Chapter 258 Insect Repellents and Pesticides: The Disappearance of Tender Leaves and Buds
The situation of these commoners is much better than that of the earliest flower fairies in the Land of Sin.
Perhaps it was because their bodies were so thin and wiry that their clothes looked particularly loose, swaying lightly and empty in the wind. Or perhaps it was because their long hair was so dry and frizzy that it looked like a messy, tangled mess when exposed to the sunlight. Their multicolored eyes were full of panic and hope, making them look both wretched and pitiful, which made Shu Xin feel extremely uncomfortable for a moment.
The flower fairies that Shu Xin was used to seeing were all full of energy and cheerful, and their clothes and makeup were all exquisite and beautiful. They shouldn't be like this...
"My lord! Popomo City is plagued by insects. We have some insect repellent here, would you like some?" The lead flower fairy asked timidly. "We only need some food, acorns and wild wheat will do!"
She reached into her bosom and pulled out a dark brown nut that was oval-shaped and slightly pointed, and respectfully handed it to the flower fairy attendant in uniform as she flew over.
When Shu Xin, dressed in the governor's uniform, received the dark brown nut, the group of flower fairies looked even more nervous and uneasy.
The dark brown, long nuts were actually containers for medicine. By twisting off the small cap of the nut's shell, you could see that the nut shell was filled with a light purplish-red liquid.
Thinking of the insecticide sold in the Land of Sin, Shu Xin remembered that the pesticide was a deep purplish-red color. She paused for a moment, then handed the pesticide to Nana Jia: "You're a pharmacist, take a look and see if it works."
The flower fairies, who had been watching the nobleman's every move closely, also heard Shu Xin's words. They immediately relaxed and looked at the apothecary with anticipation.
Shu Xin had already observed them; these flower fairies weren't merchants with spiritual magic talent, and none of them were wearing golden cloaks—
When merchants from the Land of Sin first set out on their trade journeys, they would wear a grass-leaf cloak for wind protection. Later, the merchants of the Golden Cloak Caravan, by a stroke of luck, were restored from flower fairies to elf forms and all possessed a golden cloak bestowed by the Tree of Life. Perhaps to bring good fortune or to increase recognizability, various caravans began to order uniform golden cloaks for their members. Subsequently, as the number of caravans and goods from the Land of Sin increased, the Tree of Life seemed to have tacitly accepted that the merchant's uniform was the golden cloak, and so merchants from other territories also began to wear golden cloaks with leaf-coin patterns.
Despite not being a merchant, they're trying to sell goods to passersby in exchange for food. There's even a 99% chance that the goods are diluted insecticide sold in the Land of Sin. The situation in Popomore City is probably not good...
The flower fairies are not good at lying, nor do they have the habit of lying. They said that Popomore City is suffering from an insect plague, and at the same time, they are selling diluted insecticide. The plague is estimated to be not large in scale and should still be within a controllable range. However, the flower fairies will try to exchange the diluted insecticide for food. It seems that after paying the magic tax, there is not much food left from the harvest month of the last harvest.
This is the lean season, when food is scarce. Adults can go hungry and eat some grass, leaves, and trees to fill their stomachs, but children are at an age where they need to replenish their magic. No matter how much the grass stems and leaves they can find are boiled into a thick soup, the magic contained in them is still very weak. If they catch a fever, the children they have raised with great difficulty will die.
Shu Xin didn't know if green cassava had been promoted to Bobomo City. If it had been promoted before the harvest month, the green cassava might have grown. But if it was promoted after the harvest month, even if the green cassava was planted, it wouldn't be harvest time yet.
“It is indeed insecticide, sir,” Nana said softly.
...As expected, it's an insecticide from the land of sin.
The leading flower fairy commoner hurriedly said, "My lord, it's an insect repellent, an insect repellent potion. It can kill small insects, and may not be able to kill large insects, but it's guaranteed to have an insect repellent effect. My lord, please use it with confidence. This was sold to us by a kind merchant from the Land of Sin, and it's absolutely effective!"
Shu Xin had thought that the flower fairies had become smarter and could think of diluting the insecticide before selling it, but it turned out that it was the caravans from the Land of Sin who diluted it themselves before selling it.
That must mean the citizens of Popomore City are so poor that they can't even afford cheap pesticides, and Popomore City is also suffering from an insect infestation. The Ministry of Commerce has made contingency plans for this situation.
Besides diluting the potion and selling it at a lower price, another method is to search for usable magical materials in the local area and exchange them for insecticide. If even usable magical materials cannot be found in the short term, you can also use the insecticide first and pay later. You can give the insecticide to the flower fairy to solve the insect problem, and collect payment or goods when the next harvest month comes.
Nodding somewhat helplessly, Shu Xin gestured to the servant, "Let's exchange it for dried fruit."
