Shane squatted in the middle of the field, staring at the ripe bean pods with curiosity.
“This is highly unusual.”
Beside him, Elon squatted as well, his dark green short hair falling over his forehead. Frowning deeply, he reached out to part the leaves, revealing the plump bean pods underneath. “Normally, the growth cycle of dry beans is sixty to eighty days.”
“Even with the Living Soil Pouch, I thought compressing it to a month and a half would be the absolute limit.”
Elon turned to look at Shane, his eyebrows arching high. “Yet now, it took less than half a month.”
Shane didn't reply. He placed his hand flat against the ground and channeled death magic into the soil. Instantly, he “saw” the state of the bean plants' roots.
The roots were exceptionally developed, digging at least a third deeper than those of ordinary beans. Dense lateral roots branched off from both sides of the main root, and the rhizobia at the root tips were growing quite well too.
“Their vitality is far beyond normal levels.”
Shane opened his eyes and withdrew his hand, giving a simple assessment. Elon nodded in agreement, then stood up and swept his gaze over the other bean plants. “I've checked most of them. They're all the same—growing well, with extremely low traces of residual death magic in their roots. In their current state, they can be harvested and cooked right away.”
“Only...”
Elon frowned as he spoke, as if he had some reservations. Shane was in no hurry. After spending the past dozen or so days together, he had come to understand this old guy's fondness for keeping people in suspense.
Seeing that the other man remained silent for a long while, Shane could only ask helplessly, “Only what?”
Sure enough, upon receiving a response, Elon's lips curled up in an “I was waiting for you to ask” expression. “If we want to use them as seeds, we'll probably have to wait a few days for the moisture content inside to decrease.”
“It won't take long—two or three days at most.”
Shane had no objections. After all, the ripening stages of beans were divided into physiological maturity and full maturity.
Physiologically mature beans could be cooked, but if they wanted to sow them or store them for a long time, they had to wait until full maturity.
“Then there's no rush to harvest the portion meant for seeds.”
Standing up as well, Shane swept his gaze across the entire bean field, roughly estimating the yield in his mind. “This batch of beans is enough to feed you all for a while. Combined with the newly purchased food, there won't be any pressure on our food supply for the time being.”
Hearing this, Elon nodded in agreement with Shane's assessment, then turned around to look at the fiery red figure in the center of the camp.
Alicia had seated herself by the campfire at some point, peering in their direction.
“It seems Her Highness can't sit still either.”
Elon chuckled, then called over a servant to help harvest some of the beans, while he and Shane walked back to the campfire together.
“How is it? Are they edible?”
Alicia's voice carried a hint of urgency, her eyes shining with curiosity and anticipation. This demeanor was completely uncharacteristic of her usual princess-like poise.
But she couldn't be blamed.
After all, for a group exiled to the desert, food and water were always the most fundamental necessities.
Now, in this oasis, the water issue had been basically resolved, but they were still quite short on food.
After several days of tightening their belts, even the princess, who was accustomed to military life, was starting to feel the strain. Although they had purchased a certain amount of dry rations from Isha, it was still a limited supply.
Therefore, this bean field, which could mature in just over ten days, became a crucial lifeline. If they were indeed edible, it would mean they had truly established a firm foothold in this sea of sand.
Thus, Alicia appeared extremely anxious.
“It's hard to say.”
Elon was in no hurry to give the princess a definitive answer. Instead, he watched the servant who had finished harvesting approach. With the servant's help, he shelled the bean pods, letting the beans fall into an iron pot over the campfire.
Then, he took a waterskin, poured some fresh water inside, threw in a small pinch of salt, and finally covered the pot with a lid.
“Whether they're edible or not, we'll have our answer in a moment.”
As Elon spoke, he took a few steps back and sat down by the campfire. Though his expression appeared calm, his fingers could be seen trembling slightly.
The old man was clearly nervous.
Shane noticed this and let out a soft chuckle in his mind, then found a spot nearby to sit down as well.
The princess, meanwhile, stood in place, her eyes fixed intently on the pot lid in eager anticipation.
As time passed, a crowd gradually gathered around the campfire. Servants and guards who had finished their chores stood by to watch, and even Isha and Lena could be seen among them.
Gurgle!
Along with a loud gurgle from someone's stomach, snow-white steam began to billow from the edges of the lid. A moment later, Elon's eyes lit up, and he leaped up from the ground.
He approached the iron pot and lifted the lid, and a light, delicate aroma instantly wafted from the pot.
Shane was closest to the pot and felt the aroma wash over him. His nose twitched instantly, reminding him of the smell of cooked beans he used to catch on the roadside when waking up early in his past life.
Not only did it smell wonderful, but the moment he inhaled it, his spirits were lifted, and the fatigue in his body suddenly eased significantly.
Then, Elon took a ladle and a clay bowl from nearby and carefully scooped out a bowl.
However, he simply stood there without drinking, his gaze shifting back and forth between the clay bowl and Shane.
Shane found himself somewhat speechless at the sight.
This old guy was worried that something might go wrong with these beans, which had been nurtured by both death magic and vitality. Thus, he didn't want to drink first and wanted Shane to test them.
Shane didn't say much. He reached out and said, “Give it to me.”
“I'll take the first bowl. If there really is an issue, it shouldn't affect me too much.”
In the past, if Elon had his petty thoughts exposed like this, he would have felt deeply embarrassed. But after spending these last few days with Shane, the old man's true nature was becoming more and more apparent.
Hearing Shane's words, he let out a scoff. “True enough. After all, you people have insanely high poison resistance, so you don't need to fear this. Besides, you're already half-dead anyway; at worst, you'll just die once more.”
“You old geezer...”
Shane felt more and more that this old guy was losing all sense of decorum around him. Now, Elon only occasionally put on the air of a wise master in front of the princess or others.
He was exactly like those coworkers from Shane's memories—the ones who would verbally abuse each other in the dirt but never actually abandon one another.
Therefore, Shane never took offense.
He took the clay bowl, took a deep breath first to find nothing amiss, blew on the surface of the soup, and then took a small sip from the rim.
A small sip of the clear broth slid over his tongue. Shane tasted it carefully, and there didn't seem to be any problem.
Becoming a bit bolder, he took a large gulp, swallowing some beans along with it.
Instantly, Shane's eyes widened. The moment he swallowed the bean soup, he felt his stomach begin to churn violently.
Oh no!
Rate on N.U.
