"Ah… what a delicious smell."
Just as Buck was lost in dreams of freedom, a gentle voice suddenly spoke from behind him.
Startled, Buck immediately turned his head. When he saw who it was, he froze completely, then scrambled to his feet in a panic.
"Lord Aven!"
Realizing his mistake, he quickly dropped to his knees, performing the formal bow of a serf before his lord.
"Stand up, no need for such ceremony," Aven said, walking forward to lift Buck up.
Then his nose twitched slightly, and he smiled.
"Your grilled fish—may I have a taste?"
"Ah? O-of course!" Buck stammered nervously, hurriedly offering the fish in his hand.
"Thank you."
Aven accepted the grilled fish and bit into it directly. Instantly, a unique flavor burst upon his tongue.
Though as a lord his meals had always been of good quality, this grilled fish was still strikingly delicious, reminding him suddenly of the roadside barbecue shops from his previous life.
"This is excellent grilled fish. Once you become a free citizen, you might consider opening a grilled fish shop of your own."
Hearing those words, Buck froze in astonishment. He had just been entertaining that exact thought in his heart, and now his lord had spoken it aloud.
A surge of emotion rose within him, blurring his vision with tears. His nose stung with a strange, unfamiliar feeling of warmth and gratitude.
"What are you standing around for? Hurry and thank Lord Aven!" the steward at the side quickly reminded.
This time, following Aven here were not only the steward in charge of the serfs, but also several officials of the territory as well as some merchants.
When they saw that Aven was actually willing to eat the grilled fish cooked by a serf, they too were momentarily stunned. In their minds, they couldn't help but recall Aven's humble origins, and their eyes revealed genuine admiration.
"Alright, no need for too much ceremony. Let's first focus on the proper matter at hand." Aven held the grilled fish in his hand, but his gaze was already fixed on the wheat field in front of him.
According to Uncle Mike's introduction, this particular wheat field was the best one under cultivation in the entire territory. Its growth was indeed excellent—it was already on the verge of producing ears of grain.
"Odd~"
Just as Aven was carefully observing the crops, more than a dozen Oddish suddenly burrowed out from the field.
Seeing these Oddish, a look of understanding appeared on Aven's face. Together with the Bidoof from before, it was clear that this serf was indeed quite skilled in handling Pokémon.
It was also thanks to the presence of these Oddish that the wheat in his field grew better than that of any other serf.
"Lord Aven… is there some problem with the wheat I've planted?" Buck asked nervously as he saw the lord approaching his farmland accompanied by officials.
"There's no need to worry," Aven replied calmly. "I only intend to accelerate the growth of your wheat."
Aven's words immediately left Buck dumbfounded. Accelerate growth? Was the wheat's current growth rate still not fast enough?
The officials and merchants who had come along also looked equally puzzled. None of them knew why their lord had summoned them here.
"It's time. Cherrim, use Sunny Day!"
Only now did Buck notice the Pokémon accompanying Lord Aven—Petilil, Vileplume, Cherrim, and Tangrowth.
Among them, Cherrim's entire body suddenly glowed with a soft milky-white energy. In the next instant, a blazing fireball condensed in midair and ascended high into the sky.
In the stunned gazes of the serfs, a second sun appeared above them. The warm sunlight instantly caused the temperature of the surroundings to rise rapidly.
"That's enough, Cherrim. Maintain this temperature."
Aven studied the artificial sun for a moment before giving his instruction.
Cherrim had already mastered Sunny Day to a high degree. Its entire training regimen revolved around the ability Flower Gift combined with Sunny Day.
"Cheer!"
Cherrim chirped happily, nodding as it continued to sustain the glowing sun, its warm rays bathing the land below.
"Now, Vileplume—use Grassy Terrain!"
Already prepared, Vileplume nodded vigorously. Its body burst forth with a brilliant green light, which spread across the wheat field like a protective blanket.
This time, the Grassy Terrain did not sprout fresh grass. Instead, all of its energy was directly infused into the wheat, wrapping each stalk in a layer of pure Grass-type power.
"And finally, Tangrowth—use Growth!"
Looking once more at the blazing sun above, Tangrowth stretched out its many vine-like arms, and a surge of green light exploded from its body.
The emerald glow poured downward, seeping into the soil, and spread through the entire field, completely enveloping the wheat seedlings.
"What… what is Lord Aven planning?" Everyone present held their breath as they watched the transformation unfold.
The very next moment, under the astonished eyes of all, the already well-grown wheat suddenly shot upward again, visibly taller in an instant!
But it didn't stop there. After reaching a certain height, the wheat began to form ears of grain. Under the shimmering green light, the heads of wheat emerged before their very eyes!
"The ears of wheat… ears of wheat have sprouted!" the serfs stammered in disbelief.
They were far too familiar with wheat. The appearance of ears meant that the wheat had entered its final growth stage!
By their own estimation, it should have taken quite some time yet for the ears to develop. But now, in the blink of an eye, the growth process that usually required weeks was completed right in front of them.
