Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a slanted glow across the dining table.
Flora brought over the last dish of pickled radishes and sat down across from Chen Mian. Loviki had already finished two buns.
Chen Mian took a bite of his bun, swallowed, and said, “We're planting grapes today.”
Having just sat down across from him, Flora paused with her teacup halfway to her lips and blinked. “The sweet, juicy fruit you mentioned before?”
“Yeah.” Chen Mian stuffed the remaining half of the bun into his mouth. “We can also use them to make wine.”
Flora cleared the dishes and wiped down the table. “Make wine?”
“Yes, grape wine,” Chen Mian said as he stood up.
Holding up half a bun, Loviki looked at him with clear skepticism in her crimson eyes. “Do you even know how to make wine?”
“No.”
“What about Flora?”
“Me?” Flora stopped wiping the table. Her long hair, loosely held up by a wooden hairpin, slid over her shoulder. She tilted her head in thought. “I can try. I've brewed wheat beer before, so the process should be similar for grapes.”
Chen Mian leaned back in his chair and opened the Point Shop to browse.
Grape seedlings cost 50 Points each. Excluding the Interaction Quests, the daily normal output for the two of them was 300 Points, enough to buy six seedlings.
However, since grapes could be propagated through cuttings, buying a single seedling was enough. He could save the remaining Points for other things.
He decided to buy an orange sapling as well.
【Current Points: 440】
【Grape seedling x1 purchased successfully! -50 Points. Remaining Points: 390】
Wine... It had been a long time since he last drank any. Once he had some, mixing it with fruit juice would make for a perfect cocktail.
Ever since coming to the Continent of Cecia, he had grown unfamiliar with the taste of these fruits.
Chen Mian closed the panel, stood up, and walked behind the house.
In the orchard, the Spirit-Silver Tree seed had been planted four days ago. At the spot where it was buried, a short little sapling had sprouted, bearing a tiny branch. The edges of its tender green leaves shimmered with a faint silver light.
In another week, he should be able to harvest the leaves for Flora to steep in water. Combined with the hot spring, the progress of lifting her curse would likely speed up significantly.
He squatted in the empty space next to the Spirit-Silver Tree, dug a hole, planted the grape seedling, covered it with soil, and watered it.
Then, he used some long branches to set up a simple trellis nearby.
Standing under the trellis, Loviki looked down at the seedling that had already begun to grow slowly upon being planted. “What do grapes look like?”
“They're purple and grow in clusters,” Chen Mian said. “Very sweet.”
Loviki's crimson eyes lit up. “And the wine?”
“It's just alcohol with the aroma of grapes,” Chen Mian described dryly.
“So what do grapes taste like?”
“Take a guess.”
Loviki narrowed her eyes and lightly poked his shoulder with the hilt of her sword.
...
On the third day after planting the grape, Chen Mian squatted in the orchard, watching the main vine of the seedling climb halfway up the trellis.
The leaves were twice as large as when they were first planted, their edges covered in fine fuzz.
He took a pair of shears from his toolbox, picked the healthiest-looking side branch, and snipped it off at the base.
“What are you doing?” Flora's voice came from behind him.
She was holding a cup of tea, wearing a light gray short coat over her shoulders, her hair casually held up with a wooden hairpin. She had clearly just finished her chores in the kitchen.
“Taking cuttings,” Chen Mian said as he cut the snipped branch into several segments, leaving two buds on each and cutting the bottom ends at an angle.
Flora squatted down, holding her teacup with both hands as she watched the stems inserted into the soil with curiosity. “Will they survive like this?”
Out of curiosity, she reached out a finger and touched a tender leaf at the tip of one stem extremely gently, then quickly withdrew it, as if afraid of damaging it.
“Grapes can,” Chen Mian said, cutting two more. “I saw my grandfather do this when I was a kid.”
“Your grandfather?” Flora tilted her head, the curiosity in her bright eyes growing even more pronounced.
Chen Mian rarely mentioned his past. To be precise, he almost never did.
“Yeah, a very stubborn but kind old man.” Chen Mian didn't say much else, but the corners of his mouth softened for a brief moment.
Flora didn't press further. She took a sip of her tea and squatted quietly beside him, watching him straighten the planted cuttings one by one and pat down the surrounding soil.
Once Chen Mian was finished, she set down her teacup and raised her right hand. A small orb of pale blue water condensed at her fingertips, splitting into several thin streams that sprinkled evenly over the soil around each cutting.
Under the effects of the Magic Hot Spring, Flora's curse had been slightly weakened, and she had begun to recover a tiny bit of mana. Although she was only Level 13, she could already use simple magic.
