What's wrong with me, a mage, loving to farm?

Chapter 182. The Magical Food Shop, the Mermaid Awakens

"The power of Mercury can bypass the power of the Earth Mother Goddess."

Kroa looked at the completed special magical plant that should be named "Monthly Barley" and nodded in satisfaction.

Next, we should test the effects of this magical plant. If it works well, we should start planting it in large quantities.

Furthermore, I need to cultivate the spirituality of this barley plant so that it can learn about canning, thus ensuring that the magical energy channel is passed down through generations.

He pondered what to do next, handed over the completed barley to his men, and instructed them to make bread from it.

With his requirements in mind, the chefs certainly dared not slack off.

They got busy and made a plate of bright blue bread overnight, which they then brought to Kroya.

Honestly... this looks really unappetizing, like something a child would sculpt from clay, it's really strange.

But since this was something he had researched himself, Kroya naturally wanted to try it.

He picked up a piece of bread, put it in his mouth and chewed, his furrowed brows relaxing as he chewed.

The taste... is surprisingly good.

It retains the texture and flavor of Poseidon Barley, sweet and soft, but also has a strange, refreshing taste.

You can even feel yourself chewing a lump of water... and a lump of ice water at that.

After chewing and swallowing, this cool sensation spreads through the stomach and gradually permeates the body—this is the power of the Water Element.

If Kroya's judgment is correct, this water elemental power can enhance physical attributes, but it does not improve the perception of magical power.

Because the power of the Water element is theoretically not a power that can be controlled. Even Kroa can only use the power of the Water element now and cannot completely control it.

"If that's the case..."

He looked at the barley that had not been modified and, following the previous steps, used the pure magic of the etheric realm to modify them.

This time... things didn't go very well.

The Earth Mother Goddess's curse is significantly more resistant to magic than the power of the Water Goddess.

Fortunately, Kroya was there to help him recover, and the magic of the ethereal realm was very special, so they eventually succeeded.

The rice, after being transformed by the magic of the etheric realm, turned into a translucent light purple, which at least looked more appetizing than the clear blue.

He immediately handed the barley, which had been transformed by the pure magic of the ethereal realm, to the cooks and instructed them to continue making bread.

The second batch of bread turned out much better, very close to the effect Kroya had envisioned.

After eating it, the pure magic contained in the bread slowly affects the body, and even enhances the body's perception of magic.

Although not many, they definitely exist.

"This is not bad. If I consume this kind of barley regularly, it should improve my perception of magic... Hmm, wait a minute."

He suddenly had a very bold idea. He immediately took out several bottles of Sea Ganoderma potion and ordered his cooks to use this potion as water to knead the dough and make bread.

Only he would attempt such an extravagant approach.

The third batch of bread arrived quickly, and this time it was even stranger: pale purple bread with blue, wave-like stripes inside.

At first glance, it looks quite pretty.

"It looks alright, but I don't know how it tastes..."

After tasting it, his eyes lit up, and he called over a monk apprentice and ordered him to eat a piece of bread.

The apprentice, whose name was unknown, was a little groggy when he was called over in the middle of the night, but he immediately perked up after eating the bread.

He said excitedly:

"My lord! I feel the magic within me is stirring... It seems, it seems, that my perception of magic outside is becoming clearer."

And my mind has become very clear.

The young apprentice licked his lips. This unusually clear-headed feeling made him wish he could go back and study magic spells immediately. If he studied now, he would definitely be able to memorize more knowledge.

After hearing the apprentice's description, Kroya's expression became even more pleased. Although this bread would have little effect on him, it was good that it would be useful to the apprentice.

He waved generously:

"Then take two pieces back with you."

"Thank you, sir!"

The apprentice immediately thanked him profusely, grabbed the bread, and hurriedly ran back. How he managed to eat his bread and study diligently once he got back was his own business.

As Kroya stared at the bread, a brilliant idea for making money suddenly popped into his head—food.

He deeply understood how high the requirements were for food for noble mages; back in the capital, he had seen too many mages fly into a rage over food.

He wanted to send someone back with Estner to open a shop selling special foods in the capital.

As everyone knows, anything involving magic is almost always extremely profitable. Now that he has this ability, of course he wants a piece of the pie, and it's also a good opportunity to establish his own power base in the capital.

However, this one type of bread is not enough; we need more.

……

After some thought.

He realized that since potions could be used as water to make bread, then... the morning dew potion could also be used.

He immediately set about trying it out, and naturally succeeded; two different kinds of bread were placed in front of him.

First is the "Sea Spirit Bread," a mixture of Sea Spirit Mushroom and magic potion. Second is the "Morning Dew Bread," made by imprinting barley with the Yang Flame Magic Power produced by sunflowers.

One of the two breads is purple with a hint of blue wave pattern, while the other is gold like the morning sun, mixed with a magnificent red like a sunset.

