Moon Essence

The Minor Purification Potion he had redeemed from the Book of Truth worked far better than Donald had expected. After mixing it into the cheap wine he had bought, he found that the murky liquid instantly cleared. Bright, translucent red wine filled the top of the glass, while a layer of dark red impurities settled at the bottom.

　　But the biggest surprise was yet to come.

　　Donald handed the glass back to his butler. "Uncle Code, try this wine again and see what you think!"

　　Though Code was a little puzzled, he obeyed his young master, took the glass, and downed it in one gulp, frowning.

　　Unlike the cheap wine from before, the second glass slid into his mouth and down his throat like the smoothest honey.

　　Its refreshing sweetness lingered on the palate, while the former sour, astringent taste had turned into a subtly tart sweetness. As his tongue savored this remarkable flavor, he couldn't help shivering all over.

　　After the wine went down, a cool sensation gradually spread through his body, clearing his head. It took Code a moment to emerge from his intoxicated reverie before he exclaimed in admiration:

　　"What is this? It's incredible! This is the most delicious wine I've ever tasted. It might even be better than the finest red wines the Kingdom of Selt exports to the other nations of the continent!"

　　Donald drank his own glass of the doctored wine. It was every bit as delicious as he'd hoped, and he felt much more refreshed afterward.

　　Mixing potions into wine? The idea had come to him when he'd seen the vineyards along the road.

　　Ask ten people what the Kingdom of Selt was best known for, and eight would say its wine.

　　The Kingdom of Selt lay in the Northern Lands of the continent. Its climate was somewhat dry, its temperatures lower than elsewhere, and the difference between day and night was pronounced—all conditions well suited to wine grapes. The mountainous North Shire, in particular, produced grapes with excellent sweetness and flavor.

　　That was why North Shire wine ranked among the top three in the entire Kingdom. The fine wines exported from the Kingdom of Selt were also among the most expensive beverages on the continent. A single bottle of the finest Selt red wine could fetch more than ten Gold Sol elsewhere, and nobles still clamored to buy it.

　　The Kingdom of Selt produced only a small quantity of fine wine each year. Two dangerous regions separated it from the other nations of the continent, and its borders touched no other country, leaving sea routes as the only means of transport. Sea travel in this world was an extremely dangerous undertaking. Magic, divine spells, and other methods helped ships navigate, but the risks of maritime trade were far greater than during the Age of Exploration in Donald's previous world.

　　That was why Selt wine remained so expensive.

　　After seeing the village vineyards and thinking of Baron of Red Maple's vineyard, Donald had decided to turn the unused farm on his estate into a vineyard as well. With the advanced knowledge he'd brought from his previous life, he was sure he could experiment and produce fine wine.

　　He had bought the ready-made local wine simply for the sake of experimentation.

　　The Kingdom of Selt lay in the Northern Lands, where the climate was relatively cold. Of the three types of alcohol people drank most often—Barley Wine, Fire Wine, and wine—Barley Wine sold fastest in summer. But Fire Wine, a strong liquor with an alcohol content comparable to the weaker spirits Donald knew from his previous life, was most popular during the bitterly cold winter.

　　Wine, on the other hand, was generally expensive, so merchants and nobles were the ones who drank it regularly. But it had a mellow fragrance, and in small amounts it could calm the nerves and slow aging. For spellcasters such as mages, who always needed to keep a cool head, wine was the best choice.

　　Donald had bought the cheap wine to test what would happen when he diluted some of the potions from the Book of Truth with alcohol.

　　The potions in the Book of Truth were reasonably cheap to obtain, and he would certainly make a fortune if he sold them. But he had his reservations.

　　After all, he had no idea where these potions came from. He had barely mastered the basics of alchemy and potion-making, and knew very little about either. If he suddenly brought a wide variety of potions to market, he could certainly sell them for high prices, but making such a fortune would also arouse suspicion. His enterprise was only just getting started, and he wasn't strong enough to act without fear of the consequences. If he attracted the attention of powerful professionals, the secret of the Book of Truth might be impossible to protect.

　　In that case, death might even be a relief. After all, some professionals in this world had skills for interrogating souls.

　　So he planned to find a safer way to sell the potions—one that would earn enough money to fund his development without arousing the suspicions of various factions.

　　Donald began by experimenting with the cheapest potion, the Minor Purification Potion, and the results were unexpectedly successful.

　　Donald immediately ordered his butler to go to Red Maple Town and Giant Stone City and buy as many crystal bottles for high-end wine as he could. He also told him to order saplings of several excellent wine-grape varieties. It looked as if he intended to see his winemaking venture through to the end.

　　After tasting the superb wine, Code was fully convinced that his young master's winemaking enterprise would succeed. He hurried off at once to take care of the tasks he'd been given.

　　After the butler left, Donald spent some more energy to redeem three magical potions: a Life Potion, a Magic Potion, and a Recovery Potion.

　　He mixed each of them into a glass and tested them, but the results were disappointing.

　　Aside from the Purification Potion, the other three potions retained some of their effects after being diluted, but none could give cheap wine the rich flavor the Purification Potion had. There was little chance they would appeal to mages and nobles.

