Grape Custard

Dragon Flame Restaurant introduced its first alcoholic beverage since its opening - barley beer.

The mercenaries of Mist Town were overjoyed to find that they finally had a beer to drink. Before they came to Mist Town, they were all heavy drinkers, but once they arrived in Mist Town, it was as if they had entered a rehab center. The food and fruit here were so expensive that the residents simply couldn't afford to use them for brewing.

Simon took a sip of the crisp beer in his cup and felt every hair on his body refreshingly cool. He took a deep breath. If he wasn't afraid of being chased out by the magic puppets in charge of security in the restaurant, he would be so happy that he wanted to dance.

Old John looked at the liquid in his cup and commented, "The color of the beer is clear, the foam is delicate and dense, and the taste is pure and refreshing. I've never tasted such wonderful beer!"

The cheap beer sold outside was thick like porridge. Two cups at mealtime, and one would be full directly. For some financially strained alcoholics who couldn't live without beer, this was a good thing as it saved the expense of buying food. Some small taverns also did not filter their beer, with fermented barley sinking at the bottom and hop floating on top. After all, the nobles seldom drank beer; they preferred wine and champagne. Beer, almost exclusively for commoners, varied greatly in quality, most of which was rather low.

The beer produced by the sacred oak wine barrel, apart from having better taste and shorter brewing time, also had a special effect, just like the boiled fish. However, due to the fact that the raw material for brewing, barley, was rated as a common ingredient in the system, the benefits brought by the special effect were minimal.

After Ina had a drink last time, she gained the effect of [Energy Recovery Speed +3]. Ordinary people can't see their bodies as Ina does, so they probably wouldn't notice this slight increase. But that's okay, Ina didn't plan to use this as a selling point anyway, because the beer in the restaurant didn't need any promotion and it was already in high demand.

With the massive sales of beer in the Dragon Flame Restaurant, Ina had to limit the amount of alcohol each person could buy. She brewed nearly 2,000 liters of beer, which was estimated to be sold in ten days.

This was just the right time for the sacred oak wine barrel to finish brewing this batch of wine and start brewing the next batch of beer.

Who would have thought that just on the first day, the mercenaries drank over 500 liters of beer, averaging more than three liters per person? This was truly astonishing. With the satisfaction of the long-suppressed alcohol addiction of a large number of alcoholics, the security level of Mist Town plummeted.

Ina quickly implemented a purchase restriction policy and clearly stated that anyone who caused trouble in the town would be added to the restaurant's blacklist and would not be allowed to dine at the restaurant ever again. As the only restaurant in town, she had enough confidence, and the deterrent power of this new rule was indeed strong, so the mercenaries immediately behaved much better.

It's worth mentioning that when the mercenaries were causing drunken chaos in the town, more than half of them were stopped by Xavier. Ina never asked him to do this, she stared at Xavier, who was blushing from his ears to the back of his neck. He awkwardly said, "You're overthinking, I would never help out of my own volition, they were just too annoying with their clamor."

Ina smiled, realizing that Xavier's favorability towards her was quickly changing from negative hundreds to zero. Ever since this lich got used to the daily life of picking tea, his favorability towards Ina stopped falling and even increased a bit each day at meal times. The beach barbecue last time directly added thirty points.

"You'll be free soon if this continues," Ina said to Xavier, carefully observing his reaction after hearing this.

Xavier... Xavier pretended not to hear.

He carried his small basket and went to the backyard to pick up tea.

————

Lusen and Professor Derick returned to the Imperial Capital's Star Academy, planning to find a restaurant on the streets near the academy for a meal.

After the incident with Daniel last time, Professor Derick was deeply embarrassed and hastily left Mist Town with his two disciples and Lilith. Now that he has calmed down, he regrets not inviting Ina to teach at the academy.

Lusen, looking at his persistent professor, tries to dissuade him: "Miss Ina doesn't like teaching students, she only likes running her restaurant."

"What if she comes to the Imperial Capital, sees our adorable students, the abundant experimental equipment, and the relaxed teaching atmosphere, and changes her mind?"

Lusen shakes his head: "Miss Ina would never come to the Imperial Capital!"

The next second, Ina steps out of the door of her Imperial Capital branch.

She runs into Lusen and Professor Derick face to face and greets the two of them excitedly: "Hi!"

Professor Derick is overjoyed: "Have you considered my invitation and decided to teach at the academy?"

Ina: "Um, I'm here to open a restaurant."

Ina invites the two into the restaurant, her tone full of pride: "This is my third branch."

[Dragon Flame Restaurant

Branch: Extreme Cold Icefield

Branch: Neranka

Branch: Silver Imperial Capital

Industry: Farm (Bathtub Farm, Summer House, Fatir Vineyard), Ranch (Frank's Chicken Coop 50% ownership, Rabbit Hutch), Forest (Tea Tree Forest), Fish Pond (Mist Fish Pond - Cold Thorn Fish, Giant River Shrimp, Crayfish)

Level: 3

Experience (affected by business volume and number of guests): 3221/10000

Achievement Points: 531

Employees: omitted

Reputation: Misty Town (30) Mercenary Guild (20) Rize Tribe (500)

Current Funds: 6 gold coins 39 silver coins 5 copper coins

Decorations: omitted]

A few days ago, when the restaurant leveled up to level 3, it received the qualification for a branch. It wasn't until recently that Ina had the time to Lucky Draw.

