***
Hae-jun's farm has a special power.
A terrifying growth rate that completely ignores the flow of time.
As if there were a large boundary surrounding it, anything planted in the ground grows enough to be harvested in just a day or two, and the livestock raised on that land also grows at an astonishing rate.
Mr. Haas was initially shocked by the farm's incredible productivity.
He didn't ask for details, but he seemed to think that Hae-jun was some kind of wizard who could control spirits.
Hae-jun asked him to keep his work here a secret, and Haas and Mia readily agreed.
In any case, the farm that Hae-jun tends to is a mysterious ability even to the people here.
Thanks to that, crops are constantly being produced like infinite map minerals. The hens produced eggs every few hours, and the goats provided an endless supply of goat's milk.
I never thought this tremendous life force would act as poison.
"Oh, man."
Hae-jun stared at the black predators roaming the western pasture and sighed.
The herd of black pigs had grown to 60. It was time to do something about it.
Oink-
Oink, oink-
Oink, oink, oink-
They had eaten all the acorns that had fallen from the almond trees and were still squealing with hunger.
If he didn't bring them something, they might invade the fields again and destroy the crops for the guests.
After a moment's thought, Hae-jun moved a large number of olive trees that were not currently in use to the western pasture.
Crunch- Crunch-
Chew, chew, chew-
They ate the olives greedily.
'I guess I'll have to do what Mr. James said.'
Today might be the day these guys get slaughtered.
***
If you walk a little to the right from the central square of the village, you will find Gerry's barn in a place where people rarely go.
Right next to it is his brother Neri's shop. At first glance, you might think it's a butcher shop because of the pig hind legs hanging from the ceiling, but it's actually a place that specializes in jamón.
Jamón.
A top-quality ham obtained by salting the flat part of the hind leg of a pig and curing it for a long time in a cool place.
It sounds like it would be easy to make, but in reality, making jamón is quite difficult.
First of all, there is the difficulty of obtaining the hind legs of the best pigs, but the real work starts after that. Even with the legs of a top-quality pig, the quality of the product can vary greatly depending on how it is processed. To obtain the highest quality jamón, the well-trimmed hind legs must be salted and cured in a cool place with a temperature of 0 to 4 degrees Celsius. After about a month of curing, the hind legs are washed again and hung from a cool, shady ceiling with good air circulation. They must be carefully tended to for about two years before they can finally be called jamón, the highest quality ham.
Therefore, if a mistake is made during the curing process, months of effort can go to waste, so meticulous care is essential.
And Gerry's brother, Neri, silently carried out this difficult process and always produced the highest quality jamón.
But!
"W, what is this!?"
Neri entered the jamón curing warehouse and froze in place, his face pale with shock.
The jamón hanging from the ceiling had all been exposed to room temperature, the fat was dripping, and instead of the white mold that was supposed to be there, blue mold had bloomed.
It was an unbelievable sight.
"How did this happen?"
He had definitely kept the temperature low.
At least until last night.
But now, it wasn't.
The bigger problem was that a merchant who had ordered the goods was visiting in a week.
The top-quality jamón that was supposed to be delivered then was in this state!
Thud-
He felt so hopeless that her legs gave out.
He had no idea how to solve this problem.
"What should I do... Should I ask my brother for help? To get some pig hind legs? Are you crazy? How could that work? There's only a week left."
Even if he got the hind legs again, the curing process wouldn't be finished in a week.
How could he hand over the hind legs in their raw state to the merchant?
Not only would he have to pay a penalty, but his reputation, which he had built up over time, would be damaged, and he couldn't help but worry.
***
"You want me to butcher the pigs?"
Hae-jun, who had come down to the village, went straight to Gerry's butcher shop and asked for the butchering service.
He said that he would pay in money or pork, so it wasn't a difficult task.
"Yes."
"How many?"
"It's a lot. About 20 for now."
"What? That many? Do you have a barn or something?"
"No, I'm raising them free-range on a farm north of the village."
"Free-range?"
Gerry's eyes lit up at the word "free-range."
"Is it difficult?"
"Difficult? Not at all. But what are you going to do with so much meat?"
"Ah..."
