Vans was in one of the rooms of the Duke's mansion, preparing a few potions with some wasp herb he had obtained. The amount of mana required to brew this potion was higher than the others, but there was a reason for that, this potion was the best when it came to mana recovery. Mages would buy it in large quantities, of course, depending on the price.
"Here is the potion, it restores nearly all the mana of any mage. It will be rare to find a mage who does not experience full recovery, including you, Niko," he said, looking at the Duke and then at Niko.
"How is that possible?"
"What do you mean?"
"I have never heard of a potion like this, nor have I heard anything about using this herb to produce potions. It sounds like secret knowledge."
"To be honest, it is actually quite common, but brewing this potion consumes much more mana, so some alchemists avoid making it. It is also more expensive because of the scarcity of wasp herb. I am surprised you have this much."
One of the Duke's assistants was holding a clipboard. The Duke walked over, took it, glanced at the numbers, then looked at the assistant.
"Are you certain this is the amount of herb?"
"Yes, we counted twice. In total, there are more than one hundred wagons."
The Duke looked at Vans, thinking he would back out of the purchase.
"This is perfect, there is far more than I expected. I will take the hundred wagons, and if there is more, I will gladly buy it as well, I just need a little more time before the next purchase."
"Wait, you really intend to buy all one hundred wagons for the price you mentioned?"
"Yes, Victor will pay the one hundred gold coins, and we can use the shop as collateral for the new shipment of ten thousand gold coins."
Victor stared at Vans but said nothing. He had already considered what this purchase could generate, not only profit, but more potions for the Tower.
The Duke showed no reaction. He did not understand how they could have so many gold coins to pay. Still, he agreed. Victor took out a pouch containing one hundred gold coins, and he, the Duke, and the assistant went to another room where the money would be counted.
The amount was correct. Victor and the Duke were alone, and Victor could not resist asking:
"I know it is none of my business, but you are facing some kind of problem, are you not?"
The Duke remained silent.
"The attack that day, along with what happened to the crops, the two events may be separate, but something tells me they are connected," Victor continued.
"You are right. I still do not know who was responsible, but someone is sabotaging me. My army suffered casualties, that is why I had only four guards that day. In addition, the wheat and corn fields were damaged. I lost a great deal of money compensating the villagers for their losses. The interrogation of the bandits led nowhere, they were simply paid to carry out the attack, but they do not know who hired them."
"Granforce had some issues, something related to the rains."
"Granforce is not under my domain. My Duchy includes the regions of Carmine, Silverion, and Varni, along with all their subdomains."
Victor fell into thought.
"I know what you are thinking. How could someone with all this territory end up on the verge of bankruptcy?"
"I did not mean to be rude."
"It is fine. Sooner or later everyone will know, but with this money I can keep the matter quiet for some time."
"If Granforce has no connection to the crops in your duchy, then one question remains, is there anyone who would benefit from this?"
"There is, but he is far more powerful than I am, perhaps even more than the King. I do not know if he is involved, but at some point you will hear about him. He is quite famous and has a very bad reputation."
"When you say he is powerful, do you mean financially?"
"Yes, and he also commands a very large army."
"I see. Then it is decided, I will help you. But I want something in return. My group will solve the food problem, but I want you to sell it as cheaply as possible, and I want one fifth of all the profit, as well as all the remaining herb."
"Wait a moment, what did you just say?"
"We can use magic to make the crops grow almost instantly. In just a few days you could have the equivalent of two years of harvest. With that, you will be able to compete with the other noble. If there is more food on the market, prices will fall. The greater the supply, the lower the price, and that could push the other noble into losses. Of course, other nobles might also suffer, that is, if we assume they are not involved, whether as accomplices or as victims of this noble's actions."
"But is plant growth magic not dangerous because it consumes so much mana?"
"Yes, it consumes a great deal of energy, but that is not a problem."
"Even so, it is risky for you and…"
"Do not worry about that. We are not weak, and we understand the risks. Tomorrow we will begin all the work, and at the harvest site we will stand guard. That way we can defend the place if the information leaks somehow."
"Very well, I accept the deal and the risks. But are you truly certain you can handle this?"
"Yes. I only need the seeds and a cabin in the village that we can use for the work. Security is not a problem, we can handle even a heavily armed army."
Victor seemed excited.
"May I ask why you want to help?"
"Seeing a noble fall is a good feeling, especially if that noble is doing something that could leave many people hungry."
The Duke laughed at the answer.
Niko did not like the idea, but she accepted it. Vans would not be useful for this task, so he remained at the mansion to continue producing potions. Lysandra and Eris were placed in charge of protecting the village.
The village chosen by the Duke was Sungrave. The lord of those lands was a baronet who would accept the Duke's orders without complaint.
The village was underdeveloped and looked extremely poor. It was painful just to see the situation. Victor disliked seeing people living like that, so he made one more request, to develop the village and build better houses. The baronet agreed, provided that Victor could increase the revenue of the lands. The baronet was not a bad man, only incompetent for the position. His mansion was simple, though still a mansion, but the surroundings of the village showed extreme poverty. It was not because of the attack on the crops, it was because of a ruler who did not know what to do.
"Can you truly solve the problem?"
"Yes, do not worry about that. We only need a place to sleep and food. The Duke will pay for the rest."
The baronet did not seem confident, but he agreed and made no complaints. He would lose nothing. If it failed, everything would remain the same. If it succeeded, he would receive money, and even after spending on new houses, he would still have plenty left, since a country's worth of stock would be created in that poor village.
Niko had several small golems with her. They looked like rats. The baronet watched them and asked what they were.
"They are golems. I will use them to guarantee the safety of the entire village. If anything happens, I will know as quickly as possible."
"I have never seen anyone use golems this way. Is the magic the same?"
"Yes and no. Normally, programming a golem involves magical commands written with magic script. A golem becomes limited to what was inscribed. In this case, they are limited to observing and alerting. However, there is another type of golem that receives information about an attack and sends it to this one," she said, pointing to a golem shaped like an owl and then to another shaped like a cat. "This combination ensures that I will know if something is wrong. The connection between the golems uses communication magic, the same kind the guilds use."
The baronet was astonished, even though he did not understand much.
When they were alone, Niko asked why they had to do that job.
"Soon the Kingdom will suffer from a food crisis. Food will become very expensive due to scarcity. If we help the Duke, we will gain more of his trust. At some point we may be able to investigate the Castle and learn more about the head of the Demon Lord that they claim to possess."
"I still do not understand how the Hero was capable of doing something like that."
"That does not matter much anymore. I want to ask for something. I want us to take some of the food and send it to the demon continent. Is it possible for a golem to do that?"
"Yes, perfectly possible, but may I ask why?"
"I simply want to help our people."
"Do you truly consider them our people?"
"They only did what they believed was right, so I cannot blame them."
Neither Niko nor Eris liked the idea, but they did not press further.
Niko used magic, and all the golems began to move. The cat shaped golem stayed by her side. The owl shaped golems flew off and spread out across several trees and rooftops, with one perched atop the mansion. The rat shaped golems moved quickly despite their small size and tiny paws. They scattered and hid from sight, since Niko did not want any of them destroyed. Even so, she created a few extras as reserves.