Dream Life

January 29th.

I heard the information Viscount Ignacious Radford got in the Imperial City in the morning and learned that the Commercial Guild and the Mage's Guild were starting to move.

Viscount Radford's information did not give rise to any major problems so far, which at first appeased him.

However, since the opponent is an organization and a person who uses praiseworthy hands, in order not to let the enemy take the lead, he was to collect information independently as the Lockhart family.

Dan and Sharon's brothers and sisters are listed as candidates for intelligence gathering, and if there are no problems, they will head ahead to the Imperial City tomorrow morning. If it's true, it's where I want to go myself, but that's too conspicuous.

The two act as adventurers, not in the position of associates of the Lockhart family, discreetly. For this reason, we plan to use the general inn in the Imperial Capital rather than the mansion of Marquis Seawell or Lord Ezarrington.

I'll explain this to the Lockhart family and the Laurentians, but on the face of it, I asked them to look for ingredients and magic equipment. This is to be used as a pretext to come into contact with commercial guilds and magician guilds.

After lunch, discussions are scheduled to take place on plans to improve wine quality in Seawell territory.

To confirm with Marquis Seawell and Viscount Radford the plans put together in the morning by Marquis Territory's Home Affairs Officers, Redley Sutherland and Bernard Darnton, to fix any improvements, if any.

After that, it will be an advance meeting for an inspection of candidate sites for distillery construction starting tomorrow.

My father and brother roll out to the city with distractions and Sharon will not attend the meeting to prepare for tomorrow's departure.

Instead, Liddy, who has extra time, said, "You can stay with me because I won't disturb you."

They've been drinking wine since the morning, but it doesn't smell like alcohol because it's been wiped clean by the magic of detoxification. I will check with Viscount Radford, but he said there was no particular problem, so I decided to attend the meeting.

He briefly explains the movement of the commercial guild to Liddy and tells him Sharon and Dan will be ahead of him.

Shortly after I heard the conversation I seemed to think of something by saying "yes......" but immediately I'm grinning, "if Sharon's going to be okay".

I was concerned about that change in expression, and I said, "Is there something?," he said.

"No, not particularly. I just had an idea, 'cause maybe that kid knows, too."

"What are you talking about? ♪ And when I hear,

"I was going to tell you in the Mage Guild that you should use Dr. Raspade's name, but Sharon can't possibly be unaware. Well, I'm gonna tell you later."

Indeed, Professor Raspade's name has great influence in the Sorcerer's Guild.

Neither do I, but Sharon has also been given an immediate voice by the professor to be his assistant, and although far from the Imperial Branch, there must be no one in the guild who doesn't know.

I get a request from the professor and make it look like Sharon is helping me with it. In other words, the idea is that it would be easier to make guild officials recognize it as a professor-involved project.

"You sure do. Tell them from Liddy."

I headed to the conference room talking about that.

There were Marquis Seawell and Viscount Radford in the conference room, as well as Sutherland and five other clerks who built the neighborhood under their eyes. I hear they've been putting together plans all night.

(Don't you have to rush that far? I'm still staying for more than five days...)

When I asked lightly about it, Viscount Radford explained why with a serious look.

"Not only do I want to improve the quality of my wine, but I also want to discuss my plans for distilled liquor production. When it comes to going around the planned construction site and asking for your opinion, that's the only thing that will crumble for two days. Besides, I would also like to discuss the production and sales strategy of the bottle. I want to keep some purpose in mind while you're here."

Their master, Marquis Seawell, is also snorting heavily, and it seems his policy as Marquis House.

(Does that mean I'll be held captive too... well, I don't hate it because I'm talking about booze, but you didn't expect me to go that far...)

With that in mind, the plan can soon be spread onto the table. There are only some because there is no copier, but there were nearly twenty documents with surprising letters.

Surprised by the amount of information, but ignoring me like that, Sutherland started explaining.

"The first is about improving the quality of wine. I have summarised the recommendations I received during the inspection of the vineyards in the village of Widial… based on the producer's opinion on the subdivision of the field 100 m (melt) square as the smallest unit… I will use both new and old barrels for each field category for the next barrel to be used…"

Sutherland will explain, but the other civilians don't show any sleepy bareback while building a neighborhood under their eyes. I'm under pressure for that impending atmosphere.

(Wow. I don't know if it's because it's rewarding or because I was drunk by Master Ignacious's intentions, but it's so powerful...)

His explanation lasted about twenty minutes.

To sum up, it is said that the fields, barrels, brewing times, names of brewers, etc. are clarified and controlled, and data are collected and analysed. The Seawell family will also manage the wines of each village in bulk and establish a new department for this purpose.

"... that's the plan we had in mind. Is there anything missing or improving?"

Civilians' gaze focuses on me.

"No, I think the current plan is enough. The rest is also part of the sales strategy, so let's finish the story."

When I said that, I dropped my shoulder disappointingly for some reason.

When I look at Liddy without knowing why, she has a frightened face that feels like "hey you".

"It doesn't seem to be a problem, so may we proceed with the sales strategy," Viscount Radford confirms solemnly to Marquis Seawell.

"Uhm. I'm sorry I'm tired, but I need you to hang out with me for a while now"

So I thought to myself why the civilians dropped their shoulders.

I was hoping the draft plan would be approved and released, but I guess I dropped my shoulder knowing that I would need to add and revise the plan even more if I were to talk about the sales strategy.

(Master Ignacious told me you wanted to talk about a sales strategy... you failed. I could rest if I told him I'd take the plan back and check it out... well, he's still young, so he'll be fine all night for a day or two...)