Hae-jun hesitated to answer Gerry's question.
He was butchering the pigs because they had become too numerous and were a nuisance, but he hadn't decided what to do with the meat.
'I don't know about anything else, but I have to take some pork belly(samgyeopsal) and neck meat(moksala) and grill them. Gulp...'
Just thinking about the word "pork belly" made his mouth water.
For a Korean, pork belly and soju were irresistible temptations.
"Well, that's none of my business. Anyway, there are two ways to pay for the butchering. The first is to pay 50 silver per pig. It's not an expensive price since we'll take care of everything from butchering to cutting and boning."
"Huh!"
50 silver.
It would cost 10 gold to butcher 20 pigs.
He had earned 12 gold from trading with the general store.
'This is a headache. These pigs are real money-eaters.'
He regretted it a little.
If he had butchered them when he caught them, he wouldn't have had to worry about this.
There were already 60 pigs in the western pasture, so it was too late to regret it.
"Is it expensive?"
"Yes... I'd like to hear the second payment method."
"In exchange for butchering them, you give me the parts that I need."
His ears perked up at the second offer.
"What parts do you need?"
Pork belly.
As long as it wasn't pork belly, it didn't matter.
He didn't have anything specific in mind to make.
He just wanted to share the taste with Chloe and the others, and he also wanted to take some back to reality and feed it to the Sunflower employees.
"Here."
Gerry patted the back of his thigh.
Then he pointed to the jamón shop next door.
"My younger brother makes jamón. Of course, there are a few conditions you have to meet before you can give him the jamón."
"Conditions?"
"Neri is very picky about choosing the hind legs. Anyway, if the quality of the pigs you bring is good enough for Neri to accept, you can have the hind legs as a condition."
"I'm confident about that."
He didn't know what kind of pigs he wanted, but he figured that the quality and taste of the pigs raised on the dimensional farm would be good.
Just like always.
"He's coming over here."
At the end of Gerry's finger, a man who looked similar to Gerry, the owner of the butcher shop, was walking over.
A man with a pot belly and a shiny bald head.
But for some reason, the man's face was full of worry.
"You're here. Neri."
"Oh. Brother."
"You came at a good time. A customer came and I was just talking about you. He wants to butcher some pigs... but why do you look so terrible?"
Gerry tilted his head at Neri's unusual expression.
"Brother, something terrible happened."
"Something terrible?"
.
.
.
"Oh... if that's the case, then it really is a big deal."
Gerry's face darkened when he heard about the jamón incident.
From what he had overheard, it seemed that all of the jamón had been ruined because the temperature control had failed.
'So it was a food that required precise temperature control?'
He remembered seeing jamón on a Spanish travel documentary.
He had never actually eaten it, but he vaguely recalled the process of making it. This was because the sight of the enormous amount of pig hind legs being cured in white salt was quite impressive.
"So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I'm completely ruined. I might have to pay several times the amount of the penalty."
I wondered if there was anything I could do to help.
I listened to their conversation because helping the villagers would increase my reputation, and increasing my reputation would be a great help to me.
"What if you give him what you have?"
"Absolutely not."
"What about the ones you made last year?"
"They haven't cured enough."
"Hmm..."
Gerry rubbed his beard as if he was troubled, and Neri was frustrated.
His worries were conveyed in his repeated sighs.
"Since I couldn't keep the contract, I have no choice but to pay the penalty. But just in case, I'll give him what I have, and I'll try to negotiate for the rest."
Gerry patted his brother's shoulder.
"By the way, you two should greet each other. This is a guest. And this is my brother I was talking about."
"Nice to meet you."
Hae-jun bowed his head slightly to Neri.
"I don't know if this will comfort you in this situation, but he said he wants to butcher a pig. He'll pay with the hind legs. So I was waiting to see if you had anything satisfactory."
"How many?"
"Twenty."
"If they're in good condition."
It was a lukewarm response.
Neri's mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the jamón that had gone bad.
"But can't I make that jamón you're talking about with the hind legs I have?"
"Of course you can."
'But why is he worried?'
Gerry understood Hae-jun's curiosity and answered first.
"Well, it takes a long time to cure jamón."
