Chapter 105: Wanna Make a Bet with Me? (5)
Gordon couldn’t keep his frustration in check and shouted.
“No way, this doesn’t make sense! Why is a grain going in before a person!”
“Does it make sense for you to go in first?”
Well, with Gillian, Kaor, and the other senior mercenaries around, there was no way Gordon could be the first to enter.
Left speechless, Gordon scratched his neck awkwardly.
Ghislaine chuckled at the dazed mercenaries.
“I’ll give you a chance later, so for now, just go finish what you were doing.”
The higher the expectation, the greater the disappointment. Unable to let go of his wishful thinking, Gordon started to whine.
“Come on, can I please just go in first once? I really want to try this.”
Even a knight with top-tier talent in the kingdom could barely get a taste of the Mana Convergence Circle.
It was right in front of him, but humans couldn’t go in because they said it was for seeds. It was driving him up the wall.
“Later. Without a proper Mana Circulation Method, you’ll explode and die in the convergence circle.”
“Oh, please. I know a thing or two. I learned a little before.”
In reality, what he had learned was a pathetic excuse for a method that couldn’t even release mana, accumulating only a negligible amount, just enough to make him a tad healthier.
Even if he entered the convergence circle, he wasn’t sure he would come out alive.
Still, the greed of a person yearns to at least make an attempt if it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, even if it could mean death.
Gillian grimaced as he grabbed the back of his neck, but Gordon kept whining.
It hadn’t been long since he returned from dropping off Anna, and his once-focused mindset hadn’t fully restored itself yet.
The other mercenaries clicked their tongues, thinking he was going to get scolded, yet they didn’t stop him, hoping Ghislaine might show him some mercy.
Ghislaine, stroking his chin with a troubled expression, glanced at Gillian.
“Looks like everyone has energy to spare since we’ve been resting a bit, huh? Gillian.”
“Yes.”
“Make everyone run 200 laps around the training grounds, and practice shock tactics until bedtime.”
“Understood.”
At those words, the mercenaries turned pale and started to back away.
But it was already too late.
Unless another urgent circumstance arose, Ghislaine would never rescind his orders once given.
Moreover, Gillian was the type who stubbornly executed Ghislaine’s commands, even if it meant beating disobedient subordinates.
The mercenaries regretted their choices too late and made sorrowful faces.
Recently, they had forgotten about Ghislaine’s nature, as he had been preoccupied with territory matters and hadn’t interacted with them much.
I had completely forgotten about it since I had no reason to get involved with them. That this is what they were like.
The mercenaries were beating Gordon up while hurriedly looking around.
“W-Where did Kaor go?”
Training had become unavoidable, but they needed to find Kaor quickly.
Only if Kaor was busy tussling with Gillian could they take the opportunity to lower the intensity of the training.
“What’s going on! Where did he go?”
Kaor was already nowhere to be found, hidden away from sight.
It looked like he was going to claim he wasn’t there and didn’t hear anything about training.
Ghislaine cast a pitying glance at the mercenaries and spoke quietly.
“We’re starting training now. From here, we run. Begin.”
After the mercenaries left looking like they were about to cry, Alfoy chuckled as he checked the magic circle again.
Alfoy, who had been blankly staring, suddenly doubled over in laughter.
“Ahahaha! Were you trying to hurry up with mercenaries, not grains? Wait, did you think that if you put grains instead of people, they’d get stronger? Wow, what a change of perspective.”
People would get stronger quickly by gathering mana, but did he think grains could withstand the harsh land by absorbing mana too?
That was truly a thought only someone completely clueless about magic could come up with.
“If a person without training in mana circulation entered, they’d burst. How could grains possibly endure? I mean, even if they somehow survived just by luck… how would they utilize mana when they can’t even practice mana circulation? Hahaha!”
Alfoy grabbed Vanessa next to him, laughing hysterically.
“Oh my, I’m going to lose my belly button. Vanessa, can you check to see if my belly button is about to drop out? Hahaha!”
Vanessa was flustered, not knowing how to respond, but Alfoy was too busy enjoying himself.
Just how desperate was he to win the bet, throwing around that precious runestone like this?
Selling it at the mage tower would have helped their territory much more!
‘Oh dear, what a waste. A fool can’t handle such a treasure.’
Outwardly laughing uncontrollably, Alfoy inwardly clicked his tongue at the thought of how wasted the runestone was.
How could that crazy guy end up with the runestone!
The mere thought of that precious runestone disappearing into thin air for one bet was infuriating.
As if reading Alfoy’s mind, Ghislaine wore a meaningful smile.
“Do you want to make a bet too?”
“What did you say?”
“If I win, you work for ten years without pay and don’t say a word. If I lose, I’ll give you 5,000 gold and let you return to the mage tower.”
‘A chance!’
Alfoy nodded vigorously, worried that Ghislaine might retract the offer.
“Ah, I’m in!”
At that, other wizards nearby raised their hands.
“We’ll participate too!”
Ghislaine eagerly nodded. The wizards cheered and started to disperse.
“We are free!”
Vanessa, fidgeting and pacing anxiously, finally spoke up urgently.
“L-Lord! No! We need the wizards for large-scale construction!”
Although more wizards would eventually come to manage the branch once the mage tower was established, if the current wizards left now, it’d be meaningless.
“It’s fine. Don’t you trust me?”
“N-No, that’s not it…”
This isn’t about trust; it’s about common sense!
Vanessa screamed inwardly but couldn’t dare to argue with Ghislaine.
She screamed internally but couldn’t dare to confront Ghislaine.
In the end, she quickly departed to inform Belinda about the situation.
As the surroundings fell quiet, Ghislaine clicked his tongue.