They all look very appealing; at least when you take them out, people will immediately recognize them as magical creations, which is a symbol of status for nobles and some mages.

In a sense, they are no different from birds that like shiny things.

Their functions are also quite different.

Eating Sea Spirit Bread will increase one's ability to perceive magic, and will make one's mind and spirit exceptionally clear.

Eating morning dew bread can slowly regulate the body, heal some hidden injuries, and even slightly increase vitality.

The former is naturally geared towards mages, while the latter tends to be geared towards combat professions such as warriors and knights, as well as nobles who do not possess magic, as they are the most conscious of their lives.

After making and tasting the bread himself, he immediately decided to make these two types of bread the core selling points.

Pastries are one of the most enduringly popular foods, and good pastries are a shop's specialty and foundation.

For something even more luxurious, he obtained honey made by bees from sunflower nectar, and after baking it, he made honey bread.

The sunflower's golden nectar, poured over the equally golden bread, creates a halo like that of sunrise, shimmering lightly and releasing a sweet aroma.

He tried it and found the bread to be very sweet, with a warm feeling like eating sunshine, as if he were immersed in a sea of ​​sunflower nectar.

Honestly, it's really quite good.

It's pretty good except for being a little too sweet.

Kroya didn't know why the people in this world had such a sweet tooth, but the fact was that in the original owner's memories of the capital, all the desserts and cakes were exceptionally sweet.

For more sophisticated desserts... he would need to find someone to make them. Although he knew about a series of desserts such as tiramisu and Black Forest cake, he had no idea how to make them.

After completing the bread and its advanced versions, he began to consider the beverage option.

The most common drink in this world is coffee, but it's a very bitter coffee, completely unseasoned.

After tasting this coffee once, Kroya almost vomited. The taste was so bitter that it was indescribable, and he really couldn't drink it.

It is said that some nobles would have a cup of bitter coffee first thing in the morning... He couldn't imagine what it would feel like to drink such a thing first thing in the morning.

So naturally, he planned to make milk tea.

Milk tea is a timeless classic, and the dopamine rush from its sweetness is the main reason why so many people love it.

Since people in this world love sweets so much, don't blame them for creating a killer weapon like milk tea.

He already had experience making milk tea, so now he only needs to do a little processing and can even make a variety of milk teas.

For example, there's the basic milk tea with soothing lily of the valley and sunflower nectar, the coconut milk tea made with soothing lily of the valley and coconut milk, and the bubble tea made with potato starch...

He even thought about it briefly and realized that he could actually make a lot of different kinds of milk tea.

If you add his unique method of blending magic, the effects of these milk teas might not be much worse than those of magic potions.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.

Then they couldn't wait to start trying it out.

At his command, even the sleeping mage apprentices began to bustle about, and the underground laboratory was filled with a sweet fragrance.

With the magician's help, cup after cup of the finished product was delivered to Kroya's laboratory for him to taste.

He looked at the pile of milk tea on his table, then rubbed his stomach. Fortunately, his muscles were still firm and clearly visible.

He began to taste each cup one by one, until it became so sweet that he felt his sense of taste was almost failing him, and only then did he decide on the first few types to sell.

These include the regular version, the version mixed with the Sea Spirit Mushroom Potion, the version mixed with the Morning Dew Potion, and the Pearl Milk Tea version.

These three types are enough at the beginning. Then, new products can be introduced gradually. This will keep people constantly excited about new products and stimulate them to buy.

After identifying these three types of milk tea, he began to find ways to optimize them.

Optimizing milk tea is essentially about the raw materials, such as the ratio of Sea Ganoderma lucidum potion and Morning Dew potion, the output of milk source, and the type of tea leaves.

Unfortunately, the only tea that Chloe can currently use for tea production is the calming lily of the valley.

Actually, besides coffee, there are also some tea drinks in this world, mainly black tea, which is made by mixing black tea with milk and sugar.

Of course, there are also magical plant versions of black tea trees.

However, such things are truly only available to archmages. It seems extremely difficult for a tea tree to become a magical plant, to the point that magical tea leaves are far more valuable than gold coins.

That's not something he can consider right now.

……

The next day, after working all night, Kroya served the finished product she had prepared as breakfast for Estner to taste.

The latter looked puzzled, but after glancing at Kroya, he began to taste it, and his eyes lit up after taking a bite.

"Not bad!"

He praised, "These things all taste very good, especially this tea. Did they add some kind of sea lingzhi magic potion to it?"

He was referring to Lan Yingying's cup of Sea Spirit Milk Tea.

"Yes." Kroya didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "If these things were sold in the capital, do you think anyone would be willing to pay for them?"

"Of course there are."

Estner replied without hesitation, "This kind of magical food will definitely sell well in the capital, especially the tea you make, it tastes really good."

Generally speaking, people who enjoy farming tend to have certain requirements when it comes to food. Estner is one of those people; he's bought far too much food at the Versailles Hall in the royal capital.

