Chapter 396 - The Concerned Gaven

"Receiving recognition from the Lady of Storm is my greatest honor," Gaven said sincerely.If I could really get on her good side, even if I may not walk sideways through the Valley, anyone thinking of crossing me would have to think twice. She’s known for her fiery temperament, second only to the Storm Queen, Symbul herself, and is famously protective of those close to her.

His mind whirred, revisiting every legend known about the Lady.

With a thought, he picked up the topic she had just mentioned, "If I may be so bold, my lady, I indeed have plans for a new kind of agriculture in the Three Rivers Region. While growing some self-sufficient food crops, I also intend to cultivate economic crops vigorously to create more value and bring prosperity to those farmers."

"You have such ideas too?" Storm asked eagerly, "Tell me more. Which economic crops are you planning to plant? And how will you get the farmers to accept this?"

Gaven’s topic hit right on her spot of interest. She had long been contemplating an innovative agricultural project, but progress was painfully slow. The farmers of Shadow Valley were largely unreceptive to the concept.

"Actually, it’s not my original idea. The cotton plantations in Feather Wing Valley are already doing this; their cotton is an economic crop." Gaven broke off a grapevine and began drawing a rudimentary map of the Valley centered on the Ashaba River, sharing his vision for the future.

"The most important thing for growing a large amount of economic crops is finding sales channels, because value is only created when the goods are sold, otherwise, it’s all just talk."

"The Ashaba River banks have a natural advantage in this regard, with convenient water transport that can fully circulate goods. However, there’s one major obstacle to overcome: here, the Feather Falls. If goods could pass through the Ashaba River directly into Giant Dragon Bay, then we’d have plenty of places to go for our economic crops – all the port cities across the Sea of Fallen Stars would be within our reach."

"Of course, it also depends on the situation. If the crops are storage-resistant, we’ll take them to the most valuable markets. If they don’t last long, then we’ll have to deal with them locally. It all depends on the situation."

"Once the sales channels are open and the farmers see the benefits and the profits, there’s no need to persuade them. They’ll compete to plant the crops, regardless of the cost. Then, we might have to guide them to prevent overplanting and market glut that might lead to waste. Ultimately, it’s the farmers who would suffer."

"Currently, I recommend planting cotton and hemp, because we wouldn’t need to seek out other sales avenues. After the auction, I’ll be building a large textile factory here to consume a massive amount of cotton and hemp. Sambian merchants have also been buying it up fervently in recent years. It’s a safe and secure bet."

"Another reason I want to build a large textile factory here is due to the crazy high prices the Sambian merchants have been offering for the last two years. Many farmers have already caught the bug and started growing cotton on a large scale."

"But the Sambian merchants are buying for the Sea of Fallen Stars’ sail market, which has a finite demand. Once it’s saturated..."

"An excess of cotton will inevitably lead to a stall in sales, and those Sambian merchants will certainly stop buying cotton."

"If there’s no one to take in and process all that cotton, in the end, it’s the farmers who will suffer."

The last point was essentially Gaven flattering himself.

Building the textile mill was simply about wanting to make money and developing his own textiles; it wasn’t about harboring deep concerns for the nation or its people.

Unfortunately for him, Storm, who always put the Valley people first, was completely taken in by his words. After listening, her gaze towards Gaven softened significantly.

Storm had an ability unknown to many – she could often detect when someone was fabricating lies about something or someone she knew. This wasn’t magical; it was a special ability acquired from her early adventuring days.

The young man before her was not just spinning tales to please her; he already had plans and considerations like this in mind.

Even without her intervention, he would have proceeded as planned.

After listening, Storm sighed in agreement, "I never knew there was so much to learn here. It’s no wonder that my own efforts to promote planting have been so hard. Bah, those Sambian merchants are nothing but pests who only care about themselves, never the welfare of the farmers they exploit after the fact."

"Your ideas are good. You go ahead with it boldly. If you encounter any difficulties, just come to me, and I’ll work out a solution for you."

"I did have some worries at first, but with you here, my lady, they’ve all been dispelled. Just wait and see."

When it came to development, he had never feared anyone.

"I..." suddenly, the stone on Storm’s hip emitted a screeching sound.

Storm’s expression changed slightly, and with a tone of regret, she said, "I thought I could sneak in a little break today, and maybe enjoy a sip of Ghost Grape Wine with you, but it seems I must postpone that for another day. I have an urgent matter to attend to, but I’ll return another time to discuss the development of economic crops in more depth."

"I’ve got a little Ghost Grape Wine here, my lady, please take it with you," Gaven said as he pulled out his supply of Ghost Grape Wine from his backpack and handed it to Storm, making no attempt to keep her any longer.

With great ability comes great responsibility.

This saying was meant for strong and kind-hearted individuals like Storm, who are always at the forefront of firefighting efforts.

They save the Valley, Felen, and even the entire realm of Toril from the shadows, more often than most people can imagine, mostly in secret.

Otherwise, how do you think she reached such an illustrious professional level?

This is, after all, a world fraught with crises.

"Good," Storm replied briskly, unceremoniously taking all the Ghost Grape Wine and stuffing it into her Dimensional Bag. She waved to Gaven and Regina, then tore through a portal and vanished in a hurry.

