I Became a Food Developer in Another World

Chapter 34: Cider (2)

“So there’s no sugar in……?”

“Yes.”

Erestol stared blankly at the Zero Coke.

It tasted bland compared to the cola he was used to drinking, but that wasn’t the point.

The reason the alchemists were uninterested in food was simply because it didn’t pique their intellectual curiosity.

They were after functionality, not flavor.

However, this Zero Coke was able to achieve sweetness without sugar.

That’s amazing enough, but Yuri’s next statement was even more shocking.

“Calories are 0.24 malons per 100 celli.”

“…Huh?”

The alchemists exclaimed in disbelief.

“If it’s 0.24 malons, doesn’t that mean it’s almost zero malons?”

“Does that make sense?”

“Impossible. You can’t get that much sweetness without sugar in the first place.”

A “cellie” was a unit of volume, and a “malon” was a calorie.

It was impossible for 100 celli to contain 0.24 malons.

Naturally, the alchemists ‘denied’ Yuri’s story.

“Was that sorcerer just making fun of us?”

“How dare he lie in the Gold Tower…!”

Denial quickly turned to anger.

“He must be exaggerating. It doesn’t make sense that there’s no sugar in it at all.”

“It defies the laws of thermodynamics to have this much sweetness and no calories. It must have more calories than this.”

When I showed her the ingredients list, she doubted it and “compromised” with herself.

Denial, anger, compromise.

“Whew!”

“Wow, it’s really sugar-free!”

And shock.

The alchemists who analyzed Zero Cola’s ingredients with their magic tools looked like they were possessed.

“……no calories?”

They realized that Zero Coke was more than just a food.

Meanwhile, as amazed as the alchemists were by the Zero Coke, Yuri was equally amazed by the cloudy liquid they had created.

‘I suppose it’s inevitable.’

Erestol nodded inwardly at Yuri’s behavior.

The real thing recognizes the real thing, and Yuri realized that their drink was revolutionary.

It was a combination he couldn’t find in any other drink.

Carbonation + milk

The unique formula was a brilliant idea that didn’t come to him easily.

It was an unlikely combination, akin to drinking milk with water.

Even Yuri was surprised by the novelty.

Erestol smiled, feeling his own pride rise.

“You seem surprised.”

“Yes, a little.”

“You’ve never seen milk carbonated before?”

That wasn’t what surprised Yuri, but Erestol took Yuri’s silence as an affirmation.

“It’s an experimental drink, so it doesn’t have a name. If you’d like, we can come up with a name for it-”

“It has a name…”

“……?”

“It’s Milkies.”

The beaker in Yuri’s hand filled with blue magic, and the wizard’s imagination flashed.

“!”

What emerged was not the dull color of a golden tower, but a fizzy, milky carbonation.

*

I wonder which country first came up with the idea of adding milk to carbonated soda.

Whenever there is a novel idea in a strange way, most people think of ‘that country’ and it fits.

Japan was the first country to come up with the idea of drinking milk on carbonation.

Before that, no other country in my previous life had ever thought of the idea of fizzy milk.

It was a strange combination at the time, and there was also the problem that milk mixed with carbonation would curdle.

But Mr. Toshio, a former dairy farmer in Japan, had a different idea.

“If milk was carbonated, wouldn’t children like it?” he thought.

This man had the reverse idea of not mixing milk into carbonated water, but mixing carbonated water into milk.

The result was Squall, the first oil-based carbonated beverage that solved the problem of milk curdling.

But for me, Milkies was a much more familiar name than Squall.

“Oh, this is Milkies……!”

The look on Erestol’s face when he tasted Milkies was one of triumph.

“I see you’ve already made it.”

“I only imagined it.”

“Imagination is everything.”

Turning imagination into reality is the common goal of alchemy and magic.

As such, the Otherworld tends to look down on ‘imagination’.

Even if you have the ability to realize your imagination, if you can’t think of it, you can’t create anything.

