Megami Buchigire - Chapter 43

Japanese rice wine, nihon shu.

In Japan, this generally refers to reishu, or refined wine, but apparently the consumption of it has been steadily dropping over the past few years.

Especially among the younger generation, who seem to prefer wine or shochu, a distilled liquor, over nihon shu. 1

In other words, there’s a microscopic chance that the author of this work just leaked the fact that he is not young (confirmed, actually).

Truly regrettable indeed.

“Mmm, this taste is what I was looking for. To think that an alcohol with such a deep taste of umami could be made from rice. Truly impressive indeed.”

At the Adachi residence, at night. The one enjoying nihon shu together with several plates of previously prepared snacks is the dwarf Ognil-san. Using the chopsticks that he is unfamiliar with in an awkward manner, he throws a piece of deep fried burdock into his mouth, then washes it down by draining the contents of his small sake cup in one gulp.

“I know what you mean. This is actually a bit too light for my taste, but it has a certain depth that leaves me unable to stop drinking it. The quality of alcohol on this side truly is high. Wine from my own country tastes so weird that I couldn’t drink it even if I wanted to.”

The one expressing agreement with Ognil-san is the former emperor Graios-san.

The most pervasive form of alcohol is of course wine, but actually during the Middle Ages the large majority of it was of very crude quality. Because of the preservatives and various other additives that had to be added in, it was actually quite detrimental to health.

For example, something called lead acetate, which was also called lead sugar and made by treating lead oxide with acetic acid, was frequently mixed into the wine. You can imagine how much damage frequently drinking something like that can cause. 2

It is well-known that the famous musician Ludwig von Beethoven loved wine, but recent research has determined that the failure of his ears was actually due to lead poisoning. 3

Seeing as how he was able to emphatically declare that he did not like it, it was likely that he understood intuitively its harmfulness.

As expected of the wild emperor who’s lived by his primal instincts.

“Gracious me, this indeed has an appeal that is hard to resist. There is the saying that wine is the blood of god, but this is truly a blessing from god.”

The other person expressing his agreement is the middle-aged priest Natan-san who has recently switched camps from believing in Zeus-sama to Amaterasu-sama.

His red face indicates that he is weaker with alcohol than the other two, but for now let’s not tsukkomi about whether a man of the cloth can drink or not.

The current Natan-san has been released from various things and is in an ‘I am freedom’ state.

There is no longer anything to be afraid of.

“Ooi! The snacks have run out! Quickly bring more!”

“You’re being loud!”

These three ossans are having the time of their lives. And the one they just yelled out to is the dark elf Linbel-san.

In a rare twist, she has on an apron and is bringing over the food that she just made.