Loviki had just finished her morning practice, fine beads of sweat still clinging to her forehead. Seeing the two of them squatting in the orchard, she paused for a moment before walking over to stand under the trellis.
“Planting something?”
“Grapes,” Chen Mian said, standing up and stretching his wrists.
“How long will they take to grow?” Loviki looked up at the vines that had already climbed to the top of the trellis, her tone carrying a hint of anticipation she rarely showed in daily life.
“Probably about a month.”
“A month?” Standing under the trellis, Loviki looked up at the vines. “That long?”
“Growing things takes time,” Chen Mian said, squatting down to check the root conditions of the newly planted cuttings.
“Can't you just conjure them?”
“I'm a landlord, not a god.”
“Hmph!” The corners of Loviki's mouth curved upward slightly. From then on, every morning after their sparring session, she would go check on and water the grapevines, showing even more enthusiasm than Chen Mian.
The Magic Ranch was officially put to use on the third day.
Chen Mian and Flora went to the Linyu Port market together and bought over thirty chicks, each smaller than a fist. According to the description of the Magic Ranch, buying fully grown chickens would make it very difficult to convert them into magical fowl.
Because of the arrival of these chicks, Chen Mian and Loviki built a large fence around the ranch area. The apartment's surroundings seemed to grow much livelier.
The rabbit was also very curious at first, often hopping onto the fence to watch the yellow, fluffy chicks inside.
Even Flora would stand by the fence and watch for quite a while in her spare time, deeply curious about the ranch's ability to automatically grow magic grass and clean itself.
Of course, Chen Mian's explanation for this remained... that he conjured it.
Flora was already used to his excuses.
Besides the automatically generated magic grass, they were also fed with the magical crops from the garden. Because the growth cycle was so fast and the area was large, and there were only three people eating, the rate of consumption couldn't keep up with the growth at all. If they didn't harvest them, they would just rot in the soil.
Loviki had looked utterly devastated about this waste at first, but later, she would pluck magical crops to feed the chicks whenever she had free time.
The noble young lady had finally lost her sense of awe toward magical crops.
On the fifth day, the first mutated magic tomato appeared in the garden.
Flora went to pick tomatoes with a basket in the morning, and when she returned, her expression was somewhat complicated.
She set the basket on the table and pulled out a golden-yellow tomato.
“Is this...” Loviki set down her soup bowl. “A tomato? A golden one?”
“Yes.” Flora placed the golden tomato on the table. “It grew on the vine at the very edge. Its mana fluctuations are much stronger than a normal tomato's—at least twice as strong.”
Chen Mian picked up the golden tomato and weighed it in his hand. It was a size larger than a fist, with smooth skin, but it smelled like a mango.
【Mana Garden Level 2 Mutated Crop: Golden Tomato (Rare). Growth Cycle: 7 days (Cannot be planted outside the Mana Garden). Effect: After consumption, mana recovery speed +30% for 1 hour; increases mana upon consumption; has a mild healing effect.】
Special plants had their own timers independent of the fixed cycles of the garden and orchard. Chen Mian had realized this after planting the Spirit-Silver Tree, as the system showed that it would take two years for the Spirit-Silver Tree to bear fruit.
“It's a mutation,” he said, putting the golden tomato back on the table.
“Is it edible?” Loviki asked.
Chen Mian nodded.
Flora took the golden tomato to the kitchen. Placing it on a wooden cutting board, she gently sliced through the skin with the tip of her knife. Golden juice immediately seeped from the cut. Even the flesh was golden-yellow, with a small ring of deep orange seeds neatly arranged in the center.
She sliced the golden tomato into three pieces, each bursting with juice, filling the kitchen with a rich, sweet fragrance.
Chen Mian picked up a piece and took a bite. The flesh was soft and tender, melting in his mouth almost without needing to be chewed. The juice slid down his throat, carrying a floral aroma and a hint of honey, and his mana recovery speed visibly quickened.
“So sweet...” Flora also ate a piece, the tips of her ears twitching slightly. “It's much sweeter than a normal tomato, and it doesn't taste like one at all.”
“Like a mango?” Chen Mian wiped the juice from his fingers after finishing his piece.
Flora blinked. “What's a mango?”
“Another kind of fruit. We can plant it in the future.”
Loviki looked at the remaining golden tomato seeds on the plate. “Can we plant these?”
Flora gathered the seeds and wrapped them in paper. “Let's find a spot to plant them and see.”
Thus, from that day on, another row of slower-growing, mutated golden tomatoes was added to the Mana Garden.
On the afternoon of the seventh day, Chen Mian exchanged 800 Points in the Point Shop for a Silver-light Cow, as Flora had mentioned that its milk could be used to make magical cuisine.