　　He had sent the butler to make those arrangements because he wanted to produce fine wines with special properties and sell them to wealthy mages and nobles. After deducting the negligible cost of the cheap wine, a successful venture could earn him, in just one year, profits normally generated by the estate over ten years. That would be of immeasurable benefit to his own advancement as a professional and to the estate's future development.

　　"How could this happen? Is it that only the Purification Potion has a purifying effect, and that's why it improves the quality of bad wine?"

　　After half a day of research, evening had fallen. The butler had returned from his errands with most of the goods, though the grapevine saplings wouldn't arrive for a few more days.

　　Donald had finally figured out how to make wines with all sorts of extraordinary effects. After comparing the results repeatedly, he found that he first had to purify the wine with a small amount of Purification Potion, then mix in the other potions. Only then could the wine retain its wonderful flavor while gaining their special effects.

　　But he also realized that this method would greatly increase his costs. After deducting the cost of redeeming the Purification Potion and the other potions, his profits would be cut by more than half. So, for now, Donald abandoned the idea.

　　After a sumptuous dinner, he looked up and saw moonlight spilling across the world. Its pale silver moon had risen.

　　That suddenly made him wonder whether the Moon Well in the Tree of Life had started working yet.

　　With that thought, Donald hurriedly mounted one of the estate's horses and rode toward the Tree of Life behind the manor.

　　The galloping horse carried Donald there in just two minutes.

　　He ordered the Tree of Life to lift him into its crown. At a glance, he spotted a small pool tucked amid its dense branches. A little puddle of liquid, shining with a crystalline glow, had collected inside.

　　Carefully, he gathered the shallow pool of liquid into a bottle. It amounted to less than a teacup.

　　He cautiously dripped a few drops into his mouth. At once, a gentle coolness seemed to envelop his body, and his stamina and mental energy were replenished.

　　"Not bad! Its effects should be about as good as the same amount of Life Potion and Magic Potion, right? And unlike those rigid potions conjured from the Book of Truth, the Moon Essence produced by the Moon Well also contains the vitality of the Force of Nature. Taken over a long period, it should be quite effective at healing hidden injuries and increasing vitality!"

　　"But there's so little of it! Tree of Life, is there any way to increase the Moon Well's output?"

　　After asking the Tree of Life, Donald learned that it was still low-level. For now, it could only build three Moon Wells. It couldn't control the transformation process for any more, so building additional ones would be pointless.

　　Each Moon Well could produce only about one large cup of Moon Essence per night, even when absorbing moonlight at full capacity. It would probably take at least half a year to fill a whole pool.

　　Donald spent energy to have the Book of Truth build two more Moon Wells. He had the Tree of Life weave them into its crown, then carried the small bottle of Moon Essence he'd collected back to his room and took another glass of wine for a fresh experiment. This time, however, he wasn't using any of the magical potions he'd redeemed. He was testing the Moon Essence produced by the Tree of Life and the Moon Well.

　　As expected, a few drops of Moon Essence greatly improved the quality of the wine.

　　"Just as I expected. Natural Moon Essence can greatly improve the quality of water, so it can naturally improve wine, too! Its purifying effect is different from that of the Purification Potion, but each has its own merits!"

　　Pleased with the result, Donald immediately called for his butler and ordered the servants to boil two large pots of water. They sterilized all the crystal bottles they'd bought, then filled them with the wine Donald had blended. Finally, they covered the bottles with corks sterilized over a fire and sealed them with wax.

　　He had bought five barrels of wine in the village: three of red and two of white. Aside from the half-barrel of red wine he'd used for experiments, he bottled the rest—seventy bottles of red and fifty of white.

　　Donald found that red wine paired best with the properties of Moon Essence. He mixed undiluted Moon Essence into each barrel of red wine. Once diluted in the wine, it gave it a superb flavor, and the finished product also had a mild effect that restored stamina and mental energy while nourishing the body.

　　He mixed two bottles of Purification Potion into the two barrels of white wine, giving it an exceptional flavor. This large-bottle Purification Potion was much stronger than the Minor Purification Potion, so it gave the white wine a considerable ability to restore mental energy and clear the drinker's mind, helping them focus on a task. This was the result of the Purification Potion's ability to refine mental energy, improve its concentration, and dispel the effects of negative conditions.

　　With Moon Essence that cost him nothing, Donald had cut the cost of his potions in half, making his original plan more feasible.

　　The crystal bottles cost two to three Silver Moons each, while each bottle of Purification Potion cost him only a little energy to redeem. Donald planned to charge at least fifty Gold Sol per bottle for each of his two wines—several times the price of the finest Selt wine. If he sold all one hundred and twenty bottles, he could bring in a total of six thousand Gold Sol, with a net profit margin of over ninety percent.

　　In other words, this business could bring in nearly a hundred times its cost. If he could keep it going, Donald would surely become the richest man on the continent.

　　"Of course, I also have to consider supply and demand. The nobles and mages of the continent are a small group; they can't consume this wine without limit. I should sell one batch every so often. Otherwise, the market could become flooded, the wine would lose its value, and I wouldn't be able to charge such a high price."

　　So he immediately instructed his butler, Code, to have the coachman prepare the carriage for the next morning. He planned to take the two wines to Giant Stone City and test the market!