Strawberry Devil in a Fantasy World

The second day of the Selection Tournament, things were finally heating up.

The weaker participants were mostly screened out through team battles and battle royal. Obviously, luck was a notable component to battle royal. Those started at a bad spot could only blame their low <luck> stat.

"Kanoko, is this your first time watching the Selection Tournament?"

"I've seen it once when I was young."

Just as she was about to start reminiscing of her past, I jokingly added, "You still look young though!"

"Heh, you say that when you can also transform. Speaking of which, I never got the chance to ask before but how did your child become a mortal race? She was a elf and now a human?"

"It's a secret!" I grinned proudly.

It seemed that I somehow piqued her interested. She raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Then I'm guessing it has nothing to do with tampering with her status?"

I cleared my throat and eyed her once, "I think we should focus on our match."

"Oh yes."

She understood exactly what I meant. Eavesdroppers and agents were among the crowd, needless to say. She probably just forgot about it in the heat of the moment.

Today was the first day the heroes' prowess were being displayed to the public. Each day there would be three matches of different heroes. This would last for three days. On the fifth day, there would be six matches between the heroes. On the sixth day, the top ranking heroes would battle once more before challenging the Hero King for his title. Last but not least, the final or the seventh day of the Selection Tournament was reserved for ceremonies and celebrations. Should troubles arise, it could technically go for another day.

Over the course of a few matches, I was sort of picking up a few techniques here and there just from analyzing the participants.

Melee weapons were the most used, including swords, spears, and gauntlets. That was followed by rearguard archers and mages in team battles between students. In one on one matches, very little magic was used. Most relied heavily on abilities and traits whenever possible.

At the end of the second day of matches, I asked Kanoko, "How do you feel about these heroes? Which is the strongest to you?"

We did see all of them fight one match today. However, because my standards were skewed, gauging their strength was a bit difficult.

"I can't say for sure. The guy with the red hair is the strongest? Maybe? Aren't you the expert here?"

"I'm no expert!" I refuted immediately.

Crimson long hair, possibly dyed, was an unique hair color rarely seen in this country. His name was Gabriel or something and he wielded a mighty great sword. He wasn't a beefy individual but I could tell he was very strong with a stoic personality. Although he was part of the country's hero lineup, he was mostly holding a neutral stance in terms of politics. As a side note, his participation was solely due to nagging from a close friend.  

"He certainly has a very eye catching hair color." Then I jokingly added, "Oh Kanoko, if ever a mortal guy strikes your heart, I can make him immortal! Eheheh."

In response, I received a dreadful glare from Kanoko, for reasons unknown. "Don't 'heheh' me! You shouldn't use your power for something like that! Aren't there rules?"

"Fine, fine. I'm just looking out for you, you know?"

"There's no need."

On the evening of the same day after the matches were over, I remembered to grab that bottle of strawberry juice from my room in Vera. Unfortunately, as hard to believe as it was, there was already black moulds growing on the surface of the liquid.

"Smoothie!" I hugged her tightly as I begged her for her assistance, "Help me make some alcoholic beverages please!"

As powerful as I was, I had no clairvoyance ability to see into the future. It was completely beyond me. Thus, I needed the assistance from my adorable daughter, specifically her [sage] ability. She should be able to use a little bit even in her current form or perhaps she'd let me borrow it for a bit.

By the way, the hug was meant to be a bribe.

She was a bit startled but nodded in silence.

Though, Kanoko was glaring at me with stern disapproval, the alcoholic beverage was actually intended for her, seriously!

With Blackberry looking after our room at the tavern, Kanoko, Smoothie and I entered Ataraxia, my subspace. It had to be done this way because I planned to speed up the fermentation process.

We were in a specially constructed room just for the purpose of brewing delicious alcoholic beverages.

I was standing before a long table with dozens of bottled special drinks. Earlier, I had already learned the nitty-gritty of wine brewing via my intelligence network in the city while everyone was watching the matches. Seriously, those were boring matches.

Anyhow, the first goal was to identify any microbes that could be used to start the fermentation process for strawberries.

"Smoothie, you're up!"

I began creating clumps of different microbes and adding them into all the bottles.

"Wait, why am I here?" Kanoko, feeling out of place, asked.

"You're the taste tester of course!"

"Ehh?"

"What, you look surprised. You asked for it, remember?"

She placed a finger on her chin. "Ahh... Yes... But I didn't think you'd seriously consider it?"

"The result is as you see. I'm doing my best! See, I even evolved and levelled up because of your request, you know?"

"Now you're making feel guilty..."

"You know I'm joking, right?" I grinned knowing that she was pretending to sulk.

"Mother, Mother, I'm done! It's this, this, and this..." Smoothie budged into our conversation immediately after her [sage] did the calculations and predictions.

That ability sure is convenient, maybe I really should transplant it onto myself?

No. No. Absolutely not!

"Thanks Smoothie."

I erased the bottles of juice that would have spoiled and processed the remaining. It took quite some time to make the preparations but I was able to obtain the final product in an hour. After all, there were more steps to that than just fermentation.

While I was brewing strawberry wines, Smoothie and Kanoko were both examining the process diligently. It was probably a trade secret but as an administrator of this world, there was no such thing as trade secrets in my eyes! Well, I wasn't about to go around and spread it to every household.

"Lo and behold, strawberry wine! Kanoko, you'll be the first person ever to taste this world renowned extravagant drink!"

I poured several cups of strawberry wine.

"Oh okay. You know I'm not an expert, right?"

"Oh Kanoko, I know full well how you secretly snuck out of your office occasionally during the night to drink. Yes, yes, and then using magic to detoxify your body..." I nodded along while nonchalantly disclosing her secrets.

"That's... Stop! Okay I get it!" She sighed with resignation, "I'll taste test them."

Hmm? My bluff worked? What?

I certainly did have an idea to what kind of magic she could use and that she occasionally snuck out.

To think I hit the jackpot so easily... Who would have thought?

Anyhow, one by one, she savored each and every cup of wine served before her. The alcoholic content should be similar, and none of them were the strong type that could knock one out in a single cup. But still, to find myself before a judge was a bit of a first for me.

"Well...? Verdict please."

Following that question, like an expert, one by one she pointed out the flavors held in each cup. Of course, now that I became a wine producer, I took detailed notes.

After that, when everyone was asleep, I experimented with mixing different microbes together and adjusting sugar levels while also varying the alcoholic contents. It really was a lot of work! In fact, I stayed up all night to create as a few variations that likely suited Kanoko's taste. Likewise, I also brewed a few variations that were likely deemed marketable.

Anyway, in the next two days, the alcoholic beverages were finalized. I casted them into barrels and readied them for sales and shipment.

My first target was going to be the bar on the first floor of the inn we were staying at.

However, the few customs here were on the poorer side, at least by my standard. I figured marketing wine and liquor made from strawberries might not be the optimal approach. Thus, I decided to wait until after the Selection Tournament to advertise my products to the high class bars and restaurants.

I considered it a fair play if I managed to become a successful merchant and entered high society. Then bit by bit, I would be able to manipulate the world through my networks without using my admin status therefore bypassing the non-interference rules.

Of course, for now, drinks were on me!