This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Barret's brows furrowed, a hint of curiosity mixing with caution. "What do you mean?"

Kain took a deep breath, weighing his options. "Well, with my connections through the school I should be able to procure the barley you need from fields outside of the city.

I also have my own spiritual fields, and the Brewer's Barley was one of the ones I'd planted, although I'll need to greatly scale up production if we were to consider selling." Kain was thankful that when he saw the Brewer's Barley seeds available for cheap that he'd purchased them in preparation of this very moment.

"I'm sorry? Selling? Aren't you a student? You want to help me reopen my bar?" Barret asked puzzledly. Somehow the kid he'd invited over offhandedly to thank him for his service was now trying to enter business talks with him. But he also felt hope that he'd be able to reopen for business sooner.

"Ahem! Not a bar" Kain clarified awkwardly. "I'm interested in starting a venture that's looking to ship bottled spiritual beers across the empire. With your expertise and reputation, I think there's potential for us to collaborate."

Barret's face darkened as he absorbed Kain's proposal. The initial glimmer of hope in his eyes quickly faded, replaced by a guarded skepticism. His shoulders stiffened, and his posture became defensive. "Are you trying to scam me?" he demanded, his voice rising. "How can a student from a top college come in here and suggest that we ship spiritual beer across the empire?

Everyone knows spiritual beer loses its potency in just a few days once the barrel for fermentation is opened. How could you possibly keep it viable for such long distances? Are you mocking my situation?" Once a spiritual beverage or elixir is made and placed in its initial container, barrels for beer and glass vials for elixirs, it begins to lose its effectiveness.

The shelf-life lowers drastically once that container is opened. The shelf-life of elixirs once opened can be weeks due to the stronger ingredients used and the fact that many vials they are added to have preservation properties. If the vial is kept sealed, many elixirs can last for years or decades.

But once the beer barrel is opened to distribute the beer into bottles, the spiritual beer will begin to go bad in a few days. Especially since nobody would waste expensive preservation bottles used for elixirs on beer. That's why most mass-produced foods and beverages were just ordinary items without spiritual plants and materials from spiritual creatures used as ingredients.

Kain's heart sank at the immediate shift in Barret's demeanor. He had anticipated some resistance but not this level of hostility since Barret had previously always appeared so laid-back and happy.

He quickly assessed the situation and realized he needed to address Barret's concerns head-on. "I assure you, I'm not trying to scam you," Kain said earnestly. "I understand your doubts. The spiritual beer's short shelf life is a valid concern. But I have a solution that could preserve the quality for months."

Barret's eyes narrowed, his anger tinged with suspicion. "You're telling me that you, a student, have a way to keep spiritual beer fresh for that long? You must be joking. Centuries of people much more powerful and intelligent than a con artists like you haven't even been able to figure it out."

'Ouch…'

"Not to mention the logistics alone would be impossible. The empire is so huge, and it can take weeks to transport goods from one end to another. How exactly, are you planning to get this done?"

'True the logistics is something I'd need to work out. But once I can prove that I have the ability to improve the shelf-life, I should be able to hire workers and even a logistics manager. As an investor and the source of the extended preservation method I shouldn't have to do everything myself."

Kain took a deep breath, determined to prove his sincerity. "I understand your skepticism. To show you that I'm serious, I'd like to test something first. Do you have any unfermented beer left? If you do, I can demonstrate how my method works."

Barret's expression hardened, but he motioned to a corner where a single barrel sat, still filled with the last batch of unfermented beer he had. "I have some left, but I'm not sure I want to risk it. This is my last batch."

Kain's eyes gleamed with hope. "Please, just trust me on this. If I ruin it, I'll compensate you ten times its value. I only want a chance to show you what I can do."

Barret hesitated, his gaze shifting between Kain and the precious barrel. Finally, he nodded, though reluctantly. "Alright, but if you ruin it, you'll pay dearly." At least is Kain fails he'd receive a lot of money in return. Considering he's unable to open his bar for now he needs money more than he needs this barrel.

Kain carefully approached the barrel, pulling a small vial from his pocket. Inside were gold pellets—Aetherbrew Yeast. He could see Barret's face looking suspiciously at the vial's unknown contents. His family had worked as brewers for generations and he had never seen anything like what Kain had just pulled out.

Kain poured the yeast into the barrel and sealed it. "It'll need about 1 week to finish fermenting," Kain explained. "I'll come back then to show you the results."

Barret watched, his expression a mixture of hope and skepticism as Kain prepared to leave. "Fine," he said gruffly. "I'll be waiting. I hope for your sake you can back up your claims."

"I can." Kain nodded with determination. "I'll see you in a week. Thank you for giving me this chance."

As Kain departed, Barret's initial skepticism remained, but a glimmer of hope flickered in the back of his mind after seeing Kain's confidence. But he knew he needed to see tangible results before he could fully trust Kain's claims. As the young man walked away, Barret prepared himself for the wait, hoping that the bold claims were not just empty promises.