Famous Across the Land

Overnight, Erin became famous.

Her name shook Felix, spread throughout Willis City, and traveled far across the Kevil Empire!

The Magic Apprentices of Felix envied her for becoming Asheff's assistant, and envied her even more because Lord Asheff had flown into a rage for her, smashing the botanical garden and fiercely berating Archmages.

The citizens of Willis City marveled at Asheff's power and were shocked by the terrifying combat strength of the Lava Giant and Mountain Giant!

But for the greater number of Kevil Empire citizens, it was the Non-Toxic Winter Mallow that caught their attention—and, in turn, Erin.

The scene of Asheff smashing the botanical garden was certainly terrifying, but for most commoners who had never left their mountain hollows in their entire lives, it was difficult to imagine through mere words just how enormous and frightening a twenty-foot giant was!

It was a world unrelated to them;

It was a world for idle entertainment after meals;

It was a world that could exist only in dreams.

When the bizarre Internet Scroll vanished, they still had to face the poverty of their present lives.

They were grateful for the light and strength the Internet brought, but all of that needed time to ferment and grow.

Their limited land would not suddenly increase just because they had gained a little more strength.

Nor would the countless harsh taxes decrease just because they had become a little stronger!

The future was infinitely bright, but the present was still full of hardships.

Winter was coming.

Only by surviving could they continue pursuing light, pursuing Magic, pursuing that dazzling world that bewildered the eye.

Naturally, Erin's Winter Mallow became the focus of many people's attention.

Erin had not expected to suddenly become famous.

The unexpected reward of a Purple Snow Wood Wand had already made her the envy of countless Magic Apprentices;

But compared to the attention she received now, that envy was merely a drop in the ocean.

She had become a major figure at Felix!

Everyone knew that she had become Lord Asheff's favored aide, the Summoning Archmage—or perhaps Grand Archmage.

She suddenly had more friends.

Many friends she had met when she first entered the academy, only to gradually drift apart from because of differing ideals, suddenly reappeared.

At first, they would merely run into her on the road or outside the dormitory and exchange greetings.

Later, they began visiting her directly.

Either they had discovered some special Magic seeds and came to share the news;

Or they asked her to help cultivate Magic plants, naturally bringing valuable gifts as thanks.

Even as slow as Erin was, she caught on to all this.

These suddenly emerging social connections completely disrupted the rhythm of her life.

What made her even more uncomfortable—and even embarrassed—was that members of the opposite sex had suddenly begun pursuing her.

And there was more than one of them. Among them was even a noble student—Langredy, grandson of the late Archmage Langfellow.

Reality was bustling with activity, and the Internet was even livelier.

Whenever she went online, one of the Pinned posts on every major Forum was bound to be a topic about her.

Her identity was exposed.

When people learned that she came from a commoner background, had been sent to an orphanage after her mother died, had received help from the orphanage Dean—a Magic Apprentice—because of her diligence and hard work, had come into contact with meditation, and had ultimately entered Felix, they immediately felt a sense of closeness and pride.

Look, even us commoners could produce noble Magic Apprentices!

People discussed her background, the details of her life, and the Winter Mallow they cared about most.

Her personal social account was also leaked by her friends.

Overnight, her personal page gained tens of thousands of followers and over a thousand comments!

"Lady Erin, did you really cultivate Non-Toxic Winter Mallow?"

"When will Winter Mallow seeds be available for sale?"

"Lady Erin, can you sell us the Winter Mallow seeds you cultivated? I'm in Layatin Town. If possible, could you have mercenaries deliver them? We're willing to pay one hundred Silver Coins for just one hundred seeds."

"Everyone says the samples you used to cultivate Winter Mallow are gone, so there's no more Non-Toxic Winter Mallow either. Is that true?"

"Damn Marchie! He destroyed the only sample! Lady Erin, you have to keep going and cultivate Winter Mallow again!"

All kinds of messages filled the comment section!

Some asked about Winter Mallow;

Some left encouragement;

And of course, some viciously cursed Archmage Marchie.

Amid nationwide attention, one week after Asheff smashed the botanical garden, the Kevil Empire Official Website announced a major piece of news in its most prominent banner section.

Non-Toxic Winter Mallow had been successfully cultivated!!!

"Mr. Black, has Non-Toxic Winter Mallow really been cultivated? My kid said it could be delivered to the village in a month at the latest?"

In an inconspicuous village deep within the Kevil Empire, a group of sturdy villagers surrounded the only literate teacher in the village, their excitement impossible to conceal.

