Cold Drinks

Soon, Riku arrived back at the designated church constructed site. The villagers were already hard at work, with Lila, Barou and Lysaria helping them as well.

The church's skeleton was quickly taking shape.

Timber beams rose like ribs, anchored into the freshly dug foundation. Villagers moved with a mix of sweat and pride, stringing pulleys, lifting bricks, mixing lime with rhythm.

Barou stood at the front, bellowing instructions with both hands on his hips.

"Watch that angle! No one wants a tilted steeple!"

Beside him, Lysaria knelt over the chalk markings drawn into the dirt — checking the alignment of the altar's base with precise care. Her Vestal robes were pinned up to her knees, smudged with lime dust and earth, but her focus never wavered.

"No," she murmured, adjusting a stake, "this needs to be shifted five inches north. The morning light won't hit the center otherwise."

"Five inches?" Barou groaned. "We just buried that post!"

"I am sorry, I think I made a mistake. We will have to dig it up," she said softly.

Watching them work, Riku allowed himself a small smile before slipping away quietly.

He had something else to finish.

The forge crackled with low heat as Gnord, the blacksmith, stood polishing a horseshoe. When he saw Riku enter, he waved him toward the back bench.

"Your crate's there," he grunted. "Just finished the last plate this morning."

Riku approached the coolbox prototype — a waist-high wooden chamber reinforced with steel corners and a brass-lined crank on one side. Inside the casing, two nested compartments sat ready to be chilled.

"So this is it," Riku said, brushing a hand over the smooth lid. "Nice work."

" I still don't understand how you are planning to make this work. I tried rotating the crank, but nothing happened. How is it supposed to keep the food fresh?" Gnord said, folding his arms.

"Well, yes but is still inactive now," Riku replied with a grin. "Now, let's bring it to life."

He knelt down beside the crank, reaching into his satchel. One by one, he pulled out small rune stones, etched with delicate spirals and binding loops.

"What are those?" Gnord asked, squinting.

"Rune amplifiers," Riku murmured, already pressing them into slots beneath the crank wheel. "They channel rotational mana into directional frost — here, and here..."

He muttered softly, his finger tracing three glowing lines across the inside lid in overlapping curves.

Then, standing up, he placed his hand on the crank and gave it a smooth, steady turn.

Whirrr.

A pulse of light rippled through the rune lines.

Then—

A soft shhhhhh sounded from inside the chamber, and when Riku opened the lid a moment later, a faint, misty chill rolled out.

The inside of the box now shimmered with cold. The air within had dropped several degrees in seconds.

Gnord leaned in, eyes wide.

"Well I'll be…"

He held his hand just above the inner wall and shivered. "That's colder than a spring cave in the dark months."

Riku chuckled. "Now we can keep things fresh for days. Maybe weeks."

"This is so good. But what are you planning it for?"

"First?" Riku said, rubbing his hands. "Cold drinks. Sweet, fruity, fizzy — refreshing even in heat."

Gnord raised a brow. "Cold Drinks? Never heard of that."

"You will," Riku grinned. "Ice cream was the original plan, but we're still missing the right ingredients."

"Like?"

"Milk. Sugar. Maybe even cream. But that's for later. For now, I'll show you what a real summer drink tastes like."

The blacksmith shook his head in amused disbelief. "Well, you have come up with so many wonderful gadgets. It will be nice to see what you come up with next.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Riku said, tapping the coolbox with satisfaction. "Do you still remember the business plan I was talking about earlier?"

"Yeah, I do. What's the plan?" Gnord asked.

"Just allow me some more time. Once I finetune and make the first soft drink, we will make Elowen the first village with chilled drinks on demand."

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Inside the inn's kitchen, Riku stood over a cluttered counter, sleeves rolled up, sleeves stained faintly with sugar syrup and citrus oils. A breeze drifted in through the open window, carrying the scent of woodsmoke and turned earth from the church site.

Before him lay an assortment of clay jars, fresh fruits, jars of sugar, and a stack of clean glass bottles.

"Alright," he muttered to himself. "Time to beat the heat."

First came the lemon blend — simple, sharp, with a tinge of sweet. He squeezed fresh lemons, stirred in boiled water, and added a swirl of sugar syrup, conjured with a brief burst of low-heat flame magic to melt the sugar faster.

Next was the mango cooler — pulpy mangoes mashed smooth, a pinch of salt and sugar. It tingled even before it was cold.

Then came berry-leaf fizz, made from the small purple fruits growing along the south fence and a few minty leaves Lila had gathered days ago. Sweet, refreshing, herbal.

And finally, Riku's personal favorite — spiced citrus sparkle.

To each of these, he performed a small ritual: pressing two fingers to the bottle's rim, channeling mana into a swirl of fine bubbles.

Fzzzzzzz!

The fizz would burst through the liquid in bright streams, dancing just below the surface. He quickly sealed the bottles with smooth corks, reinforced with a flick of binding magic to hold the pressure in.

"Not bad," he said, admiring the glowing bottles lined in a neat row on the counter.

Next, he turned to the coolbox.

Riku opened the lid, activated the crank, and let the runes hum with chilling magic. The inner air shimmered as frost kissed the edges of the box.

One by one, he placed the bottles inside.

Within moments — less than a minute — the glass fogged with condensation, and cool mist drifted lazily over the surface.

"Perfect."

He gave the crank another turn for good measure, then shut the lid and leaned against the counter.

"I should build something that can do the fizzing automatically," he murmured. "Maybe something with a hand-pump and inner crystal chamber. If I can stabilize the bubbles magically, I could even make it work with juice concentrate..."

He trailed off, already sketching schematics in his mind.

But for now?

Today was about about bringing another delicacy to Elowen.