"Sugar?" Petula repeated, surprised with wide eyes. "You know an alternative way to make sugar?! Sugarcane only grows in the southern regions of the empire, so that's quite the claim!"

  "Oh? Good to know," I commented, humming. "I'm guessing then it's very popular in noble households."

  "You have no idea! It's not just about taste and cost, it's also about prestige too if you are able to serve sugary sweets like desert cakes made with the stuff." The vampire licked her lips, no doubt remembering a delicious memory. "I've only had it once, treats that father and brother brought back from their visit to the imperial capital when I was a little girl. But I still remember how ridiculously overwhelming the taste was."

  "Honey's more common I take it?"

  "It is and we see it more often here. But since it's quite costly, admittedly nowhere near sugar, it's still a rather rare ingredient. I've seen it served only for the special occasion, like a feast." Petula realized now she was slightly drooling and hastily wiped at her mouth, a bit embarrassed. "A-ahem. But you're saying something incredible, Master Noel. You can make sugar from vegetables?"

  "From beets, to be exact."

  In FLOW, sugar had been considered an obviously essential ingredient for cooking, so multiple ways had been included by the developers to let people explore their options. The first and more common method had been for those who specialized in farming with sugarcane crops. It was a tricky crop that at first demanded very specific cultivation methods, but I had borne witness to Sveg's efforts. His dedication to his farm had yielded successful crossbreeding and created personal strands of high quality sugarcane that could grow under any sort of condition, so long as it was in his cultivated soil-

  Ah. Tch. That was a lost art now, wasn't it?

  Well, whatever. That was with sugar canes and something that these surrounding lands just couldn't support with its climate. Maybe I'll get interested enough one day to try my hand at making crossbreeds, but for now, let's actually return to the second alternative option: beets. Unlike sugarcane, they could grow anywhere, but required a lot more processing to turn into those fine, sweet crystals. Basically, an option for advanced crafters instead of farmers.

  Oh, would you look at that? Guess who was a crafter.

  However, the issue was the process I would typically use required [Brew], which just wasn't an option to scale up. People with that skill, Vio had mentioned, were usually members of Celia and so were thus just as rare in more remote regions of the empire like spellcasters. And I wasn't going to spend my days using [Brew] all day at a single giant vat for profit. However, that didn't mean there were workarounds.

  Like how people could still make beer without [Brew] or [Ferment], it was possible to figure out the process. Skills were ultimately a cheat with magic, so it was possible to make make lesser quality but higher quantity sugar without. The trick then was to just figure out what it would be how. That was something which I could do and then present to House Cordis to lend weight to my suggestion we ought to prioritize beets as one of our new crops for the town they intend to found.

  Because if we could do that, then sugar could be worth its actual weight in gold and we'd be always selling to other nobles for coin, never to worry about funding again!

  Best of all, beets were versatile. They could be decent eats themselves so even if there was an emergency, we could change course and mark them for consumption instead of sugar. That'll come especially in handy while trying to figure out the balance between crops to feed the population, and crops to make money with. Something I had a feeling would be quite useful for a developing new settlement.

  I suppose I could have Kuch borrow the castle kitchen and have at it. It actually would be even better, as the doll could represent the average individual trying to make the thing. Hm, but then I'll also need a taste tester…oh, right, I had a dragon.

  "Master Noel?" Petula asked and I blinked, realizing my body had stilled while my mind was lost in thoughts. "Are you alright?"

  "Oh, sorry, I was just deep in thought. But thank you for the information- now I have a project in mind to already help the duchy." I gave a reassuring smile and she relaxed. "Don't worry about it for now, it'll probably be something I'll have to do a little testing before I'm sure of it. Let's move on- how goes the sword drills?"

  She pursed her lips before admitting, "I think you're right. A shortsword isn't for me, it feels too limited."

  Just like I'd thought. I had my suspicions when I sparred with her through Frie, how while it was clear she had talent with the blade, something about it felt off and it wasn't just her lack of skills. I think she really had the capability to be a strong fighter even without them if she never learned skills, something that was actually quite rare and highly valued in the world of Shin.

  Using skills could exhaust you over time. Being skilled granted you an extended reprieve.

  So while I chewed on the mystery of Petula's inability to use skills, I figured it was better then that she at least try to get better with the sword. After some reassurances that I wasn't about to give up on her lacking skills and that this was actually part of her build, so to say, she begrudgingly began to go through the skills and motions that so many of the Ten Lights had once done to figure out their style.

  And now, we were narrowing down on what blade she liked best. "So you like the reach of the longsword, but the weight of a shortsword," I summarized, going over the collected notes. "And you prefer to fight one-handed? Ah, really, I suppose I should have tried this earlier: have you ever heard of rapiers?"