"How long?"
"About two years?"
"T... Two years?"
Only then did he realize the reason for the worry.
Even if he had the hind legs, it was food that could only be eaten after two years, considering the curing period.
The trading ship was said to be visiting in two weeks, so there wasn't enough physical time.
'It looked quick on TV, but it takes a long time to cure.'
I didn't know that until now.
"I see."
"Whew... It can't be helped. I have no choice but to accept the loss."
"Yeah. It'll be fine."
The atmosphere was heavy, but the matter of the pig was resolved smoothly.
He said that whenever I brought a pig, he would give me meat that was butchered and cleaned.
Even on the way back after leaving the pigsty, Hae-jun was worried about Neri for no reason.
'Is there any way I can help him?...'
***
As I approached the farm.
Hae-jun came across Chloe coming out of the cave under the cliff with something in her hands.
"Are you coming back from the pigsty? What happened?"
"We can bring them anytime. He said he'd take the legs as payment."
"That's good."
"But what is that?"
Hae-jun asked, looking at the white and yellow lumps on the plate.
"Cheese."
"Cheese? But why is it so hard?"
"I don't know either. I put the leftover cheese from last time in the cave, and it turned out like this after three days."
The cheese Chloe makes is characterized by its soft, rich flavor.
But this one in her hand.
'It's hard. No, is it cured?'
The flavor was richer and it had become hard.
Not all cheeses are soft.
During the curing process, many cheeses become hard and are grated and sprinkled like snowflakes on food.
In any case, cheese is a fermented food, so it seemed that this one had also hardened as it cured.
'Ah!... Is that it?'
A brilliant idea suddenly came to mind.
"Chloe. Can I have that?"
"Yeah, take it."
Hae-jun hurriedly returned to the real world with the cheese that he didn't know if it was hard or cured.
My father's notebook contained recipes for making fresh cheese or butter, but there was no information on jamón or cured cheese.
So the first thing to do now is research.
Hae-jun rushed to the bookstore, bought a few books on fermentation and jamón, and returned to Sunflower.
'Maybe... things will work out easily?'
***
Hae-jun's farm has a special power.
A terrifying growth rate that completely ignores the flow of time.
As if there were a large boundary surrounding it, anything planted in the ground grows enough to be harvested in just a day or two, and the livestock raised on that land also grows at an astonishing rate.
Mr. Haas was initially shocked by the farm's incredible productivity.
He didn't ask for details, but he seemed to think that Hae-jun was some kind of wizard who could control spirits.
Hae-jun asked him to keep his work here a secret, and Haas and Mia readily agreed.
In any case, the farm that Hae-jun tends to is a mysterious ability even to the people here.
Thanks to that, crops are constantly being produced like infinite map minerals. The hens produced eggs every few hours, and the goats provided an endless supply of goat's milk.
I never thought this tremendous life force would act as poison.
"Oh, man."
Hae-jun stared at the black predators roaming the western pasture and sighed.
The herd of black pigs had grown to 60. It was time to do something about it.
Oink-
Oink, oink-
Oink, oink, oink-
They had eaten all the acorns that had fallen from the almond trees and were still squealing with hunger.
If he didn't bring them something, they might invade the fields again and destroy the crops for the guests.
After a moment's thought, Hae-jun moved a large number of olive trees that were not currently in use to the western pasture.
Crunch- Crunch-
Chew, chew, chew-
They ate the olives greedily.
'I guess I'll have to do what Mr. James said.'
Today might be the day these guys get slaughtered.
***
If you walk a little to the right from the central square of the village, you will find Gerry's barn in a place where people rarely go.
Right next to it is his brother Neri's shop. At first glance, you might think it's a butcher shop because of the pig hind legs hanging from the ceiling, but it's actually a place that specializes in jamón.
Jamón.
A top-quality ham obtained by salting the flat part of the hind leg of a pig and curing it for a long time in a cool place.
It sounds like it would be easy to make, but in reality, making jamón is quite difficult.
