C326: Dairy Goat Problems (Prequel)

Panu is here.
She comes from a race of satyrs, a combination of humans and goats.

“We have a problem,” she says.

“What happened? Did a troll block your path when you were out to eat some grass to put on weight?”
“Um, no. We’re up against something much bigger and more sinister than that.”

She completely ignored my high IQ otherworldly joke.

“Also, I don’t want to get fat!”

Okay, maybe not entirely.

“So, who is this more sinister, more formidable foe you’re referring to?”
“It’s Lady Letasreit!”
“Huh?”

But you won’t find anyone else on this farm who’s as simple-minded as her.

“Did you know she has recently developed a new drink, Lord Saint?”
“Yeah…”

Well, technically, I made it.

“Soymilk.”

I made it in response to a desire to make beans more appealing to the students.
The product’s primary purpose was to make tofu, but its byproduct, soymilk, became more successful.

“Drinking soymilk will make your boobs bigger,” they say

With such a rumor spread, soymilk became very popular among girls with a “certain” problem.
Letasreit, who had become an intense bean fanatic, couldn’t stop her ecstatic laughter.

“Lady Letasreit has been cooperating with Horkofon to produce a large amount of soymilk daily and distribute it!”
“For free?”

Even though we don’t have a monetary system on our farm, that’s still pretty lavish…
It’s times like this that I suddenly remember Letasreit is once royalty.
I bet all that attention is getting to her head that she doesn’t bother making a profit.

“Thanks to that, we satyrs have suffered a great deal of damage!”
“Why?”

But then, I immediately understood why.
What do these satyrs exclusively produce on our farm? —Milk.

They excel at producing milk because of their race. That’s why we asked them to live here.
From then on, Panu and her group have been beavering away to produce milk, but…

“Our position is in jeopardy!”
“No, it’s not.”

I’m beginning to understand more and more what she’s trying to say.
Long story short, she’s afraid Letasreit’s soymilk might replace their milk as the farm’s main beverage.

“Milk and soymilk are both delicious, but isn’t the former’s position kind of immovable?”

It’s delicious, nutritious, and can be used in cooking.
Milk’s place in the food world is sacred and immovable.

“I admit that soymilk is also very popular, but it’s mainly with the ladies with ‘unique’ problems, right? Don’t worry about that, especially since almost all men still drink milk as usual…”

There’s nothing to panic about, is there?

“No! It is from such negligence that our ruin begins!”

She’s being too conscious.
What are you, an able manager who’s always been on top?

“If we lose to soymilk…we won’t be able to stay here! I can’t stand the thought of not being able to enjoy the farm’s delicious food and fluffy beds anymore! It’s too much!”

Ah. So that’s the reason.
I think I understand the rest of the story from there.

To compete with the new up-and-rising competitor (Soymilkreit), Panu’s side also wants to have some new products related to milk…
…So, of course, I’m the one who will be developing it!

I’m the one here who does most of the developing, after all!!!

“I’ve created a new product to compete with our new rival, and I want you to see it first, Lord Saint.”

Oh, she already prepared the product herself.
How tactful.

The new product created to compete with soymilk… is definitely a dairy product since it’s Panu’s group we’re talking about here.
They don’t just produce milk; they process it to make all kinds of things: butter, cream, etc.

In their village, they even sell these products.

“Our highly recommended product is… cheese!”
“Ah…”
“Huh? Why the poor reaction?”

Cheese, huh…

That’s a typical dairy product.
I can tell.
Cheese was on every shelf in supermarkets in my world, after all…

But you see…
I’ve eaten cheese myself many times, but… How do I say this?
It’s like I’m chewing soap when I’m eating it.

“Haven’t you been making cheese since you came here?”

I didn’t touch the cheese because of my past experiences and single-mindedly consumed butter and cream only.

“Yes! But what I’m going to introduce to you is a new variant!”
“A new variant of cheese?”

She sure has put a lot of thought into this.

“I’d like to introduce the people who helped us develop it!”
“H-Hello!” “Yo!”

Two people show up: Garra Rufa, a member of the mermaid team and known as the Witch of the Plague …and Bacchus? He’s the demigod in charge of brewing alcohol on the farm.

“What’s up with this chaotic combination?!”

Panu, Garra Rufa and Bacchus.
What kind of incident could spring forth from such a devilish combination?

“I mean, why is Bacchus even here?”

I focused on one of the two people introduced.

“I don’t see how you can be useful for anything other than alcohol.”
“That’s a line someone who doesn’t know the profundity of alcohol would say, Saint. To be frank with you, I’m the one who taught the satyrs how to make cheese.”
“Wait, seriously?!”
“That was well over a hundred years ago, though.”

According to Bacchus, he met a satyr when he was looking for a side dish to go with his grape wine, and as a result of their collaborative research, they created cheese.

“That’s why Lord Bacchus is the cheese creator! We borrowed his wisdom to develop a new cheese variant! Then, based on his ideas, we asked for Garra Rufa’s help,” says Panu.

Huh. Quite the impromptu group we have here.

Garra Rufa, the Witch of the Plague.

How in the world was cheese modified with her help?

“I added mold on the cheese.”
“O-Oh…”

Right. Garra Rufa is a rare, if not the only, researcher of bacteria in this fantasy world.

Now that she mentioned it, I’ve heard that mold was used to age cheese.

“At Panu’s request, I have created a mold that mildens the cheese’s taste through magic! After all, molds and bacteria are like relatives!” she says joyfully.

She must be delighted that her research is being used by others.

“This is the new cheese created by Lord Bacchus’ idea and Garra Rufa’s mold!”

With a clatter, she places a plate on the table.
Well, it does look like the cheese I know, but…

“There’s something… blue inside…”

Isn’t this what I think it is?
Blue mold?

Is this the blue cheese I’ve heard about?!
To think I’ll be able to see blue cheese in a different world when I haven’t even had the chance to eat it all this time!

“We’ve done all we could to make it taste the best it can be! We’d like you to have the first taste of our first sample, Lord Saint!”

I hear ya, but…
While I’m aware that such cheese exists even in my world, putting mold straight into your mouth would still require considerable courage!

But with Panu looking at me expectantly, I can’t just say no!

“Argh! To hell with it!!!”

I eat the blue cheese, cut into bite-sized pieces, with all the courage I could muster.

And then…!