CH 278

T/N: The more I’ve been thinking about the spellings and localizations of some names, the more I’ve been thinking that “Carruthers” could have also been “Karruthers” or “Karthars” and “Caan” could have been “Kaan.” I’ve been changing C’s into K’s and names into more explicitly Germanized spellings; for example, Nicholas and Carl, which would have been acceptable to English speakers, into Nikolaus and Karl, instead.

It’s too late to change it now, as it would be confusing to both present and future readers, but there’s a part of me that wonders what would have happened if I decided to spell certain things as the “Kaan Kanone” instead.

We stayed at Cien Villa last night, and the next morning we decided to go up the river by boat and head for the Port of Caanburg. According to the original schedule, yesterday we were supposed to visit Caanburg’s districts along the Dierbe River.

Along the Dierbe River, there are glass factories, cotton cultivation, cultivation experiments of various other plants, etc. If I could have, yesterday I was supposed to go here from Manor Caanburg to inspect it. I feel sorry for sending Mother to such a dangerous place and I worry about her, but today I’m a little optimistic.

Because today, we can see the results of the cultivation experiments. At the site, the plants Mikoto brought from the Demon Country are the bulk of the specimens. It’s an experiment to see if it can be cultivated in this environment… and if possible, experiment and make hybridized seeds to kickstart local production here.

They’ve already cultivated various things, but this time they might be able to do something I’m looking forward to. Or rather, I have received reports that it has taken shape according to my plans. I don’t think anyone other than me has ever drunk it, so I won’t know if it’s done as I expect it to be… but it’s still too much to look forward to.

I haven’t tasted it in nearly sixteen years… I didn’t particularly like it when I was on Earth, but now that I can’t get coffee, I can’t control my desire to drink at least this much. I’ve received reports that it’s done exactly as I instructed, so I can’t help but look forward to the tasting.

“Flora, you certainly look like you’re enjoying yourself.”

“Alexandra…” I said, brought out of my thoughts. “Yes, we might be able to offer something that surprises everyone today.

If it works as I expected, I think everyone will be happy. In fact, on Earth, it was all the rage and rooted in the European aristocracy. It doesn’t exist here yet, so even if it were completed, it wouldn’t necessarily be popular right away…

“Well… what is it like?” Alexandra asked.

“That’s what you’ll have to look forward to when we arrive,” I said.

I enjoyed a fun boat trip while Alexandra and I looked over the river.

After arriving at the Port of Caanburg along the Dierbe River, we moved a little by carriage and came to House Caan’s secret facility. There is a lot of classified information here, so I can’t guide everyone into the depths of the facility. Let’s have everyone relax in the administration building up in front.

“Oh~! Your Lordship! Welcome, we will be happy to receive you!” a man said as he approached.

“Good day, Ito Charakusai,” I said as we walked into the administration building.

“What the?” Mikoto said, her eyes widening. “Why are you here?”

“I came here to grow tea!” Charakusai cried.

“Ah, I see…” Mikoto said.

I wonder if Mikoto has problems with Charakusai… Mikoto and Charakusai both have strong personalities… such people may unexpectedly cause friction trying to interact with each other. I haven’t seen all the demons, but the two people I know who are called demons are all like this.

Japanese people tend to be modest and not very assertive, but these two are too assertive. If all demons are like this, then I guess that’s where they differ from the Japanese. Well, it’s possible that these two are exceptions, but…

“I made a new tea using the new method that Her Lordship told me to use, using the leaves I picked from the tea tree that I replanted last year!” Charakusai said.

Tea trees brought from the Demon Country were planted in various ways. In order to confirm whether it can be grown in this environment, we tried growing it from seeds, planting it from seedlings, trying cuttings, and replanting tea trees.

According to the report, the replanted tea tree was able to be harvested within the last year. As expected, it will still take several years to harvest the plants that were planted from seeds and seedlings, but if they were just replanted, it would be possible to pluck them as soon as they properly established roots.