First of all, there is the difficulty of obtaining the hind legs of the best pigs, but the real work starts after that. Even with the legs of a top-quality pig, the quality of the product can vary greatly depending on how it is processed. To obtain the highest quality jamón, the well-trimmed hind legs must be salted and cured in a cool place with a temperature of 0 to 4 degrees Celsius. After about a month of curing, the hind legs are washed again and hung from a cool, shady ceiling with good air circulation. They must be carefully tended to for about two years before they can finally be called jamón, the highest quality ham.
Therefore, if a mistake is made during the curing process, months of effort can go to waste, so meticulous care is essential.
And Gerry's brother, Neri, silently carried out this difficult process and always produced the highest quality jamón.
But!
"W, what is this!?"
Neri entered the jamón curing warehouse and froze in place, his face pale with shock.
The jamón hanging from the ceiling had all been exposed to room temperature, the fat was dripping, and instead of the white mold that was supposed to be there, blue mold had bloomed.
It was an unbelievable sight.
"How did this happen?"
He had definitely kept the temperature low.
At least until last night.
But now, it wasn't.
The bigger problem was that a merchant who had ordered the goods was visiting in a week.
The top-quality jamón that was supposed to be delivered then was in this state!
Thud-
He felt so hopeless that her legs gave out.
He had no idea how to solve this problem.
"What should I do... Should I ask my brother for help? To get some pig hind legs? Are you crazy? How could that work? There's only a week left."
Even if he got the hind legs again, the curing process wouldn't be finished in a week.
How could he hand over the hind legs in their raw state to the merchant?
Not only would he have to pay a penalty, but his reputation, which he had built up over time, would be damaged, and he couldn't help but worry.
***
"You want me to butcher the pigs?"
Hae-jun, who had come down to the village, went straight to Gerry's butcher shop and asked for the butchering service.
He said that he would pay in money or pork, so it wasn't a difficult task.
"Yes."
"How many?"
"It's a lot. About 20 for now."
"What? That many? Do you have a barn or something?"
"No, I'm raising them free-range on a farm north of the village."
"Free-range?"
Gerry's eyes lit up at the word "free-range."
"Is it difficult?"
"Difficult? Not at all. But what are you going to do with so much meat?"
"Ah..."
Hae-jun hesitated to answer Gerry's question.
He was butchering the pigs because they had become too numerous and were a nuisance, but he hadn't decided what to do with the meat.
'I don't know about anything else, but I have to take some pork belly(samgyeopsal) and neck meat(moksala) and grill them. Gulp...'
Just thinking about the word "pork belly" made his mouth water.
For a Korean, pork belly and soju were irresistible temptations.
"Well, that's none of my business. Anyway, there are two ways to pay for the butchering. The first is to pay 50 silver per pig. It's not an expensive price since we'll take care of everything from butchering to cutting and boning."
"Huh!"
50 silver.
It would cost 10 gold to butcher 20 pigs.
He had earned 12 gold from trading with the general store.
'This is a headache. These pigs are real money-eaters.'
He regretted it a little.
If he had butchered them when he caught them, he wouldn't have had to worry about this.
There were already 60 pigs in the western pasture, so it was too late to regret it.
"Is it expensive?"
"Yes... I'd like to hear the second payment method."
"In exchange for butchering them, you give me the parts that I need."
His ears perked up at the second offer.
"What parts do you need?"
Pork belly.
As long as it wasn't pork belly, it didn't matter.
He didn't have anything specific in mind to make.
He just wanted to share the taste with Chloe and the others, and he also wanted to take some back to reality and feed it to the Sunflower employees.
"Here."
Gerry patted the back of his thigh.
Then he pointed to the jamón shop next door.
"My younger brother makes jamón. Of course, there are a few conditions you have to meet before you can give him the jamón."
"Conditions?"
"Neri is very picky about choosing the hind legs. Anyway, if the quality of the pigs you bring is good enough for Neri to accept, you can have the hind legs as a condition."
"I'm confident about that."
He didn't know what kind of pigs he wanted, but he figured that the quality and taste of the pigs raised on the dimensional farm would be good.
Just like always.
"He's coming over here."
At the end of Gerry's finger, a man who looked similar to Gerry, the owner of the butcher shop, was walking over.
A man with a pot belly and a shiny bald head.
But for some reason, the man's face was full of worry.
