Extra: The Phantom Liquor Store

In a certain smithy in a certain town...

A dwarf who usually spoke loudly was taking care to bring his face closer and whisper.

“Hey, Radim, is it true?”

“Yeah. I confirmed it at the Merchant’s guild.”

“Even though you showed me the letter from your apprentice Jörn, I thought it was just a hoax... But to think it was really true...”

“Didn’t I let you try some of the real thing? Well, even so, I still only half believe it’s real myself, honestly.”

Jörn, my former apprentice, had gone on to set up his own smithy in a different town. Half a year ago, he sent a letter, the first for a long while, as well as a wooden box. In the letter, Jörn wrote about a phantom liquor store.

There were a lot of rules you had to follow to visit said liquor store, but no one seemed to mind, since the alcohol you could buy there was so unbelievably exquisite that it was hard to believe it was of this world. It had so many delicious alcohols that no one had ever seen before, and the letter declared it as a dream store for dwarves — nay, heaven itself.

And in the box was the treasured alcohol sold at the phantom liquor store. At first, I thought of the claim as the ramblings of a fool, but I wasn’t about to blame the alcohol for that, so I happily drank it.

And the instant it touched my lips...

The feeling couldn’t be just described as surprise. It was strong enough that for a moment, I forgot who I was. It was stronger than anything I’d ever had, but it also had an indescribably deep fragrance and complex taste.

It was delicious. Aggressively so.

Delicious enough that I, as a dwarf, a member of the race that is said to be suckled on alcohol since birth, can easily declare it to be the best booze I’ve ever tasted in my life.

After that, I once again read over Jörn’s letter carefully, so as to gain as much information about the phantom liquor store as possible.

First point: the phantom liquor store was elusive. If you wanted to find it, you would have to be amazingly lucky.

Second point: Only a very small number of people were allowed in the store.

Third point: In order to enter, you must follow a multitude of rules. Those rules were:

One: For those who heard of this store from someone in another town, they may only bring themselves and up to ten other people that they trusted to obey the rules with them.

Two: Those ten who were told about the store must never speak about the store to anyone else.

Three: For those who heard of this store from someone in another town, they may tell only one person in another town about this store.

Four: When tasting the products in the store, you must never raise your voice or make a fuss.

Five: There was a buying limit in the store. One customer may only buy up to five bottles of a given brand.

Six: Never ask about the source of the alcohol sold in the store.

Seven: Never ask about the identity of the store’s owner.

Eight: If you somehow found out about the owner’s identity by chance, you must never spread that information.

Nine: The store could close even during sale hours if the rules were broken or if the owner judged that the business could not continue operating.

...It seemed that that was it for the important rules. Apparently, there were other minor rules too, but the letter said that it would be fine as long as you obeyed the owner.

In a nutshell, all you had to do was not question the owner’s identity or sources, and to be quiet and well behaved while enjoying the booze. I really wanted to brag about the fact that he had a bunch of really good alcohol, but it was important to hold back.

From Jörn’s letter, I could tell that Jörn himself was probably the one who had heard about the store from someone else out of town. And the rules said, “Those who have heard about the store from someone else in another town may tell only one person in a different town about this store.”

For him to send a letter to me means he trusts me that much. I can’t call myself a man if I waste my apprentice’s feelings and efforts.

So, I carefully picked out who I could trust with the information about this phantom liquor store. I was pretty damn careful, if I say so myself.

And the people I picked were two of my closest friends, Ladomir and Germain. I felt like I could trust the two of them, and that they would properly follow the rules.

I showed the two of them Jörn’s letter and explained what had happened, but they didn’t believe it at first. Of course, that was only natural. Even I had thought it was a dumb stunt or something at first.

However, once I let them taste the alcohol Jörn sent me, their eyes blew up wide and round, and after their surprise they instantly believed me.

After that, all three of us prayed every day for the store to come to our town. According to Jörn’s letter, when the phantom liquor store opened shop, the Merchant’s guild would have a notice with certain words posted up on their notice board.

Those words were: “aburi kalbi.”

