Chapter 313
Chapter 313
Episode 313 The old man who brews (2)
After he finished eating the bread, the old man wiped away his tears and collapsed into his seat.
It was only a piece of bread, but it was enough to satisfy hunger.
“Thank you. I owe you.”
“What are you doing with something like this?”
I smiled as if I liked the answer.
“It is not easy to do good to such an old man in a dark and narrow alley, and he does not even know his face. I’d like to hear your name…”
“This is Ray.”
“Ray… that’s a good name. I’ll be sure to remember it. My name is Kerven.”
He silently nodded his head at the old man’s words.
After the situation was settled to a certain extent, Ray, like the old man, casually put his butt on the floor.
“Youngcha. Rather, what happened to the old man in this alley?”
Although Deron Village is prospering, the security is still not at a stable level.
Especially in times like now where adventurers and mercenaries are infested.
The old man probably didn’t even know about it, but he was lying face down in an alleyway, so he wondered what the hell was going on.
Upon receiving Ray’s question, Kerven smiled self-deprecatingly.
“I am ashamed to say it, but I am a brewer. He’s a brewer who can’t even make money because he can’t find money to buy ingredients.”
“…”
“Ten years.”
The old man continues the words that do not connect smoothly.
“I haven’t made alcohol in the past ten years. It was insanely hard to make just one drink. When I was young, I only thought that alcohol saved people. But at that time, I didn’t know the world yet, and I was just being swayed by my youthful spirit. If you think about it, all the culprits started with alcohol. Heh heh heh.”
There must have been a lot of things accumulated during that time, but even as I caught my breath with my weakened body, my mouth did not rest.
“…It would be funny if I said it like this, but drinking alcohol is a way to break one’s heart. Forget poverty, forget sorrow, hide bitterness, wash away despair. There is always something to lose.”
Listening to the pathetic voice, it seems that there is a story behind it.
Ray listened intently to his words.
Certainly, as he said, there are countless people who throw away their lives with alcohol.
It cannot be said that there are no beneficial parts of alcohol, but the harmful parts cannot be denied either.
Rather than clumsily comforting the old man, he chose to just close his lips and listen to the story.
At first glance, an awkward silence seemed to follow, but old Kerven felt comfortable with it.
I’m even thankful that he deliberately doesn’t say anything out of consideration for himself.
In some other areas, interest arose.
What is the reason for hiding the face by wearing a robe in broad daylight?
Why did I help an old man who I had no one to know, even putting my circumstances behind me?
Old Kerven spat out the words involuntarily.
“Would you like to come and see my brewery?”
* * *
The old man’s brewery was much better than I thought.
He can’t brew alcohol because he doesn’t have money to buy ingredients, but he’s a brewer of a considerable level, judging from the state of his tools.
Derp had said it before.
‘A guy who can’t even take care of his own tools doesn’t deserve to be called a craftsman.’
According to him, the old man is fully qualified.
The old man made a small gesture at the neatly organized brewery.
Ray looked around and said.
“It’s a nice brewery.”
“This is my workshop. It’s a little bit like a return for helping me, but it’s okay to come over anytime.”
I don’t know how long I’ve been brewing, but the savory scent of alcohol permeates the wood.
To brew alcohol until the lumber of the brewery, which is made by pickling in seawater for half a year, becomes this much.
It was clear that the old man was intoxicated.
Even so, one funny thing is that the tool maintenance was amazing, but the housework was very bad.
At first glance, the living room is full of dust and there is even a spider web attached to one side of the ceiling.
If you don’t clean things up, you can’t help but make your house dirty.
The moment I was about to go over thinking that in my heart.
When he saw the rat corpse peeping out on the floor, Ray couldn’t stand it and exploded.
What kind of sake is brewed in a place like this!
It was a brewery that would have been greatly criticized in modern times.
“What kind of alcohol-making house hygiene is like this! Start cleaning right now!”
Seeing him go wild over the subject of being a guest, he smiles.
“Originally, that’s where people live. As for me, it’s perfectly normal. Rather, it has to be a little dirty.”
Old Kerven caught all the people who were living a really normal life and bathed in double bathing.
I think people’s homes can’t always be tidy.
But that doesn’t justify being dirty.
When you see a rat carcass rolling on the floor, this is ridiculous.
Ray immediately dismissed the old man’s will.
“It’s not a bit dirty here. I’ve visited an orc colony once before, but even the orcs don’t live in such a messy place. Now this house is so dirty that I can’t even breathe. Where are the cleaning tools?”
Old Kerven raised his hand while scratching the back of his head shyly.
“There it is.”
I follow where his fingers are pointing and I immediately see a broom thrown away carelessly.
If you haven’t cleaned it for a while, there are spider webs attached to the broom.
