Dream Life Vol 3 Chapter 25.2: “The Grand Banquet: Part Two”

　I tipped a flute-shaped glass made of crystal glass, with a long leg stem and a narrow bowl, held it near the magnum bottle and poured it slowly, holding it between the hollows in the bottom of the magnum bottle. The polished glass is gently filled with a pale golden liquid. [T/N: Again use modern crystals, there is no safe level of lead, don’t be a plumbeus by using plumbum.]

　The first pour from a magnum bottle weighing more than three kilograms tests my grip strength, but my arms do not shake, probably because I have worked out far more than when I was in Japan.

　I poured until about 70% full and quietly set the glass on the table.

　It was only then that I became aware of my surroundings. Not only my family and the Frontier Count’s family, but also the dwarves’ eyes were focused on me.

　I thought I had done it again, but I pretended not to notice and handed the glass to Rosalie.

“Basically, it’s white wine. I hope you like it.” (Zack)

　Rosalie accepted it, looked at the glass with the fine bubbles constantly rising, and nodded her head.

　I thought I heard a “sssh” sound, and all eyes around me turned to Rosalie. Unlike me, she is indeed the daughter of a great aristocrat and does not seem to be concerned about the gazes of those around her.

　When she put her mouth on the glass, her eyes widened for a moment. Then, she tastes a sip of the wine elegantly and gives me a big smile.

“It’s delicious! It’s completely different from ordinary wine. The aroma that comes out is exquisite, and when I put it against my lips, the aroma is… oh, how can I describe it! No matter, it’s so delicious!” (Rosalind)

　The eyes of everyone around me turned to me again.

　Mr. Degenhardt opens his mouth as if he wants to say something, but no words seem to come out.

“Hey, can you let me drink that? Zack…” (Degenhardt)

　I can’t help but laugh at that sight.

“There isn’t enough for everyone. That’s right… There are two for His Excellency and us, and eight… There’s no choice. Should I give them all…?” (Zack)

　This time, I prepared sparkling wine to serve at my brother’s wedding. However, if the wedding is postponed due to the current uproar, there will be no problem in just serving everything now. Just to be sure, I will confirm this with the Frontier Count and my brother.

“I was planning to serve it at brother’s wedding…” (Zack)

　The Frontier Count nods, saying, “Hmm. I don’t mind,” and my brother nods in the same way. The Frontier Coutn further said,

“I will have the man who saved my life drink it. No need to hesitate. Oh, by the way, I haven’t told you, but the ceremony for Rosalee and and your family will go ahead as planned…” (Hubert)

　My father, mother, and brother had already heard about it, but I had been too busy with the dwarves to listen.

　Those who had not heard as well as I did, shouted their congratulations to my brother and Rosalie.

　Furthermore, I learned from the Frontier Count that the bereaved families of the 4th Battalion had directly requested that the wedding between my brother and Rosalie go ahead as planned. Their husbands and fathers had their honor restored, and they felt that it would be ungrateful to postpone such a momentous celebration for the sake of memorializing them.

　As I pondered what to do, DMr. egenhardt spoke up first.

“If that’s the case, we’ll refrain from. Well, I’d like you to taste it instead.” (Degenhardt)

　But the Frontier Count shook his head.

“No, I’d like you to try it. After all, it is Master Zacharias’ wine. It will please us best if you all drink it.” (Hubert)

　The Frontier Count and Mr. Degenhardt began to push each other. They exchanged their opinions several times about whether or not to drink, but finally decided to settle on half a glass per person, or 50 milliliters.

　At 50 milliliters for 400 adults, that meant we would need 20 liters. Six more bottles, for a total of 14, would do the trick.

　I pretended to take them out of the wagon and took the remaining six bottles from [Inventory]. The temperature was about 13 or 14 degrees Celsius and needed to be cooled. Sharon notices this and uses pseudo-Peltier effect magic to cool them down and puts them in a tub of ice.

　But only I can open the bottle. Beatrice and Liddy can do it too, but they can’t open the bottle as cleanly as I can.

　I had no choice but to open the bottle by myself, but it was indeed hard to open sixteen magnums. Sometimes use healing magic on my arm while opening the bottle.

　While opening the bottles, I told the dwarves, “If there is any liquor left in the glass, the taste will change. Please rinse it out with clean water.”

　I would like them to taste the spirits in champagne flutes, but I can’t serve them crystal glasses. I had prepared about 200 crystal glasses, but I couldn’t reveal [Inventory] here, and I thought that the normal glasses would be enough for the guests to taste the wine.

　We managed to get everyone to taste it, but it still didn’t win the hearts of the dwarves.

“It’s certainly delicious. I know that other wines can’t give you this taste. This is worth drinking… But you know? I’m forcing myself to drink it, I don’t like it. This one is definitely better.” (Degenhardt)

　Mr. Degenhardt held up a mug filled with scotch while looking a little embarrassed.

　The other dwarves’ reactions were similar, and they were all excited to talk about the distilled spirits.

　Everyone has their own tastes. So it was no big deal, but I was confident that the bubbly wine I was serving this time was a good one.

　Of course, there was the Salon with its richness and delicate aroma reminiscent of honey, limited, of course, to those made before the 1970s, and the Paul Roger, with its heavy, massive flavor and complex aroma. I’ve only ever had non-vintage NV Wines, unfortunately–can’t compare it to my favorite Deutz, excellent balance with food–I was aiming for a Champagne, or rather, a sparkling wine like that, but I thought I had achieved a satisfying taste.

(I figured that even some of the dwarves who like distilled spirits would prefer a little bit of this one… I guess that means I’m not done yet…) (Zack)

　As I chuckled at the dwarves’ reaction, for some reason Liddy was indignant.

“I wonder why people don’t understand how good this is! It has a much more delicate taste than distilled liquor! It has a smooth texture, and the aroma is so good…” (Liddy)

　After saying that, Beatrice starts laughing out loud.

“Hahaha! Lydiane has been poisoned by Zack for quite some time! Her tone just now was just like Zack’s! Kukuku…” (Beatrice)

　Not only Beatrice, but also her father, mother, Mel and Sharon are laughing. Liddy suddenly became embarrassed and buried her bright red face face in my shoulder.

　After that, this great feast went on until the sun went down.

　Aside from the dwarves with steel livers, my father and the Frontier Count, who were ordinary human beings, slowed down their drinking and switched to chatting and laughing.

　The children left around 4:00 p.m. and returned to the city with my mother.

　By the time the sun was setting, I, who had been on the entertainment side, was mainly eating, drinking, and chatting. Only Jonathan Water and the other blacksmith guild employees and the cooks continued to work.

　Aside from the hired cooks, I asked the guild employees to join me for a drink, but none of them shook their heads. Mr. Water spoke of their feelings.

“This is our job, and it’s the most important one. So there’s no need to worry. Besides, we’ll have an afterparty.” (Jonathan)

　For them, this banquet seems to be an important job. They work behind the scenes to make the blacksmiths feel good about their work. I was humbled by their professionalism.

A/N: Distilled spirits go well with the dwarven blacksmiths. Champagne goes well with an elf beauty. Don’t you think so?

T/N: Translating Dream Life is so much harder than the other series because of the technical stuff that I have to research, like soap-making, war tactics,  types of liquor, etc. Anyway, I like alcohol but I prefer drinking it and not learning the intricacies of the craft. Although it is interesting, I’d prefer learning while drinking.