Happy Fruit Farmers

After receiving the lord's orders, Qiongsen set out again with the knights.

Behind them was a heavily laden wagon filled with gold coins. The lord had specifically instructed them to pay the full amount in gold.

As they approached Orange Fruit Village, they saw a crowd of villagers gathered outside, each watching them with eager anticipation.

"What's going on with these villagers?" Qiongsen wondered. The convoy continued toward Village Chief Daby's orchard without showing any reaction, and the villagers followed along.

"Do you think we'll manage to sell all the potions this time?"

One villager spoke quietly to another, his voice tinged with irrepressible excitement.

"If we can get in touch with the lord, we should be able to sell a lot, right?" the other villager replied uncertainly.

"Yeah, I think so too."

"Either way, we're definitely going to earn a lot more than we used to this year."

The villagers had a hand in making the Healing Potions too? Hearing their conversation left Qiongsen even more puzzled.

Before long, he was ushered into Daby's farm. Inside the house, he saw a simply dressed young man. This must be the Apothecary Aiven the lord had mentioned.

"Apothecary Aiven, His Highness asked me to give you his regards." Qiongsen nodded and smiled at Aiven.

Aiven immediately returned the greeting. "Thank you, Your Highness. And thank you as well, Tax Collector Qiongsen."

After a brief exchange of courtesies, Qiongsen's gaze fell on the wooden crates in the room. He paused. There were five crates this time, far more than on his last visit.

These were all Healing Potions. Qiongsen was taken aback, and the lord's instructions came back to him. It seemed His Highness had known all along how many Healing Potions Orange Fruit Village had.

"Lord Qiongsen, how many does His Highness wish to buy?" Daby asked eagerly.

As soon as he asked, the villagers in the room pricked up their ears, just as eager to hear the answer.

So the Healing Potions really did have something to do with the villagers. Qiongsen murmured to himself once more, then looked at Aiven in surprise. He couldn't quite figure out what this apothecary was thinking.

Tucking all his questions away, Qiongsen smiled at the expectant village chief before him. "His Highness wants them all."

The moment he spoke, the villagers in the room burst into cheers. Even the knights outside exchanged bewildered looks.

"When does His Highness want them?" Daby swallowed nervously.

"The sooner, the better. His Highness has already had us bring the gold coins. We can make the exchange right now."

At Qiongsen's words, Daby hurriedly agreed. The villagers eagerly stepped forward to help carry the crates of Healing Potions outside, where they began counting them.

"It looks like the Rural Cooperative's first deal was a great success."

Aiven had already retreated to the second floor. Looking down at the smiling villagers, he smiled too, then lifted his Nutrient Juice and clinked it against the one in Petilil's hand.

Uncle Tessi felt as if he were dreaming.

Normally, he would still be fretting over the Berries in his orchard that were almost ripe.

But now, with the Walking Grass helping him, he had easily harvested the first batch of Berries!

Even that alone would have been enough to make fruit farmers like them ecstatic.

But this time was different. With Aiven's help, all the Berries had been made into Healing Potions, which would bring them three times what they used to earn.

They'd been looking forward to this ever since the Berries were harvested. Still, they'd had their doubts about how many of the Healing Potions would sell. Any business venture carried risks, after all. If the potions didn't sell, they wouldn't earn a thing.

But today, all their hopes had come true, and every last doubt had vanished.

On Aiven's advice, they'd managed to get in with the lord. When the tax collector said he would buy every last Healing Potion, Tessi felt as if his breathing had stopped.

After the deal was done, he'd practically trembled as he took the gold coins. Oh, gold really was the most enchanting thing in the world. And now he had plenty of it, too.

He could already imagine how wonderful his life would be from now on.

The gold would be enough to buy some furniture, and he'd be able to eat meat with every meal. He might even get to enjoy a little drink now and then. Just thinking about it made him feel as if he were in heaven.

The other villagers were just as happy. Every face lit up when they received their gold, and they were full of hope for the days ahead.

Of course, this was only the beginning. With the miraculous power of the fertilizer, they could still hope to harvest a second and even a third batch of Berries.

"Huff, huff. I can feel my heart about to leap out of my chest!" Tessi pressed a hand to his chest and took several deep breaths before he managed to calm down.

He could tell that, with Village Chief Daby and Aiven leading them, Orange Fruit Village would keep getting better and better. In time, all the relatives he had in the city would surely envy them for mocking him back then as nothing but a lowly fruit farmer.

Ah, Aiven really was a good kid. Not only had he given them fertilizer for free, he'd also shared thirty percent of the profits from the potions made with Orange Fruit. He could easily have bought the Orange Fruit and made the potions himself.

No one had said it out loud, but they all understood. They had quietly taken this kindness to heart.

Still, lately, more and more people from other villages had been coming to check on things. He'd heard they were having a hard time. This year, winter had come especially early. Without Aiven, they might have ended up in the same position.

Hmph, Peter from the neighboring village had even tried to get information out of him. The village chief had warned them to keep the fertilizer and Healing Potion information strictly confidential. No one outside the village could be allowed to find out.

Who knew what those people might do if they learned about the fertilizer!

Aiven had given them the fertilizer for free. Tessi often heard the village chief complain that there wasn't enough to go around and tell everyone to use it sparingly.

Under the circumstances, how could they possibly share the fertilizer with villagers from other villages?

Anyway, there was no way he'd tell anyone about the fertilizer, even if they offered him a cow.

A cow was certainly worth a lot, and would let him eat his fill of meat. But there was absolutely no way he'd give anything away. He was sure the other villagers felt the same!