In the morning sunlight, the young lord stood in the radiance, atop a stone in front of him.
Gazing down at the dense crowd of his subjects, he began to announce,
“My dear people, I have good news for you. I have resolved the issue with Mulberry Ridge, and I declare that the Mulberry Valley is entering its next chapter. Soon, you will be able to raise silkworms.”
“That’s fantastic!”
“We can raise silkworms in Mulberry Valley!”
“Baron, you are tremendous.”
“Lord, you are great and wise. We salute you!”
As the lord personally confirmed their hopes, the people’s faces lit up with joy, some even cried with happiness as they burst into cheers.
In the end, led by someone unknown, they knelt on one knee to show their deep respect for the lord, as a sign of their support.
After years of hardship, Mulberry Valley finally welcomed a wise and sagacious lord.
Looking at the smiling faces below, the old, the young, and the middle-aged, Ivan wore a knowing smile. It hadn’t been long, but he felt he had been reasonably competent as a lord.
If there were a subject called ‘Lord Studies,’ then his Experience Points would surely have risen significantly.
After the announcement was finished, the subjects waited for the lord to leave before slowly dispersing, cheerfully returning to their villages.
Resolving the issue with Mulberry Ridge didn’t mean things would improve immediately. There was a series of tasks to arrange, such as replanting mulberry trees, each village having preserved the original seeds.
“There’s no need to buy mulberry saplings elsewhere. The mulberry trees of Mulberry Valley have been tested for over a hundred years and are of excellent quality. The mulberry leaves they produce are very suitable for silkworm breeding,” Leider and Paul said excitedly, discussing with others back at the castle.
“You guys handle these things; I’ll stay out of it,” Ivan waved his hand, showing no interest in tree planting or the Spell of tree planting. Seeing Justine excited, he continued, “You come with me; I’ll teach you some new knowledge.”
At his words, Justine’s cheeks flushed, and she hurriedly bowed her head and followed him quickly.
Ivan had considered that Mulberry Valley’s tree planting and silkworm breeding would take time; if Justine could master apothecary, the territory would be well-off during the initial period after his departure, and the Giant Shield Mercenary Group could even be turned into a trading caravan.
The premise was that Justine’s apothecary skills reached a certain level, with a high success rate of producing potions and the ability to concoct multiple intermediate potions.
After ascending the stairs, Justine hesitantly said, “Ivan, it’s still daytime. Maybe we can learn new knowledge at night.”
“Learn at night?” Ivan looked back at her, puzzled. Seeing her red face, he suddenly understood and felt somewhat tempted. “What are you thinking about all day? I meant teaching you about apothecary. The knowledge you want to learn can only be done at night; otherwise, I’m afraid you won’t be able to get up during the day.”
Realizing he had only twenty days left before his departure, he reluctantly gave up the idea of teaching Justine other kinds of knowledge. At worst, they would add an extra session at night; as a Pharmacist, he had plenty of ways to enhance Justine’s combat capabilities.
Once Justine caught on, her face blushed as she argued, “I was talking about apothecary knowledge. It’s you, great lord, who misunderstood.”
Ivan laughed, “Same thing, it’s all new knowledge anyway.” He turned and continued up the wooden stairs.
Justine glared at the figure ahead of her, wondering how someone her age could be so inventive.
The two arrived at the apothecary lab where Ivan began instructing her in the concoction of glorybower hemostatic powder, correcting the improper techniques she had used before. Sometimes, all it takes is a simple explanation from someone, and you’ll have an epiphany about how easy it can be.
Now, the apothecary lab was divided into two compartments, and after giving her some instructions, Ivan returned to the other side.
Ivan had Bat Secret Medicine, Calming Potion, Mountain Monster Potion, and Goliath Frog Secret Medicine in his hands. The Mountain Monster Potion was given by Justine, which was the recipe of the nutrition potion she had given to Old Orio before.
Compared to Toyennes’ nutrition potion, the Mountain Monster Potion was slightly inferior, but it was not without value. In fact, it was quite valuable as it could enhance the effects of the Breathing Secret Medicine, and the required herbs were easy to purchase.
All these potions required preparation, two doses of the Goliath Frog Potion still needed perfecting, and the newly collected Breathing Method needed research. There really was a lot to do.
Once he finished dealing with the problem at Mulberry Ridge, he would be able to devote more attention to apothecary work.
A while later, a large moth fluttered its way to the alchemist and with a flap, it transformed into a wood-colored silkworm. Other smaller moths followed, all landing around the area.
“Mmm mmm.”
The plump wood silkworm struggled to lift its head and make a tiny sound, seemingly complaining about someone making it fly so far.
Ivan took a piece of mulberry wood from under the workbench and placed it on top. The moths, like fish seeing water, eagerly landed on the fresh piece of mulberry wood without restraint and disappeared into its bark, leaving the plump wood silkworm to climb slowly on the outside.
“You’re just lazy and picky,” Ivan said, placing the wood silkworm on the mulberry wood segment, strictly instructing it not to play disappearing acts, leaving the wood silkworm looking quite aggrieved.
This plump wood silkworm was none other than the primary culprit that wreaked havoc on Mulberry Ridge, the insect queen of the entire swarm, its sovereign. After successfully deploying the Insect Control Skill the previous night, he released it back to the ridge, and it easily quelled the unrest at Mulberry Ridge.
Only after Ivan had skillfully divided the Knight Class Bat Secret Medicine into three, transferring it from the glass vessel into glass bottles and transforming it into three vials of Bat Secret Medicine, did he have the energy to pay attention to the wood silkworm queen.
“Let your guards come out and give me a demonstration of their silk-spinning,” he said.
After casting the Insect Control Skill successfully, he had a faint mental connection with the wood silkworm queen, able to convey commands through mental power, though it required the consumption of a certain amount of spiritual power.
As the sovereign of the swarm, the wood silkworm queen possessed a certain degree of intelligence. Upon receiving the command, it summoned the other silkworms.
On the mulberry wood segment, a group of silkworms wriggled their bodies, but after much activity, they did not manage to produce a single strand of silk.
“Forget it,” Ivan realized, “It seems you don’t know how to spin silk. Do you have any other abilities then?”
Under the queen’s leadership, the silkworms transformed into an assortment of smaller moths that fluttered before Ivan, displaying a speed far exceeding that of the freezing water midges. Once they became moths, their bodies turned as hard as iron, although it was not apparent from their appearance.
“What else?”
Some moths perched on the glass bottles, their bodies turning the same color as the glass; others landed on the iron cans and turned black.
Afterward, the moths changed back into silkworms and burrowed into the mulberry wood, which visibly withered at a speed discernible to the naked eye, turning into dead wood.
The wood silkworm queen showed off its abilities, its body wriggling as it split off a larva, seemingly indicating its capacity to proliferate its swarm.
After watching the wood silkworms’ demonstration, Ivan had gained a full understanding of them. “I’ll give you a name,” he decided. “From now on you’ll be called ‘rapid wood silkworms,’ and your name will be ‘Silkworm Queen.’ Come, Silkworm Queen, make them obediently follow my commands.”
A sovereign indeed, with the support of the Silkworm Queen, Ivan easily performed the Insect Control Skill successfully, gaining control over five rapid wood silkworms.
He then skillfully embedded seeds of Spring Bud into the bodies of the rapid wood silkworms.
For the swarm of rapid wood silkworms that could devastate twelve hundred acres of mulberry forest, Ivan had greater expectations. Perhaps these vigorous creatures would bring him a pleasant surprise.