I didn’t understand the meaning, but at any rate, the letter said that once those words appeared on the board, I should go to the desk at the guild and ask, “Please tell me how to get to the store,” and they would hand over a paper that detailed where the store was and its hours.

Those who saw the words and asked, “What does aburi kalbi mean?” would obviously not receive the paper; they would simply have the words, “aburi kalbi,” returned to them as is. It was set up so that those who knew what the words signified (if not their actual meaning) would see them there and know why, and only they would be able to find the store.

It was a really troublesome process, but it had to be done to get into the phantom liquor store.

So, in the half year since I had received Jörn’s letter, I had my apprentices go check the Merchant’s guild every day. And today, the apprentice I sent informed me that there was a paper that said, “aburi kalbi,” posted up on the notice board.

I immediately told Ladomir and Germain, and the two of them ditched their work to come meet me.

“So, do you know where it is?”

“No, not yet. I’m going to go to the Merchant’s guild now to get the paper with the location on it myself.”

“Alright! I’m going too!”

“Of course!”

So, all three of us went to the Merchant’s guild, and succeeded in getting the paper with the store’s location on it before returning to my workshop.

“Okay, I’m opening it.”

“Yeah.”

“Go for it.”

The three of us held our breath as we looked at the paper.

“I see... so it’s there.”

“It’s open a little after noon, huh? Then there’s still time.”

“Indeed. I just can’t wait. By the way, Radim, have you decided on anyone else to go see this phantom liquor store other than us?”

“That’s...... I know we all are unequaled in our love of alcohol, and of course we’d want to brag about the fact that we got some delicious booze. Like where we got it, and stuff, right? But there’s a lot of rules you need to follow to visit this phantom liquor store. When I thought of that, you guys were the only ones I was sure would be fine.”

“It’s an honor to know you trust us that much.”

“Well, if any of us was going to brag about booze, it’d be to one of the other two of us, anyway.”

“So that’s how it is. The people I want to brag to most are you two, Ladomir, Germain. And for Ladomir it’s Germain and me. And for Germain it’s Ladomir and I. We normally go drink together, us three. So, if it’s just us, we’ll be able to keep a secret.”

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“It’s been a while, I guess I’ll open up a liquor store again.”

I was currently staying in a certain town because of a request from the Adventurer’s guild. Said request had ended, so all that was left was to stay out the days I’d already paid for at the inn where I was staying. I decided to use this free time to open up the liquor store I ran as a hobby for the first time in a while.

The reason I had first started this store was extremely simple: even though I was registered to the Merchant’s guild, I never did anything merchant-like. The only actions that would qualify would be selling some shampoo and stuff to Lambert’s store. I figured that should be fixed, and I felt like I wanted to try running my own store.

At first, I thought about doing a grilled skewer stall, since I had ordered a BBQ grill in Dolan and everything. In truth, I actually had everything ready, but my gluttonous trio......

While I was preparing the food, all three of them were fidgeting like they wanted to eat and kept glancing my way... I already told them that this was for my stall, and even though I already fed them, they still did that.

And Sui even started wheedling, saying, 《Sui wants to try a taste...》 When it did, of course Fel and Dora-chan had to be included too......

So, I had concluded that a food stall would be no good, and I had given up on the idea. Pretty much all the meat I’d prepared went into their stomachs. I had gone all out and cooked quite a bit of meat, but once I said that I was giving up on the stall, all three of my familiars, the gluttonous trio, had gleefully put it all down.

I figured that anything to do with food wouldn’t work, so I had to go back to the drawing board for ideas. If I was to sell something from my Online Supermarket, pretty much everything would be like OOPArts to this world, so I rejected the idea.

Then, I had considered the tropes of isekai light novels and stuff. That is, salt and sugar and pepper and stuff. I’d probably earn quite a lot (in fact, I had sold some salt and pepper when I had just arrived here to make some funds, and it had come out to quite a bit), but it was clear that selling too much would cause a ruckus, so I rejected the idea. If a whole bunch of expensive pepper started circulating around, there’d be no doubt someone would try to find out what was up.

