Cornflower Witch

Chapter 236 Town Affairs
In the town of Lantern, Hilti was sitting in her office, reviewing the latest developments in the town.

"Potatoes yielded 10 jin, wheat 18 jin, radishes 3 jin, cabbage 2 jin, and alfalfa 6 jin..."

These are the crop yields of the town over the past six months, and there is also a considerable amount of food stored in the mountain warehouses, equivalent to three months' worth of the town's production reserves.

This much food is more than enough to feed the 200-plus students and 100-plus toad servants in Lantern Town, and it's estimated to last for nearly ten years.

Currently, there are 6 canyon outposts, 5 lookout outposts, and 3 supply outposts within the Dark Mist Mountains. According to the information obtained by Hilti, the other two supply outposts, 'White Lake Town' and 'Squirrel Town', currently produce only one-third the food and quality of Lantern Town combined.

In fact, Hilti didn't quite understand why the other side, with roughly the same manpower and similar resources from the association, only produced one-sixth of what her own base produced, even though that was after they had given it their all.

Unfortunately, she stayed in the town of Tilan and didn't have much time or opportunity to go around the mountains to investigate the other two supply depots. She only occasionally learned about the situation of the other two supply depots through communication with association members.

Putting those things aside for the moment, Hilti's attention shifted to this year's supply targets.

According to the targets set by the association, she was to provide food and supplies to the front-line outposts. Among them, the four canyon outposts of 'Firestone Fortress', 'Dark Sand Valley', 'Iron Cliff', and 'Falling Dream Mist River', as well as the two lookout outposts of 'Thunder Tower' and 'Poison Sting Fortress', were all within the supply range of Lantern Town.

"Over the course of six months, we need to supply each garrison with 2 jin of wheat, 1 jin of potatoes, 3000 jin of radishes, and 2000 jin of cabbage..."

This standard was almost based on the output of Lantern Town, which means it takes about 80% of the town's food production. Although the task is heavy, the association will not take it for nothing. It will give back 70% of the market price in gold coins to the town, as well as a lot of points. These points are distributed from the town to each student, who can use them to receive the resources they need from the association, learn courses, etc.

For the association, this was an incredibly worthwhile deal, because if supplies were transported from the outside, the cost would be more than three times that of transporting them directly from Lantern Town.

This process saves a lot of resources and manpower on the road, and makes resupplying nearby more convenient and safer.

Although the trainees receive a lot of points, they will definitely spend them in the forest area, exchanging them for resources and learning courses, which is equivalent to strengthening the circulation of resources and the economic cycle within the forest area once again.

Under this model, even if some organizations occasionally complain about the numerous rules governing the forest land, most of them have benefited from this cycle. According to data compiled by Hilti, after the establishment of the Forest Association, various extraordinary schools of thought in the southern part of the continent have seen an increase in members and gradually become more abundant in resources, making them stronger than ever before.

If we disregard the 'Mage Alliance' in the center of the continent, the various schools of thought and organizations in the south of the continent are currently at their historical peak, flourishing and thriving.

The strange thing about history is that even in its most prosperous period, the Woodland Alliance still faces great pressure because the world situation is constantly changing. The unstoppable rise of the Mage Alliance forces the Woodland Alliance to participate in the competition and constantly seek ways to become stronger.

The arrival of the Gale Season brings not only changes to the climate on the surface of the continent, but also to the depths of the Dark Mist Mountains, in the region that extends into the Twilight Sea, where new dangers and opportunities are brewing.

"It is said that 'Firestone Fortress' has discovered another mineral vein deep in the secret realm, which produces a large amount of gemstone ore. Now the association has sent a large number of prospectors and gem craftsmen to support 'Firestone Fortress'."

“The Thunder Tower sent a message saying that someone saw a strange beast shadow moving through the clouds, possibly a Twilight Beast of higher than the fifth rank.”

"Not long ago, the 'Fallen Dream River' sent us several well-preserved 'Black Water Lilies' and asked if we could cultivate them, because they discovered that these black water lilies in the river produce special lotus seeds, which are the main ingredient of the 'Deep Dream' elixir." Xilutiya listened to the student next to her report on the recent situation.

“A large number of prospectors and jewelers, which means we need to be prepared to provide them with food and supplies. How many of them are there?” Hilti asked.

"It is said that the main members number about 100, and the accompanying staff number about 300."

"Who are the accompanying personnel?" Hiltiya continued to ask.

"They are first and second-tier students learning from their peers, as well as many strong alien races working together." The alien races referred to in the Fourth Continent generally refer to races other than humans, elves, and lizardmen.

"400 people is not a big deal, but if the mine in Firestone Fortress is really started to be mined, more and more people will come in the future, and we will have to prepare more food."

"We need to continue expanding the greenhouse in the second half of the year." Hiltiya rubbed her temples, feeling like she was kneading dough.

With so many greenhouses built, the association felt no pressure to send more people to the Dark Mist Mountains, as they could support so many people. With so many people, new greenhouses had to be built to grow food.

No, she can't keep up at this rate. The association needs to add more people to the town, especially scholars skilled in stonemasonry and alchemists. Otherwise, Dorothy alone won't be able to handle it.

With that in mind, she picked up her pen and began writing the application, along with an explanation of her reasons.

The second piece of news, the strange beast shadow discovered at the 'Thunderbolt Tower', is not really relevant to her. After all, the main purpose of Lantern Town is not combat, and most of the students here are only at the second level, unable to deal with powerful enemies.

The third piece of news is about the 'Black Water Lily' sent by 'Fallen Dream River'. She can try to cultivate it later, but the results are not guaranteed.

After finishing her tasks, Hilti stood up. Her town duties for the day were now over, and she had free time.

Besides tending to the town's greenhouse, her main task during this time was to improve the 'Gardener' rank. Considering the town's lack of books and mentors, she planned to return to 'Golden Plains' to study and visit 'Four Seasons Alliance' to inquire about becoming a full member.

After all, she entered the third tier using the core secret technique of 'Autumn Garden'. Even if she doesn't join this organization, she should still express her gratitude. Moreover, there is also the connection and kindness of Teacher Fran involved, which cannot be ignored.

Finally, now that she has reached the third tier, it also means that she has the opportunity to return to the surface continent and visit it once without paying any points or costs.

It's been three years since I left Jiaoshicheng. I wonder how everyone is doing now.

(End of this chapter)