The tea tree is harvested several times a year. Among them, it is said that the best tea leaves are the “ichibancha,” the first pick of the year. Even if it regrows many times after that, the first leaves are better for nutrition and growth. Even in Japan, there seems to be a place where only the best tea is picked.

In our case, the main purpose was to experiment with cultivation and establishment, so the taste and the quality of the tea leaves are secondary. And since it’s just replanted, there’s a high possibility that the taste will be different between the one grown from a seed and the one that’s just replanted.

Well, it seems that the replanted one was able to take root well, and it was harvested in the last year. Some of the tea leaves were used for experiments to make this tea.

These leaves taken from a tea tree became very popular among the European nobility in the later years and account for 70% of the tea production on the modern earth. That’s right, it’s black tea!

Black tea does not exist in this world. In the first place, black tea was invented on Earth much later. Originally European tea was green tea imported from Japan. A variety of tea trees was discovered in Assam, India, and they began to be cultivated in large quantities there.

Well, it’s okay to talk about it in a general sense, but even if the taste and characteristics change depending on the variety, Japanese tea, Chinese tea, and black tea are basically the same, just with different methods of processing. That’s why I thought it might be possible to make black tea from the tea leaves picked here, so I let them experiment.

From the tea leaves picked last year, they fermented the tea leaves as I had taught them… and finally, we got a report.

It seems that there were quite a few twists and turns and trial and error, such as making several kinds at the same time by changing the method of making, failing, and starting over, but according to reports, I heard that fermented tea was finally completed.

It’s just that the developers said they could do it. Until I try it, I don’t know if it’s the kind of earth tea I’m hoping for. I’m pretty nervous today. Even when I first stood on the battlefield, I don’t remember being so excited.

“I have brought you some tea. This is a new prototype,” one of the staff said, looking nervous as they brewed it for us.

I told them how to make it in a rough, general sense. But I can’t tell them the detailed taste or the taste I’m aiming for. I’ll know for the first time when I drink it… I can’t stop my heart from pounding…

“…………”

I timidly lift the teacup. Everyone was watching me with bated breath. Putting aside the staff, the wives should try it, too…

Anyway, here we go…

“It smells good…” I said.

Check the scent first. Although it’s a vague memory, I feel it smells like the tea I drank on Earth. However, I didn’t really love tea that much in my previous life, and I only drank tea from cans and plastic bottles. I don’t know what high-class black tea tastes like when brewed in earnest. So you can’t tell just by looking at the scent. I have to try it.

“-! This is…”

“””…………!””

Everyone is watching me take a sip. It’s very difficult. But… this is…

“It’s done… it’s been made into black tea! The black tea is complete! Come now! Everyone, please try drinking it!”

I don’t know what luxury goods taste like. But this is certainly… it’s turned into black tea. The taste varies greatly depending on the variety and how it is made. Even black tea made in the same country has a different taste depending on the region, so it is named after the location that grew it, such as Assam or Darjeeling. This is probably not exactly the same as black tea on Earth.

Even so…, I was about to cry. This is definitely tea… finally…black tea is ready…

“Delicious!”

“What is this!?”

The wives also sample the tea. There may be some likes and dislikes, but I don’t think there are many people who dislike tea. I think most people can drink it because they served Japanese-style green tea already.

“Her Lordship’s knowledge is wonderful!” Charakusai said. “So, what is the name of this new tea?”

“Huh? A name? It’s ‘black tea’…?” I said.

Even if you ask me to name it, I’m in trouble. Black tea is black tea, right?

“It’s black tea! Black tea! Ooh, black tea!” Charakusai swooned. “It’s wonderful! It’s the birth of a new tea, ‘black tea’!”

Why are you so over-the-top…? Wait, ah! That’s right……. for the first time in this world, this tea variety, “black tea,” has been invented. Hence the concept of “black tea” was born here in this world, at this moment. I have now defined this new tea as “black tea”… When I think about it, I feel something deeply moving.

“Then I will guide Her Lordship around!” Charakusai said.

