The Cornflower Witch

In the second year after the great storm arrived, the Great Serpent's downward trend still showed no sign of changing.

After the warm summer ended, the northern continent once again faced sweeping cold currents. Countless towns and cities were covered in white frost overnight. The drop in temperature also brought a reduction in crop yields, rekindling worry among those who had previously held onto hope. The price hikes and hunger caused by food shortages once again swept across all regions of the Alliance.

A 10% shortage in food didn't mean a 10% price increase—it meant price rises that would starve to death over 30% of the population.

Famine wasn't a rational phenomenon; it was more like a plague called "Fear" that swept across the land.

Even though the North Wind Defense Line operated normally to block the storm from moving south, the Great Serpent's descending body brought sunlight farther away, and the sharp drop in temperature continued to change the climate of the entire continent.

This was the ninth year of Gale Season, and the third-to-last year before Sinking Fog Season arrived. Countless diviners had predicted that this Sinking Fog Season would be longer, colder, and more hopeless than usual.

Winter was coming.

The "Lady of Winter" sat high in the Pale Place. The Sage wrote a letter with throat-blue ink and entrusted it to the purposeless three-clawed bird to deliver, asking this Hours how long the next Sinking Fog Season would last. The reply received was sixteen years.

Sixteen years of sinking white fog, thin sunlight, withering of all things, and rampant Winter Beasts—this was a foreseeable and terrible disaster.

Soon, a pessimistic mood spread across the continent. Perhaps the Transcendents could easily get through these sixteen years, but for countless ordinary people, these sixteen years would become a trial where survival itself hung in the balance.

For a time, people across the region frantically hoarded grain. Some countries and factions began implementing food rationing systems and started repairing cellars and warehouses everywhere, preparing for the long, cold nights ahead.

In November, the first snow fell. As Sylutia sat by the window watching the snow, she received a notification from the Alliance's central authority.

Flipping through the long letter stamped with the Council's official seal, Sylutia nodded, signed her name at the end of the letter, and handed it back to the messenger.

"I understand."

"Since Lady Hedra already knows, I won't disturb you further." The messenger from the Alliance nodded, packed up the items, then left for the next region.

Only after the messenger had left did Cerise come over to Sylutia's side. Judging by her expression, she was clearly curious about what the letter contained.

"The Alliance Council has notified that all regions must prepare for food stockpiling. As much as possible, store up grain over these three years, and make all necessary preparations for the arrival of Sinking Fog Season—things like insulation materials, housing, fuel, and so on." Sylutia told Cerise.

"I see." Cerise wasn't surprised after hearing this. Ever since news spread weeks ago that the Sinking Fog Season would last sixteen years, people across the Alliance had been discussing the issue.

Sylutia walked over to one side of the office, where a local map was placed. It depicted the main city of Mishil, along with several secondary cities and the locations of towns.

"How's the grain production situation in Mishil District?"

"Normally, it's barely self-sufficient. We often need to import some to make up the shortfall." Cerise thought for a moment, then added.

"There are quite a few estates here owned by wealthy people. They grow various fruits and use them to make wine, and these estates occupy the most fertile land."

"Can we have them switch to growing grain?" Sylutia turned to ask.

"We can suggest it. Given the current situation, I think they probably won't oppose it. But any grain they grow, these people will definitely keep for themselves and won't easily hand it over." Cerise replied.

"And those farmlands—if converted to wheat, would the yield be especially low?" Before coming to Mishil District, Sylutia had focused most of her energy on industrial production and knew little about agriculture.

"For ordinary village fields, one mu produces about 120 jin of wheat."

"120 jin?" Sylutia felt that number was both familiar and distant.

In the remote mountain villages of the Kingdom of Regas, due to poor soil, one mu produced only about 60 jin. The central region controlled by the Mage Alliance consisted of vast plains, with fertile soil and numerous rivers. Coupled with the Alliance's widespread education and farmers' crop rotation measures, the yield could be raised to 120 jin.

If you didn't compare it that way, many people might think the Mage Alliance had stronger agricultural capabilities. But most factions within the Hidden Grove Alliance had long histories. These organizations, through their lengthy inheritance, had experienced even more difficult times. They understood the importance of food very well and had accumulated more esoteric inheritance related to gardening and agriculture.

Although grain production in ordinary mountain villages was low, the fields carefully tended by those gardeners could produce large quantities of high-quality crops. These things were also raw materials for many Spiritual Medicines, allowing the Hidden Grove Alliance to benefit in this regard and maintain a certain number of gardeners over the long term.

But on the Mage Alliance's side, the situation was completely different. Even cultivating one mu of wheat to Perfect quality and producing 120 jin per mu would only yield an income of 120 gold coins. And that was something only a Third Tier elite gardener could achieve.

If a Third Tier mage of the same rank went to work in the guild workshops, they could easily earn 300 gold coins a year—far more profitable than farming. If they had any specialized skill or mastered rare techniques, a Third Tier mage earning over 800 gold coins a year wasn't a problem. That made farming even less appealing.

Some might say, what if a Third Tier gardener grew rare crops, like medicinal ingredients? That would indeed earn more, but even so, the ceiling remained low in the Mage Alliance.

Most Transcendent professionals in the Mage Alliance were Mages. Their advancement mostly required high-grade gemstones, metal artifacts, and some demand for special ink, paper, and the like. They had very little need for Spiritual Medicines. Consequently, alchemists skilled in crafting gemstones and precision high-grade metal artifacts were abundant in the Mage Alliance, while Apothecaries were relatively scarce.

With these factors combined, it wasn't hard to understand why, despite the Mage Alliance's overall strength, its agricultural sector remained weak and inadequate.

Starving people to death was a terrible thing, but famines mostly affected those below the First Tier of Transcendents. It was even harder to affect the Second Tier mage apprentices. With their social status and wealth, even if half the ordinary people starved to death, they could still buy and obtain food.

So, throughout history, the Mage Alliance hadn't been particularly concerned about famines. It was only because this Sinking Fog Season would be exceptionally long and might affect every aspect of the Alliance that they were now taking it seriously.

"A yield of 120 jin per mu..." Sylutia repeated this phrase, then asked.

"Is there any way to increase it?" She of course knew the methods, but her current identity made it inconvenient to say.

"I'm not familiar with that." Cerise had previously been a combat specialist in the Inspection Department. Since coming to Mishil District, she had assisted Sylutia with administrative affairs and accumulated considerable experience, but she still knew little about specific agricultural yield-boosting methods—after all, it wasn't her field of expertise.

Sylutia didn't blame her. She just sat quietly at her desk, thinking about how to reasonably solve the problem. If she truly let loose and removed all restrictions, with her abilities, she could easily push the yield per mu to over 1,000 jin while still ensuring the quality was close to Perfect.

Unfortunately. Unfortunately, she was now "Hedra," not "Sylutia."

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