  Stolen story; please report.

  Her brow furrowed. "I think they're a form of sport in the south?" she asked, uncertain. "But something for noble scions to compete against with, outside battle. Those flimsy blades surely can't withstand battle."

  "Hm, depends. If they're using those foils which bend, then not on battlefield of this era," I positioned, already imagining the design in my head. "But we can make it thicker, sturdier. Just not so much that it turns into a longsword, but slim enough to for you to wield with ease. Let me quickly make a practice one for you."

  One quick craft later and I handed over the wooden rapier over to Petula to try out. I made it so that while the driving force should still be the thrust, one should be able to also swipe and swing about to parry or strike, almost like a saber but without the curve. Given this was an era of plate armor, it should also make sure the weapon held firm and didn't bend like those fencing weapons ought to. Those were honestly probably best against light armors anyway, which those dueling nobles would have likely fancied in the sport. Goes to show the environment context matters a lot.

  Petula accepted the rapier and frowned, adjusting to the cup hilt. Then she took a stance against the training dummy, free hand naturally folding behind her back. The weapon tip darted up to her eyes in a single flick of the wrist, then she stepped forward to unleash a scathing series of swipes that would surely overwhelm a real opponent's guard. Then she abruptly took a half step back, seemingly disengaging for a moment.

  It instead led into a devastating forward stomp and thrust that skewed the wooden dummy in a single blow.

  "We'll have to get you good at that, including against armor," I mused aloud while she stared in a mix of shock and excitement at the clearly effective style. "Lucky I've plenty of wolf leather I don't mind getting beaten up. Once you figure out the typical weak points of armors, then all it comes down to should be training again and again until it becomes second nature."

  "I never thought I could feel so...powerful," Petula numbly told while pulling back the wooden rapier. "And without a skill too? Really?"

  "Of course. It's actually even expected because Cordelia's blood runs through you-" I blinked, then slapped at my face. Gods, I couldn't believe I'd let that slip out my mind all this time-! I knew exactly why Petula hadn't obtained skills- oh wait.

  Wait, wait, wait, the level cap for the free trial.

  Wait, hold on, wasn't that a very bad thing with this build-

  "Something wrong?"

  "I, erm, nothing!" I squeaked, trying to cover up my panic with a cough. "Let's just continue practicing these exercises for now. Come on, let me see if I'll need to modify your outfit to account for your new style."

  It was clear she didn't believe my frantic excuse, but the mention of fashion was enough to make Petula shudder and go along with it for now. Good, because I needed to actually properly process my realization and come to terms with a rather cruel realization. One that Cordelia might actually be disappointed in even.

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  "Oh dear," Frie breathed from where they sat cross-legged at the tree. "What a truly awkward disaster."

  Cordelia had been subjected too to Mikel's slight optimizations, though not to the same intense degree that Noel had been made with. Hers played out differently, the quirk being that she had skipped the lower class acquisitions to concentrate all her experience into obtaining a single, advanced skill made available early because of her chosen bloodline. A very powerful one that had been entirely worth it...and only showed up above the level cap in the free trial even with that character creation discount.

  Something Mikel never had to worry about, having been a launch day purchase, meaning all his retainers never had to the worry about either.

  It explained why it took so long to realize.

  It also made it a very unfortunate realization.

  If Petula had hyper specialized that way, unintentionally copying her great ancestor, then she...just couldn't unlock that advanced skill. It was cruel to say, but she might actually have completely messed herself up that way. This was troublesome, because if she was still committed to that very specific build, the solution would have been to buy the game to remove that level cap.

  That had been a game though. This was reality, so it obviously couldn't just be the solution.

  "What do I do?" Frie sighed to their conversation partner, seeking an outside source to provide consultation. "When truth hurts, do I lie? Or do I admit it all?"

  Their earth crystal core pulsed, the message embedded in the resonance wave. A long time passed, but a short moment for those with all the time in the world. For such a difficult question though, it needed a few more of those moments before a faint answer was received.

  TRUTH (Aching, necessary, rot, renewal).

  Communicating with an entity that did not speak any known language was a challenge. Eagle had claimed otherwise, but the elf had been regularly a smug individual in so many things that were unfortunately right. Frie did pick up quickly, yet still needed a bit of time for the translation to parse through in their head.

  Withholding the truth could only hurt worse later. Especially if hidden for one's own good, when it clearly bothered her so. It would be Petula about the issue at hand, but framed in a way that made sense.

  So Frie meditated and pondered on how best to approach it so. They might need a few moments to figure it out though.

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