Chapter 161: Harvest

"Using blood magic to harvest shouldn’t be a bad idea either," Walter remarked.

"Let’s give it a try." Walter smiled and waved his hand, and a large swath of wheat collapsed.

Seeing this, Zharok extended his sharp claws. "Then I’ll harvest with my claws."

He swung them rapidly, reaping the wheat faster than any blade.

Ethan joined the carrying team instead.

"Why did you come over here, meow?"

"Zharok and Mr. Walter are in charge of reaping, so we’re responsible for carrying, you’re doing a great job." Hearing the praise, Pearl wagged her tail happily.

Liora placed a bundle of wheat on the ridge and let out a dissatisfied hmph, seemingly protesting that Ethan hadn’t praised her as well.

"You are doing a great job too."

Everyone divided the labor and cooperated, working busily and joyfully, they had been harvesting wheat since morning, it wasn’t until the sun was directly overhead that they finished reaping all the winter wheat.

Looking at the once golden wheat fields now reduced to an empty expanse, Zharok still felt a pang of reluctance.

Ethan patted his shoulder, pointed at the mountain of wheat bundles, and said, "We still have a lot of work to do."

Next up, they had to thresh the grain, Ethan handed a flail to Zharok and said with a smile, "This job takes quite a bit of physical strength."

They spread the wheat bundles out on woven mats, and Zharok swung the flail, beating the grains of wheat from the husks.

"It’s truly a bountiful harvest this year."

"Yeah, we should prepare lunch... Zharok, you keep working."

"Got it."

Zharok continued to thresh the wheat, while Pearl used magic to pack the grains into sacks, Walter used blood magic to move the full sacks onto the handcart, by now, everyone could complete their tasks in an orderly manner without needing Ethan’s direction.

Ethan watched them with satisfaction, then turned and headed toward the cabin.

Not long after, the food was ready, and Ethan called everyone over to eat, having worked the entire morning, everyone was starving and wolfed down their lunch.

Watching them, Ethan calculated the upcoming work in his mind, the wheat harvest was complete, next, they had to mill the flour.

"After we eat, let’s go mill the flour."

"Got it, meow~"

"I’ll help too."

"Thank you."

"Are we milling all this wheat into flour?"

"Leave some for me."

"Okay, meow~"

Ethan needed some wheat to make koji, he patted Liora’s head. "Will you help me make it?"

Liora didn’t speak, just nodded.

Ethan smiled and ruffled her hair, then stood up.

"What do we do with the flour after it’s milled, meow?"

"We’ll give it to the Minotaur and Kobold tribes."

"Then we’ll have to store them separately." Zharok walked into the storehouse to fetch some sacks.

Ethan poured the reserved wheat into a stone mortar.

[Crafting Complete: Fine Sacred Stone Mortar]

[A stone mortar crafted using Sacred Crystals and the Hammer of Gaia. Can grind grains more easily, and the resulting powder will carry a sacred aura.]

[Well-Crafted: Grinding efficiency increased.]

[Well-Crafted: Preservation time extended.]

[Crafting Difficulty: ★★★★]

This was a stone mortar Ethan had carved during his free time, although it was still a bit rough around the edges, its functionality was excellent, he picked up the pestle and began grinding the wheat.

"Why don’t you use Shatter?" Liora asked.

"Pearl is busy, and my Shatter is hard to control, it’s more convenient to use this." If his magic were more proficient, he could use it to grind the wheat, but for now, he preferred the traditional method for making koji.

Ethan ground the wheat for a long time until it became a coarse powder, he poured the wheat powder into a wooden basin, added an appropriate amount of water, and mixed it thoroughly, then he wrapped the mixture in a cheesecloth, placed it into a mold, and pressed it firmly.

"Is this it?"

"Yeah, for now."

"For now?"

"We still have to wait a week for it to ferment, then dry it out, and repeat the process a few times."

"So troublesome."

"Doing it this way ensures the koji will taste better."

Ethan placed the prepared koji base into a wooden bucket, then moved it inside the cabin to keep it warm.

He and Liora walked out of the cabin, finding that the others had already finished milling the flour.

"We’re done."

"Good work, everyone, let’s go get something to eat."

"I want to eat cookies." Mirelle appeared out of nowhere, shouting loudly.

Seeing her, Zharok, Pearl, and Walter all glared at her with unfriendly expressions, startled, Mirelle hurriedly hoisted the box she was carrying.

Inside the box were several bottles of what appeared to be very expensive liquor. "I-I brought alcohol."

"Welcome, my friend."

"You’re finally here."

"Come over quickly, meow~"

Seeing the alcohol, everyone’s attitude took a complete one-eighty.

Relieved, Mirelle sat down at the table.

Ethan asked, "Where did you get all this liquor?"

"A while ago, a few fools with a death wish barged into my territory, this liquor was confiscated from them."

"What kind of liquor is it?"

"It’s whiskey, a type of liquor humans used to drink often," Walter said after picking up a bottle and examining it closely, truly fitting for an old monster who had lived so long — his knowledge was vast.

"I should make some snacks to go with this... Let me get the glasses first." Ethan brought out the ceramic cups he had made previously and placed them on the table.

Zharok thought for a moment, snapped his fingers, and said, "Ethan, make some ice cubes for me."

"Ice cubes?" That was simple enough, Ethan dipped his hand into a wooden bucket filled with water and cast a frost spell, the water in the bucket froze into solid ice.

Zharok chipped the ice, placed pieces into everyone’s cups, and poured the whiskey.

"Ahhh~, so refreshing." The ice-cold liquor flowed down his throat and into his stomach, leaving him completely invigorated, Zharok let out a comfortable shiver.

Ethan brought out sliced sausages, cheese, and tomatoes, placing them on the table.

"What were you doing just now, meow?" Pearl asked.

"I was making koji."

"Koji? What’s that?" Mirelle asked.

"It’s used for brewing alcohol."

"Brewing alcohol?!"

"Brewing alcohol? What kind of alcohol?"

"Do you like drinking too?"

"My body is half sweets and half alcohol," Mirelle declared with utter confidence.

Everyone except Ethan was stunned, liking sweets was one thing, but she actually liked drinking too?

Seeing their surprised expressions, Mirelle let out a disdainful hmph. "What? Is there a problem with that?"

"N-no... Just didn’t expect you to like drinking, now that you have koji, can you start brewing immediately?"

"Not quite."

Mirelle had been very excited, but hearing Ethan’s answer, she felt a bit disappointed.

Zharok smiled, patted her shoulder, and asked, "Then when can we start brewing?"

"It will take at least a few months for the koji to be ready, and even then, it might not succeed."

"What a pity."

"Nothing we can do about it, however, if the koji succeeds, we can use rice to brew wine."

"Can’t you use wheat to brew?"