Chapter 442 - Blessings and Misfortunes Come Together

"Whose fault it is doesn’t matter; what’s important is how we remedy the situation." Gaven thought as he answered, "This kind of leakage is caused by the fluidity of energies. It was this fluidity that created the Ghost Grape Wine, and now it’s the same feature that’s destroying it.""This trait is inherent to them and cannot be changed; the only thing we can do is to obstruct it."

"The simplest method is to start with the container. We have an example that we can refer to for this matter."

Valon pondered, "Are you referring to the Healing Potion Bottle?"

"Exactly." Gaven nodded and continued, "Healing potions also contain a rich amount of Positive Energy, especially those meant for treating serious injuries, which harbor far more than Holy Light Liquor. Yet their storage time can span several decades, or even over a hundred years."

"It’s not because of their inherent stability; once exposed to the natural environment, the healing potion evaporates and degrades even faster than Holy Water, losing its effectiveness in just a few hours. The reason lies in the potion steel bottles they are stored in, which have the effect of impeding energy flow."

"You’re planning to use potion bottles for storage? But that would be quite costly; a small steel potion bottle has a market price of at least ten Gold Coins, and the storage capacity of a potion bottle is limited. If used to contain Ghost Grape Wine, the production cost would likely be even higher." Valon couldn’t help shaking his head repeatedly.

Anything involving metal products, especially such small intricate metal items, would not come cheap.

"The reason potions use steel bottles for storage is not only because of the obstruction effect of the bottles, but also for readiness in battle, to prevent them from breaking during intense combat. The real obstruction comes from the magic Array on the steel bottles."

Gaven debunked Valon’s guess, "The main effects of both Ghost Grape Wine and Holy Light Liquor are not geared towards battle, so we only need the magic Array from the steel bottles. For storage, we can still use glass bottles. Now we need to consider how to integrate it with the glass bottles."

"Enchanting them with mages is one way, but that would raise the cost significantly."

"My idea is to merge it with the glass bottle production technique, to directly produce wine bottles that can hinder energy flow."

As he spoke, Gaven’s gaze fell upon Valon.

Valon instantly understood, clearly, the other party intended to hand over this task to the Hammer of the Holy Light Abbey, which had its own glass production workshop.

After a moment of contemplation, Valon said, "Leave this matter to us at the Hammer of the Holy Light. I will send people to improve the technique and strive to produce new bottles at the lowest possible price."

"However, improving the production technique takes time, and a distant solution won’t quench the immediate thirst. What do we do if the auctioneers who already bought the Ghost Grape Wine come knocking?"

"That’s why we also need to prepare an alternative solution." Gaven directly took out an ancient-looking wooden wine box from the Howard Convenient Bag, identical to the one rewarded back at Weizemay Manor.

Upon opening it, the bottle of Ghost Grape Wine inside emitted a thick black mist, with a Chill Aura pervading all around.

"On this wine box, the same kind of magic Array used on the potion steel bottles has been utilized; it was originally intended for this ultra Ghost Grape Wine, to prevent the Negative Energy it emits from affecting ordinary people." Gaven explained, "I will send someone to rush the production of a batch of such wine boxes, to be ready at any time, and I will also arrange for the creation of a batch of cabinets with similar effects, specifically for storing Ghost Grape Wine and Holy Light Liquor.

"Since the Grand Inquisitor has already transported the Ghost Grape Wine back, let’s first store it in the manor’s wine cellar to mature until we need it, and then someone can come to retrieve it."

"This is indeed a solution." Valon couldn’t help but let out a long sigh of relief, "One seems to become more backward with age. On this matter, I can’t even match Duke Gaven’s composure; he found a solution in just a few minutes."

"Your Excellency Grand Inquisitor, you don’t need to praise me; these methods weren’t thought up on the fly." Gaven said with a wry smile, "Actually, I too have noticed something about this matter. The production of Ghost Grape Wine is far more troublesome than we imagined."

"How so? Can you elaborate on that?" Valon asked with concern.

This was related to their vital interests. Recently, after a substantial amount of verification, Ghost Grape Wine played a significant role in their physical conditioning, and they definitely did not want a shortage of Ghost Grape Wine.

"Actually, it’s not much of a secret, and I believe it won’t be long before the entire world knows about it. Negative energy is different from positive energy; it possesses a degree of corruptiveness.

Ghost Grape Wine already has the capacity to bond with negative energy, which means it can accept a short-term infusion of more negative energy without a change in quality. However, ordinary wine simply won’t do. Even a small amount of negative energy introduced into it turns the wine into foul Evil Water, making it undrinkable.

I originally acquired fifty thousand bottles of wine from those wine merchants, hoping to transform all of them into Ghost Grape Wine through the process of negative energy conversion.

But this method simply didn’t work, and now they’re all piled up outside, and I dare not transport them into the manor," Gaven sighed.

Life is full of disappointments, more often than not.

I thought I had found a convenient way to make a fortune.

Ordinary wine entered the manor and came out as Ghost Grape Wine, its value immediately increasing tenfold, if not more.

Even if the efficiency was slow and the market demand was less, it was still an outright lucrative business.

An annual income of over ten million was not a dream.

Who would have thought the idea was too naive and beautiful?

"Doesn’t that mean Ghost Grape Wine is going to become a collector’s item?" Valon exclaimed in surprise.

