Chapter 42 – Sow much fun in a pun-derful world of farming!

🙞❤︎🙜

In the next two weeks, I did my morning chores and brewed potions the rest of the time. Not only did I increase herblaw to level 10, I also gained a few magic levels.

[Violet

Level 1

HP: 100/100

MP: 35/35

Strength: 1/99

Attack: 1/99

Archery: 3/99

Magic: 3/99]

At this rate, it would take a year or more for me to get to a reasonably high level of magic. Then again, I was only using a very basic spell. Perhaps things would go faster for me if I tried combat magic, but I didn’t really feel like hunting monsters.

Now that I was level 10 herblaw, I could make the Antipoison potion. All I needed were Black Spider Eggs, Dragon’s Seal, and spell stones, which I had in plenty.

[Black Spider Eggs:

An incredibly rare potion ingredient. The eggs are a deep black color and pulsate with a strange, otherworldly energy.

The eggs must be collected at night, when the black spider is most active, and stored in a jar full of strong wine.]

The eggs were a pain to get in Adventure Incarnate because they could only be found in the Shadow Cave that was full of venomous spiders. New players who weren’t yet able to make Antipoison potions had to either buy them from other players or dash in and out of the cave as fast as they could, hoping and praying that they could dodge all the spiders inside.

Dragon’s Seal, on the other hand, was relatively easy to get.

[Dragon’s Seal:

A beautiful silver-green plant. The Dragon’s Seal has long, slender leaves that resemble a dragon’s tail and small white flowers. It can be found in sandy soil and is sometimes planted near places of ill omen to ward against misfortune.]

All of that, of course, was irrelevant to me because I had all the ingredients I would ever need in my inventory.

I was just about to make my first Antipoison when Fengying knocked on the door and informed me I had a visitor.

Oh no! I had been so caught up in leveling up that I had forgotten I had an appointment with Shuye. I had gone with Prince Baiyu to the Mysterious Glade several times, but the flowers that I needed were quite rare, so I wasn’t able to gather them every time. Yesterday, I had finally found the fifth Dusk Dandelion.

[Curing Infertility:

Help the God Beast Clans with their fertility problem. Find five Dusk Dandelions.

Progress: 5/5]

“Fengying, can you please ask him to wait in the main hall? I need to get ready,” I said.

“Yes, Miss Violet,” said Fengying.

She left, and I hurriedly fixed my hair and put on some nicer clothes. I hadn’t noticed until Fengying came to see me, but it was already getting dark outside. Had I remembered to tell Deming I might be late for dinner? I thought I did.

Ah, my head was too full of herblaw these days! I could barely remember what I had done earlier this morning.

I was all smiles as I entered the reception room where Shuye was already waiting for me. He looked the same as always. Instead of giving him the usual crocus flower, I handed him five Dusk Dandelions.

“What’s this?” he asked as he peered at the silver petaled flower with the purple core.

“This is a part of the folk medicine I learned about,” I said. It wasn’t a lie because I had learned it from the System, and wasn’t all herbal medicine folk medicine?

“Why are you giving it to me? What’s it for?”

“It’s a fertility booster.”

“Oh.” He frowned at the flowers. “I’ve never heard of this.”

“Well, I’m not sure it will work. I think it’s worth a try. After all, what do you have to lose?”

He pursed his lips. “Clan members are immune to most poisons, so it probably isn’t that dangerous. Do I give this to my wife?”

“Yes.” I read the information from the system out loud. “Place it in a silver vase and leave it in a room where the moonlight can shine on it. After three nights, the flower should wilt, and the petals will fall off. Give the petals to your wife to eat. If it works, then she will conceive a child within the month.”

“That would be wonderful.”

“You don’t look happy.” I would’ve thought he’d be ecstatic, but he looked troubled.

“It’s just that we’ve tried everything, and she gets really depressed when we fail.”

“Hmm.” A thought struck me and I tried to phrase it as delicately as I could. “This cure is meant for the woman. Have you tried any methods for you?”