So after a lot of thought, I had landed on alcohol. After all, I was able to get so many more different kinds of liquor now that I had my Tenant, the Liquor Shop Tanaka. This world already had alcohol, so it wasn’t going to be too expensive. The reactions I got from eateries I’d given the alcohol to had been really good, so I figured it would work.

I mean, this world has so many alcoholics.

However, the alcohol I’d be selling wouldn’t be from this world, so I thought it might become the subject of rumors — and I really wanted to avoid that. It would just be annoying if people started asking around about my sources and stuff.

So, I decided on some strict rules for the store.

Anyway, although I felt a compulsion to try running a store, I was pretty at ease about the whole thing since I felt like it would be fine to stop if it didn’t work out well. When I had first opened up shop, it had been under circumstances like this — that is, when I had free time in a town I happened to be staying in.

And the person I chose as my first customer was a dwarven adventurer I’d gotten friendly with during my stay in town by the name of Jerome; I figured for alcohol, it would be best to go with a dwarf.

At first, he was full of complaints about the rules being too strict, saying, “As if I’d bother with an annoying store like that!” However, his attitude changed quickly once I had him try some whiskey I bought from my Tenant and I told him that’s what I’d be selling.

When I told him that the rules must be strictly adhered to, Jerome said, “I really want to brag about it if I ever have some good stuff, but it’s different if I have to follow some strict rules to get it in the first place. It’s impossible for a dwarf to break a promise when it has to do with alcohol.”

So, the people that Jerome brought with him were the members of his adventuring party. I’d thought he was a solo adventurer, but it turned out that one of his party members had been injured, so they had just happened to be on break. And all four of the other members of his party were dwarves...

Jerome probably was very insistent on impressing the rules upon them, but at first, they looked at me like I was really shady.

But you know, as soon as I showed them all the whiskey, brandy, vodka, rum, wine, beer, and Japanese sake I had in stock, the colors of their eyes changed immediately.

On top of that, each one was very affordable, so depending on the type it was possible to stock up on several brands. They really latched on once I told all of them that all the different kinds of alcohol tasted different. They’d never tried any of my liquors before, so they were quickly charmed by all the alcohol I showed them, and the dwarves all quickly quieted down in order to properly obey my rules.

So, since my first time running the store had gone well, I would occasionally open up shop again whenever I had a chance. And now, I’d decided to open up shop in this town.

I rented a warehouse and opened my doors. My familiars were with me just in case, but it seemed like they had absolutely no interest in alcohol, so they quickly fell asleep in a corner of the building.

As for me, I took a wooden table I had bought in this world from my Item Box and lined up samples of whiskey and brandy and stuff on it. I had all my stock in my Item Box, so whenever anyone bought something, I could just take it out and hand it over.

With all my preparations complete, I waited for customers, and immediately I heard banging on the door and voices.

“Password?”

They would have to say the phrase that was posted to the notice board of the Merchant’s guild.

“Aburi kalbi.” It was a low voice that replied. The intonation was so weird that I really wanted to laugh, but I fought hard not to.

I was the one who thought it would be fun to choose a little tongue twister for the password, though, since the Japanese for “braised beef ribs” would be difficult to pronounce.

I bit back laughter that had already half-escaped. “Ahem... come in.”

I opened the door, and my customers entered.

All three of them were dwarves. Or rather, all of my customers had been dwarves ever since I had started this store.

When I asked a dwarf who had come to my last opening about that, I found out that it was apparently because the only ones dwarves felt they could trust with matters pertaining to alcohol were other dwarves, and only ones who were friends, at that.

So, these three dwarves, who were probably completely aware of the rules, were acting calm and quiet. However, all three of them had their eyes fixed on the alcohol on the table.

“I believe all of you are fully aware of the rules, but I will ask you to please make sure you follow them anyway,” I said, and the three dwarves nodded with meek expressions.

I know that they all are really bursting with things they want to say though, like how the bottles of alcohol on the table are far too clear, or how the labels on the bottles are far too vivid and colorful.

“These are the types I have in stock. If you ask, you can sample any you like.”

At my words, I could see the dwarves’ eyes give off a glint. “So that means we can try drinking it?”

“Yes.”

“All of it?”