Getting the Imperial Capital was indeed a pleasant surprise for Ina. This time she wasn't assigned to a remote and desolate location like when the restaurant first upgraded. The bustling Silver Imperial Capital will surely bring more opportunities to the Dragon Flame Restaurant, and by the way, it will consume the large number of vegetables recently harvested from the summer house, turning them into a constant flow of money pouring into Ina's purse.

Before Lusen and the others could speak, Ina started: "How come you guys are here by chance?"

"Star Academy is right next door on this street," Lusen explained.

So, the location of the restaurant this time is near the university town's food street, which seems to have a good location. The restaurant just opened and met acquaintances. The first meal was naturally treated by Ina.

Looking at the holographic menu, the two are surprised to find that many new items have been added to the restaurant in just a few days since they left.

Professor Derick ordered Golden Corn Pancakes, Roasted Meat and Bone, and Iced Beer. Lusen, on the other hand, chose Grape Milk Crisp, Fresh Meat Dumplings, and Honey Grapefruit Tea.

Speaking of Grape Milk Crisp, it was a new product added after the acquisition of the Fatil Vineyard. These grapes are not wine grapes. Although wine grapes have a unique flavor, they have less flesh and more seeds, and a grape is only the size of a fingernail, completely different from the fruit grapes eaten on a daily basis. However, the vineyard also grows some common fruits, such as lemons, oranges, grapes, and raisins.

Ina quickly brought two drinks, followed by two mechanical worker bees.

The silvery mechanical worker bees hovered above the two, the joints holding the tray extended and contracted, and placed the dishes in front of the two lightly and steadily.

Lusen stared at the smooth-lined mechanical worker bee and couldn't take his eyes off it: this is undoubtedly an extremely successful magical machine! Compared with his basic magical machine named "Uproot" left in the Dragon Flame Restaurant, this mechanical worker bee appears flexible, lightweight, stable, capable of automatic positioning, and can accept complex instructions.

Compared with the mechanical worker bee, his own magical machine is both heavy and stupid, with all its functions written on the name, and from time to time he has to wind it up.

Lusen looked eager, what he has always wanted to study is the magical machinery like the mechanical worker bee in front of him!

Ina sat in front of them, watching Lusen staring blankly at the mechanical worker bee that had already left, she waved her hand in front of him: "If you don't eat now, it will get cold!"

Lusen came back to his senses, lowered his head, and took a bite of the fresh meat dumpling. The familiar and delicious taste flowed on his tongue, healing his stomach that had been eating at the academy cafeteria for several days.

Ina also had something to ask Professor Derick. She took out a can of pure white powder from her backpack. Although the powder was ground as finely as possible, you could still see its granularity—it looked like an urn of ashes.

But Professor Derick wasn't a layman, he could tell at a glance that this was one of the raw materials for making Frost Potion—cold Thorn Bone Powder. It's made by drying and grinding the only spine on a cold Thorn Fish. Not any bone would do.

Professor Derick knew that Ina's restaurant had dishes related to cold Thorn Fish for sale, and seemed to understand her purpose: "Miss Ina, are you asking about selling cold Thorn Bone Powder?"

Ina nodded. Buying the Fatil Vineyard really wore her out, but luckily she remembered that she had saved a lot of cold Thorn Bone Powder because of Lusen's reminder. This was a precious magic material, and now that the branch opened in the Imperial Capital, Ina was planning to sell these to make up for the loss.

"The normal price of cold Thorn Bone Powder is about three silver coins per gram, and Star Academy has a large demand for it. I can help you contact the person in charge of purchasing potion materials in the academy. How much cold Thorn Bone Powder do you have, Miss Ina?" Professor Derick took the initiative to say.

"Thirty kilograms."

Professor Derick almost knocked over his plate: "Thirty kilograms?" This was a material sold by the gram, and it was the first time Professor Derick had heard of such a large unit.

Ina said calmly, "As you've seen, the business in the restaurant has always been good, especially since the mercenaries have a large demand for boiled fish. The number of cold Thorn Fish consumed in the past few months exceeds 500. The cold Thorn Fish I use for ingredients are all large fish over five kilos, plus the spine of this fish is particularly heavy, so the final amount is about this."

Professor Derick kept shaking his head: "These Frost Thorn Bone Powders must not be sold all at once. A large amount of material would impact the market, and you definitely won't get three silver coins per gram."

Ina didn't intend to sell all the Frost Thorn Bone Powder at once. She just needed some money for the restaurant to get by. So she said to Professor Derek: "Then please help me contact the person in charge of purchasing potion materials in the academy. If he buys in large quantities, two silver coins per gram are also acceptable."

Ina plans to build a good relationship with this person first. As long as her fish pond is still there, cold Thorn Bone Powder will continue to be produced. Ina has the ambition to monopolize all future purchases of cold Thorn Bone Powder by Star Academy.