I couldn't really tell the difference in taste, and I'd rather not go through the trouble at first and let them drain off the water.

"Rain, so I need you to drain this kind of water, can you do that?"

"Cue cue, cue cue cue."

"I can't do it inside."

"So you can get the water out of the outside, but not the inside?"

Cue... "Yeah."

I guess so. ...... Then I guess I'll have to ask Sylphy to dry me off, or wait for Dine's return.

"Sylphy, how hard is it to dry this kind of contents with the wind?"

"Well, if you mean completely, it won't take long if you increase the temperature of the wind.

...... That would mean roasting the beans without removing the moisture. Is that possible?　I think you are skipping too many steps even if you are trying to cut corners. Let's not rush into this when we don't even know whether to use the whole husk or just the tendon-like part.

"I'm not going to heat it up yet, so I'm going to ask Deanne to drain the water out of it. So when do you think Deanne and the others will be back?"

I thought they would come back as soon as possible at that rate, but it seems to be taking longer than expected.

"Well, the distance is enough for them to come back as of yesterday. Still, if all three of them haven't come back, they must have ...... been drinking, right?"

How persuasive those words are. How could those three not be drinking in a place where alcohol is made?

"So it will be a while before they come back?"

"We're giving away so little booze to everyone. We don't have that much free booze in the brewery. We're not abandoning the sanctuary brewery altogether, we're just going to save the tools and the building and clean up and have a little party. I'll be back by this evening."

"That's good. Then I'll stop processing coffee seeds temporarily. Let's just relax and enjoy our free time for now.

"Leisurely. Yuta, play!

I said leisurely. ...... Well, okay. Let's just play around until Deanne gets back.

**

Just before nightfall, Nomos, Dine and If returned with the spirits, as if in cahoots. There were about ten in a group. That's about 30 more residents in all.

Yuta, these are the guys who make the wine here.

No, I don't like to be introduced in such a general way. Also, Belle and Fukuchan are very excited, as if they are happy to see so many spirits.

"Well, I'm Yuta. I'm Yuta. I'm looking forward to a delicious drink. I'm looking forward to drinking your delicious sake.

I bowed my head lightly, and the replies came from all over the place, as if I could count on them. They seem to have confidence in their brewing skills.

"Okay, greetings are over. First, let me show you where we're going to build the brewery. Let's go!"

It's happening so fast. It's almost sunset. What are you going to do?　No, the problem is that Dine will be going with them first. I mean, Dolly and Vita are in the mix, too. How interested are you in the brewery?

"Deanne, do me a favor and stay."

"Oh, are you here for your sister?"

He stays behind with a cocked head, but he is a little concerned about the brewery as well. Sylphy seems to be staying with us, but she is probably more concerned about the brewery. I'll let them both go to the brewery after I get the water out of them for now. We'll do the real processing tomorrow.

"Yeah, I need this kind of dehydration. Please."

He takes the table and the seeds out of the magic bag and asks Dine to help him.

"You're going to drain the water out of them, aren't you going to dry them out completely?"

......If you're going to roast them, you're going to lose some of the water. But if there is no water at all when roasting, then it would be crushed, cracked, or burnt easily.

"Leave a little bit of moisture."

"Okay!"

When Deane points her right hand at the seed, a steamy blur emerges from the seed, just as it does when wood is dried.　

"............Yes, the moisture has now been removed!"

"Thank you. Thank you. We're all good now. Go with Sylphy and check out the brewery. If you see anything out of the ordinary, stop me.

"You're welcome. Well, I'm going to go now.

"Yuta, can I go with you?"

"Oh, I don't have anything special to do. Oh, what about the food for the new spirits?　I should be the one to prepare it, right?"

"Yuta, spirits don't need to be fed. If Yuta had to prepare meals for that many people every time, the spirits would be more concerned about it. Basically, they are satisfied as long as they can make alcohol, so leave them alone. If you are concerned about it, you can offer them something at the banquet when the sake is ready.

Well, it's certainly not right for me, a non-contractor, to prepare a meal for them.

"Okay. Then I'll bring you lots of food for the banquet when the drinks are ready.

"Yes, I'm sure they'll be happy to see you. Well, I'll see you later.

Yes, have a good day."

I see Sylphy and Dine off to the brewery.

"Yuta, can I come and see them too?"

Hmm?　Well, I don't think we'll be making alcohol out of the blue, but what do you think?　Wouldn't that interfere with the work?

"You can go to ...... to see the show, but try not to get in the way. Can you do that?"

I can do it! I can do it! I can do it! I can do it! I can do it! I can do it! ......"

I'm a little nervous, but I'm okay. If we get in the way, Sylphy and the others will take care of us. I'm tempted to go and have a look, but I'm afraid I'll get a stomach ache if I do. The belles are happily flying away as soon as I give them permission. I'm a little nervous.

"Master, those people are here to make alcohol, aren't they?

Gina asks curiously.

"Yeah, well, they're not people, they're spirits.

Come to think of it, most of the people who came here were humanoid spirits. Perhaps the humanoid is better suited to the task of building something. It's hard to work with four-legged forms, isn't it?

"I see. Sake made by spirits. Master, when you finish it, will you let me drink it too?

"I'm sure it'll be fine. I'm sure they'll bring some to me when they're finished, and I'll give it to them when they get it.

"Thank you, Master!　Sake made by spirits, that's something to look forward to!

Gina also drinks alcohol normally. But I won't let her join the feast of the Great Spirits. I would feel sorry for her parents if she is influenced by them.

"Well, it will be a long time before you can drink, so you can look forward to it."

"Right on!"

Gina smiles with a big smile on her face. She is quite a beautiful woman, but her boyish smile is a little too much. Now that the spirits have materialized, I'd like them to learn from Dolly or Sylphy, but when I see them, they are often talking with Ifu. .......

"Well, I'm going to check out this species, so Gina and the others are free until dinner. If Huku and the others want to go check on the brewery, you can give them permission if you tell them they won't bother me.

"Master, can't we go and see?"

You never know what might happen. I think it's better if we, who can't fly, don't fly."

"Okay. We'll stay in the house.

"Yeah."

Gina and the others enter the house and I check the dried coffee seeds. The first problem is the thin, leathery husk. The husks come off surprisingly easily even by hand, and I think I might get some pieces of husks mixed in when I roast the coffee. It might be a good idea to thresh them and use only the tenjin-sama part.

But I didn't know that coffee seeds are green in color. It's quite a surprise, since the roasted appearance is so impressive.