"As expected—it truly was about to sprout ears." Seeing this, Aven finally let out a relieved breath.
During a crop's growth cycle, it constantly absorbs sunlight, water, minerals, and various nutrients. That process cannot be replaced, which is why crops cannot be instantly ripened.
But once they reach the fruiting stage, external forces can indeed be used to hasten maturation. As long as enough growth energy is supplied, crops can be ripened in an instant!
At this moment, the wheat had already entered the ear-sprouting stage. Thus, with just a little assistance, the ears successfully formed.
But the process wasn't over yet. At the right temperature, wheat could quickly bloom over the course of a few days, undergoing self-pollination.
As for the pollination process, Vileplume's Grassy Terrain could completely control and accelerate it, pushing the wheat through pollination and straight into fruit-bearing, until it fully matured.
Thus, two days passed. When golden wheat appeared across the field, the entire crowd fell into stunned silence.
Before them, under the dazzling sunlight, the golden wheat shone brilliantly. Everyone present knew that in this season, wheat should not be able to ripen at all. And yet—it had matured!
…
Meanwhile, in the northern domains of Aspiration City, the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild was slowly selling off the grain it had accumulated.
After suffering repeated failures in its schemes against Fruitvale Village, the Guild had already realized that its plan was a complete failure.
Having been struck hard in both the potion trade and the magical beast trade, its financial situation had become dire.
Thus, the Guild was forced to begin selling off its stored grain.
With winter approaching, every territory was stockpiling food to last through the cold months. Added to this was a general shortage of grain, which had kept food prices at a high level.
Sean, the steward responsible for managing the grain, was at the moment directing serfs to move sacks from the granaries, planning to sell them to lords in need of supplies.
"Steward Sean, this is a direct order from the Guild President—you are to accelerate the sale of grain."
At that moment, a servant rushed in from outside the warehouse, delivering a sealed letter into Sean's hand.
"What? Speed up the sales again?" Sean frowned slightly.
This was already the third such order he had received just this month. A vague unease crept into his heart.
What made matters worse was that, perhaps due to their frantic sales, grain prices had already started to drop—a highly unusual occurrence in the food-scarce winter season!
"Steward Sean, has more news arrived?" A knight responsible for guarding the granary walked in, his expression equally grim.
"Yes. Supposedly, the Guild needs massive funds in order to breed more beasts," Sean explained with a nod.
Lately, news had spread everywhere about how the assassination attempt on the southeastern lord of Aspiration City had ended in total disaster, with all assassins annihilated.
As one of the Guild President's close aides, Sean naturally knew more of the inside story. The Guild had indeed suffered enormous losses, and their plan against the southeastern lord could only be described as a total failure.
The Gilded Fang Merchant Guild was now teetering on the brink, desperately needing to offload its grain reserves to stabilize its situation with an influx of gold.
Sean sighed. "What a pity. If we waited just one more month, grain prices could have doubled. Selling it off now will lose us a fortune."
"Steward, bad news!" At that moment, another servant came running in from outside, breathless and panicked.
He had run so hard that he was panting heavily by the time he reached Sean. Between gasps, he stammered out, "Something's happened, my lord—something terrible!"
"What is it? Speak quickly!" The knight's eyes narrowed as he grabbed the servant by the collar.
"The prices—grain prices outside have been forced down!"
"All the merchants who had originally planned to buy from us have suddenly run off to Fruitvale Village!"
Sean was completely stunned by this revelation. He blinked in disbelief before blurting out, "What did you just say? The merchants all went to Fruitvale Village?"
A huge question mark rose in his mind. Merchants going to Fruitvale Village to buy grain? But that was impossible—where would Fruitvale Village even get such grain from?
"It's true!" the servant quickly explained. "I heard that Fruitvale Village has already begun selling grain at low prices!"
"And not only Fruitvale Village—other territories in the eastern region are also selling grain cheaply. Somehow, they've all suddenly obtained a large surplus of grain!"
The servant relayed all the news he had heard, and Sean's heart instantly sank, that ominous feeling inside him swelling rapidly.
Why did this feel so familiar? Of course—because this was exactly how the prices of berries and potions had been suppressed before!
"What… what price are they offering?" Sean asked, his voice trembling.
"The current price is about only twenty percent of what it used to be."
The attendant's voice was hesitant and stammering.
And just as his words fell, he suddenly felt a sharp, splitting pain explode from his head. In the very next instant, he felt his body violently flung sideways, his figure flying through the air before he let out a muffled groan and fell unconscious on the spot!
"Nonsense! Utter nonsense! How could Fruitvale Village possibly have that much grain!"
The guard knight snorted coldly, pulling back the fist that was still stained with fresh blood, then turned his gaze toward the pale-faced Steward Sean.
"Don't speak. Let me be quiet for a moment."
Steward Sean drew in a deep breath and sat down on the steps of the granary, his body trembling. Behind him, mountains of wheat were piled up, stretching endlessly!
(End of Chapter)