"Collector’s item it will certainly not become. We still have a vineyard full of grapes, and at worst, we can brew it ourselves," Gaven pointed to the distant vineyards.

"Have you found the cause?"

"Pretty much, although there’s still some research and verification needed."

After realizing that the method of transforming ordinary wine into Ghost Grape Wine by exposing it to a highly concentrated negative energy environment had failed,

Gaven knew they had oversimplified the birth of Ghost Grape Wine, and there had to be some mishaps involved.

Upon reflection, it indeed seemed to be the case.

If merely bringing wine into the Shadow Plane could transform it into Ghost Grape Wine, then such wine would’ve been known long before,

not waiting for Gaven to discover, harvest, and make a hefty profit from it.

Gaven seriously summarized the timeline pertaining to Weizemay Manor, and discovered that this batch of wine was completed during the period when Duke Kolonfer committed suicide, after the tragedy at Weizemay Manor. They were sealed into the cellar the next day, and Duke Kolonfer killed himself, escalating the whole affair. Within a mere ten days, all the servants fled, and the manor became forbidden ground.

Therefore, Gaven had reason to suspect that the transformation of the Ghost Grape Wine had already begun in the production process.

The most important aspect of wine production is active enzymes.

In a special environment, these active enzymes might have mutated, achieving a delicate balance with negative energy, thus granting the wine compatibility.

It was estimated that it was only under the condition that neither too much nor too little negative energy was present, that such a chemical reaction would occur.

Because if it was excessive, the negative energy would likely completely kill the active enzymes; if it was insufficient, the reaction they required would not occur.

All in all, this matter was more troublesome than anticipated.

Instead, Valon laughed, "This isn’t entirely a bad thing, after all. Now, only you have mastered the production technique of the Ghost Grape Wine, and in the short term, no one else will be able to replicate or massively produce it, which means the price of the wine will only increase."

Although he was not a merchant, he knew very well the value of a monopoly.

Without a monopoly, Ghost Grape Wine would not be able to sell at the exorbitant price of one hundred eighty Gold Coins per bottle.

Their Holy Light Liquor was facing fierce competition, and even if they developed anti-tampering wine bottles, the price would be driven down in a short period of time.

To sell at half the auction price would be ideal.

Because churches and monasteries were everywhere in Felen.

Guiding Positive Energy was a basic ability for all official priests, and the production was not difficult.

It was estimated that in the end, the profits from producing Holy Light Liquor would not be as great as the profits from producing special anti-tampering bottles.

"With everything, there’s gain and there’s loss, but now, the merchants of Sambia will be even more restless, haha..."

"Isn’t this the most satisfying thing?"

Gaven and Valon looked at each other and couldn’t help but laugh out loud together. They enjoyed nothing more than seeing those Sambia merchants squirm. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn NovᴇlFire(.)nᴇt

In the past, it was these cunning merchants who monopolized, now let them taste what it felt like to be monopolized.

Midsummer Festival.

Also known as Midsummer Night or the Long Night.

This festival is widely celebrated in Felen, whether among Elves, Demi-Humans, or Humans, each has their own Midsummer Festival.

Only the timing is not the same, even within the human communities themselves.

In Thacel, the Midsummer Festival is usually held at the end of June.

In the Northern Lands, it is generally in early July.

In the Valley, it is held on the fifteenth of July, at least most of the Valley follows this custom.

The festival is also known as the festival of music and love.

In many places, there is such a custom.

Unmarried girls are allowed to move freely, hiding in the woods all night, waiting for their beloved suitors to come "hunt" them, and traditional engagements are usually set on this night.

The weather on this night is generally very good, with very few bad weather Midsummer Nights—because it’s under the protection of the gods.

If bad weather occurs, it will be considered a bad omen, usually indicating famine or plague.

No bad omens had come to the Valley, at least not to the Three Rivers Region.

Therefore, the weather on the day of the Midsummer Festival was exceptionally good.

There were clouds during the day, blocking any excess heat from the sun.

At night, there was a gentle breeze, coming from Yewen Pond, carrying a slight moisture, which only made one feel refreshingly comfortable in the midst of summer, contrary to the damp cold of early spring and late autumn.

The venue for the evening party was set on the vast open space between Weizemay Manor and the vineyards.

Before the night fell, this space was filled with tables and benches built from high-quality bluestone and logs, topped with a variety of fruits and vegetables.

However, today’s protagonist was doomed to be just one—grapes, produced by Weizemay Manor, of which half was occupied by them.

Hundreds of large pots had been set up early in the morning, the ingredients were prepared and fires were lit at noon, and now they all started to emit steaming heat and rich aroma, making one wonder if it would drift with the breeze all the way to Yewen Forest.

Tesser immigrants, captured mercenaries, village Demi-Humans, Gnolls, Pikespirits, Gnomes, Treants, and Enlightened Trees.

Not half were left unaccounted for, but at least the majority had already entered before dark.

This was the Three Rivers Region’s unprecedented grand event, and nobody wanted to miss it.

Besides, there were thirty to forty Thorn Spirits from Rose Tower.

Two squads of Half-Elf girls were naturally the direct subordinates of Regina.

Nearly a hundred Holy Warriors and Holy Warrior Apprentices, from the Monastery of the Hammer of Justice.

Even those explorers of Ghost Manor were invited to attend this banquet.