“Finally, it’s a bit quieter. Everyone certainly has a lot of energy.”
Claude, with hollow eyes, looked at Ghislaine and chuckled.
He had been working tirelessly day and night, trying to ‘do’ as much as possible before leaving, and he looked like a total wreck.
“Wait, did you prepare the grain for this?”
“Yeah, I’m going to improve the seeds and create something amazing.”
“Sigh…”
Claude let out a sigh while looking at Ghislaine with a pitying gaze.
Improving seeds is a task that requires selecting the best ones and nurturing them over several generations.
Even if mages worked on it for years, there’s no guarantee of success.
If improving seeds were that easy, the royal family would have funded creating new varieties long ago.
‘Certainly, Vanessa looked flustered too.’
Seeing someone who is the best mage in the territory reacting that way when it comes to magical knowledge made it clear that this was a pointless endeavor.
“Um, Lord. It’s good to try anything, but… there’s not much time left for the bet. We’ve only got about a month and a half left; can you achieve results by then?”
It wasn’t that he was worried. He was going to win the bet, after all.
Still, Ghislaine’s actions felt a bit off and suspicious.
“No problem. That amount of time is plenty.”
“How much grain do you have to grow here?”
“About a month?”
Claude’s face twisted weirdly as he tried to hold back his laughter.
If, by some chance, the grain didn’t burst as Alfoy said, it would be a relief.
Let’s say, for arguments’ sake, that according to Ghislaine’s plan, the grain didn’t burst and was safely completed—there would still only be a mere fifteen days left.
What on earth could be achieved in fifteen days?
“Ahem, why not just admit defeat? If it gets out that you wasted a Runestone like this, you’ll get criticized even more than losing the bet. Ugh, what a waste of a Runestone, what’s this?”
Still, Ghislaine was the person who saved Anna. Claude didn’t want to see Ghislaine humiliated that much.
“Well, if you ask me now, I can make it a draw.”
Ghislaine gave a pitiful expression at Claude’s words, which emphasized ‘draw’ letter by letter.
“What? Are you already backing down? What do you mean draw? If we’ve started, we have to finish! It’s about to lead to a whole bunch of high-quality slaves!”
“Hahaha, oh, this is something. I was just saying this for your sake, but if you feel that way, then so be it. Well, I’ll just watch if the grain bursts or not while I’m here.”
“Give me a good show.”
Ghislaine grinned as he gradually distributed the grain into the magic circle.
As he gradually injected mana into the Runestone inscribed with the activation formula, the mana began to gather in the magic circle.
The magic circle glowed blue, and the mana began to accumulate.
In line with this, the grains dispersed within the magic circle started to tremble slightly.
Despite Alfoy’s confidence, not a single grain burst.
After thoroughly checking the magic circle, Ghislaine smiled.
“It’s a success.”
Now these grains would gain incredible vitality.
In my previous life, this method was widely known, but now it’s solely Ghislaine’s knowledge.
As the continent was devastated and people were dying off, many mages and scholars gathered to find a solution.
The method of enhancing seeds using mana. It seems simple since it was developed by Ghislaine, who knows the future, but in reality, it was knowledge established after dozens, if not hundreds, of failures.
Seeing Ghislaine’s meaningful smile, Claude spoke up, looking a bit uneasy.
“Well, thankfully it hasn’t exploded. Could it be that you anticipated this?”
“Of course, do you think I made it without knowing anything?”
Although a slight unease crept into his mind, Claude shook his head.
“It’s probably just a coincidence. Or maybe there’s a magic circle with such effects. Vanessa might have secretly helped too.”
Even at the Academy, where scholars gathered, there was no one who knew how to infuse mana into grain to increase production capacity.
It seemed even the mages from the Mage Tower were unaware.
“Even if such a method exists, there’s no way only the Lord would know it.”
Ghislaine, who had only lived in a rural village, couldn’t possibly be more knowledgeable than scholars or mages.
“A lord who doesn’t even know magic can’t create it either. This is 100% bluffing.”
Claude was certain.
He often encountered such opponents in gambling.
People would boast with a bad hand, trying to force their opponent to concede first.
“Ha, such bluster should be seen through. Even if the grain truly absorbs mana, how could the land support it from the start?”
No matter how he thought about it, there was no possibility that Ghislaine could win this bet.
Having concluded this, Claude relaxed his expression and said, “Well, I look forward to the results.”
Claude quickly fled the scene.
He didn’t want to linger around and risk Ghislaine giving him more work.
Once everyone left and Ghislaine was alone, she pondered while clenching her fist.
She had handled all the immediate tasks.
Now that she had a moment of leisure, it was time to tackle the nagging problem that had been bothering her.
“It’s my body issue; I can’t postpone it any longer.”
Despite consistently training her body and diligently practicing mana meditation during her free time, she still didn’t understand why the nature of her mana had changed.
Nor did she know the reason for her improved recovery ability.
“No matter how I think about it, it seems to be because of that…”
After nearly dying while fighting the Blood Python in the Forest of Monsters, a change occurred, so it was definitely related to the Blood Python’s poison.
“Why can’t you just die nicely if you’re going to die, you bastard?”
Ghislaine let out a sigh mixed with irritation.
“I need to confirm this.”
Having uncertain power in her body didn’t align with her personality.
However, there was only one way to check, and she hadn’t dared to try it until now.
“If I collapse while I’m busy, that’d be troublesome…”
Up until now, she had been making excuses about being busy, but things were only going to get busier from here on out.
Having finished the cultivation project, once the seed modification was done, more work would pile up.
Now that she had a moment of leisure was indeed the perfect timing to try something out.
After contemplating for a while, Ghislaine ultimately decided to conduct an experiment.
An experiment that might put her life in danger.
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