Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 50 - 19 Maltose

50: Chapter 19: Maltose

50 -19: Maltose

Roman used two snow-white sticks carved from oak branches and inserted them into the maltose candy.

He gently stirred with both hands and soon a large clump of golden-hued maltose was wound around the ends of the sticks.

He handed this to Gwivelle.

Upon smelling the sweet fragrance, she impatiently opened her mouth to bite.

Roman sternly stopped this wasteful act.

“This isn’t the right way to eat it.

Keep stirring continuously with both hands, with force, until it turns white…”

Under Roman’s guidance, Gwivelle started stirring.

Though her movements were awkward at first, she quickly mastered the technique.

During the stretching process, the maltose candy gradually turned white.

Roman nodded contentedly and turned to see Aaron and Green gathered by the barrel containing the maltose candy…

Snap!

Roman timely knocked Green’s sneaky hand away.

Green’s face turned serious.

He glared at Roman as if he was about to draw his sword and fight to the death next second.

Roman, with a calm expression, said to Aaron, “Aaron, you try some.”

Aaron nodded, took the chopsticks that Roman handed over, twirled some golden maltose candy around them, and put it into his mouth, quickly overwhelmed by the rich, sweet flavor.

Aaron’s somewhat indulgent expression made Green even more curious about the taste of the maltose candy, involuntarily swallowing his saliva.

“I’ll try some too,” Green said coarsely, sounding like a crude pirate from North Ice.

Then his reaching hand was knocked down by Roman again.

Roman sneered, “Even if I were to die in a swamp, I wouldn’t eat the stuff even pigs refuse to touch!”

Green shuddered and turned to Aaron, shouting, “Aaron, how can you speak to Lord Roman like that?

Get down and apologize now!”

Aaron gave him a glance.

He finally understood why Roman was targeting Green.

When would that loose mouth ever restrain itself? ƒгeewebnovёl.com

He ignored Green’s pleading look and continued to eat more maltose candy.

Conquest Knights rarely got to taste such sweet foods, only eating more fruits during summer.

Although there was wild honey, bee hives were rather scarce in nature.

And the bee hives of Duke Domain never made it to his mouth.

Most incredulously, he had witnessed the entire process of making maltose candy.

“Aaron, brother, you’re eating it wrong.

You need to keep stirring…” Gwivelle corrected him.

“Gwivelle, that’s a child’s way of eating.

Go play,” Roman said, patting Gwivelle on the head.

Gwivelle nodded obediently, standing behind Roman and continuing to stir the maltose candy in her hands.

The level of cooking had improved, unlocking many recipes, including the method to make maltose candy.

Green held his hands to his chest, said in a coquettish voice, “Lord Roman, Aaron knows his mistake.

Please be merciful and spare him.”

Seeing this, Roman said with a smile that was not quite a smile, “Conquest Knight, have some backbone!”

Green said painfully, “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Ha!”

Hearing this cold and merciless laugh, he became dejected and disheartened, saying, “Lord Roman, Green is already dead.

His greatest wish before dying is to have a taste of sweet syrup.

Can you fulfill his wish?”

“Now you know how amazing my cooking skills are, don’t you?”

You’re talking nonsense!

That’s not cooking at all!

Green fiercely complained in his mind, but given the circumstances, he had no choice but to adopt a pitiful look to gain sympathy.

“Cough cough…”

Just then, the cough of Seth could be heard nearby, accustomed as he was to such dramas.

But now Roman had something else to do.

“Sir, Morry’s trading caravan has arrived.”

Roman nodded, directing the servants to move the twenty wooden barrels onto the ox cart.

Bro River dock.

Roman met Morry.

The young merchant was somewhat excited.

He first bowed and then excitedly said, “Esteemed Lord Roman, I have brought you 18 oxen and 28 draft horses.”

Roman was quite satisfied with this number, the progress of road construction could be greatly accelerated.

Being able to purchase so many large livestock within a month showed Morry’s capability.

Roman said, “But I don’t have that much cash on hand to pay you right now.”

Morry didn’t panic upon hearing this, he just waited for Roman to continue.

Sure enough, he saw Roman point to the barrels on the ox cart behind him, “Why not see how much this stuff is worth?”

Morry followed Roman to the front of the wooden cart, opened one of the barrels, lifted the wooden lid, and pulled out a long strand.

Roman used a small wooden stick to wrap the strands of maltose and handed it to Morry.

It was Morry’s first encounter with maltose, at first he thought it was honey, but quickly realized it felt different.

If honey was like fresh flowers emanating a natural sweet scent,

this malt sugar had an aroma of green malt.

Morry frowned, uncertain of the value of this type of maltose.

He then looked at the number of barrels on the cart, and his frown deepened.

“How much can you give?”

Morry hesitated and said, “Please forgive my bluntness, but this malt sugar is not as sweet as honey, and in terms of texture, it does not compare…”

Nor does it match the nutritional content of honey.

Roman silently added for Morry in his mind.

He candidly said, “I know, just name your price.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Morry said, “For one barrel of this sugar, I can only give one Gold Coin.”

Roman also frowned, the value of maltose, a luxury item, was lower than he expected.

Only the Nobles could afford it.

He had thought he could sell it for two Gold Coins, but Morry had instantly cut the price in half.

“This is my first encounter with this product too, so I can only estimate the price…” Morry said.

Relying on a merchant’s keen sense, Morry set his price while still leaving room for himself.

This meant he was confident in buying and selling at cost.

It was simply a matter of not making a profit, but definitely not a loss-making business.

Of course, Morry felt that this product couldn’t possibly fail to sell.

In this era, sources of sugar were extremely scarce, with only certain fruits and honey providing sweetness.

Even if maltose was inferior to honey, it could still serve as a substitute.

The potential customer base in this land was the entire upper class.

“Its shelf life is only one year,” Roman explained.

Morry was not too surprised, as honey also had a shelf life, just a bit longer than maltose due to improper storage.

In this era, luxury goods were always in a slump.

Compared to strategic resources, maltose had no clear advantage.

It was a rather barbaric and turbulent age and trade was not very flourishing.

Nor was there any Noble who had become rich from honey; professional beekeepers had not yet appeared.

Nobles usually found wild beehives and then sent people to periodically collect the honey without any form of mass breeding.