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

Chapter 31. The Suddenly Ripe Barley

The next morning, after waking up, Kroya felt that her mental strength seemed to have increased a bit, and she had slept very soundly.

Although he usually increases his magic power and mental strength slowly, this time the increase was obviously a bit too much.

One night's improvement is equivalent to at least three days' worth of improvement normally.

He glanced around his room with a puzzled look, his gaze lingering for a moment on the essential oil lamp hanging from the ceiling before settling on the crescent-shaped fruit.

"If anyone's acting strangely, it's you. Are you playing some kind of role?"

Kroya got up and examined the Crescent Moon Fruit closely, but couldn't find anything strange. Puzzled, he decided to stay up late tonight to see what would happen.

To avoid any problems when he left, he simply put it into the storage artifact given to him by the mermaid and carried it with him.

After getting dressed and tidying up, I took my staff and left the room, arriving at the first floor of the castle.

At this moment, two girls dressed in white were already waiting on the stairs. When they saw him come down, they immediately bowed respectfully.

"Master!"

Would you like to have a meal now?

They had clearly been trained; their mannerisms and movements were no different from those of the maids trained by the Mage Association in the capital, except that they were a little unfamiliar with the profession.

Overall, it was alright. She didn't look around or show any inappropriate thoughts or actions—in the capital, there are quite a few maids with unclear relationships with magicians.

To be honest, Kroya appreciates ambitious people, but the prerequisite is that you need to demonstrate your value. If you have the ability, he certainly doesn't mind providing some resources to nurture you.

But the prerequisite is that you have the ability.

"Let's eat now," he said, and walked towards the dining room.

Soon, the maids brought out today's breakfast.

Surprisingly, it consisted of milk, brown bread, and a grilled fish fillet.

The bread looked fluffy and smelled sweet with a hint of milk, which surprised Chloe a little.

The bread seems to have baked quite well today.

The main food in this world is bread, and as a lord, he can certainly eat white bread. But to be honest, the bread from a while ago was pretty bad—neither fluffy nor soft.

Compared to the bread I had before I traveled through time, it was a world of difference.

But it was white before. Why has it turned black today? No, it's a bit brownish.

He picked it up with a puzzled look and took a bite.

"Hmm?"

Surprisingly, the bread was delicious this time. It was soft and sweet, and paired perfectly with the slightly salty and spicy grilled fish fillet.

It tastes even better than bread made from refined white flour; the difference is clearly in the raw materials.

He was quite satisfied with the meal.

This kind of staple food does indeed provide a greater sense of satisfaction than simply eating seafood.

After finishing his bread and drinking his milk in one gulp, he took the napkin from the maid, wiped his mouth, and asked with satisfaction, "Did you change chefs today?"

The maidservant quickly and respectfully replied, "Master, today's bread is made from the barley from the sea god that you brought."

Poseidon Barley?

I've only been here for a little over a month, and it's already ripe? How come I didn't know?

"Go and call Robert over." He didn't ask the little maid any more questions and planned to ask Robert directly.

"Okay." The maid immediately turned and left.

A short while later, Rob came over, bowed, and said with a smile, "Lord Kroya, the sea god barley you brought is growing very well, and for some reason, the first batch has already ripened."

Yesterday I tried some methods to dry the bread overnight, and it worked fine, so I baked some bread for you today.

"Dried overnight... Could it be that they used those low-grade magic scrolls that Seliul sold?"

"Yes, you deserve to enjoy it." Robert bowed slightly.

The Drying Spell Scroll is a relatively common scroll spell. Because it is easy to make, many of them are leaked.

It's not rare for Selius to have it.

Kroya didn't pay much attention, but asked curiously:

"I wonder what the reason is?"

He frowned. "If I had prepared the magic potion, it should have matured quickly, but I didn't interfere... Never mind, I'll go take a look."

Judging from Robert's expression, you can tell he doesn't understand what's going on either.

It's better to go and see for yourself.

Rob thought so too. The barley was discovered to be ripe yesterday, and after being checked for poison, it was hastily ground into flour and made into bread today.

This barley brought from the capital was indeed different from ordinary barley. The bread baked from it was fluffy and soft, a world apart from ordinary bread.

I gave Chloe Adam breakfast right away.

He knew that Kroya had been suffering greatly from the terrible food on the island during this time.

Before leaving, Kroya instructed the three boys from the previous night to accompany him. Rob was slightly surprised and somewhat amazed that the three boys were so lucky.

If they can catch Kroya's eye, they might become someone of high status on the island of Han Reef—provided, of course, that they can keep Kroya satisfied.

……

that's it,

The group of five arrived at the place where the sea god barley was grown, a silvery-white sandy beach by the sea.

Sunlight streamed down, creating a beautiful interplay of silvery white and light blue.

The area is dotted with reefs, which form a barrier similar to a fence. At night, the high tide will flood in, while during the day, the reefs will block the seawater.

Ensure that the seawater within that area always remains at an average level.

Submerged in seawater, lush, green barley, some as tall as a person and with a bluish tinge, grows.

The wheat ears drooped heavily, visibly plump, hardly looking like they had only grown for a month.

Theoretically speaking, the barley cultivated by the mage takes sixty days to mature—half the time it takes for ordinary barley to mature.

It's only been a month now.

The result was already ripe?

Kroya was very puzzled, so he simply walked into the wheat field and used both magic and the Celestial Body Imprint Technique to sense the condition of the barley.

He discovered that the barley was growing very naturally, showing no signs of being artificially ripened, and the celestial bodies were very stable.

The only strange thing is that the natural magic inside is quite abundant. Logically speaking, such an ordinary crop that is not even a magical plant should not have such abundant natural magic.

There must be a reason for anything unusual.

He had sensed the sea and land here, and there was no overflowing natural magic, so it could only be due to human factors.

He returned to shore and asked Robert, "Who usually takes care of these barleys?"

The latter quickly replied, "I've already checked. It's usually Russell and the Ocross family who take care of things. They're said to have worked for a viscount before they came to the island."

"Let them come over. Remember, the whole family must come." Chloe dusted off her clothes, sat down on a flat rock, and said calmly.

As a lord, his demands were naturally absolute.

So in no time, eight farm servants with somewhat frightened expressions were brought over. Only four of them were adults; the others included children as young as seven or eight and teenagers as young as teens.

They hurriedly knelt and bowed to Chloe, their bodies trembling violently, as if they were about to be hanged.

They didn't know why Kroya had summoned them, but the mage's unpredictable temper was truly well-known.

In their eyes, if Lord Kroya, the mage, wanted to make things difficult for them, he could simply make their entire family disappear into the sea with a few words.

Kroa ignored their expressions, focusing her magic on her eyes and squinting as she examined them closely. Her gaze finally settled on a little girl with golden hair and a lowered head.

Her hair... wasn't ordinary gold.

Instead, it was a golden color, like waves of rice and wheat in autumn, representing a bountiful harvest. He had heard of this kind of gold from the Mage Association before.

(End of this chapter)