Farming in the Magical World

"This is a wild rabbit, sir. You've never eaten one before?" Black Tiger looked puzzled. How come the master didn't even recognize a wild rabbit?

Hearing Black Tiger's words, one of the team members next to him laughed and said, "Haha, Captain, you don't understand. The master's food is usually handled by special people. It's already cut up when it's delivered to the master. Is it strange that you don't recognize it?"

What could Lanny say? Could he say he genuinely didn't recognize such a large hare?

Who has ever seen a wild rabbit bigger than a wild dog?

Come to think of it, he really hadn't noticed. He had only noticed that the roses in the flowerbed at the castle gate were unusually large. Could it be that wild animals have changed so much?

Could this be another incident caused by magical elements? The influence of these magical elements on this world is truly all-encompassing.

To avoid these guys asking any more strange questions, Lanny could only change the subject, "Black Tiger, are the sentry arrangements for tonight ready?"

Upon hearing Lanny's words, everyone fell silent, assuming that their words had displeased Lanny, and they felt somewhat apprehensive.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Lanny slapped his forehead, unsure how to explain. He really was just asking...

The next morning, as dawn broke, Lanny took Melissa to the patch of ground covered in blue algae again and conducted another experiment. He wanted to see if time or sunlight would affect the algae's ability to absorb magic.

The experimental results were good, and there was no difference from yesterday's results. This at least proves that the absorption and release of magic power by this thing should only be related to magic pressure (the degree of compression of magic power in the body), and should not be related to time, light, etc.

Before leaving Dragonfall Ridge, Lanny carefully scooped up a piece of alpine blue algae, put it in a bag along with the soil underneath, and then began his journey back to the castle.

The team members were actually quite curious about what Lanny and his cousin Melissa were doing in the woods, and what they were carrying in such a large bag. They would glance at the bag that Black Tiger was now carrying on his back. However, they had been training for over a month now, which taught them not to ask questions, so no one dared to ask.

As long as they don't ask aloud, Lanny can't control how curious they are in their hearts!

Worried that the alpine algae in their pockets would lose its activity over time, the group hurried along the path worn into the ground. Black Tiger suggested they take a break several times, but Lanny refused.

But his body had already been hollowed out by the previous man's indulgence in wine and women. He hadn't walked far before his legs started trembling and he was swaying from side to side, looking like he might fall at any moment.

“Master, how about I carry you on my back? Your health…” Black Tiger hesitated for a long time before finally suggesting it to Lanny.

"No need," Lanny waved his hand without hesitation, rejecting his suggestion. What kind of image would it be for a grown man to be carried around like that? Especially in front of Melissa, he couldn't bring himself to do it!

He knew, of course, that he would slow down the whole process, but he really couldn't bring himself to do it. If Melissa weren't around, he might have considered it, but she wasn't!

If all else fails, we can have someone get another piece later. But it's absolutely unacceptable to make him lose face as a man.

Helpless, Black Tiger could only try to slow down his pace to take care of his master's physical condition.

Fortunately, the straight-line distance between Dragonfall Ridge and the castle was not far. Even so, the group managed to return to the castle before lunch.

However, to Lanny's surprise, as soon as he stepped into the castle gate, Frank and Candy came to greet him, with Candy carrying a washbasin for washing up!

Lanny felt a little relieved, thinking that the housekeeper was really good; knowing that he was exhausted, he actually brought his toiletries to the door.

But little did they know that the housekeeper had other reasons for it, not just that.

"Sir, Mr. Ford has arrived and is waiting for you at the castle!" The old butler handed Lanny a towel to wipe his sweat while explaining about Ford, "He arrived at the castle this morning and has been waiting for quite a while!"

"Oh?" Hearing that Ford had arrived, Lanny was also quite happy, thinking that he had been waiting for so long and that it was good that Ford had finally come. If he hadn't come soon, things would have been delayed.

However, looking at the pocket in his hand, he hesitated, unsure whether to deal with this first or to receive Ford.

We've already wasted a lot of time on the road, and if we delay any longer, we might actually kill this thing!

Seeing his predicament, Melissa, who was standing next to him, could only step forward and say, "I'll take this!" As she took the bag, she added irritably, "Anyway, this is my business from now on!"