And Milkies was the perfect “imagination” drink, complete with all the bells and whistles Erestol hadn’t thought of yet.

“So you didn’t just come up with the idea of carbonating milk.”

“Yes, you have to double the amount of sugar, and you also have to address the curdling of the milk.”

“I see….I see.”

Soda contains more sugar than you might think.

In fact, if you watch the process of making soda, you’ll see a shocking scene of white powder being pounded down.

I pointed out the lack of sugar, but the question remained.

‘We should have cider.’

Milk is lumpy, but milky tea is made with cider.

The cider had to come before the milk, so that the milk could be made.

Anyway,

“Do you want a contract?”

I asked, sticking to my initial intentions and offering the alchemists a contract.

“Mmm.”

Erestol still hesitated.

The other alchemists were similar.

He was right, the quest for flavor was not the direction of alchemy.

Of course, direction was something that could always be compromised.

“I will pay you fifty thousand gold as your annual salary.”

“……!”

“Bonuses, overtime, and personal R&D expenses are not included.”

Direction loses its meaning in the face of unconventional terms and personal research funding.

“If you’re interested in a contract, you can come forward and sign here.”

Promised twice the support of the Tower of Gold, I held up the pledge book.

“Mmm, I’m in. I’ve been short on research funds.”

“I’m in!”

The alchemists, blinded by their high salaries, rushed forward to sign the pledge.

*

After saving money on the purchase of the workshop through the Cat Dream Community, Ranya and I invested all of the remaining money in the workshop’s equipment.

“I want it to be state-of-the-art.”

“Leave it to me, Nya. I’ll get the cheapest price for everything, Nya.”

Konia took care of the contractors, so I didn’t have to worry about it.

When the alchemists of the Gold Tower visited the finished workshop a few days later, their jaws dropped.

“Hee hee! It’s the XO3 version of the magic term!”

“Hey, look at this! There’s a whole stack of crystal beakers here!”

Due to the nature of tools, which are used for at least a few decades once bought, it is not easy to see the latest equipment even in the Gold Tower.

The alchemists’ eyes widened at the sight of such a state-of-the-art workshop.

“If you need anything, just let me know, and I’ll make sure you have everything you need.”

“This is perfect!”

Erestol exclaimed, his hands itching to touch the new equipment.

“So when do we start working…?”

“Right now!”

As the alchemists rushed in, cola began to fill up the giant glass tube.

*

Coke has landed in Yuren.

The citizens of Yuren are ecstatic at the arrival of Cola, the rumored beverage that has stained the Empire with a black wave.

“Oh, so this is the Cola that was said to be spreading across the Empire!”

“Wow, this is so different from sugar water!”

“…What have I been drinking all this time?”

The taste of cola was quite shocking to the citizens of Yuren who had been drinking sugar water and shouting revolution.

“This stuff doesn’t make you fat!”

“Well, that’s impossible!”

The effects of Zero Coke were mind-boggling.

It was like a caveman discovering fire.

And that shock led to praise for the glass and the White Tower.

“…Is it true that it comes from the Empire, nay, the White Tower?”

“Alas, the Sage of Gluttony has finally visited our Yuren!”

The mere fact that the Sage of Gluttony had come to Yuren brought tears to some eyes, and some fanatics even called for Yuri to be declared a great man of Yuren.

The Yuren were a people who took their drinking seriously.

Add to that the fact that many of them had tasted ramen and Pringles, and Yuri’s popularity skyrocketed.

“It’s a white tower robe!”

“Buy the robe worn by the Sage of Gluttony!”

“This is the restaurant the Sage of Gluttony used to eat at!”

Shrewd merchants were selling robes emblazoned with the White Tower’s sigil, or inventing false holy places.

Within a month of Coke’s launch, the streets of Yuren were filled with people wearing white robes and drinking Coke.

And just like that, the capital was covered in a wave of white, and shock washed over the city.

“What is this taste?!”

“Wow, it’s refreshing!”

The soft drink “cider” had landed.