Chapter 163: Dragon

Ethan led her to the place where the koji was stored, it was kept behind the cabin in a cool, well-ventilated area.

When Mirelle saw the koji in the wooden bucket covered in mold, her face changed. "I-is this spoiled?"

"No, this is normal." Although a few pieces of koji had failed, the vast majority were successful.

Ethan inspected them carefully, nodded in satisfaction, and said, "We can start brewing the wine today."

"Wonderful!, do you need my help?"

"Haha, I’ll trouble you a little later."

Ethan carried the koji back into the cabin and began washing the rice, the others ran over to watch, Ethan ignored them and focused entirely on the task at hand.

He soaked the rice in water, then broke the koji into pieces and placed them in a cool place to dry, at the same time, he used high heat to sterilize the glass fermentation jars that Eric had helped him make.

"The steps are quite complicated, do you need my help?"

"No need, I can handle this myself."

"Is that so? Then I’ll go wash the dishes."

Zharok took Liora to wash the dishes, Ethan continued preparing the brewing ingredients, by the time he was finished, Zharok and Liora had also completed their task and walked over.

"What’s next?"

Ethan sniffed the dried koji and found that there was no longer any off-putting smell, it seemed they were ready to start brewing.

He began steaming sticky rice. "Pearl, help me grind this rice into powder."

"Got it, meow~"

Ethan handed the washed and drained rice to Pearl, after Pearl ground the rice into a fine powder, Ethan added hot water, stirred it into a paste, and left it to cool, he also let the steamed sticky rice cool down.

"Alright, now..."

He mixed the crushed koji, the cooled rice paste, and the sticky rice together, then he began to knead it vigorously.

Mirelle watched from the sidelines, itching to try, she raised her hand. "Can I try?"

"Did you wash your hands?"

"Of course I did!"

Mirelle held out her clean hands and joined the dough-kneading team, she seemed to really enjoy the squishy texture, a bright smile appearing on her face.

"Squish, squish."

"Meow, is it really okay for her to knead it like that?"

"No problem." Kneading the mixture was physical labor, requiring at least an hour, since Mirelle was willing to help, Ethan couldn’t ask for anything better.

While Mirelle kneaded the mixture, Ethan began preparing afternoon tea, he baked some cookies.

Mirelle kneaded the dough for over an hour and was still in high spirits, once the cookies were done baking, Ethan inspected the dough. "Alright, that’s enough."

"That’s it? Is this the wine?"

"It still needs to ferment, you guys go eat the cookies first."

"Okay~" Mirelle returned to the table and started eating the cookies.

Ethan placed the kneaded mixture into the sterilized fermentation jar and sealed the lid, now, they just had to wait a week to drink delicious rice wine.

"Are you done, meow?"

"All done." Ethan washed his hands, moved the fermentation jar inside the cabin, and sat down at the table.

A few alcoholics were staring at him with eager eyes.

Ethan shrugged. "Now, we can only wait."

Time flew by, and a week passed in the blink of an eye, but for them, this week felt longer than ten years, Mirelle was so anxious she was biting her nails, wishing she could chug all the wine in the fermentation jar right then and there.

"How is it? Is the wine ready?"

"Yeah, it should be ready to drink."

"Oh yeah~" Seeing Mirelle’s excited demeanor, Ethan moved the fermentation jar onto the table.

"Now, we just need to filter it, and it’ll be ready to drink."

"What do I do? I’m so nervous."

"Me too."

"To be able to drink fresh wine... this is truly delightful."

The alcoholics couldn’t help but swallow their saliva.

Ethan poured the rice wine into a strainer, filtering it slowly, the milky white rice wine trickled down the cheesecloth and flowed into the wine jug.

Seeing this, everyone couldn’t help but gasp in awe.

"Want a taste?" Ethan poured the filtered rice wine into three cups and handed them over.

The three eagerly took their cups and downed them in one gulp.

And then... they all froze, unable to utter a single word, they could only let out a sigh of admiration.

"Wow, what is this?"

"It goes down so smoothly, sweet and delicious, with an endless aftertaste."

"There’s also a faint fragrance of alcohol... it really makes you want to drink more and more."

Looking at the group in front of him, Ethan poured a little of the milky white liquid into a shallow bowl he had prepared and handed it to Pearl beside him.

Pearl lowered her head and took a few careful sips, a slight look of disdain on her face. "I think it’s a bit too strong, meow~"

"This is undiluted wine, it’ll taste better mixed with a little water." Ethan poured some of the undiluted wine into another jug and mixed in some water, he handed it back to Pearl.

This time, Pearl wagged her tail in satisfaction, drinking cup after cup.

"Isn’t this much better?" Ethan took a sip of the diluted rice wine himself, although brewed in another world, he was quite satisfied with the final product, it tasted even better than he had anticipated.

Feeling the sweet fragrance of the rice wine spreading in his mouth, Ethan stored the remaining wine into jugs.

"Should we brew some more?"

"Sure, we have plenty of rice anyway."

"If we can brew a huge barrel, we can drink to our hearts’ content later."

Ethan had originally worried that rice wine might be an acquired taste, but he hadn’t expected everyone to love it so much, seeing everyone’s high spirits, Ethan smiled and nodded. "As long as everyone helps, we can brew as much as you want."

"What do you need us to do?"

"Help knead the rice, the most troublesome part of brewing is the kneading."

"I’ll do it." Mirelle stepped forward, volunteering.

Seeing her so proactive, Zharok and Walter also expressed their willingness to help.

Liora, standing to the side, raised her small hand weakly. "I want to drink too."

"You’re still young, you can’t drink alcohol."

"Just one tiny sip, please?"

"Alright, but you can’t drink it straight, you have to mix it with some yogurt." Ethan poured some Elven Yogurt into the rice wine and handed it to Liora.

Liora took a sip, then shook her head. "It doesn’t really suit my tastes."

"Haha, then never mind."

"What good stuff are you guys drinking?" The giant dragon had appeared behind the group at some unknown point, she wore her usual gentle smile, her gaze falling upon the bowl holding the rice wine.

Ethan served her a bowl as well, seeing the satisfied expression on her face, he felt very happy.

"Although this is my first time drinking this kind of wine, the taste is surprisingly good, sweet and sour, it’s very appetizing."

"I’m glad you like it, then how about we have roasted meat paired with rice wine for dinner tonight?"