The difference between a Silver-light Cow and a regular cow was that it emitted a blue magical glow and looked much larger.
According to Flora, this also belonged to the category of rare livestock, with its most valuable product being the milk it produced. Chen Mian had actually encountered this creature in a dungeon before; back then, they had simply caught and roasted it, and it had tasted incredibly delicious.
Over these seven days, Flora soaked in the hot spring every day. In addition, Flora insisted on giving her a massage daily, her technique becoming much more practiced than in the first week, and her control of pressure improving as well.
Truth be told, she was truly someone who kept her promises.
Loviki's swordsmanship showed visible progress. Through her sparring sessions with Chen Mian, her attacks became sharper, and the lock-on time of her light sword was significantly shortened. She had even begun using feinted sword light to deceive her opponent, though she had never successfully tricked Chen Mian. Her magic level had also broken through from Level 58 to Level 59, making her even stronger.
The only issue was that her newly acquired skills had not undergone any real combat testing, aside from her sparring with Chen Mian.
On the evening of the seventh day, the three of them soaked in the hot spring as usual.
Steam filled the air, softening the glow of the magic lamps into a hazy mist.
Flora leaned against the pool wall, her hair pinned up with her wooden hairpin, a few loose strands hanging by her ears.
Holding a glass of iced Moonlight Grass tea, she took small sips, her expression much more relaxed than a week ago.
Beside her, Loviki had her eyes closed. Water droplets clung to her eyelashes, and her breathing was even; she had fallen asleep.
Flora glanced at her, slid a bit closer to gently support her, and then continued drinking her tea.
“She's been training too hard lately,” Flora said softly, her gaze resting on Loviki's face. “She practices every morning, and sometimes in the afternoon too. Yesterday, I saw that her hands were rubbed raw.”
“Yeah.”
“Aren't you going to advise her to slow down?”
“It wouldn't do any good even if I did,” Chen Mian said, raising his teacup.
“She just wants to beat you.”
“That will be difficult,” Chen Mian said, taking a sip of tea. “And just practicing isn't enough.”
“What do you mean?”
“She's too young, and she lacks experience in life-and-death battles,” Chen Mian said, setting down his teacup. “Aside from sparring with me, she's just swinging her sword at empty air.”
Flora fell silent for a moment. The steam drifted slowly before her, obscuring her expression. “Then... what do you plan to do?”
“Have her train in the Forest of Death. This place is a natural training ground.”
“Won't it be dangerous?”
“I'll be there.”
Flora's fingers paused on her teacup. She lowered her head, looking at her reflection on the water's surface. “...Okay.”
It was quiet for a moment.
The hot spring bubbled, sending up warm steam.
Loviki stirred in her sleep, and the swimsuit on her shoulder slipped down slightly.
Flora reached out and gently pulled it back up.
On the seventh night, Chen Mian lay in bed and opened the system panel.
His Points income was more stable than he had anticipated.
Over the course of the week, even after deducting the 800 Points spent on the Silver-light Cow, his Points had still increased significantly.
【Current Points: 2940】
Flora's Sense of Belonging had capped out at Level 2, and Loviki was in a similar situation.
It seemed upgrading wasn't going to be that easy.
【Flora's Emotions: Wants to maintain her current life】
【Loviki's Emotions: Irritated, anxious】
Irritated and anxious?
What could be the reason?
He stared at the two words for a moment, then closed the panel and shook his head.
He would just have to wait and see.
Chen Mian tossed over and closed his eyes.
Tomorrow, the grapevines should grow another stretch. When it came to growing fruit, there was no rushing it.
...
In the night,
deep within the Forest of Death, two slender figures hid cautiously inside a hollow tree.
“Sister... can we really survive?” the cat-eared girl asked, her voice trembling as she curled up inside a faded cloak.
Luolin turned around and clenched her fists, a glimmer of light in her eyes. “We definitely can, Yaya... as long as we head northwest, we can leave the Sairen City-State.”
“There is a country called Hella in that direction. I heard it's a peaceful land.”
“But... the Forest of Death is very dangerous, and will the Hella Kingdom even take us in?” Miya bit her lip. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she forced herself not to let them fall.
“They will.”
Luolin tightened her cloak and nudged closer to Miya.
“Go to sleep,” she said softly. “Once it's light... we'll continue our journey.”
Beast roars echoed in the distance, one after another, reverberating through the darkness.
Miya buried her face in Luolin's shoulder and closed her eyes tightly.
Luolin didn't close her eyes. Her white cat ears twitched constantly, capturing every sound from the outside.
Only when she finally confirmed that Miya was fast asleep did she rest her chin on the girl's head and slowly close her eyes.
Rate on N.U.