In fact, Ray thought that Old Kerven might be breeding spiders.
He sighs and looks around the house.
“This… will be difficult.”
It would be convenient if she used magic, but Ray, who was taught by Derp, suppressed the use of mana in daily life as much as possible.
I didn’t want to use magic just because cleaning was difficult.
He held a broom in his hand.
The brewery is large, so we’ll have to hurry if we want to finish cleaning by sunset.
After several hours of cleaning, even the wooden furniture was planed and made like new.
He, who was not tired even in sparring with Lacia, acted tough.
“Oh, I’m going to die.”
“Heh heh heh. Thank you for your hard work. I owe a lot to you today.”
Despite old Kerven’s encouragement, Ray did not end there.
After going outside for a while, he brought back a basket full of herbs and a rabbit.
He looked at me with worried eyes.
“There are many inedible poisonous plants around here. If you eat wrong, you will be worse than not eating.”
The poisonous and medicinal herbs that grow naturally around Deron Village look very similar to each other.
Even professional herbalists sometimes make mistakes, so it is generally impossible for ordinary people to tell them apart.
Ray grinned.
“These are fine. If you look at this side, you can see that the leaves are split into three parts. If you turn the back side over, you will feel that the end is soft, unlike poisonous plants.”
As he said, I touched the back.
It’s not soft, it’s just rough.
He gave him a poisonous weed to compare, and the old man touched it too.
“It looks the same…”
“It’s subtly different. If you touch it for a few days, you can understand it to some extent.”
“…”
While receiving suspicious glances, Ray lit a fire in the furnace.
Now that the house, which was so dirty that it was unbelievable that people live in it, has been cleaned up and even lit a fire, it smells a little human.
Hang the pot and simmer the rabbit meat trimmed well with herbs.
As the savory scent spreads throughout the house, old Kerven swallows his saliva.
“Do you know how to cook?”
“Once upon a time, I learned briefly over my shoulder.”
He was the one who stole the secret swordsmanship of another family over his shoulder.
It wasn’t just one or two recipes.
Although there are no spices, his cooking skills shined.
After tasting it, Ray nodded and put down the wooden plate.
“There is no meat, but eat as much as you want. It will satisfy your hunger.”
The old man’s eyes widened as he ate a spoonful.
It’s just herbs and rabbit meat that taste bitter, but what is this taste!
The piece of meat, which should have a sour smell, has a light taste, and the broth with a bitter flavor is truly a delicacy.
The old man who quickly emptied a bowl burst into laughter.
How long have you been homeless to get this level of skill?
“Heh heh… It tastes great. Is it because of the disappearance of
hunger ?
The world seems to look a little brighter.
Ray tilted his head and asked.
“Why have you been starving? If you look, you will find places to eat and plenty of weeds to eat.”
Even if you look at the poor villages, there are people who peel off the bark of trees and cook porridge to survive.
Of course, is it not better than not eating something like that to have any nutritional value?
Kerven shook his head.
“It’s not okay to get and eat it. The people who live in this village have nothing good to do with me.”
“why?”
“…Have you heard of emotional wine?”
appraiser?
I don’t remember hearing it.
When Ray didn’t answer, Kerven started talking.
“Emotional wine is said to contain emotions. It’s a rumor that has been circulating in this town for more than ten years.”
put your emotions in
Isn’t that pretty lucky!
he said, licking his lips.
“If it really is, I’d like to try it at least once.”
The old man laughed as he put firewood into the brazier.
“Yes.”
“Is there?”
“There may be exaggerations, but there are no groundless rumors. ten years ago. The last drink I drank is the identity of emotionalism that is often talked about now.”
“yes?”
This one surprised even Rei a little.
Could it be that the old man is a craftsman who brews enough sake to create rumors like that?
Looking at the weak-looking hands and forearms, it is definitely not a brewer.
More than anything, I couldn’t understand the current situation where he was driven to the brink of starvation even though he had such ability.
Perhaps guessing Ray’s intentions, Kerven continued.
“Gamjeongju only made one doe. There were only six bottles in total. I overcame my sorrow and shared it with those around me. No, it would be more accurate to say that I wanted to forget.”
“…can’t you make it again?”
At those words, Kerven smiled and nodded.
“Emotional wine is literally a drink that contains the emotions of the person who made it. It was the wine I brewed after the death of my only son ten years ago. I will never feel that kind of sadness again in my life, so it’s only natural that I can’t make it. ha ha ha.”
There were tears in the laughter.
“It’s not just one year, it’s ten years. Countless people looking for emotional wine came to me. There have been several times when a sword has been put through my throat.”
Of course it will.
Humans are uglier than monsters in terms of greed.
They will do anything to get what they want.
He probably didn’t say anything, but he must have been tortured, judging by the long marks running down his collarbone and forearm.