A small piece of dried fruit can be used to make a bowl of sweet soup. The magic is quite sufficient. The lives of the flower fairies are already hard enough. Hopefully, this sweetness can bring them a brief moment of happiness.
The servants presented large, plump pieces of dried fruit. The commoners were stunned when they saw the enormous dried fruit, which emanated a rich magical aura and a sweet fragrance. The leading flower fairy swallowed hard and reluctantly declined, saying, "No, no, no, this is too precious, sir, too precious..."
Shu Xin felt increasingly uncomfortable, and Nana Jia calmly spoke up at this moment:
"Please accept this as a reward. Our lord is the governor of the Land of Sin. This trip is to discuss the holding of the Wind Market with the city lord of Popomo City. I did not expect Popomo City to have an insect infestation. I did not prepare insecticide before the trip. Thank you for reminding me."
The flower fairies instantly became excited:
"No need to thank me! By the Goddess of Flowers! You are actually a person from the Land of Sin?!"
"This is what we should do! Apothecary! Is there really a Flower Fairy in the Land of Sin?"
"May the Flower Goddess protect you! Your Excellency, you must have seen the Flower Fairy before, right?"
"…………"
In the end, the flower fairies and commoners gratefully accepted the large pieces of dried fruit, and watched with anticipation and envy as the governor's carriage gradually disappeared into the distance.
Suddenly, one of the flower fairies came to her senses, somewhat puzzled:
"If that governor comes from the land of sin, surely the city lord will invite him to live in the Flower Castle? The Flower Castle doesn't get infested with insects, so it doesn't need any insect repellent."
"Huh? It seems so?"
Looking through the car window at Nana, who sat calmly on the back of the white-feathered bird, Shu Xin's mood improved. Bringing Nana out this time was definitely the right decision. So far, Shu Xin had only encountered one flower fairy who could lie without batting an eye—oh wait, Nana is already an elf, so she probably only has one riverside elf who can lie without blushing or skipping a beat.
Nana's expression turned somber as she recalled hearing the faint shouts. Shu Xin leaned against the car window and asked, "Nana, did you hear their shouts too?"
Like the flower fairy, Nana had shrunk in size and disguised herself. She was deep in thought, her eyes lowered, when she heard the flower fairy's question. She honestly shook her head.
"I didn't hear anything, sir. I think it's because our senses aren't as sharp as yours."
“I noticed something else at that time,” the golden-haired, red-eyed elf said, pointing to the large trees receding beside her. “You may not have noticed, but there are hardly any tender leaves or buds left on the branches of these trees.”
"What tender leaves and buds..." Shu Xin paused, then realized something and stopped the carriage again.
After flying to a large tree nearby and observing it carefully, Shu Xin was astonished to find that what Nana Jia said was true. All the leaves swaying in the wind on the branches were thick, tough, and mature leaves, and there were not a single small, weak tender leaves or buds to be seen.
According to Nanaja, she didn't notice anything unusual at first. It was her magical cat that reminded her, and she began to observe carefully. She then discovered that the closer she got to Bobomo City, the sparser the tender leaves and buds on the branches became. Now that they were almost at Bobomo City, there were no tender leaves or buds left on the branches of the large trees in the vicinity.
Without a doubt, these tender, soft leaf buds, brimming with vibrant magical energy, were picked by the flower fairies and used as food for their children.
Shu Xin realized that the situation in Bobomo City was probably worse than she had imagined.
The group of civilians they encountered earlier were likely not simply there to sell insect repellent to passersby. Their main purpose was probably to pick tender leaves and buds from the treetops. If they could find travelers heading to Bobomo City and exchange the insect repellent for some food, that would be a pleasant surprise.
After that, Shu Xin and her group encountered many flocks of birds, many groups of monkeys, as well as herds of deer and packs of wolves. They even saw several large pythons climbing on thick branches in the trees, but they never encountered the flower fairies of Bobomo City again. All the trees, grass, and even vines and shrubs along the way had no tender branches or new leaves.
Before sunset, Shu Xin was the first to hear the sound of water. Impatient to stay in the carriage any longer, she lifted the curtain and flew forward with the white-feathered birds.
As the view suddenly brightened, a vast expanse of water, rippling with light, came into view.
Shu Xin's first sight was of the Ganar River, flowing gently through the dense forest. Her second glance revealed rows of flat, neat wheat fields on either side of the river, where countless flower fairies, shimmering in the afterglow of the sunset, flitted about, seemingly watering and repelling insects. Finally, Shu Xin noticed the vast expanse of strange trees growing at the boundary between the wheat fields and the forest—
Each tree was laden with large, round fruits of various colors, and each plump fruit radiated a unique glow. Thus, these trees, which looked lively and "decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations," formed a wide and long, strangely colorful ribbon between the wheat fields and the forest.
"My lord, we have arrived at Bobomo City," Nana said.
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