The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 73: Journey to the Depths of the Dark Mist Mountains

Vol 2 Chapter 73 Journey to the Depths of the Dark Mist Mountains

With the glass forged, it meant the greenhouse could begin construction, and once the greenhouse was completed, this garrison would achieve self-sufficiency in food and become initially stabilized.

At the garrison at the foot of the Darkmist Mountains, a new round of construction began.

During the time Sylutia was focused on studying glassmaking techniques, the craftsmen and scholars had already built the housing for the apprentices. It somewhat resembled an apartment building, though it was only three stories tall, with four rooms on each floor, and each room housed two apprentices.

"Three large residential apartment buildings like this can accommodate the current apprentices," a member responsible for inspection sighed after the first building was completed.

The windows, doors, and walls of the buildings all used the secret techniques of the 'Candlefort School', which could effectively resist 'Distortion' erosion and had a solid structure, making them extremely difficult for First Tier monsters to damage.

With the completion of the residential housing, the construction of the greenhouse garden gradually began.

Compared to building houses with stone bricks, the structure of the greenhouse garden was much simpler, being only one story. The main framework used stone pillars and bricks to create supports and borders, followed by large areas of embedded glass to ensure light transmission.

After about five days, the first small greenhouse was completed. Sylutia and a group of gardener apprentices began planting potatoes and watering them with clear water and Verdant Dew Water.

Another twelve days later, the large greenhouse in the garrison was completed. This time, Sylutia didn't have everyone plant directly. Instead, they first planted a batch of alfalfa to improve the soil fertility.A week later, looking at the garden full of blooming purple-flowered alfalfa, many apprentices were quite surprised. This senior apprentice sister Tia before them had actually cultivated plants that condensed an Aspect in such a short time. Such ability was simply terrifying.

'No wonder Senior Apprentice Sister Tia was chosen as the leader. She has such formidable skills.'

"With the alfalfa improving the soil fertility, planting any other plants afterwards becomes much easier."

"Initially, I thought building a garrison here would most likely fail, but now I feel reassured."

"No wonder the association chose her as the leader. They must have valued Senior Apprentice Sister Tia's great potential in pioneering territories."

"This way, things become much easier for us. At least we don't have to risk going into the wild to find food like other garrisons."

"Ah, do we still need to go into the wild to find food?" someone asked, particularly surprised.

"Of course. The food within the garrison isn't enough. What the supply convoy brought is limited, so we have to find it ourselves."

"On the other side of the Darkmist Mountains is the abyss of the Twilight Sea, filled with many monsters. A small portion of those monsters are edible, which is also a source of emergency food."

"Can't we just catalyze plants directly?"

"The pollution here is severe. Would you dare eat catalyzed food? Besides, catalyzed food supplies might work for ordinary people, but those stationed here are all Transcendents. Ordinary food can hardly replenish that level of consumption."

"I've heard that for some royal families, the biggest difficulty in maintaining knights is providing high-quality food."

"Considering the activity consumption of a Third Tier knight, they would need to eat about nine times the amount of ordinary food to meet their training needs. This means they'd be eating and then constantly needing to use the restroom. The process is truly unpleasant."

"Therefore, nobles who cannot provide high-quality food simply cannot support knights. Even if they had some, the knights would soon leave."

"For Second Tier apprentices, ordinary food can be eaten to maintain energy, but if they encounter intense combat or use their abilities extensively, ordinary food can hardly ensure physical recovery."

"The high-quality grains from the Hidden Grove are directly controlled and purchased. Very little circulates in the market."

"Back in the Glittergold Plains, only Senior Apprentice Sister Tia could produce so many 'Rare' quality crops. You saw how that bakery was willing to borrow money from peers just to buy them. That shows how rare the raw materials are."

While everyone was discussing food crops, Sylutia was troubled by another matter.

"Senior Apprentice Sister Tia, the firewood within the garrison is currently insufficient," reported an apprentice responsible for managing logistical resources.

"Firewood..." Sylutia looked out the window at the desolate land, unsure where to find supplies.

This world had no coal, nor did it have anything like petroleum. If one wanted to obtain fuel, generally, only firewood and charcoal could be used.

"Is there a way to obtain these resources from other surrounding areas?" she wondered. Other garrisons should also need fuel;

she didn't know how they solved it.

"The frontline checkpoint garrisons are located within the canyon passages of the Darkmist Mountains, where forest resources are relatively abundant, so they naturally aren't short."

"As for the lookout garrisons on the mountaintops, although vegetation is also scarce, they only need to go down the mountain to get a batch. Moreover, they have few personnel, so their consumption is slow."

"We are located at the foot of the mountains, on the outskirts of the Darkmist Mountains. While this means we don't have to worry about attacks from powerful monsters, under the blowing of the eroding winds, basically no plants survive, let alone produce trees or firewood."

"I understand." Sylutia nodded and began pacing back and forth in the room.

Using the greenhouse to cultivate plants for fuel was, of course, one method, but this approach was far too extravagant and felt like putting the cart before the horse. They were building this garrison here to supply the frontline. Using precious grain for burning would be truly...

"For the first batch of potatoes in the greenhouse currently, about how long until they mature?" she asked another gardener apprentice.

"Another two weeks are needed, though the yield of the first batch won't be high."

"I know." Sylutia nodded.

"However, we still need to allocate a portion to supply the frontline, and in exchange, obtain a large amount of wood from them, whether timber or firewood."

"As for within the garrison, we can only ask everyone to endure a bit. Once we get through this month and the crops in the large greenhouse mature, we basically won't lack food anymore."

"I'll explain it to everyone later." She stopped pacing and had a nearby apprentice notify everyone.

At noon, in the temporary dining hall, Sylutia explained the current situation and her decision to everyone, hoping they could endure for a while.

Although eating a little less each day was somewhat unpleasant, the situation within the garrison was clear for all to see, and there were no complaints. Furthermore, Sylutia had done exceptionally well, managing to achieve initial results in building up this garrison in a short time.

After arranging matters for the next two weeks, Sylutia decided to take some food and make a trip to the frontline garrison. This was not only to investigate the situation there but also to hopefully establish initial contact for future material exchanges.

"During the time I'm away, matters in the garrison will be decided jointly by the three of you—Rachel, Grant, and Elton—through discussion." These three were respectively the leaders of the 'Knight Squires', the 'Scholar Craftsmen', and the 'Gardener Apprentices' in the camp.

"No problem."

"Please rest assured, Tia."

"I'll handle matters related to the greenhouse garden." They each nodded in agreement, also showing a bit of excitement, anticipating the chance to showcase their abilities while Sylutia was away.

These guys, Sylutia thought inwardly, amused. Although they usually seemed quite mature, they were, after all, young people around her own age, full of ideas and drive.

"Alright, discuss matters more with everyone if anything comes up. Don't be too hasty." After giving further instructions, Sylutia led a wagon team of twelve people on their departure.

Their group consisted uniformly of Second Tier Knight Squires, all in full silver-white armor, riding warhorses. At the head, Sylutia's battle armor was particularly bright and clean. The pure white skirt paired with the silver armor gave her an otherworldly elegance and beauty.

"Let's go. We depart."

They escorted the wagon train loaded with food and supplies, leaving the wall-protected garrison, driving into the dim and desolate Black Lion Wastes, heading towards the distant depths of the Darkmist Mountains.