Chapter 216 A Letter from Afar: Frontline Situation, Good News, Progress...
With a plan in place, life gradually got back on track.
Old Steward Cher took all the tasks assigned to him by Ray very seriously, and consulted with three craftsmen about the construction of the two greenhouses.
Unfortunately, Ray wasn't satisfied with any of their design proposals, and in the end, it was the craftsman recommended by Edmund who provided the most suitable drawings.
Thus, farming and greenhouse construction began simultaneously, operating in parallel.
Rye entrusted these two tasks to Vincent and Cher, respectively, and devoted himself entirely to the research on strawberry seeds.
Since that conversation, Edmund had only taken the note from him, but there had been no news of Neil since.
Lei can't act rashly right now, so he can only focus his attention on the strawberries.
The small greenhouse in the back garden became his most frequented place, besides his study and bedroom.
The area was cleaned up again, and the ground was repaved with more nutrient-rich humus.
The land in the capital is not as fertile as that in the small mountain village.
The area around Rosen is all typical black soil, rich in various elements.
Furthermore, due to the large temperature difference between day and night and the strong sunlight, the grain crops grown there tend to have a sweeter taste.
But things are different in the royal city.
The temperature here is relatively higher, there is more rainfall and higher humidity, the soil loses nutrients quickly, and the soil is yellowish.
To ensure the strawberries in the two greenhouses receive sufficient nutrients, composting will be necessary once they are built.
The small greenhouse contained only a simple wooden table, a chair, and some basic tools.
Fortunately, there was a small shaded area inside, and the glass on all four sides could be opened for ventilation; otherwise, people would have suffered from heatstroke sooner or later if they stayed inside all the time.
Lai buried a wood element stone under the table, and Ryan used this wood element stone to create a small magic circle that could gather wood elements.
This made the greenhouse much more comfortable than the rest of the estate, but in the days that followed, He looked more tired than usual.
Under these conditions, Lei conducted one breeding and selection experiment after another.
While there were no immediate results, the strawberries produced by the forced growth were plentiful.
Fresh strawberries are available every day at the farm, and the three children are the happiest of all.
There weren't many strawberries on the market at this time of year, so Lei didn't let Cher take them out to sell, but everyone could eat them as they pleased.
The icehouse didn't have any ice, so the fresh strawberries would mold and rot in less than two days. Karma and Diana added sugar and washed the strawberries they couldn't eat, then boiled them into jars of red strawberry jam.
Few people can make strawberry jam with such a beautiful color. Lai took a few jars and put them in her space.
These strawberry jams, stored in a cool, well-ventilated basement, can last for at least half a month as long as they remain unopened.
Ordinary residents on the mainland have their own life skills.
In less than ten days, Lei conducted dozens of cultivation experiments, and the number of plants reached hundreds, with a continuous upward trend, but he still failed to get the desired results.
The cultivation of white strawberries seems to have hit a bottleneck, which makes Lei feel frustrated.
While he was still struggling with those strawberry seeds, a black carriage briefly stopped in front of the Victor family manor.
Cher carried the things and hurried to the back garden, knocked on the wooden door of the greenhouse, and handed Rye two letters from different locations.
It turned out that the carriage belonged to the union that delivered mail to the residents of this area.
One letter came from Eaton City, and the other from a town he had never heard of. Ray had a vague idea of what was going on.
Sure enough, the two letters were written to him by Hagrid and Timur.
It has been almost two months since Ray left the small mountain village. During this time, he has been wandering through the dense forests of Eaton Great Forest, without any news of Rosen Town.
Hagrid's letter was mainly to let Rye know he was safe and sound, and he also briefly mentioned the current situation so that Rye wouldn't worry about home.
The residents of the small mountain village and nearby villages all relocated to inland areas far from Eaton Forest.
It is indeed safer there than at the border.
The army, the mage association, and the church have already stationed troops in Rosen Town, forming a defensive line against the demon army.
The conflict between the border region and the orc tribes immediately ceased after receiving confirmation that the demons had returned to the continent.
No matter what grudges there are, they all seem to be temporarily set aside when facing a common enemy.
During Laiyi's journey, the first conflict between the mainland inhabitants and the demons occurred in the orc territory.
Like the territory owned by Speth, part of the Orcish Horde's territory also borders the Great Forest of Eton.
Or perhaps it was because the Orcish Boundary Marker was the first to be destroyed that the area became the main battlefield of this war.
The first wave of support troops has assembled and headed to the Orcish border. They are from the lord of Spes, who is closest to the battlefield. He is the lord of the territory where Lai and his group live, the half-dragon who has recently inherited the title.
With the threat of demons on the outside and the loss of a king who holds supreme leadership at such a critical moment, humanity seems to be caught in a predicament where it cannot even take care of itself.
However, Ray knew that the situation wasn't actually as bad as it seemed.
At least these nobles who lived in the capital and were the most well-informed continued to live a leisurely and comfortable life.
New news is coming out of the city every day in anticipation of the impending war.
We can learn this from information gathered from different places.
The orcs and elves have begun to assemble their armies, and the dwarves living deep in the mines are also continuously supplying various heavy weapons.
The letter ended with everyone's warm greetings to Ray, and they looked forward to receiving a reply from him.
With no news coming in, Hagrid and Linda were very worried about his safety.
Lei slowly opened another letter.
He already had some guesses in his mind, and the signature on the letter just confirmed Ray's initial guess.
Indeed, this letter came from Temujin, who had already arrived safely.
