Free Web NovelChapter 2058: Farm Level 4
The next day was the day of departure, but Althea found herself having an extra task: Upgrading the Farm, and it directly ate tens of thousands of gold. Who told her to have so many farms?
For now, she only transformed the ones under the territory name. For those who leased their lots, they’d have to apply for an upgrade separately, and their annual payment naturally changed as well (with the previous year charged prorata).
Interestingly, after upgrading, she found out something interesting. She had just finished washing up and was ready to head to the Mercenary Hall when Gru and Hoffen approached her about the upgrades.
"Is it really upgraded?"
"Yes."
"How curious. You know, Farm (Lv4) requires one to be on Town Level 3 first, at least that’s what I know."
Rather, this was an established fact, so finding out that the farms had upgraded all of a sudden was definitely an anomaly.
The farm upgrade wasn’t announced in public. Those who worked on the farms and those who leased farms were informed quietly. At the same time, most didn’t know the upgrade requirements of buildings, so no one questioned it; they just took it for granted—Alterra was always upgrading something, after all!
However, this was not the case for those aware of the various requirements, and this included Hoffen.
"I’m happy that we upgraded, but I’m also very curious why it’s inconsistent with established data. You do know that Farm level 4 requires the town to be Level 3, right?"
Althea nodded. That was what she knew as well.
But then, a flash of a certain crystal she buried in the farm area flashed by her head.
Before she and her husband went to absorb a crystal, Althea decisively buried the Elysian stone underneath the greenhouse areas. Many of the open farms also had tunnels, so they weren’t particularly convenient to bury things in.
The stone was contracted to her, and others wouldn’t even be able to touch it, so she wasn’t worried even if it were found, which was also unlikely because it had a passive stealth function.
She did this just because it felt like a waste to keep it hidden in her space. It was like keeping a nice humidifier in the storage room for no reason at all.
Now, considering how it seemed to passively change the quality of aether, she truly wondered if it really did have an effect on this anomaly.
Hoffen saw his apprentice deep in thought and got curious. "What is it?"
She giggled, shaking her head. "Please study the changes from today," she said, not explaining more because she wasn’t certain of it yet.
"I think we might find some interesting things."
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The couple did not want to make a scene during their departure so goodbyes happened while they were at the villa. Like before, they quietly headed to the Hall without many people noticing, especially since they had their disguises on again.
In retrospect, it was good to be as quiet about their arrival. After all, so many changes happened while they were there; Wasn’t it announcing that she was the Lord?
(At this point, she was still unaware that a good portion of the ’old’ citizens were already aware of her position. Even if she did, she’d just feel a little melancholic. Some changes happened too subtly, didn’t they?)
Just as the couple disappeared from the array, leaving for Bleulle, a new group emerged from the Mercenary Hall.
It was none other than Erol and half a dozen other people.
...
The Gaea team had gone back to their own jobs or homes, determined to keep things going so the couple could go on their missions without worry.
However, they did not expect to receive some unfamiliar guests.
Since the Gaea Villa was now without an elder, the guard, Amos, took them to the Center instead. Ansel happened to be there, and Amos immediately passed on the guests to him.
"Sir Ansel! Some people are looking for Lady Althea! She is absent, but it seemed urgent, so..."
Ansel looked at him and nodded. He sent an aether letter to his staff that the meeting was delayed before allowing the guests inside.
Erol and the group were well-behaved. They looked a little frazzled, but they still had a bit of an aura that indicated they had some standing in life.
They looked at each other as some snacks and drinks were served, feeling awkward, though they definitely did not stop their claws from getting a few.
These things were absolutely delicious. They seemed like simple snacks—and they were in this place’s standards—but compared to what they usually ate, these were gourmet dishes.
Not to mention, after eating Althea and Garan’s meals from before, their palettes had also become a bit more picky.
"Do you think they’re going to help us?" Maika, whose arm was wrapped in bandages, asked Erol in worry. Erol shook his head. "Nothing is certain, but do we have a choice?"
Out of the group of 30 or so people who went back from the Undead area, only a few of them were here. Ten of them had died, while the rest were hiding in some associate villages, injured and recovering, along with family members.
Only the six of them had the strength to travel to another Level 2 Town, which was north, to Illyan town.
They were lucky because they encountered another caravan. They didn’t dare to tell so much of their own situation, but they were allowed to tag along with the condition that they had to clear the monsters coming from the rear, which was a fair enough task.
They then used the Hall and headed to a familiar town east. They thought they’d have trouble pinpointing where Alterra was and how to get there. After all, Missions were selective and would disappear when taken down.
They worried they’d have to go on foot, which would take weeks, and even if they survived, who was to say people would help them at all?
Who’d have thought that nearly ten thousand kilometers away, Alterra’s name would be so well-known they wouldn’t have trouble finding them at all!?
