Chapter 237 The Path to Opening a Bakery
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
So, I’ve decided to open a bakery in the settlement. To do that, there are a few things I need to take care of.
First, I need to gather ingredients for the bread. If I had to name one essential ingredient, it would be wheat.
I’ll be growing 2 types of wheat: common wheat and Dhru Wheat. They’re already planted in the fields.
Another essential ingredient is yeast.
Olga-san’s family used to just leave the dough overnight and let it ferment naturally, but that method is unreliable and affects the quality of the bread.
So, I’ve decided to cultivate several types of fruit to obtain yeast.
Next, I need to build a windmill to grind the wheat and construct the bakery. I want to create a great bakery, so I’m working with other firms, including some skilled dwarves, to get the job done. Things are progressing smoothly so far.
I’m also developing new magical tools to help with the bakery’s operations, but I’ll talk about that later.
In the meantime, 2 problems have arisen. One is with Olga-san. She’s been practicing baking and accounting to prepare for the bakery’s opening, but it turns out she’s really bad at math.
I’m not talking about simple arithmetic or complex calculations; she just can’t do math at all.
This means I can’t leave the sales to her, so I’ve had to hire someone from the same village who’s good at math to be the salesperson.
Unfortunately, this means Olga-san’s salary will be a bit lower.
The other problem is with my magical tool development.
The bread in this world dries out quickly because it doesn’t contain much sugar or butter, which are essential for keeping bread moist. Since the bread is displayed openly on the shelves, it dries out quickly.
To prevent that, materials with high water retention need to be used, but since those materials are not produced in this settlement, there is no choice but to import them from outside, which naturally drives up the price of bread.
Since the goal is to provide affordable bread, that cannot be avoided, so a solution was considered and it was decided to create a magical display case that keeps bread fresh for a long time.
First, we ordered a glass showcase to avoid direct exposure and installed several mechanisms inside.
We experimented with a system that maintains a high temperature inside the showcase, like freshly baked bread, and had Olga-san try it out with bread she baked for practice, but it ended up drying out the bread faster.
Then, we tried using water-attribute magic to increase the humidity inside the showcase, but it ended up fogging up the glass and making the bread soggy, so we had to make fine adjustments to the temperature and humidity multiple times, but eventually, we managed to find the ideal ratio.
Although it wasn’t as good as freshly baked, we were able to keep the bread warm and soft from morning to evening, so we were thrilled, thinking, “Now we can sell delicious bread at any time!” But it was short-lived, as mold started growing on the showcase.
It seemed that the ideal temperature and humidity were also perfect conditions for mold growth, not just for bread. After this incident, I gave up on using the showcase to keep bread fresh and removed all the mechanisms, reverting to a regular showcase.
However, I didn’t give up on providing delicious bread at any time; I just gave up on using the showcase to keep it fresh.
If it’s difficult to maintain freshness, I thought, isn’t there a way to make it delicious when it reaches the customer’s hands? That’s when I thought of the convenience store’s microwave oven.
I realized that if the product could be reheated when handed over to the customer, that would be great, and development was quickly started, but it proved to be unexpectedly difficult.
I thought it would be simple, just reheating the bread, but the problem was that it took about 3 minutes to reheat, which would keep the customer waiting too long.
While it might be okay in a restaurant, making customers wait for 3 minutes after paying at a bakery would be fatal, and I was really struggling to shorten the time.
If we had a microwave, things would be easy, but we don’t have one in this world, and I don’t have knowledge of microwaves, so recreating one is difficult.
Besides, this is a different world with different laws, so even if I had the knowledge, I’m not sure if I could recreate it.
Anyway, before I knew it, 2 weeks had passed, and the construction of the windmill house and the harvest of the two types of wheat were complete. The first tasting party was held in the dining hall after closing.
The participants were the usual members who were still lingering around even after the dining hall closed.
”Ah, thank you for gathering for my freshly baked bread tasting party today!”
”No, it’s not like we gathered or anything, it’s just that the tasting party suddenly started while we were hanging around…”
”Well, it’s fine, isn’t it? We get to eat delicious bread for free, after all.”
”You’re still hungry after eating and drinking so much… do you still have room in your stomach?”
”Haha, I made sure to save some stomach space for the tasting party!”
