The work was finally complete after around 3 hours.
All the hoses were inserted into trees and each jug had a hose flowing into it. All that was left was putting up barbed wire so animals wouldnât disturb the jugs and we would be finished.
The members of Nettle did their best and completed the job.
ăIâm looking forward to trying such a delicious thing that made Roleau-san go into a daze. With so much here then weâll be able to eat as much as we want and then still have enough to sell I think.ă
Kuu said as she finished cleaning up.
ăWell unfortunately thatâs not the case. Before I had you evaporate the water from the sap. Just to make 1 liter of syrup you need to use around 40 liters of sap, so even after using a big jug weâll end up with 4~5 liters each. Since we have 140 jugs weâll be able to get 700L if weâre lucky. If we split this evenly among the population of Erucy then everyone would get a little more than 2 Liters. Do you think 3 liters of syrup once a year is enough for everyone to be satisfied?ă
Every year you can only harvest the syrup for 3 weeks, and each tree only produces 1 liter of syrupâŠtruly a luxurious item.
Each person only having 2 liters makes it unacceptable for daily use. If we sold these 700L in 500mL batches then we could possibly make 1,400 gold (84 million yen) for a piece of truly delectable business.
If things went well, that much money was more than enough to purchase an entire year of food for Erucy.
Even better, maple syrup was very hard to imitate.
Even if someone noticed the smell of maple from the syrup and tried to copy it, they would only be able to gather it next year. Plus, because of the trial and error involved in making the product, they would waste that yearâs sap harvest by testing how to create the syrup.
ăBut if we have three weeks and can collect every five days, then canât we do this three times more at least? With that weâll each have around 10L each. That should be enough for all of us.ă
ăWell thatâs true. Thatâs only if everyone works properly and safely collects all the sap possible. Right now Iâm prioritizing the acquisition of foreign currency, so if we donât gather enough weâll lose the portion for making alcohol since we need to use part of it for selling and part of it for eating.ă
I wanted to secure at least 1,000 liters to sell. Our own portion would come only after that.
ăIâll do my best! If itâs for sweets then Iâll do anything necessary!ă
ăThatâs the spirit. Well, thatâs about all there is for today, we can wrap this up.ă
The members of Nettle had finished setting up the barbed wire and returned. Everyone else was watching the sap drip into the jugs as they chatted and relaxed.
ăEveryone listen up. Thank you for your efforts today. Thanks to that everything proceeded well and we finished up for the day. All we need to do is wait for 5 days to pass and come back for the full jugs.ă
I looked around at them and saw one unifying expression on their facesâŠ
âŠ.please let us try a bit of maple syrup.
ăI can see that after witnessing Roleauâs dazed display that you all want to try some maple syrup. I understand why you feel that wayâŠ.but please be patient.ă
I said and saw that they all looked disappointed.
Well, if we wanted enough for them all to try it then it would take a long time to wait for it to gather.
Plus, I needed them to be motivated for the next task.
ăOf course, I wonât say you have to hold out this entire time. In five days, weâll reconvene here, collect the sap, and insert hoses into different trees. At that time Iâll treat you to some maple syrup. All of you make sure to bring some bread! Iâll pour plenty of delicious maple syrup on top of it!ă
I called out and saw their depressed expressions light up in an instant. Most likely none of them had experienced proper sweetness besides for when I gave Lucy her donuts.
I was sure that it would be delicious enough to make them cry out.
ăCyril-niisama! I have a question!ă
Kurone the black fox cried out as she raised her hand high in the sky.
ăWhat is it Kurone?ă
ăDo we have to bring a piece of bread?ă
Kurone asked as her tail wagged while awaiting my answer.
I was a bit troubled. The Fire Foxes had very little wheat and usually only ate potatoes and barley. There was no way they could prepare two pieces of bread just for that day. This girl was probably thinking that if she gave up her meal the day before then she could possibly get two pieces of bread for syrup.
It was a situation where she would hold back for one day to get extra happiness the next day. Iâm sure she would show me the cutest little smile I ever saw. I wanted to see her happy.
However, if I gave an OK here then I suspect it wouldnât end with just one or two. She would cut out certain meals in her day in exchange for bringing more bread here. There was no limit to a girlâs passion for sweets. If I let her cut out meals like that then it would have a negative influence on her growth.
Be that as it may, I couldnât completely betray the glittering hope in my cute little sisterâs eyes.
ăIf itâs only two then thatâs fine. More than that is no good.ă
After considering everything, I decided that a single day wouldnât cause too much harm and gave the OK.
ăGot it Cyril-niisamaă
Kurone said and thanked me before throwing her diminutive chest out in pride as she whispered her âsecret planâ to Kemin and Yukino.
I saw the three of them get happy and excited as they praised Kurone. It was an adorable sight and my lips couldnât help but curl into a happy smile.
ăWell, thatâs it for today. Iâll be waiting here for all of you in five days.ă
I said bringing things to an end as everyone started chatting and gossiping.
Surely, everyone here would spend the next five days feeling anxious and excited.
They would anticipate the delicious sweet treat within their hearts.
ăNow, itâs about time for me to get some letters. I wonder how the reconnaissance party is doing.ă
I gazed at the sky.
It was just in time as I saw a large pigeon in the sky with a piece of paper tied to its legâŠit was one of the pigeons I raised during the winter. It was flying back to the coop I had set up.
It wasnât only the reconnaissance party, the special squad was working hard too.
bonus,
Commercial City Erin Price List
This is the price list made by Cyril in Chapter 2.
Item name Quantity Price Price (Japanese Yen conversion)