Chapter 78: Bugman's Brewery

After hearing the reasons for the location of Bugman's Brewery, Snorri nodded. "That place is still protected by the Rangers of Bergman; the strength of those fellows is quite decent!"

Snorri thought of those guys in the game who carried shields to block some damage and could chug beer during battle to restore health, and he spoke offhandedly.

"Rangers? Hmm, strictly speaking, they barely count, I suppose." Lauren the Punctual felt a bit strange, but he still followed Snorri's lead.

"Although I feel that given the scale of the brewery that the Bergman family has operated for many generations, it wouldn't be unreasonable to consider it a small citadel."

"So at this time, the Bergman brewery hasn't been attacked yet; the original Rangers should be considered the brewery's employees and security guards." After Snorri figured this out, he gave a hollow laugh to gloss over it.

The midday welcome banquet ended quickly, and Lord Lauren still had to continue directing the craftsmen to repair the damage the fortress sustained during Gulu's Waaagh.

The caravan would stay at Kalake-Duomaer for three days; a portion of the merchants heading to the Empire would separate here, and at the same time, some Humans from the Empire who wanted to head to the Xibu Qunshan would join in.

Snorri decided to take advantage of these few days of free time to visit the Bergman brewery. Early the next morning, he set off riding a Rock Sheep, bringing only his forty-man Hammer Guard.

They traveled downward along the mountain path; for the convenience of water access, this brewery was built in a valley, with the water of Heishui Hu cascading down along a waterfall.

Snorri saw several circular roofs exposed in the trees from afar, and just as he was shielding his eyes with his hand to look for the nearest path, a voice rang out from the side of the road.

"Don't move! Who goes there?"

The Hammer Guard moved quickly upon hearing the sound; they surrounded Snorri in the middle.

"Eternal Hammer Guard!"

"Could it be that His Majesty the High King has come in person?"

A few more voices rang out, and soon, following a rustling sound of branches colliding, four Dwarfs emerged from the woods.

They wore red and blue leather armor and ram-horn helmets on their heads. In their hands, they held crossbows slightly smaller than those of the Quarrellers, with shields and axes tucked behind their backs.

These Dwarfs still pointed their crossbows at Snorri's party. Seeing this, Snorri, sitting on the back of the sheep, suddenly had an ominous premonition; he discovered that despite being surrounded by his guards, he was still exposed to the threat of the crossbows.

"I can't walk at the very front of the team from now on! Otherwise, if I encounter a sudden long-range firepower strike, my Anvil Guard won't be able to reach me in time to form a shield wall to protect me!"

"This is Rune Master Snorri Thorsson, the Chosen of the Goddess, and we have come to visit Master Joseph-Bergman!" Captain Gelunsen stepped forward and reported with a salute.

"Valaya above! So it is the Chosen of the Goddess! Please come with us." With ten Eternal Hammer Guards and the emblems on their chests as endorsements, the Dwarfs were not worried about anyone impersonating them.

As they spoke, two security personnel led the group toward the depths of the woods, while the other two continued back to their hiding spots to resume their duties.

"We have no choice but to do this!" the Dwarf said while walking.

"Our brewery's fine wine has a tremendous attraction to every race; besides the brewers who want to steal our techniques, there are quite a few Greenskins, and Trolls also harbor evil designs on the brewery!"

"Hahaha, good wine doesn't fear the depth of the forest!" Snorri praised sincerely.

With the guidance of the security personnel, Snorri twisted and turned until he soon arrived before the gates of the brewery. This was a building similar in form to an outpost; from the scale, Snorri roughly estimated that no fewer than a thousand people lived here.

With Snorri's arrival, a round, burly Dwarf ran over surrounded by several guards, his massive beer belly shaking with every step.

"Good afternoon, honorable Chosen of the Goddess! I am Joseph-Bergman, the master of this place." The Brewmaster before him smiled very happily, his chubby cheeks and big red nose almost squeezed together.

"Thanks to the Ancestor Goddess and you, my business has been much better this month! Look, I've gotten fat again!"

Bergman's familiarity left Snorri unable to react for a moment.

"I have long heard of you and your fine wine; this time, I was ordered to escort a caravan to Weifengbao and finally had the opportunity to visit. Sorry for the intrusion!" Snorri replied very politely.

"Hahaha, could it be that the Ancestor Goddess also likes my brew?" Bergman patted Snorri on the shoulder. "Please come in; this is no place to talk. Come, serve wine to our warriors who have traveled from afar!"

Snorri followed Bergman through the gate; in the small square, many Dwarfs were loading one barrel after another onto wagons.

"These treasures will have to be entrusted to you! If it weren't for them, the clansmen at Haojiaobao, Fearless Fort, and Weifengbao would have to drink swill for the New Year!"

Hearing this, Snorri finally had some understanding of Bergman's arrogance, but he did not refute it, instead smiling and echoing him.

"These are fermentation tanks!" Bergman introduced, pointing to several huge containers leaning against the brewery wall.

"We pour the prepared wort into the fermentation tanks for further fermentation, controlling the temperature to keep the yeast in its best state. In this process, the yeast will convert the sugar in the malt into fizzy bubbles and fine wine."

After half a morning of trekking, it was now lunchtime, and Snorri and his men ate lunch with the brewery's employees.

Besides the essential various freshly brewed fine wines, the food here also included dishes cooked with beer mixed in. Beer duck, beer-roasted pig trotters, beer-braised river shrimp, and so on, which Snorri and his guards found incredibly satisfying.

"Have some more! My friends, no matter how good the wine is, its flavor will change after transport and storage; how can it compare to the mellowness here!" Bergman jumped onto the table and toasted loudly.

Snorri himself did not like to drink at lunch; the dizziness after heavy drinking would ruin the rest of the day, but this time he could not resist the temptation.

After lunch, the groggy Snorri visited other parts of the brewery with the support of his guards. Seemingly wanting to make the Ancestor Goddess think highly of him, Bergman introduced everything very energetically.

They walked past the large millstone for crushing malt, the workshop for saccharifying malt to produce wort, the large filter pots for filtering mash to obtain clarified wort, and finally reached the boiling room in the deepest part.

"Hops and yeast must be added during the wort boiling process; their ratio and selection are my family's secret recipe, Master? Master?"

Bergman was talking incessantly while drinking, when suddenly he noticed that Snorri's eyes were already narrowed into slits, his head bobbing, and he was only barely standing because of the guards supporting him.

Please vote, collect, and tip, ha.

Speaking of which, do you all think it's necessary for me to rewrite the beginning? There were some flaws when I first started typing on the computer.