“Yes. That is fine — if you think you can actually down them all, that is. A lot of these are strong.”

“You’re not lying, right?”

“Of course not.”

Once I said that, the three dwarves looked towards each other, a grin creeping up on their faces.

Huh? Was that a mistake?

I had readied a lot of types of liquor with high alcohol percentages, like whiskey, brandy, vodka, and gin, among others though...

“““Then if that’s the case, please!”””

The three of them jumped right into asking for samples, so I retrieved some glasses from my Item Box.

“Well then, first is this alcohol that has been especially favored among you dwarves. It’s called whiskey. Each whiskey differs a lot in flavor depending on who brews it, so please try them yourselves. Oh, and also, it’s very strong, so be careful.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll take more than any normal amount of alcohol to down us dwarves,” the dwarf in the middle boasted, full of confidence. I returned a strained smile.

Getting back on track, I first poured them a Japanese whisky for the common people that was very affordable and came in a square bottle.

“Here you go.”

The three of them, after smelling the whisky, downed it all in one gulp.

I know I didn’t pour any of you a full glass, but you didn’t have to throw it back like a shot......

“Ahh~! The strong stuff is always so good!”

“Yeah. And it smells pretty great, too.”

“The flavor is so complex, it’s indescribable...”

The three of them looked like they wanted to keep drinking, but that ended the tasting for this one. On to the next.

“The next whiskey is this.”

The next one I poured for them was one that had been developed to be marketed towards Japan, labeled with a white horse. The signature smokiness of whisky was well balanced in this one, and since it was developed for Japanese palates, it was also easy to drink.

“Hohh, this is quite different from the last one. So they can be this different, even though they’re both whiskies...”

“The bouquet on this one is more brilliant than the last.”

“The last one had a deep taste, but it left the mouth really quickly. But this one, it really reverberates, I feel. The taste just keeps going, even after I swallow.”

As expected of alcohol lovers. Even though it looks like they’re just chugging it down, they’re actually properly tasting it.

After that, I continued having them taste the whiskeys before moving on to brandy.

“Next is an alcohol called brandy.”

First up was a French brandy in a unique bottle, with a mouth that was tilted slightly diagonally. Apparently, this brandy was soft on the palate and smooth down the throat.

“This one also seems strong, but it’s so easy to drink.”

“It’s just slightly bitter... I can’t really describe this fragrance.”

“It’s soft on the tongue too, I can almost feel some sweetness, it’s not bad.”

And the tasting continued......

“This one is the last. Now, if you will tell me what you would like to buy, I will prepare it for you.”

The three dwarves made good on their word. They had tried all the alcohol I had to offer, and handily. It was a little scary.

“They’re all so good that I want to keep drinking, but I suppose it can’t be helped since this is just a sampling...”

“Right? But what should we buy? They’re all so good that I can’t decide.”

“I brought as much money as I could, but even with all that I can’t buy everything, so it’s going to be a hard decision.” As I stated in the rules they could only get up to five of a single brand. I had told them the prices of every bottle when they were tasting them, but even though they were all pretty affordable, the price would naturally pile up if a person tried to buy too many. Almost every time, I saw my customers pick five or six different brands to get five bottles each of after a lot of deliberation.

“Okay, I’ve decided!”

“Me too.”

“Yep, me too.”

...............

............

......

“Thank you for your patronage~!”

The three dwarves left with satisfied expressions, carefully carrying huge bags and saying, “Just what I’d expect out of a phantom liquor store...”

“......No, isn’t it weird for the three of them to buy every single brand I had?”

Oh man, dwarves really do go crazy for alcohol, don’t they?

Before buying every brand of alcohol I had, the three of them all said, “As if we could let this chance go!”

On top of that, for the stronger ones like whiskeys, brandies, and vodkas, they had bought up to the limit, five bottles of each. I wasn’t sure how they were going to carry it all back since they bought so much, so I gifted them some bags I had on hand and told them, “They’re glass, so be careful not to let them break.”

Still, a dwarf’s passion and attachment towards alcohol really is amazing, isn’t it?

I only open up shop every once in a while, but as long as dwarves exist, I’ll have a really secure source of income, huh?