Inside the castle's Meeting Room, Veylin had just finished summarizing the laboratory's success in the simplest terms possible.
Tristan, Valerius, Barrett... officials of every rank from the Development Department, Technology Department, and Security Department sat on either side of the table, their faces bright with the exhilaration of surviving a disaster.
"So, we've won?" Ola, the commerce director, could no longer contain himself. He slapped the table and rose, his corpulent body trembling slightly with excitement.
"At the experimental level, yes," Veylin replied.
"Wonderful!" Ola nearly jumped for joy. "My lord, I'll immediately arrange to send all our stockpiled purification potions and protective clothing to the quarantine camps! We could even prepare a small celebration..."
"The celebration will have to wait."
A calm voice interrupted Ola's jubilation.
It was Elwin.
The botany expert stood. Without looking at anyone, he laid a report on the long table as though it weighed a thousand pounds.
"Shadow Grave Grass requires extremely exacting cultivation conditions."
"It needs soil made from a mixture of obsidian powder and volcanic ash, with strict requirements for temperature, humidity, and acidity. Most importantly, it can only grow in an environment rich in shadow energy. In the entire domain, only the cemetery and a few underground caves meet those conditions."
Elwin's finger pressed heavily against the last line of the report.
"Its natural growth cycle is three months."
The temperature in the Meeting Room seemed to plunge more than ten degrees.
"Three months?" The smile froze on Ola's face. "Is this a joke? Can we afford to wait three months?"
He turned urgently toward Veylin.
"My lord, don't you have... that ability to accelerate plant growth?"
"The Springlaw Messenger's accelerated growth process drains a plant's life potential," Veylin said calmly. "Forcing its growth only leaves it without enough active compounds.