It Was All Asheff's Doing

Moonlight flowed like water through the well-shaped hanging window, quietly filling the little room.

The faint Virtual Scroll looked ever more sacred beneath the moonlight.

Erin sat beside the cushioned couch, tilting her head toward the window, where two Winter Mallow plants stood—one with Spiral Leaves, the other with Broad Leaves.

When her teacher had cultivated these two kinds of Winter Mallow, she had asked for two seeds and planted them on the windowsill. There was no particular reason for it; she had simply wanted to plant them. Seeing them when she woke up made her feel comfortable and at peace.

This was the first time she had felt this way since her mother passed away.

She withdrew her gaze and looked at the Virtual Scroll.

"Lady Erin, thank you! You truly are such a kindhearted person!"

"Sister Erin, can I learn Wood Spirit Magic? I heard it's Special System Magic. Is it especially difficult?"

"Every winter, people in our town die from Winter Mallow diarrhea. I suppose no one will starve to death this year. On behalf of the town, thank you, Lady Erin."

Erin smiled faintly as she read the comments.

After a brief hesitation, she opened the message board and began typing in the owner's message section:

Thank you all for your concern. I would like to clarify two matters:

First, although I cultivated the Non-Toxic Winter Mallow, the mutagenic cultivation of both types of Winter Mallow was actually completed by my mentor, Mr. Asheff;

Second, please do not thank me. I truly am not as remarkable as you say. All of this is Mr. Asheff's achievement. He taught me the most profound knowledge of the Wood Spirit system. All of this is his accomplishment.

Also, let me tell you a secret: Mr. Asheff has been researching improvements to staple crops, including Black Grain, Yellow Rice, millet, Proso Millet, Glutinous Millet, Black Skin Stalk... Several of these projects have already made breakthrough progress. I cannot reveal the specifics, but what I can say is that doubling their yield per mu will not be a problem.

In my eyes, Mr. Asheff is the true hero. He is the God of Agriculture!

Winter Mallow is merely a wild vegetable that my teacher does not think highly of, which is why this Magic Apprentice used it for practice and happened to achieve a little success. Please stop praising me!

My teacher once said that food is the first necessity of the people. Filling one's stomach is what truly matters.

I believe that before long, no one will eat Winter Mallow anymore. It will become feed for livestock, and I am eagerly looking forward to that day!

After finishing, Erin carefully read through it once more. Once she had confirmed there were no typos, she clicked confirm.

The instant she pressed the confirmation button, the tension in her heart suddenly eased, and a sense of clarity rose within her!

During this recent period, her mind had suffered tremendous shocks.

From receiving the Purple Snow Wood Wand, to becoming Mr. Asheff's assistant, to encountering knowledge utterly different from the Empire's Wood Spirit Magic, to Marchie's harassment, Mr. Asheff's furious retaliation, and finally her current fame throughout the land.

To be honest, if she had not endured so much suffering since childhood and developed such a resilient temperament, her disposition might have changed long ago, and she might have become carried away.

Only now, after writing those words, did her thoughts suddenly become clear. She understood that everything she had before her existed because Mr. Asheff had appeared in her life.

If she became immersed in it, she would only bring trouble upon herself.

It was better to remain a simple Magic Apprentice, follow behind her teacher, study Wood Spirit Magic diligently, and strive to one day possess, like him, the ability to worry for the whole world!

Having made up her mind, she shut off the Internet, lay down on the cushioned couch, glanced at the Winter Mallow on the windowsill, then closed her eyes and fell soundly asleep.

That night, she slept exceptionally sweetly.

In her dream, her mother chopped up Broad Leaf Winter Mallow, mixed it with a small amount of Black Grain flour, and cooked a huge pot of dough-drop soup. She ate until she was happy and full.

Erin did not know that while she slept peacefully, the Kevil Empire's Internet had been thrown into a tremendous uproar by her words, leaving countless people awake through the night.

A unified toast rang out from the only mercenary tavern in Buck Town: "To the eternally beautiful Lady Erin!"

Bang!

"Oho—"

"Long live Lady Erin!"

After the toast came the chaotic clatter of glasses, strange cries, and all manner of drunken nonsense.

Looking closely, most of those raising their glasses were mercenaries who lived by the blade.

It was not easy to earn the sincere admiration of such people!

Yet Erin had done it.

In the eyes of the world, mercenaries represented chaos, freedom, unruliness, homelessness, and greed for profit...

But most people did not know that mercenaries were people too, and most of them came from farming families.

Unless they had been driven to desperation, who would willingly live by the blade?

Precisely because they came from farmers' families, they often understood best how difficult a farmer's life was, and they knew the importance of Winter Mallow.

It was a wild vegetable that could keep people alive, even if it was poisonous.

Now a Magic Apprentice had removed its toxicity. What did that mean?

Crash!

Someone abruptly leaped to his feet, knocking over tables and chairs and sending wine cups tumbling down.

But he paid no attention to any of it. His old face flushed red as he shouted, "Quick, quick, quick! Erin... Erin..."

"What happened to Erin?"

"Haha, Gar, did one cup of horse piss make your tongue swell up?"

The mercenaries burst into teasing laughter.

Gar's old face reddened. It took him a long while to straighten out his tongue. "Erin... sh-she spoke in her Private Space. Go look, go look..."

"What? Erin spoke?"

"My old mother!"

"Great existence from Azure Star, you are the Overlord of language and writing... Hey, what comes next? Damn it, I drank too much. I... I forgot."

"My heavens, Lady Erin really left a message!"

The tavern instantly erupted into chaos.

Some had drunk so much that their tongues would not cooperate, and they could not even recite the prayer properly;

Some hurriedly logged onto the Internet, but being unfamiliar with its functions, could not find Erin's personal space for quite some time;

Others could not read a single word and anxiously crowded around those who had summoned Internet Scrolls;

"Hey, hey, what did Lady Erin say? Read it to me?"

The illiterate ones urged them again and again.

"What are you rushing for? Stop talking and let me finish reading!"

"My old mother, I was wondering how Erin, a mere Magic Apprentice, could create Non-Toxic Winter Mallow. So there was an expert behind her all along."

"Does anyone know who Asheff is?"

"I remember now. Is he that Master Mage who avenged Erin and summoned a giant?"

"Yes, yes, that's him!"

"My heavens, Lady Erin is only Asheff's student. Asheff is the real hero!"

"From what Lady Erin says, does that mean our crop yields can all double in the future?"

"That seems to be what she means!"

"Of course it is! Even a Magic Apprentice can remove Winter Mallow's poison and make two varieties of it. Her mentor must be even more incredible!"

"If everything Lady Erin said is true, then Asheff truly deserves the title God of Agriculture!"

"Putting everything else aside, Lord Asheff is truly noble and virtuous. Lady Erin said it herself: she only cultivated the Non-Toxic Winter Mallow, while the Spiral Leaf and Broad Leaf varieties were both cultivated by Asheff. Yet he left the credit to Erin. To meet such a mentor is truly Erin's good fortune!"

"Isn't that so? Back when I was an apprentice, all my work got snatched away by my master. What master actually helps his apprentice?"

"Hey, what exactly happened? Stop chatting among yourselves and tell me!"

Those who could read had already begun discussing it, while those who could not were still scratching their heads in frustration.

At that moment, the tavern completely boiled over.

Similar scenes played out in countless places.

The name Asheff was destined to become known throughout the world!