Kurt stood in the middle of the road. He looked at Titan Tavern on his left and Saipan Tavern on his right, and smilingly asked, “So, which tavern are we going to tonight?”


  “Only children make choices. I am having all of them.” Fergus shook his head with a smile.

  “Then, where should we start from?”


  “Saipan Tavern, of course. We only tasted a teeny bit that day, and we didn’t get to sample it closely. I’ve been craving it for the past two days.” Fergus headed straight for Saipan Tavern without any hesitation. “That’s indeed the case.” Kurt followed after him with a smile.

  The Saipan Tavern today was much busier than before.

  This wasn’t friendly to those regulars who were already used to drinking in Saipan Tavern.

  However, they heard that Maotai had gotten the gold award at the liquor-tasting event. Looking at the shiny golden trophy on the bar cabinet, they felt a tinge of pride too.

  “This shop’s renovation style looks rather vintage.” Kurt entered the tavern and sized up the tavern’s environment. There was no glamorous decoration and lighting. The down-to-earth wood and dark colors were the main tone. It made people feel comfortable and cozy.

  They didn’t come too late, but there were only two vacant tables left now. “You’ll take a seat over there first while I go place the order, otherwise we might end up with no seats at all,” Kurt said to Fergus.

  “Sure.” Fergus nodded with a smile. Speaking of it, it had been years since they had to worry about getting a seat.

  Kurt came to the bar, and looked up at the drink list on the wall.

  Maotai—2000 copper coins a bottle.

  It was surprisingly cheap! There were plenty of expensive alcoholic beverages in Rodu, but none could hold a candle to Maotai when it came to quality.

  The price of 2000 copper coins per bottle was absolutely reasonable. Whiskey-2000 copper coins a bottle. “What kind of alcoholic beverage is this?” Kurt’s interest was piqued instantly. It was priced the same as Maotai, so perhaps its quality was comparable to the former’s?

  Kurt looked around, but he couldn’t find any service staff to place his orders.

  “May I ask, what would you like to order?” a soft and cute voice spoke up.

  Kurt took two steps forward before he noticed a little girl sitting behind the counter. The little girl was tiny, but she was really adorable.

  Kurt revealed a kind smile, and said, “I would like to have a bottle of Maotai, a bottle of whiskey, and a helping of all the side dishes.”


  “Sure.” Amy nodded before quickly continuing, “The total is 4120 copper coins. Because we’re too busy, we settle the bill in advance.”


  Kurt, who was about to return to his seat, faltered in his steps after hearing that. He only saw the boss being busy in the kitchen alone in the big tavern, with only a little maiden serving the dishes. They were indeed very busy.

  “What if we need more to drink later?” Kurt teased as he took out his money bag.

  “What you should consider is how to return home after you get drunk later,” Amy replied with a smile.

  Kurt was slightly taken aback before he smiled confidently again.

  He had been drinking for decades. He had drunk all kinds of hard liquors and wines before, and he was never drunk just after drinking one bottle.

  “Alright, I want to see if this liquor is really so strong.” Kurt settled the bill and returned to his seat with a smile.

  Fergus smilingly asked, “Why are you so happy?”


  “This boss’ daughter is so interesting. I ordered two bottles of liquor, and she was worried that we would get drunk,” Kurt smilingly said.

  “Just two bottles? The little girl hasn’t seen how we drank 10 bottles each when we were young.” Fergus laughed too.

  “I saw that there is another type of liquor called ‘whiskey’ in this tavern beside Maotai. It’s also priced at 2000 copper coins like Maotai, so I ordered a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of Maotai each. We can order more later after we taste them.”


  “Whiskey?” Fergus said with shock. “Since it’s priced similarly to Maotai, it means it’s a liquor that is on par with Maotai in the boss’ heart.”


  “Interesting. I want to see if this boss can indeed brew another equally outstanding liquor as Maotai,” Kurt smilingly said.

  The two of them waited for a while before Mag came over with two bottles of liquor and three side dishes.

  Mag wasn’t surprised to see Kurt and Fergus, because he had already seen many familiar faces from the liquor-tasting event.

  Mag put the things down, and smilingly said, “I didn’t expect the two of you to come too.”


  “We only had a few sips that day. It wasn’t enough, so we naturally had to come try it again.” Kurt looked at the two bottles on the table, and curiously asked, “Mr. Hades has two kinds of liquor, so why did you only send Maotai to the liquor-tasting event?” “I heard that the liquor-tasting event only had one gold award.” Mag nodded slightly before walking to the kitchen.

  Kurt and Fergus were slightly taken aback. They only regained their wits after Mag turned around.

  “I haven’t seen such confidence in young people for a long time.” Kurt looked at Mag’s back.

  “I want to see what the whiskey he’s worried about not having an extra gold award to give to is like.” Fergus took that bottle of whiskey, pulled out the cork, and poured it into two glasses.

  The liquor’s aroma spread out with a faint toasted scent and a rich smoky scent. The two of them picked up their glasses and frowned at the same time.

  “Is this a failure?”


  Fergus sized up the brownish red liquid in the glass.

  He had only smelled smoke’s scent in those liquor that failed badly. That was a serious mistake that happened during the drying process.

  His opinion of Mag was lowered a little. A good brewer would not have served a failed item to his customers.

  Unless he wanted to pull a fast one on his customers with Maotai’s success.

  Kurt’s initial thoughts were similar to those of Fergus, but he suddenly sensed something amiss when he wanted to put down the glass. He held the glass closer, and used his left hand to gently fan over it, making the aroma more intense.

  “It’s not a failure. It’s its unique fragrance,” Kurt said to Fergus with surprise as his eyes lit

  up.

  “Fragrance?”


  “Yes! Sniff it carefully again. This smokey scent isn’t repulsive. Instead, after the initial discomfort, you will find it increasingly mesmerizing

  “And after getting used to the smoky scent, you will discover the other scents hidden in it. Yes! It’s the fragrance of malt!” Kurt was surprised like a child who had discovered a huge secret.

  Fergus picked up the glass again suspiciously, and sniffed it again like how Kurt did it.

  After a while, his eyes widened with an expression of disbelief.

  “Say no more. Let’s try it first.”


  Kurt picked up the glass and slowly took a sip. He swirled it in his mouth with his tongue. When the whiskey’s fragrance filled his oral cavity, he savored the different fragrances at different parts carefully before swallowing.

  The texture was dry, rich, full and smooth… The faint smokey taste brought along a mesmerizing texture.

  Kurt put down the glass, nodded, and gravely said to Fergus, “It’s good liquor.”