Hearing Melissa's complaints, Lanny finally decided to deal with the alpine algae problem first. As for Ford, there was plenty of time to wait, so there was no rush!

"Tell Mr. Ford to wait a moment, I'll be right there!" Lanny waved to the butler. "Okay, you stay with Ford for now, don't worry about me here!"

Ford was in his study at the moment, and it seemed he was still alone. He was a little worried, as there were many manuscripts and drawings inside, and he dared not gamble on Ford's character.

Lanny chose a flowerbed on the shady side of the castle as the cultivation site for the alpine cyanobacteria.

This is usually Tiffany's afternoon rest spot. Because it's somewhat shady and there aren't many tall trees around to block the light, it's quite cool. When she has free time, she'll bring herself a cup of her homemade milk tea, sit here, and enjoy the scenery and admire the flowers.

"This is Madam's resting place, and you just ruined it like that?" Melissa looked at Lanny with a half-smile. "Don't you need to discuss it with her?"

Having been at the castle for so long, she naturally knew who frequented this place, which surprised her that Lanny had chosen this place as the breeding ground.

"It's alright, let's dig!"

At this point, Lanny couldn't care less about anything else. He couldn't find a more suitable place besides this one. He thought that he could just have a good talk with Tiffany that night, and he believed that Tiffany would understand.

He first led Melissa to clean up the roses that were in full bloom in the flower bed, carefully leveled the remaining soil, sprinkled some water to moisten the soil, and then divided the not-so-large flower bed into two halves. He evenly sprinkled the black soil brought back from the Black Mountain on one half, while the other half was not treated in the same way, as a control experiment!

To make it easier to distinguish, he even embedded some stones in the middle as markers.

After doing all this, he carefully spread the alpine blue algae he had brought back on top and sprinkled some water on it again.

After all, the original habitat of these alpine blue algae is dark and damp, so water is essential.

Finally, finding the sunlight too intense, he built a small wooden shed using some branches to block most of the sunlight, thus mimicking the plant's original growing environment as much as possible.

The two patted the dirt off their hands, and that was considered a temporary solution.

Looking up at the sky, I realized that it had taken quite a bit of time to deal with such a small flower bed!

Thinking that Ford was probably getting impatient, he only gave Melissa a few quick instructions, then dusted himself off and hurriedly returned to his study to see Ford.

During that short distance upstairs, he was still thinking about a question.

He had already packed up everything in the study before leaving, and Frank had been keeping Ford company there the whole time. It wasn't a big deal for Ford to wait for him in the study, but this wasn't a long-term solution. He couldn't keep Frank waiting every time a guest came, could he? Maybe he should set up a separate reception room on the first floor?

When there were fewer people, the castle was adequate, but now that the number of people in the castle has increased, the problem of its crampedness has become more and more prominent.

However, there are also problems with setting up a dedicated reception room. If the first floor is used as a reception room, Melissa's papermaking work will have to be moved, and the location for the magic experiments she plans to establish will also be a problem.

Does this mean we should use the basement?

With these thoughts swirling in my mind, I found myself in the study before I knew it.

Ford was waiting for him in his study, with Frank beside him, and the two were chatting casually.

Frank was really not a good conversationalist; he was too serious and rigid, with a solemn and expressionless demeanor, which made Ford very uncomfortable. He kept fidgeting and twisting involuntarily. When he saw Lanny push open the door and enter, he immediately stood up, and a look of relief appeared on his face.

"Oh, Baron, what brings you here?" Ford was stunned as he reached out to bow.

It turned out that Lanni had returned from Dragonfall Ridge and was busy planting the alpine blue algae he had brought back. He was covered in mud and even had wrinkles from spending the night in the wild. If you got close, you could even smell some of the odor.

Looking down at his appearance, Lanny felt a little embarrassed. "Oh, I went out for a bit. Why don't you wait a bit while I take a shower?"

"No need, no need," Ford waved his hands repeatedly. He really didn't want to face Frank's cold face anymore. He thought to himself that he could just bear with it, which was better than facing Frank.

Since the guests didn't mind, Lanny shrugged, walked behind the desk and sat down. He first asked Frank to bring him a cup of hot tea, then looked at Ford and said leisurely, "Mr. Ford, you haven't been in Elfen lately?"