I mean, I had no reason to assume that it was his wife who had a fertility problem…

But the fact that the System had given me this quest meant that the flowers would almost certainly work.

“We’ve both tried everything. I guess we can try once more.”

“Great! I look forward to good news in a month.”

Since he seemed quite dubious about the flowers, I changed the subject and we talked about the weather and what was happening in the forest. According to Shuye, this summer was particularly hot and dry compared to most years, and a few of the smaller ponds had already dried up.

“So it’s not always this hot? The weather has been so tiring lately that I’ve been longing to go to the beach,” I said.

“If you want to go to the beach, then you should. What’s stopping you?”

“I don’t mean for a picnic, I mean going on a few days’ vacation. That would mean leaving the farm for too long.”

“That’s what your apprentices are for, right?”

He had a point. I leaned back in my chair and was silent for a few minutes as I thought about it. Could I trust those three with the farm for three days? How about a week? I pulled on the silk rope beside my chair that rang a bell outside. A few minutes later, Fengying appeared, and I asked her if she thought my three apprentices were ready to take care of the farm by themselves.

“I’m thinking of going on a vacation for a few days. Of course, you and my chef will be coming with me.” I couldn’t live without Deming’s cooking, and he wouldn’t want to leave without his wife.

Fengying assured me that the kids would be fine without us, and that her husband would love to go to the beach to cook for me.

“There’s a great place south of here that has a sheltered cove that’s good for swimming. The beach has fine white sand, and I think you’ll like it. You’ll have to set up a tent though since there aren’t any inns there. Would you prefer a less deserted place? I know a good number of places where humans go on vacation, too,” said Shuye.

“I think a hidden cove is great! Um, would I be allowed to place a temporary shelter there?”

“That shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Okay, but I will need a letter permitting me to build a house there. I’ll remove it when I leave,” I said. Tents were okay, I guess. However, I would love to be able to use a nice resort house. The Cash Shop had a lot of holiday-themed items that would be great for the vacation.

My Farm Guide promised to return with the letter I needed. Adventure Incarnate players were not allowed to place structures wherever they wanted, which is why I needed to get the Farmer Certificate before I could build a farm. I wasn’t certain about it, but I thought that if I had an official letter giving me permission to build on the beach, I should be able to do so.

Shuye, Fengying, and I went over the details until it was time for dinner.

***

Vacation time!

Based on what Shuye told me about the place, I realized he was talking about Emerald Cove. He gave me a permit for building temporary structures there, and I decided to bring one of my apprentices with me. From a young age, my mother had impressed on me the necessity of always having someone with me when I went swimming. It wasn’t safe otherwise. Since it turned out that Mo knew how to swim, I brought her along.

“Why so glum?” I asked Mo.

“The farming experience…”

I laughed. “You have a higher farming level than those two. It’s good to give them a chance to catch up.”

We were riding Shuye’s flying cart to the hidden cove with Deming and Fengying.

“But I like being higher level!” said Mo.

Gone were the days when Mo could barely speak above a whisper and was always looking down at the ground. Now she spoke confidently and could look people in the eyes. I mentally patted myself on the back for being such a great teacher that my student had improved so much.

“The Emerald Cove is home to a rare species of edible seagrass. Have you heard of sea vegetables? You should be thankful for this rare opportunity to forage in a marine environment,” I said.

Mo’s eyes turned as big as saucers. “I can forage in the sea?”

Foraging was her one great love, like herblaw was to me.

“Of course. Remember, though, don’t go out alone. We have to watch out for each other when we go swimming or exploring the sea. I heard that drowning is a really nasty way to go,” I said.

“Yes, teacher,” she said.

“And we can probably catch some seafood,” I said.

We had only been fishing in the river and the freshwater lake and ponds, so we hadn’t gotten any saltwater fish, shellfish, or crustaceans.

Mo didn’t say anything. We both knew that she wasn’t very good at fishing.