In the instant before the portal closed, Gaven saw skies of flames, the kind that devour everything, as Storm drew her silvery longsword and plunged into battle.

As for what that world of flames was – whether it was the Fire Elemental Plane, inside a volcano, or a raging forest fire – that remains a mystery.

But one thing was clear: a battle of such magnitude was beyond the current capabilities of Gaven to participate in.

Setting aside other considerations, the pure, extreme environment alone could claim his life.

Only after the figure of the storm had completely vanished did Regina finally take a long breath, giving Gaven a thumbs-up and said, "Mr. Gaven is truly impressive. To remain unflustered in the presence of the Lady of Storm, and to engage in such extensive conversation—I’ve never seen the lady only listen and not speak."

Gaven wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Didn’t you see I was drenched in sweat? Do me a favor and give me a heads up next time, don’t spring such a big surprise on me. Just now, I was purely winging it, and fortunately, I had heard a little about the Lady of Storm, otherwise, I would have been completely at a loss."

At a glance, the storm seemed devoid of any imposing presence.

But when she stood shoulder to shoulder with him, intently listening,

The situation was entirely different; Gaven felt as if he were standing not beside a person, but a human-shaped Giant Dragon.

And not just any Giant Dragon, but an ancient Giant Dragon.

Even facing a Demigod Ruptured Palm was not as terrifyingly oppressive.

After all, a demigod, aside from possessing divine nature allowing for undying resilience, and special suction towards souls, had no other combat capabilities.

"I apologize; this oversight was my fault. I was just concerned that the lady’s renowned reputation might intimidate you, preventing you from coming over and missing out on this great opportunity. It won’t happen again," Regina said with a sorry face.

This incident had precedents, and not just once or twice.

Many who were normally bold and confident would become speechless upon meeting the Storm Queen.

Gaven, with his lengthy discourses, was not unprecedented, but Regina had never seen someone as young as him do so before.

Having caught his breath, Gaven said with a smile, "An opportunity like this is never too much; feel free to introduce me to more legendary characters, like the Archmage Irminster, for instance."

"In your dreams," Regina gave Gaven an eye roll and said, "I’ve only seen Archmage Irminster from a distance three times to this day and haven’t even had the chance to speak with him. How could I introduce him to you? The Storm Queen didn’t come here because of me; she came on her own. Who knows when I’ll see her again!"

"To have had a personal conversation with the Storm Queen is already my greatest honor—how dare I ask for more?" The visit from the Storm Queen greatly boosted Gaven’s confidence.

It was an indirect confirmation that the path he was on was the correct one.

So long as he demonstrated value and influenced enough people and events, these legendary figures would seek him out on their own. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs NovᴇlFir(e).nᴇt

The nature of such encounters was completely different from actively pursuing them.

Valley Calendar year 1359, July 1st.

This was a day that would go down in the history of Battle Valley.

In the Three Rivers Region, Gaven, the new Lord of Weizemay Manor, held the first Ghost Grape Wine Auction.

The event saw 132 registered caravans, over five hundred ships of varied colors, upwards of 4,200 people coming ashore, with almost an equivalent number who did not come ashore.

Before the official start of the auction, private transactions had already surpassed five million Gold Coins.

After breakfast at eight o’clock, the auction began with the admission ceremony and officially allowed merchants to enter.

"Are you sure this auction venue was built in just half a month? Not to mention anything else, but just the stage alone, without three to five months of preparation and construction, it would be impossible to accomplish."

"Let’s calculate the time. Darnell Inquisitor and Mr. Gaven attended Ghost Manor’s auction on May 1st. Counting today, it’s been exactly two months, not to mention the time they spent traveling and cleansing the manor in between.

We start counting from the earliest promotion of Ghost Grape Wine, to now it’s but a month and a half. I date it from back then; the construction probably started even later, as initially they wouldn’t realize the effects and wouldn’t have organized such a grand operation immediately."

"That’s right, the time definitely wouldn’t exceed a month. Look, those trees still have tender leaves!"

"These grapevine chairs are all alive and have grown naturally into these shapes. This is the work of Druids, hiss, there must be no fewer than three hundred seats here? All shaped by the Wood Shaping Technique, how many Druids did they have to employ?"

"Not just the grapevine chairs, even that auction platform is pieced together using the Wood Shaping Technique."

"If you knew that Mr. Gaven has hundreds of Pikespirit lieges and dozens of Treants at his beck and call, you wouldn’t be surprised. You came too late and missed witnessing the magical scene of multiracial overnight construction work."

"You mean to say, the ring of trees surrounding the auction is not made of ordinary trees, but all of them are Treants?"

"That’s right. As long as you abide by the order of the auction, they are just a group of trees. But if someone harbors ill intentions, they can come to life in minutes."

"Hiss, hiss, hiss... No wonder I didn’t see any other guards around; the host has already taken their position, we just weren’t aware of it."

"Watch your words during the auction, there could be a Pikespirit cloaked beside us."

"Don’t worry, they won’t care about us small fry, and those big-shots have powerful Spellcasters with them, or are Spellcasters themselves. As long as the host isn’t foolish, they won’t pull such petty tricks."