"You're here. Neri."
"Oh. Brother."
"You came at a good time. A customer came and I was just talking about you. He wants to butcher some pigs... but why do you look so terrible?"
Gerry tilted his head at Neri's unusual expression.
"Brother, something terrible happened."
"Something terrible?"
.
.
.
"Oh... if that's the case, then it really is a big deal."
Gerry's face darkened when he heard about the jamón incident.
From what he had overheard, it seemed that all of the jamón had been ruined because the temperature control had failed.
'So it was a food that required precise temperature control?'
He remembered seeing jamón on a Spanish travel documentary.
He had never actually eaten it, but he vaguely recalled the process of making it. This was because the sight of the enormous amount of pig hind legs being cured in white salt was quite impressive.
"So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I'm completely ruined. I might have to pay several times the amount of the penalty."
I wondered if there was anything I could do to help.
I listened to their conversation because helping the villagers would increase my reputation, and increasing my reputation would be a great help to me.
"What if you give him what you have?"
"Absolutely not."
"What about the ones you made last year?"
"They haven't cured enough."
"Hmm..."
Gerry rubbed his beard as if he was troubled, and Neri was frustrated.
His worries were conveyed in his repeated sighs.
"Since I couldn't keep the contract, I have no choice but to pay the penalty. But just in case, I'll give him what I have, and I'll try to negotiate for the rest."
Gerry patted his brother's shoulder.
"By the way, you two should greet each other. This is a guest. And this is my brother I was talking about."
"Nice to meet you."
Hae-jun bowed his head slightly to Neri.
"I don't know if this will comfort you in this situation, but he said he wants to butcher a pig. He'll pay with the hind legs. So I was waiting to see if you had anything satisfactory."
"How many?"
"Twenty."
"If they're in good condition."
It was a lukewarm response.
Neri's mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the jamón that had gone bad.
"But can't I make that jamón you're talking about with the hind legs I have?"
"Of course you can."
'But why is he worried?'
Gerry understood Hae-jun's curiosity and answered first.
"Well, it takes a long time to cure jamón."
"How long?"
"About two years?"
"T... Two years?"
Only then did he realize the reason for the worry.
Even if he had the hind legs, it was food that could only be eaten after two years, considering the curing period.
The trading ship was said to be visiting in two weeks, so there wasn't enough physical time.
'It looked quick on TV, but it takes a long time to cure.'
I didn't know that until now.
"I see."
"Whew... It can't be helped. I have no choice but to accept the loss."
"Yeah. It'll be fine."
The atmosphere was heavy, but the matter of the pig was resolved smoothly.
He said that whenever I brought a pig, he would give me meat that was butchered and cleaned.
Even on the way back after leaving the pigsty, Hae-jun was worried about Neri for no reason.
'Is there any way I can help him?...'
***
As I approached the farm.
Hae-jun came across Chloe coming out of the cave under the cliff with something in her hands.
"Are you coming back from the pigsty? What happened?"
"We can bring them anytime. He said he'd take the legs as payment."
"That's good."
"But what is that?"
Hae-jun asked, looking at the white and yellow lumps on the plate.
"Cheese."
"Cheese? But why is it so hard?"
"I don't know either. I put the leftover cheese from last time in the cave, and it turned out like this after three days."
The cheese Chloe makes is characterized by its soft, rich flavor.
But this one in her hand.
'It's hard. No, is it cured?'
The flavor was richer and it had become hard.
Not all cheeses are soft.
During the curing process, many cheeses become hard and are grated and sprinkled like snowflakes on food.
In any case, cheese is a fermented food, so it seemed that this one had also hardened as it cured.
'Ah!... Is that it?'
A brilliant idea suddenly came to mind.
"Chloe. Can I have that?"
"Yeah, take it."
Hae-jun hurriedly returned to the real world with the cheese that he didn't know if it was hard or cured.
My father's notebook contained recipes for making fresh cheese or butter, but there was no information on jamón or cured cheese.
So the first thing to do now is research.
Hae-jun rushed to the bookstore, bought a few books on fermentation and jamón, and returned to Sunflower.
'Maybe... things will work out easily?'
