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Translator: mii

Editor: sleepchaser

Next morning

Unwilling to encounter Legion after allowing him to stay in the mansion, Vio instructed Jill to never help Legion meet with him again. After that, he sat on his favorite chair in the drawing room, flipping through some papers.

The sales report for businesses that utilized Leca flowers.

“Ink is more popular, huh.. That’s surprising.”

Originally, Vio had expected the candies made from the extract of Leca flowers to be a hit among people using spirit magic in their occupation. Unexpectedly, the ink made from Leca flowers was even more of a hit.

Magic essence in the body was akin to water in a glass. Some glasses had water filled to the brim; some only had water filled halfway. Using that same analogy, the amount of magic essence each person possessed would differ. The glass, or the vessel that stored magic essence, was invisible. However, it was perceivable, like emotions. Even so, everyone believed this vessel was connected to the heart. The Great Spirit had said so, making it common sense among the public.

The size of the vessel depended on the person. In order to cast spirit magic, one must draw on the magic essence accumulated in one’s vessel. Naturally, with each use the amount stored would decrease. But recovery was possible with rest. Once all the accumulated magic essence had been depleted, then that was that; using spirit magic would prove impossible for a while. If someone tried to force a miracle to occur, it would only burden their heart. For this reason, people with weak constitutions must refrain from using spirit magic too often.

The only other way to cast spirit magic was to use the magic essence stored in spirit stones.

Since rest was required to recharge one’s reserves, Vio had assumed Leca candy to be popular. With just a few licks, one’s magic reserves would recover by a small amount. The materials were easy to obtain, so the candies were so cheap that even a child could afford them with their pocket money.

It still takes some time to recover magic essence even with the candies. So maybe that’s why people would rather buy the spirit stones, efficiency and all. There’s also the nice plus of recovering some magic essence just by touching spirit stones.

A knock sounded on the door. After he gave the people outside consent to enter, Jill guided a man in his early thirties within the room. The man appeared honest, his grey hair tied in a ponytail. When he met Vio’s gaze, he bowed his head in a fluster.

“Hello, Rourke. Please take a seat there.”

“Yes. Excuse me, Lord Violant. I came to submit the report on Amade village.”

“Thank you. You’ve been a great help.”

Rourke sat in the chaise lounge facing Vio. Jill stood behind his master.

At the sight of Rourke’s green eyes darting left and right restlessly, Vio burst into laughter. “You’re still that nervous, huh? You come here to report once a week, yet you still haven’t gotten used to this?”

“Y-yes. This place is too high-class for someone like me, so I can’t keep my composure. I apologize for my rudeness.” Rourke slumped his shoulders, the picture of dejection.

Rourke was one of the taxes and administration inspectors Vio had hired. To lower the chances of corruption, Vio hired two other inspectors so they could watch over each other. Allowing someone to manage the same place for a long period might tempt them to commit fraud. As such, every now and then, Vio would assign them to a different location by random.

And the area in which Rourke was currently assigned was Amade village.

“Why do you look so sad? I’m not angry. May I see the report?”

“Yes!” blurted Rourke eagerly as he handed over the report consisting of three sheets of parchment.

Upon receiving it, Vio scanned the pages. “A vermin trespassed into the field of Leca flowers? What happened to the fence?”

“Right. It seemed that pesky animal dug a hole underneath the fences. To combat that, we dug many holes around the first one and filled them all with stones.”

“I see. So you plan to obstruct its path until it gives up returning.” A thought flashed through his mind. “By the way, when was the last time the vermin-repellent paint was reapplied to the fences?”

“If I’m not mistaken, I believe half a year ago. Ah, that’s right. The snow might have worn away the paint.”

“Jill, what’s the stock of that paint like?”

“There are three cans remaining,” replied Jill without a beat.

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“Then have Rourke bring them to Amade village. Now that I think about it, maybe three cans won’t be enough. So just dig holes and fill them with stones near parts of the fence you can’t paint. Other than that, just proceed as you have planned.”

“Understood.”

As Rourke nodded, Vio asked, “How are the flowers? Any news in the village?”

“That pesky animal damaged the flowers. Thankfully, it was only by a little. Not a big deal,” said Rourke. “The day before yesterday, everyone volunteered to clean up the warehouse where the flowers would be grown during winter. They removed the flowerbed and changed out the soil. Everyone was diligent in their work, saying that the flowers had blessed them, so this was the least they could do. Other than that.. Ah, right. The village chief’s dog gave birth to seven puppies,” reported Rourke, joy thick in his voice, the previous nervousness gone.

