Chapter 97: The Flame Mushroom Seeds that Keep Failing

Before dawn the next day, the manure pits in each village bustled with slaves retrieving compost. These slaves carried their loads towards the dairy farm.

The disbanded logging team had reassembled and, under the early morning escort of the knight squad, arrived at the bramble patch where the thorn bugs resided. Marcus, equipped with falcon-feathered arrows, scouted the bushes to ensure that no lurking magical beasts were present. He then turned to Gort and nodded.

"Squire, the area is secure."

"Good," Gort replied, turning to address the slaves. "Wake up and get to work! Anyone who slacks off after taking the lord's copper coins will be whipped to death! Remember, don't touch the thorns, but cut down all other trees, leaving none standing."

The slaves acknowledged his orders.

And so they began to fell the trees.

None of them knew why they were cutting down these trees, but the town officials had given the order, and with the promise of two copper coins for a day's work, they followed through.

moments later, the manure carriers arrived, and Gort was once again bustling about, directing the slaves to fertilize the brambles.

Isaiah, the accountant, followed close behind, tallying each slave's earnings as he counted the workers. After jotting down the numbers on a thick parchment, he stretched and engaged Gort in idle chatter. "What do you suppose the Baron is thinking? Why does he bother nurturing these bramble worms?"

"I couldn't say for sure, but the Baron must have his reasons."

"Gort, you're becoming more and more invested in Flower Town."

"Why not? The place is thriving, and I imagine I'll spend the rest of my days here. It's only right to contribute to its growth. I can't abide barren countryside, but a fertile one holds many delights to uncover."

"Indeed, no one enjoys poverty."

"For Lord Liszt and ourselves, Isaiah, we must strive forward." Gort glanced at his old friend, sensing that he too was considering following Liszt.

"I believe... yes."

The town officials, Gort, Blair, Karl, and Marcus, had all pledged their allegiance to Liszt. As the sole official yet to do so, Isaiah felt the pressure mounting.

Gort didn't push further; the final decision was Isaiah's to make: "Isaiah, let's inspect the bramble bushes and see if there are any unusual ones. Lord Liszt mentioned that the thorn beetles have been restless lately, perhaps due to changes in the bramble patches."

"What are we waiting for? I must search carefully; if we find a magical thorn, tsk tsk... speaking of which, have you made progress with the flame mushroom recipe from Mushroom Village?"

Gort shrugged. "Nothing comes easy. We've failed to cultivate the flame mushrooms with various ingredients. If it weren't for Bob the Crooked Neck's mushroom shed still producing them, we might have ruined the flame mushrooms altogether. Lord Liszt places great importance on them; I'm unsure how to report our progress."

The cultivation of flames had hit a roadblock.

Gort had already mobilized all the farmers of Mushroom Village, distributing to them seeds of the Flame Mushrooms for cultivation.

Unfortunately, all attempts have ended in failure—according to rumors, Bob the Crooked Neck has become completely obsessed, staying in his shed day and night, watching the growth of the fire mushrooms, but he just can't figure out why his own shed can grow fire mushrooms, and after readjusting the ingredients, it just doesn't work, the fire mushroom seeds always wither away.

"Perhaps I should consult Baron himself, he might have insightful suggestions."

"Why do you say so?"

"Gort, don't you find Baron magnificent in his knowledge? He knows so much and his perspective dwarfs our own. He sees vistas that escape our very eyes."

"Hmm, is that how you view the Baron?"

"In truth, it was Marcus who mentioned it. This squire, aspiring to be a noble, holds Lord Baron in high esteem."

Gort pondered for a moment. "Perhaps I should indeed report this to the Baron. The matter of the Flame Cap Mushroom is not something I can handle on my own."

He sought to prove himself in order to secure the position of advisor.

But he was well aware that if he botched the Flame Cap Mushroom, Liszt might very well have him killed—anyone could fathom the significance of alchemy to a lord.

...

By midday, Liszt made a round of the thorn worm grass shrubs to inspect the progress and inquire if any unusual varieties of thorns had been discovered. The officials came up empty-handed, and even Liszt's use of the Magic Eye failed to reveal any anomalies.

Now he was certain – the Smoke Quests didn't conjure reward items out of thin air. They were already existing in this world, waiting to be discovered. As long as he was willing to search, he could obtain the rewards without relying on the quests.

This gave him a significant choice.

He could either complete the quest and have the Smoke Quest deliver the reward, effortlessly and comfortably. Or, he could bypass the quest altogether and directly find the reward item, thus refreshing a new quest.

He even pondered the possibility – that the quest might fail. But he wasn't sure what the "punishment" would be if it did. Would the reward item distance itself from him, or would there be additional penalties? Or perhaps, would a new quest arise after a failure?

"I might try failing a quest someday just to see the consequences, but as long as I can complete it, I should do so to avoid creating unnecessary adverse outcomes," he thought, shaking his head.

Lister put aside his worries. Since he couldn't find anything unusual about the thorns, he could only wait until the quest was completed to obtain the new variety.

Gort approached him. "My Lord, there seems to be an issue with the cultivation of the Flame Fungi."

"What's the problem?" Lister instantly grew anxious.

"We've distributed the Flame Fungus spawn to all the mushroom farming slaves, but none of them have managed to make it grow. It appears that the Flame Fungus can only thrive in Bob the Crooked's mushroom shed. However, we can't seem to find any difference between his shed and the others."

It had been almost a month.

The Flame Fungi still hadn't been cultivated successfully.

Lister sensed that there was a significant problem at hand. He had been monitoring the situation, giving the slaves time to solve it – a lord shouldn't be burdened with such daily chores.

Yet, he hadn't expected to wait for an entire month.

Not a single sign of life had emerged from the distributed Flame Fungus spawn.

Logically, mushroom cultivation was a rapid process. After spores germinated, it typically took just a few days for mycelium to develop into fruiting bodies, and within two months, they would be ready for harvest. But the Flame Fungus spawn (mycelium) simply wouldn't survive. The slaves had tried various substrates and environments, to no avail.

Without professional researchers, List could only rely on Gort to lead the way and visit Mushroom Village for an on-site investigation.

He hoped to deduce some reasons based on his own knowledge.

They arrived at Mushroom Village.

There, they met Bob, whose eyes were bloodshot and whose appearance was haggard. He fell to his knees, trembling as he said, "My Lord, Bob is a good-for-nothing. I couldn't even cultivate the Flame Fungus successfully in a month."

List didn't blame Bob.

Instead, he asked Bob in detail about the process of cultivating the Flame Fungus.

After listening, he scanned the Flame Fungus with his Magic Eye, trying to find the root cause of the problem. He looked at the few Flame Fungus that had grown on the substrate, then at the new substrate prepared for the spores. He noticed something odd.

Ordinarily, the Flame Fungus's magic power was a process of condensation.

The spores it produced also constantly condensed magic power.

However, after inoculation, the spores in the new substrate failed to condense magic power and instead gradually lost it.

"What is the reason behind this?"