The two of them had a relatively smooth journey and did not encounter any danger. They are currently living in Temuqi's old house.
He told Lai not to worry and instructed him to visit a dwarf's general store in town when he had time. Temujin said he had given him some gold coins.
Later, Lai learned that the dwarfs had set up general stores selling various materials in every major city to make things easier for their people living in different towns.
You can deposit some gold coins in one shop and then withdraw them in another.
This is convenient, eliminating the hassle of carrying a lot of money when traveling. However, it also requires paying some "safekeeping fees".
With the dwarf race's countless underground riches as collateral, no one worries about their property being harmed.
Of course, they also offer storage services.
No one knows how much wealth the dwarf tribe possesses, or how many treasures they keep in their tin chests.
Lai carefully placed the two letters into the pendant's space; he needed to write two replies to them tonight.
The next day, Edmund also brought the good news that Ray had been eagerly awaiting.
Neil is safe at the moment, he just can't leave the house.
He was a very smart child, and after understanding the current situation, he did not have the impulse to rebel against the other party.
Edmund secretly slipped a small note into Neil's bread through the cook, and that day Neil's breakfast was half-eaten.
—This is the signal that he has successfully received the message, as agreed on in their note.
Ray finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But he knew this was just the beginning, and many more difficulties awaited them.
With the rainy season approaching in the capital, in order to complete the construction of the two greenhouses more quickly, Cher, after consulting with Ray, hired six more laborers.
Two greenhouses are under construction simultaneously.
The doors, windows, and thickened glass are all custom-made and production has already begun. We expect to receive them before the entire greenhouse is completed.
They are all skilled craftsmen; greenhouses like these, which don't require much technical expertise to build, are easy to construct.
The most complicated part was the fireplace with its flue running through most of the greenhouse.
Because Lei didn't have any requirements for the overall appearance, there was no need for marble carved with flowers, birds, fish and insects, and the walls didn't need to have any beautiful designs.
So the wall section can be completed in just three or four days. However, they will need to wait seven days for the wall to dry completely before they can proceed with the construction of the ceiling.
The entire lawn behind the manor was completely destroyed.
Apart from the area where the greenhouse was built, the surrounding area was planted with corn and various vegetables.
This incident was extremely disgraceful to the other residents in the neighborhood, but Lai didn't care about that.
Old Butler Cher never objected to Ray's decision.
When asked about the produce by those around him, he simply responded with a polite smile and invited them to order the first batch of vegetables from the farm.
Gradually, the heated discussion about "the suddenly appearing heir of the Victor family" finally subsided.
At least that's how it appears on the surface.
But recently, there seems to be some information circulating that "he is a reclusive magician."
Unfortunately, Ray had to turn down many balls and dinners over the past month.
He didn't want to appear in the royal city's social circles so soon, but Lai knew that such social activities were unavoidable if he wanted to establish himself quickly.
Lai's two letters were sent to different locations, but it was unknown how long it would take for the recipients to receive them.
He refocused his energy on experiments to breed white strawberries.
The walls of the greenhouse were completely dry, and the timber had already been transported and neatly stacked at the back of the estate.
There was no special ceremony for raising the roof beam here. After informing Lei, the craftsmen began their work under the supervision of Old Steward Cher.
On this very day, Lei finally obtained a strawberry plant bearing pale pink fruit.
He carefully protected the hard-won strawberry plant and collected all the seeds from the strawberries.
These few strawberry plants alone can yield hundreds of seeds, and it will be just around the corner to cultivate plants with stable traits.
This is truly wonderful news, and Ray has decided to take a break.
Vincent has carefully tended to the vegetable garden, and in the past few days he has been taking his eldest son Duncan to the countryside in a donkey cart to find suitable branches for making bean trellises.
These trellises will be needed soon after the green beans, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers sprout, so it's better to prepare them in advance.
Ross, who was being lazy and didn't want to go out with his father and the others, rarely saw Ray not staying in the greenhouse during this period of time.
"Lord Lei, would you like to go out for a stroll?"
Ross walked up to Rye.
Ray put down his teacup and looked at Ross.
It was already afternoon, and Lai didn't have the habit of taking a nap. He sat on the first floor, looking out the window and spacing out.
"What do you recommend?"
He did not refuse Ross's offer.
After a moment's thought, the boy named several places he knew that adults frequented.
"There's a nice pub in the neighborhood. It's only been open a few years. The decor is beautiful, and they have a wide variety of drinks. Some respectable people like to chat there."
Ross sensed that Ray wasn't that interested, so after checking if anyone else was around, he quietly recommended another place.
"Lord Lei, I actually know where there is a gladiatorial arena."
Ray looked at Ross with some surprise.
"Is there a gladiatorial arena nearby?"
"Yes. Some are done secretly, while others are done openly after obtaining approval."
Are there many places like this?
"Um."
Ross nodded.
"They also exist in the countryside, but they don't have the ability to capture magical beasts, so they use dogs and male red wildbirds instead."
"What happened to those defeated monsters, dogs, and red field birds?"
“I don’t know.” Ross shook his head. “But I do know that some of those who died were sold to butchers.”
Hearing this, Lei felt a little uneasy.
"I understand. Tell Butler Cher that I need to go out for a bit."
"Lord Lei, would you like a carriage?"
Ross looked at Ray expectantly.
"No need, I'll go out myself."
"Yes, sir."
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Author's Note: Dear readers, by the time you see this chapter, the author has already updated [doge emoji].
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