Before Vio took notice of their use, Leca flowers had been considered weeds, which some people used as herbs. They bloomed all year long in this region, except during snowy seasons. The seed head of the flowers resembled that of dandelions on earth, but rather than a soft white at all instances, the wispy strands shone a bright red as time passed. At the start of their bloom, the flowers were white. However, as they slowly collected the trace amounts of magic essence in the air, red would seep into their seed heads. This color meant the flowers were ready to harvest.

These flowers had entered Vio’s attention after he caught wind of a tradition in Leca town: during festivals, the townspeople would crush Leca flowers and paint their faces with the juices. In his past life, Vio had done something similar, though instead of Leca flowers, he had played with morning glories. With that in mind, he had drawn a magic circle with the juices of Leca flowers for fun. Never had he imagined the magic circle to glow; it was at that moment when he realized the great deal of magic essence hidden within them.

Later, he summoned the elders of the town, asking if they knew of this. To his surprise, they told him that other than being edible, the flower wasn’t worth anything.

It was a weed, so it grew and bloomed without a sweat. Following that meeting, Vio set up a large warehouse in Amade village. Its goal: to grow Leca flowers during the winter.

Although the only time people needed firewood for warmth was during the winter, winter proved especially long in this region. Since it was a valuable resource for that season, one would be hard-pressed to find anyone willing to share firewood then. Thus, Vio took it upon himself to gather small amounts of firewood from households during the summer, storing them in a communal warehouse. As an exchange, he would lower the tax for firewood a hint.

Upon his arrival to this region two years ago, Leca town and Amade village had been impoverished. At that time, what motivated him to work was his desire to have a bit of pocket change. And then buy tea with it. After some trial and error, he garnered some wealth. Vio grew teary-eyed just by recalling his meals during his first year here.

He snapped out of his thoughts, throwing his focus back into the conversation before him. “Oh? Puppies at the village chief’s house? Then bring some chicken along when you deliver the paint. It’ll be a congratulatory gift. Tell the chief to raise the puppies well so that they can guard the flower field.”

“I understand.” Rourke’s eyes brightened with joy.

Once he gave the meat to the village chief, the latter would automatically share it with the rest of the village; such was part of Amade village’s customs. Similar to the shared rations of disaster relief. If Rourke happened to be there, he would get a share as well.

Vio said, “Ah, Rourke. You’re in charge of trade previously, right? Any idea why the inks are more popular than the candies?”

“That’s because they’re more practical. Inks made with Leca flower extract already contain magic essence, so even people with low reserves can use magic just by drawing a magic circle. For people like us, it’s more convenient than luxury goods.

“It’s also much cheaper than inks containing the powder of spirit stones. For this reason, previous customers of that product would switch over to inks made with Leca flowers. Not to mention, it’s especially handy for lighting the way. It shines for a good while, making it cheaper than oil. And there’s no need to deal with fire safety as well.”

“Huh, I see,” said Vio.

How unexpected. But if it benefited many people, then that was fine.

“I have troubled you with reporting. Take a rest and have some tea in the next room. After all, you’ll have to travel to Amade village again,” said Vio. “Jill.”

“Yes, Young Master. Please follow me, Mister Rourke.”

“Thank you very much, Lord Violant. May you receive the divine protection of the Verdurous Spirit Yuglena.” Then Rourke bowed, before heading to the door with Jill.

Yuglena. The Great Spirit that protected the Kingdom of Istiah. In this world, those who received the divine protection of the Great Spirit became kings. Naturally, each county had its own Great Spirit.

Right before stepping foot through the door, Rourke stopped in his tracks. Glanced behind him. “By the way, a new knight just arrived, huh? He’s hard-working and excellent. As expected of Lord Violant’s knight.”

With that, he finally left the room.

“Hard-working?” Vio furrowed his brows. “Just what on earth is he saying?”

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He had a bad feeling about this.

Translator ramblings:

Changed ‘receptionist room’ to ‘drawing room’! It’s the historical term to ‘living room’! I really need a map of Vio’s mansion..?(Author-sama please be lenient to this pitiful translator wuwuwu..)

Yuglena sounds eerily similar to ‘Euglena’.. The Great Spirit is an algae? Since euglena is green, maybe the author did this on purpose!

And yes, this chapter gives me a lot of headaches..!!! I want to make sure everything makes sense, but the words are so dense my editors and I couldn’t even understand what was written at some point.. :blobsweats: But I think we did a pretty good job? Right, right?!?((points a knife to readers’ neck))?((demanding for a pat!!!))