The literate teacher, who had been dispatched from town only a month ago, was facing countless eager villagers. Even though he never lacked food or clothing, he could not help feeling excited.

"Yes! Didn't I teach you how to read? Look at these eight words: Non-Toxic Winter Mallow, successfully cultivated!"

"Wonderful! Wonderful! If it can arrive in a month, the weather will just be turning cold. Winter Mallow grows fast. We can eat it in a month. Cut one crop, and another grows back. Mixed with Black Grain, maybe no one in our village will starve to death this winter."

"Oh, my kid told me about it, but I didn't really believe it. Now that I've heard it from the teacher himself, I can finally rest easy!"

The sturdy villagers began chattering all at once.

"Mr. Black, read it for us!"

"Yes, Mr. Black, read it! Read it!"

The villagers excitedly urged him on.

"Alright, I'll read it to you." The literate teacher, Black, gave a light cough, pulled up the Empire announcement to the top, and began reading.

"The Kevil Empire announces: Erin, a second-year student of Felix Magic Academy, has successfully cultivated Non-Toxic Winter Mallow. This Winter Mallow comes in two varieties..."

There are actually two kinds?

My heavens, Master Mages really are extraordinary!

We're saved this year.

Yeah, I heard the Master Mage who developed Non-Toxic Winter Mallow is even a woman!

"I heard that too!"

Oh, do you think Erin might be the incarnation of the Goddess of the Earth?

The village men could not help discussing it, interrupting Mr. Black's reading several times. The atmosphere was incredibly lively.

When Black finished reading, everyone became thoroughly excited. They animatedly discussed the Winter Mallow they had yet to see and dreamed of a better future.

According to the Empire, the Winter Mallow developed this time came in two varieties.

One was White Flower Wrinkled Spiral Leaf Winter Mallow;

The other was White Flower Wrinkled Broad Leaf Winter Mallow.

The former retained Winter Mallow's original cold-resistant traits and could be scattered across the wilderness for planting;

The latter was not cold-resistant, but it had more edible portions and was recommended for careful cultivation.

Good heavens, everyone had already been thrilled that Non-Toxic Winter Mallow could be cultivated, but they had never expected two varieties to be cultivated at once!

Most importantly, these Winter Mallow seeds would be distributed to administrative regions at every level within a month at the latest. Among them, Spiral Leaf Winter Mallow would not be sold. Empire Magistrates would uniformly send people to scatter it across the fields, where everyone could pick and eat it.

Broad Leaf Winter Mallow, meanwhile, would cost one hundred Kevil Copper Coins per packet, with each packet containing no fewer than fifty seeds.

Finally, the Empire issued a solemn warning: Magistrates everywhere were forbidden from raising prices without authorization. If anyone did so, any Empire citizen could file a complaint on the Empire Official Website. Once verified, the offender would be severely punished without exception.

"Long live the Empire!"

"Oh, Master Mages have done us a tremendous favor!"

"What are you talking about? It's all thanks to Lady Erin! Without her, where would Non-Toxic Winter Mallow have come from?"

"Right, right, right!"

"Long live Lady Erin!"

With the announcement of the Kevil Empire's new public welfare initiative, Erin's name once again shook the Kevil Empire!

Countless commoners flooded into Erin's personal page and left messages in a frenzy—singing her praises, expressing gratitude, offering tributes. Some even wanted to build shrines to worship her!

For a time, Erin's name was almost as famous as those of the Three Magic Gods!

At that moment, Erin herself lay in her simple private dormitory, watching the endless stream of new messages of thanks on her personal page. Her dark cheeks had turned bright red.

She had never imagined that a wild vegetable could attract such overwhelming attention and praise!

Amid all the acclaim, it was impossible for her not to feel proud and excited.

But beneath that pride, another emotion tormented her.

She knew she did not deserve such immense praise.

She had cultivated Non-Toxic Winter Mallow using the theories Mr. Asheff had taught her. It could be said that if he had been willing to try differentiating Winter Mallow traits, he could have cultivated it as well—and perhaps done an even better job than she had.

Furthermore, the two mutant varieties of Winter Mallow, "Spiral Leaf" and "Broad Leaf," had not been cultivated by her either. Mr. Asheff had cultivated them based on the White Flower Wrinkled variety.

She did not know why Mr. Asheff had the Empire announce that she had cultivated them, but she knew that such tremendous credit did not belong to her.