”What? Wait a minute, did you know about the tasting party? We didn’t hear anything about it…”
”No, I heard about it when I brought meat to Narsht’s place the day before yesterday… Ah, I see, I was the only one who heard about it, and I didn’t tell you guys afterwards…”
”Harmon, you idiot!”
Due to the communication mistake, Harmon-san was getting hit by the people around him, and Olga-san was at a loss for what to do, when Narsht-san ignored Harmon-san and continued the conversation.
”Ah, today, as planned, we’ll have a tasting party for the bread Olga made. We have 6 types of bread in total, 3 each of wheat and Dhru Wheat bread. First, we’ll start with Adama.”
”Hmm… what’s Adama?”
”It’s the name of the bread that’s been baked and hardened for preservation.”
”Whoa, it actually has a name…!”
While Jott-san was nodding in understanding, kicking Harmon-san’s sides, the kids came out from the back, carrying plates with bread, and placed them in front of the participants. After they finished, they went back to the back, carrying their own plates with bread, and took their seats.
The people who were hitting Harmon-san also stopped for a moment and took their seats once the bread was arranged.
”You don’t need to say which is which, just eat and you’ll understand. Let’s start with the one on the left.”
”Alright, I’ll take a bite.”
In front of me, 2 small breads were lined up, looking like they hadn’t risen much and were slightly flat. At a glance, the one on the right seemed a bit darker, but other than that, they looked the same.
As instructed, I picked up the bread on the left, cut it in half, and brought it to my mouth.
The bread, which was baked to be preserved, had a soft and crumbly texture like a biscuit, but was thicker than a biscuit. In an instant, the moisture in my mouth was absorbed.
However, as the bread absorbed the moisture, it became softer, and I carefully bit into it to avoid hurting my jaw. As I did, the sweetness of the wheat and a simple flavor spread throughout my mouth.
”Yeah, it’s delicious, this one’s made with wheat, right?”
”There’s no change in the texture, but the flavor has definitely improved.”
”It’s good for now since I’m full, but isn’t it a bit small?”
”This is just a test, so I made it smaller on purpose. When we sell it, we’ll make it about twice as big.”
”That sounds like it’ll be a hit.”
Although there were some negative comments about the bread being hard, the overall feedback on the flavor was positive.
Next, I picked up the bread on the right, made with Dhru Wheat, and although it looked the same in terms of shape and size, it felt slightly heavier than the wheat bread.
I cut it in half and put it in my mouth, and again, I felt the weight of it as the moisture in my mouth was absorbed in an instant. As I slowly bit into it, the sweetness exploded in my mouth.
”Whoa?”
”What the…?!”
”It’s so sweet!”
”Hmm…”
Amidst the various cries of surprise and excitement from around me, I turned my gaze to the remaining half of the bread with a bitter expression.
It was sweet, incredibly sweet, to the point where I thought I was biting into a rock sugar in my mouth.
The guys all had bitter faces, but the girls and kids seemed to be enjoying it.
However, I had eaten Dhru Wheat treats before, but they had never been this violently sweet.
I wondered if the earth spirit’s influence had made the sweetness stronger, and just then, Harmon-san muttered a few words.
”Still, Dhru Wheat just doesn’t cut it for solid baked goods, ya know…”
”Still?”
”Yeah, I mean, Dhru Wheat is great for snacks and all, but when you use it to make dry baked goods like cookies, the sweetness gets all concentrated and it becomes ridiculously sweet.”
I’ve never seen anyone call cookies “dry baked goods” before.
But anyway, it seems like this isn’t the influence of the earth spirit, so I’m a bit relieved, and Jott-san looks at Narsht-san with a serious face.
”What’s going on here?”
”I thought it was pretty weird myself, but Olga’s all like ‘let’s sell this too’ and stuff… From what I’ve seen, it’s not something everyone will like, but some people seem to enjoy it, so I guess it’s okay.”
”Well, at least the sweetness doesn’t disappear from my mouth even after a few days, so that’s within the acceptable range, right?”
”Are you crazy? What did you eat to make it like that?”
”I just ate 2 oran that grew on a tree.”
”Are you trying to die?”
Harmon-san gave me a serious look, and I was taken aback.
While we were having this conversation, I saw the kids bringing out the next batch of bread.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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