“Ah, that’s right…” I said. “Everyone, please enjoy your tea here. I’m going to go inspecting for a while.”

I don’t know much about it either, but I left my seat after teaching Katharina a little about how to brew black tea. Everyone can relax here, and I’ll be the only one visiting the facility during that time.

First of all, I was guided to a tea tree cultivation field. It goes without saying that the replanted trees have taken root, but the ones planted from seeds and seedlings are also growing well. They all seem to grow well in this environment.

Also, preparations for full-scale cultivation of tea trees are progressing separately from here. It seems that the terraced fields will be built on the slope of the mountain, and the maintenance of the terraced fields is progressing. It’s not around here, so I can’t inspect it right now, but Charakusai and his staff say it’s going well, so it’s probably so.

Our workers and staff do not make false reports. If there’s a problem, they’ll tell us right away, so you can trust them. Even if they lied, to begin with, if I go to inspect it, it will be found out immediately. It shouldn’t be the case, because it would be a problem if they made a false report.

And this time, we will visit the factory where the tea was made as an experiment and the process. What I conveyed with my irrelevant knowledge was to have the tea leaves dry out first. It’s called withering, and this loss of moisture from the leaves makes the subsequent processing easier.

Next is kneading. To put it simply, kneading breaks the fibers and cells to make it easier to extract, and it also releases enzymes to make it easier to ferment. This process is repeated several times to completely destroy the cells, release enzymes, and make the size uniform.

And finally, fermentation. Let it rest and ferment by controlling the temperature, humidity, and time. At this time, it was difficult to control the temperature and humidity and the time to let it rest. I don’t know the specifics, so it’s just fumbling and trial and error. This seems to have been a big point of failure before.

And then dry after fermentation. It’s important to keep it for a long time and make it easy to manage, but above all, it’s important to heat it to stop fermentation and deactivate the enzymes. Otherwise, it will continue to ferment during storage and transportation, and it will no longer be black tea.

Roughly speaking, this is the extent of my knowledge. Charakusai and the staff only relied on the fragmentary information they heard from me, and after trial and error, they finally completed black tea.

I got the basic form of the process. The staff here would understand that. After that, I would like to create more black tea by devising this process, temperature, and humidity control, and fermentation time.

“I’ll try more methods and times from now on!” Charakusai said.

“Yes. I’m looking forward to further improvements in black tea…” I said.

I really hope he’s successful. I’m a former Japanese citizen, so I don’t dislike Japanese green tea. Even in this world, ordinary green tea is popular. But I still want to drink black tea or coffee while eating cookies. That’s why I have high hopes for Ito Charakusai.

At first, I thought he was a strange old man with an abrasive personality, but… this old man might end up being called the God of Tea in the future.

In addition to tea, we will observe the crops being cultivated and experiments on breeding, as well as a glass factory and cotton cultivation. Demand for cotton is tight now. This is because the utility value of cotton is too high and the demand for cellulose is increasing.

Synthetic resins and smokeless gunpowder are made from cellulose. Even cotton products alone are too valuable, but the current amount of cultivation is not enough to cover all of them. In particular, the demand for gunpowder will increase further in the future. Our army cannot function without gunpowder.

We need land where we can grow cotton. In addition to climate issues, cotton cultivation also has water issues. On Earth, there was even talk of a giant lake on the brink of extinction due to the overproduction of cotton. Whether or not it was really caused by cotton cultivation, there is no doubt that cotton cultivation requires a lot of water.

It’s not enough just to secure a large farm, there are climate, soil, and water issues. It’s really difficult to perform agriculture or cultivation…

The Caan Knights Nation has a colder climate than here. It’s unsuitable for cotton cultivation. It may not be possible to do greenhouse cultivation as we do here, but that would be costly and I’m afraid of fires. We are very careful here, but cellulose is dangerous because it is flammable.

I’m honestly happy that the black tea has been completed, but every time I go out for inspection, this and those problems increase and I’m depressed… well, there’s no use complaining about it, so I returned to everyone after finishing the inspection, which was just an increase in work.