I don't put it in my mouth, but I start talking about my sales strategy, thinking about the black thing.

"Somewhere is important where we aim first. What exactly is the Marquis' intended seawell wine?"

Suddenly he is told the story, Marquis Seawell bewildered and sees Viscount Radford.

"It's not what you think, Ignacious, but what you think is important. If the goals of the top are unclear, there is a risk that those below will get confused."

"I don't care if you say so..." said the Marquis, thinking slightly and then mouthing the answer.

"All I'm thinking about is the luxury route, but isn't that the answer?"

"I don't mind that, but even when it comes to luxury routes, there are many different things that can be considered. For example, the strategy will change dramatically depending on whether we aim for a level of devotion to His Majesty the Emperor or the elders, or whether we aim for one rank above other regions."

The Marquis was nevertheless wrapped up in words with a puzzling look on his face.

"Okay. I'm going to present some ideas from my side, so I hope you'll think about where you're going."

Then I'll come up with whatever I can, and I'll tell you what I think.

"Even when it comes to luxury routes, as I said earlier, they range from something that His Majesty and the Elder can drink to something a little more luxurious than ever before. Even as it stands, Seawell wines are fully appreciated and some hands are satisfied with it. But then you will be quickly caught up and outrun by other regions…"

So I see the faces of Marquis Seawell and Viscount Radford. The two snort as if they were right.

"But it doesn't mean we just have to improve quality without bounds. Increasing quality naturally involves costs. Something too expensive might not be appreciated as an industry."

"I wonder what that means? I know somehow, but I want you to explain a little bit more there."

Viscount Radford has sought commentary for the Marquises.

"Okay. The thinking is very simple. If it is too expensive, there will be a limited number of people who can buy it and the market will be smaller. If the market gets smaller, we'll have to narrow down production. In smaller markets, however, prices fall easily due to changes in consumer preferences. If the trend shifts to white wines over red wines, if only a small number of consumers are present, the sale will drop at once."

"I see. But that means we're aiming for an intermediate that's neither the finest nor a little bit of good quality."

"There are other ways," he replied to the Marquis's question, continuing further.

"What matters is that Seawell wines continue to receive consumer support. What we need to do to do that is to maintain our brand power and the diversity that continues to meet consumer needs."

"Diversity? I don't know about brand power, but I don't think there's any diversity or diversity in red wines."

Now Viscount Radford speaks out his doubts.

"They provide the affordable range of things you can usually drink with ease and the best you can drink on a special occasion. That said, the price range you can put out varies greatly depending on your income. So the best for the common people and the best for the nobility will be different. So it makes it easy to see the value of wine."

"I understand what Lord Zacharias is trying to say, but when it comes to offering value, I wonder if we will specify the price. I don't think that's easy."

I shake my head "no" and keep explaining.

"It only shows value. Prices will vary according to market principles, but their value as wine is determined by quality. That's what the maker decides."

"It's unimaginable to determine quality," growls Marquis Seawell as he arms.

"From here on out is my suggestion," the civilians said, stopping the hand of the note and looking up, a more serious look.

"I would like to remind you of the measures taken to improve the quality of wine, by subdividing the fields and managing them, we have proposed making higher quality wines. If this succeeds, you will be able to figure out where the vineyards that can produce good grapes are. Taste varies depending on the good and bad arm of the maker, but this won't be affected as much if you think ahead of time about the technology heritage. In other words, I think it is easy for consumers to choose which villages and fields of wine they want and if they can show it…"

What I propose is a wine rating. It is also a division in fields such as the Grand Cru and Primiecru of Burgundy, as well as making and selling “Village Name (Village)", which is named after the village.

"There will be times when fields and builders can be good or bad. It limits the amount of wine that can be given a specific name, and the Seawell family grades the wine to ensure flavor. If the Seawell family is worthy of credit, consumers will be able to buy wine by brand"

"But the premise must be that the Seawell family has credibility. Now that we have Ignacious, we can rely on his assessment to carry out the rating, but isn't it a daunting undertaking to continue it"

Civilians are also nodding at the Marquis's opinion. I guess they don't think they can appreciate the taste of wine.

"You're right. So we need to grow wine experts. I can trust Master Ignacious's tongue, but not necessarily the same preference as Master Ignacious's by all citizens. So we need to develop a lot of experts. That is not all, we need to create standards of quality and develop mechanisms to protect them…"

When I finished explaining, everyone was silent, below the Marquis.

(Was all of a sudden the story of the rating too leap... maybe we should have started with the name of the region and the name of the village at the top of it...)

Viscount Radford opened his mouth when I was thinking about it.

"I agree with Lord Zacharias' proposal. I asked him to propose a few more details on the specific matters to be implemented and to think about how to achieve them."

"Right. I find this proposal fascinating too. Seawell's wines are the best you can beat anywhere, but if you hang in there a little bit, some of them will sell to fly in the Imperial City. I don't know how many years it will take to make it happen, but it should happen at all costs. Ignacious, I asked for it."

Looks like the head of this project has been decided upon by Viscount Radford. Rather, it would be because there is no one else who can do it.

"That's about it for quality and brand, but I have a little more ventriloquism about sales strategy"

To my words, "" Do you still have it! "" Sutherland and Darunton raise their voices at the same time.

They civilians look slightly tearful and have heads, but I don't want to compromise about booze.

"Yep. This is an easy thing to do right away..."

The civilians have turned their suspicious gaze on my words.