"Yes," Ford nodded, reflecting on his recent journey. "I returned to Elfen yesterday, and as soon as I heard you were looking for me, I rushed over immediately!"

"Oh, thank you for your hard work, Mr. Ford. You should be able to get to Caster Ridge by this morning. You must have rested in the wild last night!" Lanny was also impressed by Ford's dedication. "If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know!" Judging from his appearance, he must have run into some trouble. If he could help, he would do his best to do so, so as not to let Ford's enthusiasm go to waste!

"Oh, thank you very much for your kindness, Mr. Baron, but I can manage for now!" To Lanny's surprise, Ford actually smiled and politely declined his offer.

He only encountered internal affairs of the Chamber of Commerce, and although Lanny was a baron, he couldn't offer much help.

However, thinking about the various obstacles and setbacks he encountered in planning the Dark Pattern Sword, his mood became somewhat heavy.

Although he was a deacon of the North, this was, after all, a huge transaction involving thousands of gold coins, and he had staked almost all his resources and future on it.

If something goes wrong with this deal, he can basically leave the Chamber of Commerce early. Of course, he can imagine what will happen to him; it certainly won't be good.

He had reported this matter to his master through secret channels long ago. When the count heard that he had found such a high-quality order, he did not believe it at first. Although the unit price of the Dark Pattern Sword was just so-so for him, the market for this thing was still quite large. Not to mention anything else, just look at the Kingdom of Andrew, how many knights must there be?

As the kingdom has been established for a long time, some large and high-quality businesses have long been monopolized by the various princes and ministers of the kingdom. How could such a big cake suddenly appear?

However, after Ford's repeated explanations, and after he himself sought information through various channels, he finally believed Ford's report.

At this point, it wasn't Ford who was most anxious; his lord, the Earl, was even more so. He sent messages several times urging him to expedite the process, even promising to send his most trusted knights to accompany and protect him. This shows how urgent the Earl's urgency was.

"Actually, I went to Berleman this time for the Dark Pattern Sword, but... it didn't go very smoothly, sigh..." Ford's expression turned somewhat grim as he thought about the difficulties he encountered in advancing the matter.

He originally thought that it wouldn't be too difficult to open up trade routes to Bauhinia through the Chamber of Commerce. After all, as a chamber of commerce covering the entire kingdom, Locke Chamber of Commerce naturally had no shortage of trade routes in the Eastern Territory. Once he reached the border of the Eastern Kingdom, entering Bauhinia would be much easier.

Although the Chamber of Commerce has established trade routes, these are the Chamber's routes, not Ford's. If he wants to sell the Dark Pattern Sword to the Eastern Territory and the Bauhinia Kingdom, he will inevitably have to engage in some internal exchanges and coordination within the Chamber. Moreover, this involves trade that spans several duchies, so it's not enough to just coordinate within the Northern Territory; he will also need to communicate with several deacons in the Eastern Territory.

Things didn't go as he expected. As the Northern Deacon whose performance had been at the bottom for several years, not many people in the Chamber of Commerce gave him face. Even though he rarely used his master, the Earl's, name, not many people still listened.

Therefore, communication was very difficult, and there was also a problem with communication efficiency with the Eastern Territory. It would take at least several days for the information to travel back and forth.

Moreover, this speed was achieved by using some of the Chamber of Commerce's secret methods. If it were through normal channels, it would take at least ten days to get feedback.

The chamber of commerce trains carrier pigeons as a regular communication channel. Both sides communicate through these pigeons, but firstly, the amount of information they carry is too small, and secondly, there are risks on the way. They might be shot down and roasted by birds of prey or hunters at any time.

As for the secret methods, he didn't know much. Only the Northern Branch President knew the details. Usually, the deacons could only hand over the information to the branch president, who would then handle the operation on their behalf. The deacons were strictly forbidden from inquiring about it.

But after all, it's a chamber of commerce, and everyone is a colleague; it's impossible to keep absolutely no information from leaking out. He'd vaguely heard people mention it, something about magic arrays, but beyond that, it was beyond his knowledge.

"Oh, you mean to delay the delivery of the Dark Pattern Sword?"