Chapter 72 Where Can We Stay? We'll Stay at the Magic Cat Hotel.
Looking at the docile and quiet golden magic cat in front of her, and the little flower fairies who were using the giant magic cat as a market, flying around exchanging goods, Shu Xin couldn't help but fall silent.
The scene before her was so warm and touching. Whether it was the adorable magical cat with golden fur or the flower fairy with petal-shaped pupils and long, bright hair, they all seemed to have stepped out of a fairy tale, pure and romantic. After a brief moment of joy and wonder at witnessing this magical and beautiful scene, Shu Xin couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness in her heart.
She had realized that the harvest season had not yet arrived; not only was the wheat not ripe, but the acorns were not ripe either.
"Will wheat get infested with insects?" Shu Xin suddenly asked.
“Of course, Your Highness, but the magic in the Land of Sin is too scarce. The bitter wheat we planted before has never been infested with insects. You don’t need to worry. Even if it gets infested later, the slaves will clean it up,” Nonori replied.
As for how to clean it, Shu Xin didn't even need to ask; she could guess that it was done by hand.
"Do golden wheat, golden crisp wheat, and brown crisp wheat all need watering?" Shu Xin asked again.
Nonori patiently replied, "Yes, Your Highness, but you don't need to worry about that. Just arrange for the slaves to water the plants."
Shu Xin could only sigh loudly. This watering was probably done by the flower fairy slaves who just used whatever they could find as a container, then went back and forth to the Sun Spring to collect water, and then transported it to the wheat field to water it.
When it comes to farming, the flower fairies are quite natural and primitive. Although they can't be described as slash-and-burn agriculture, in Shu Xin's opinion, they're not far off.
The lords could assign slaves to manage their fields, but the commoners had to work in the fields themselves, removing pests and watering the plants by hand. A family would probably have to work from morning till night. Even so, they would only receive a small amount of grain after the harvest. Most of the crops in the fields would become magic tax that was taken away, leaving only useless waste powder after the magic tax was extracted.
During the harvest month, Shu Xin always knew that the flower fairies in the patrol team would fight against the monsters from the outer continent. At the same time, she always thought that the flower fairies who did not join the patrol team would hide well.
Now, seeing these flower fairies who have come all this way to participate in the Magic Cat Market, just to exchange things like tree bark, stones, feathers, and fruit shells, Shu Xin knew that her idea was completely wrong—
During the harvest month, it's impossible for flower fairies and commoners to do nothing but stay at home. On the contrary, in order to fill their stomachs and avoid starvation, they have no choice but to go out and collect everything edible.
With the Tree of Life providing enough clothing to cover their bodies, plus planting magic, and the reproductive ability "under the protection of the Flower Goddess," and finally, the incredibly powerful self-cleaning and digestive abilities that flower fairies possess, the hardworking flower fairies are able to maintain their palm-sized bodies and sustain their current lives.
However, even with such diligence and effort, commoners could still lose their land and houses at any time, becoming slaves as small as mosquitoes—natural disasters would occur before the harvest month.
Shu Xin regretted not bringing some acorn wine with her. She had only brought flints this time because she had burned too many before, using them in both the brewery and the bakery, and still had some left over.
Making flint requires fire magic; without the relevant magical talent, flint cannot be made. In addition, and most importantly, branches of the Tree of Life usually only break and fall when a great calamity occurs. Therefore, flint is actually not common. The Sinful Lands simply have an extremely scarce magical energy, which is why there are so many withered branches of the Tree of Life...
Nono said that the common people really wanted flints, so Shuxin waved her hand and packed up all the extra flints and took them away.
“Your Highness, there are no white-feathered bird eggs for sale today. It seems the feather trainer hasn’t arrived yet,” Nono asked after flying into the air and looking at all the various goods displayed on the magic cat. “Should we go back today and come back tomorrow, or stay here and wait until tomorrow?”
Shu Xin didn't see any white-feathered bird eggs at the stalls set up by the flower fairies.
Their main reason for coming to the Magic Cat Market was to buy a few White Feather Birds for the Acorn Squad to ride.
Flower fairies with relevant magical talents raise and train birds as mounts for sale; they are collectively known as feather trainers. Nonori learned that a feather trainer would be selling white-feathered bird eggs at the upcoming Magic Cat Market. It's known that after being specially trained and bred by feather trainers, the baby white-feathered birds hatching from these eggs only need to be raised a little before being used as mounts, without requiring any further training.
However, Shu Xin and her group wanted to purchase fully grown white-feathered birds from the feather trainer. After all, the Land of Sin currently did not have enough time and food to incubate and feed baby white-feathered birds, so it was more appropriate to buy adult birds directly.
Shu Xin hadn't expected that the flower fairy who sold bird eggs hadn't arrived yet. Hearing from Nuonuo Li that it was today and tomorrow, and that they could stay overnight, Shu Xin was extremely curious: "Will this Magic Cat Market be open for several days? As for staying overnight, is there anywhere to stay here? Where can we stay?"
The Magic Cat Market will last for three whole days. After sunset on the third day, the Magic Cat Knights will leave with their masters to head to the next market location. As for the accommodations provided by the Magic Cat Market, Nono pointed to the magic cat lying on the grass in front of her, looking like a fluffy mountain: "Princess, we can go to the Magic Cat Inn."
"This even has supporting facilities?!" Shu Xin was utterly shocked.
Shu Xin stopped the carriage in front of the magical cat's curled-up left leg. She noticed that the golden cat, which had been half-closing its eyes, slightly opened its eyelids. It had a pair of bright, clear blue-green eyes. As it glanced down, strands of golden fur shimmered with magical light and flew up from its front leg, landing lightly on the roof of the carriage like a stream of light, adding a gorgeous golden trim to the wooden roof. Then the magical cat closed its eyes and continued to doze off.
Does this mean parking is allowed? Shu Xin glanced at the gold trim on the roof of the carriage a few more times. Seeing that Nuonuo had untied the reins of the Pegasus and let it go out to graze, she quickly went to wake up Xi, who was still sleeping in the carriage.
"Your Highness, please come in." Nonori lifted the curtain, revealing a round wooden door through the golden fur of the magic cat that had fallen onto the grass. It turned out that hidden in the magic cat's fluffy and thick chest fur was a round house made of a large nut shell.
The house, made of round nut shells, shimmered with a soft magical glow and sat steadily between the two furry paws of the magical cat, which was hidden in front of its chest.
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2024-08-06 20:53:16 and 2024-08-07 20:58:03!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: 10 bottles of Moonbeam Water;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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