The food there sells flour for the price of magic crystals. Although it tastes good, the price is really high. Even he can't quite afford it.

"So how do you think the price should be set?"

Since it was rare to find someone so familiar with the King, Kroya naturally had to seize the opportunity to ask him some questions.

"Isn't that simple? One magic crystal for a cup, one magic crystal for a piece of cake."

"what?"

Although Kroya felt that his items were worth the price, he hadn't expected to set such a high price, after all, magic crystals were...

Even he had only saved up twenty yuan for so long before, so isn't that a bit too expensive for an affordable product?

"You can sell a single potion for a magic crystal, so surely you can sell something like this that's been meticulously crafted?"

"Besides, the higher your price, the more people will buy it."

"I see, hehe, thank you so much." Chloe immediately understood the connection and smiled, "You've really helped me a lot."

"Once my shop opens, I'll give you 20% of the shares, how about that?"

This plan of his was not a spur-of-the-moment idea, but rather something he had been planning for a long time.

After all, I can't stay in the capital for long. If something happens, it will definitely be very troublesome to deal with.

But it's different if Estner is looking after you. He is a battle mage in the Mage Guild, and he has an archmage as his mentor.

With him around, there will be far fewer troubles. In the time it takes to deal with these troubles, he can make back the profits he gave up.

Estner clearly understood what Kroya meant.

He considered it briefly and immediately agreed. To be honest, he was very optimistic about Kroya's development and it would be great to invest in it early on.

Most importantly, he and Chloe really hit it off, and having a friend with whom he could have such a great conversation was a rare treat for him.

"I'll help you look after it, and I'll also help you find a location for the shop. When do you plan to send someone over?"

"When you leave, I will arrange the transportation of raw materials through the Shengquan Chamber of Commerce, and we will sell a limited quantity each day."

"Limited edition, that's good too. This is probably the first of its kind in the capital."

"Hmm... then I'll leave in a few days."

"Huh? Why are you in such a hurry? I'm not in a rush to open the shop."

"Although you're very comfortable here, I still need to hurry back. I'm worried something might happen." Estner's expression suddenly turned serious.

"...Alright then."

Since that's what they said, Kroya really had no reason to stop them, so he nodded.

"I will send someone to leave with you."

"it is good."

Their conversation on this matter has temporarily come to an end.

For some time afterward, Kroya showed Estner all of his fields, except for a few places that he couldn't let outsiders know about.

Five days later, Estner took his leave.

After preparing a pile of treasures from the sea for him, Kroya personally saw him and the group of apprentices he had arranged off.

Led by Jamie, the first apprentice, these apprentices traveled to the capital, thousands of miles away, to carry out Kroa's first expansion.

After sending off the apprentices, Kroya began his own expansion and development, planting magical plants in all the vacant areas of the reef island.

These magical plants came from various sources, including those brought back by his apprentices from outside and those he acquired through trade with other lords.

At the same time, he also began to try making wine using grapes from the Magic Field vines, and just as he thought, his magic was the catalyst.

Amidst this busy activity, the wind and snow outside showed signs of abating, gradually weakening from a raging onslaught.

He sensed that the magical currents surrounding the entire ocean and the North were weakening.

Clearly, the snowstorm won't last long.

After discovering this, he felt inexplicably nervous. Both the angel and the Orpheus Oak had warned him that the merfolk would do something after the snowstorm subsided.

He began to strengthen his symphonies.

During this time, the magic of the greedy demons that the apprentices and holy knights brought back one after another also greatly helped him.

The exploration of a paradise for gluttony continues.

Everything is moving in a positive direction.

Another half month passed, and he was discussing matters related to the royal capital store with Estner.

The crystal card of the Holy Spring Chamber of Commerce began to flash.

Upon checking, he was surprised to find that the messages were actually from the Pit Lord and the Gray Sand Lord.

Weren't these two being chased by a level 7 mage?

Just as Kroya was about to see what message the two of them had given, she suddenly sensed something and immediately left her laboratory.

He stood on the castle's terrace garden, gazing solemnly into the depths of the ocean.

Suddenly, a towering, azure tree appeared in the middle of a vast blue sea. It was so tall that it seemed to blot out the sky and the earth, emitting countless particles of light that drifted outwards from the ocean.

The ocean currents and the moonlight falling from the sky converged on it, forming two very special halos around the tree.

Meanwhile, mermaid songs echoed throughout the entire sea.

Even the sunlight was obscured by this miracle; all that could be seen was this miraculous landscape.

However... its light formed an extremely large light shield that covered the entire ocean, including the island of Han Reef where Kroa was located.

Outside the light shield, no one could see what was happening inside.

Thank you so much to Tianxia Taiping, Misaka Yujie 20001, and Penguin Tangfei for your monthly tickets and recommendations!

A new storyline is starting tomorrow, I need to think about it...

(End of this chapter)