Fields of Ice

[Amaterasu]

Kushi shook her head in disbelief and smiled. "You know, McMicksson-san, I keep thinking that dwarves and humans are alike in many aspects when I spend time with you. And as soon as the thought crosses my mind, you do something that contradicts that thought, and usually in a good way too."

The dwarf placed a nail on the chair he was adjusting, and examined it at an angle to make sure it was straight. "Wha' d'you mean, lass?" He hit the head twice so that the nail was fixed in place, and went on to place the next.

"Regarding strong-mindedness, for instance." She thought for a moment. "I was expecting a far longer discussion."

"Dwarves are made o' stone, lass. At least tha's wha' our myths say. No surprise there."

"Some humans are far worse, you know. They have their ideas and can be stubborn as a mule when it comes to arguing. Most samurai of our land prefer to commit seppuku over losing their honor."

"Yer talkin' nibenese again. Wha's that word mean? Sepookoo?" Over the course of the last few days Mack and Kushi had learned the hard way that their language, while mostly the same, had the occasional discrepancy. Luckily, being well-versed with words, they were able to explain themselves. Mack for instance knew by now what a samurai was, and Kushi could understand things through the dwarf's accent.

"It's a ritual suicide. Using a tan- I mean, a knife or short sword, you slice your abdomen open and are then decapitated by-"

Mack interrupted her with a grunt. "Ya kill yerself, over yer honor?!"

"Like I said... stubbornness. But what I was getting at is that I had expected a far longer, far more difficult discussion regarding this. Instead we solved the matter in a minute."

"Hmmh." Mack hammered the nail entirely into the chair. "Ah know when t'be stubborn, that's all." Behind his beard Kushi could not see that he was smiling. As if any inn paid out twenty silver bobs a month! He'd been prepared to negotiate lower, but twelve silver bobs he was very happy with.

Kushi stepped back from the wall to admire her work, check that it was correctly placed and that the lighting worked. "When you are finished with that chair, we should go to the back room. The rice shipment has arrived this morning."

The dwarf raised his head. "We gonna start brewin' today then?"

"If the rice is up to quality, yes. I'll go ahead and unpack the crates while you wrap things up here. Take your time."


An hour later the two of them stood before the mobile mill that Kushi had brought along with her other equipment, and as the brewer explained to the dwarf how the grains had to be milled and polished to prepare them they worked the mill together. The polished grains were then washed and soaked, steamed and finally a part of that steamed rice was placed into the fermentation trays along with koji mold. While Mack worked on arranging a tray of his own Kushi checked on the ongoing ferment and picked out a tray that was ready to go. The koji had to be used immediately to maintain its freshness.

Mack then showed Kushi his first attempt. Not bad for a start, but a few points were missing, which Kushi pointed out as constructively as she could. She had never had a pupil but she remembered her mother's words, and if needed translated the words and names. Finally she brought the tray over to a large barrel in which the koji rice from the tray, steamed rice from what they had steamed earlier, water and concentrated yeast were mixed - again, Kushi explained the distribution and quantities and how they affected the final product. What they were going for would in this case be a "staple" sake that would hopefully let them establish themselves in the market. She would also make a few bottles of Thunder Brew though, of the sort that would even knock a grown dwarf over with a few sips.

"That's as far as we can go for now", she went on to explain as they pushed the barrel into a corner where it could ferment away for the next two weeks. "We'll go back to check on the koji trays every so often, which is the most difficult part of this process. They must be watered and mixed constantly so that the sake has a consistent flavor."

"Ah, tha's not too different from beer brewin'. Anythin' else?"

"Well... are you a sturdy drinker?"

Mack eyed Kushi angrily. "D'ya take me fer some milk-drinkin..."

"Good! Because I have a batch of sake and I bought a few typical Dwarfholm products - glowshroom, dûnost-meat, that candy you call Troll-tusk and a few others. I want to try how they taste together. Maybe we can offer some snacks on the side." She pointed at the leather bag behind the counter that she had brought in that morning. "Besides, it's always good to sample a batch before you sell it to the patrons." Besides, now that the bar was almost ready to reopen for business after its renovations and redecorations, it was the perfect time for a celebratory drink.