Chapter 408: The Princess Arrives

In the following days, Xia Duo successively accelerated the growth of several more bags of wheat seeds until the entire "Demonstration Field" of about four mu was planted. At the same time, large-scale formal production began at the brick kiln; to increase speed, Xia Duo ordered several more kilns to be built.

Currently, these brick kilns are relatively small in volume, and the number of bricks fired at one time is extremely limited, making it difficult to achieve a breakthrough in a short time. Moreover, Xia Duo has little experience in this area, but using quantity to make up for speed is not difficult.

It is just that the number of workers required has multiplied several times over; added to the extra manpower for log cabin construction, this adjustment of human resources has effectively impacted the autumn sowing—and even the spring sowing—of Daxia Territory this year.

However, Xia Duo plans to activate the production-increase mode for the Arcane Garden when the Tower of Time's energy reserves are relatively sufficient. Aside from handling the grain trade for Konnifila City, it should not be difficult to set aside some rations for the two hundred or so households in Daxia Territory.

Of course, he will not place all his hopes on the Arcane Garden; Linshui Village must produce as much as it can on its own. Even if it is not possible now, it must catch up in the future.

He understands that grain and land stabilize the hearts of the people.

In these past few days, Xia Duo has also completed nearly half of the "Pioneer Handbook." Everything is based on personal experience; he only needs to organize them, polish them slightly, add his own thoughts, and then record them.

Xia Duo has a rough draft in his mind; if not for the lack of a typewriter and the limitations of handwriting on his speed, he might have finished it long ago.

As for magic, he has not yet discovered any magic capable of writing, and he currently has no time to research it himself. If it were just controlling a Mithril Pen to write on paper like controlling a "Plowshare" or "Flying Sword," it would be better to just do it manually, which is more convenient and faster!

To cope with the Princess's inspection, Xia Duo temporarily slowed down his own advancement plan and devoted more energy to the Territory. In his daily life, besides patrolling everywhere, he personally led a team deep into the forest to clear out nearby creatures.

Of course, before resting at night, he would also use spells to continue expanding the "Demonstration Field." Setting aside its demonstrative significance, this field is indeed a wheat field that can produce grain.

It is currently the tail end of the autumn sowing, the last stubbornness of the summer heat. If the wheat seeds cannot be planted and germinated before the heat dissipates, it will be very difficult for them to survive the entire winter.

One could even say that without magical seedling cultivation, no matter how many seeds are sown, the final harvest will likely be less than the number of seeds planted!...

This day, after Xia Duo had just inspected the construction of the Lord's Villa, he arrived at the Altar Square. This is the facility with the largest consumption of bricks in the Territory; at this moment, nearly half of the square has been paved with earthy-yellow bricks.

Previously, because it was a mud ground, even if the ground was somewhat uneven, it was not very noticeable. But now that it is paved with neat bricks, the uneven parts have become prominent.

Therefore, after the actual paving, Xia Duo would have people adjust it again. By now, the obvious protrusions have disappeared, but the overall undulations have become more apparent.

"The Territory still lacks craftsmen!"

With a sigh in his heart, Xia Duo prepared to go to the fields east of Linshui Village, but just then, Niya sent a message through the Tower Spirit—the Princess will arrive in a day or two! It is "arrive," not "depart"! However, in the world of magic, departing might very well be equivalent to arriving. Upon receiving this news, Xia Duo immediately became nervous. A real Great Arcanist is coming to inspect! He wonders if he needs to hold some kind of welcome ceremony?

But thinking that his "Pioneer Handbook" is not yet finished, Xia Duo immediately abandoned the idea of going to the eastern fields and returned to the small tent to race against time to write the manuscript.

As for the welcome ceremony, forget it. Mages are relatively pragmatic; if no work is done, no matter how flashy the setup, it is useless.

The next afternoon, Xia Duo threw away the Mithril Pen in his hand, shook his sore right hand, leaned back on his chair, and let out a long breath while looking at the top of the small tent:

"Finally finished!"

Previously, he only knew that the Princess would likely come to inspect before winter, and there was no exact arrival time, so he did not need to rush and could basically finish it quite easily.

But now that the time has suddenly drawn near, he cannot afford to be relaxed.

Fortunately, the "Pioneer Handbook" is already complete, and those "demonstrations" outside have more demonstrative significance than practical meaning.

After resting for a while, Xia Duo walked out of the small tent. Before he had taken two steps, he suddenly sensed something. He looked up toward the east and saw the sky as if a gap had cracked open.

Inside, wisps of lightning flickered, and this gap was constantly expanding. Of course, as the gap expanded, the wisps of lightning also disappeared, as if what Xia Duo had just seen was entirely an illusion.

However, that very obvious gap in the sky was no illusion. He immediately realized that it was likely the Princess who had arrived. Xia Duo immediately sent a message to Laidun, telling him to pacify the residents.

Afterward, he continued to send messages to the leaders of each Working Group and the captains of the Territory Guard, telling them to pacify their subordinates.

At the same time, he also checked his attire. The 【Crimson Shelter Robe】 is fine, and the 【Pioneer Scepter】 is also fine. As for the Gold Paper Document for the Pioneer, it was also taken out from his Personal Space and placed into his Dimensional Bag.

Despite having expectations for the style of conduct of a Great Arcanist, and despite the Personal Space being very secretive, Xia Duo still does not want to use the Personal Space in front of them.

Not to mention anything else, the spiritual light fluctuations when using a Dimensional Bag are difficult to disguise. In front of other Mages, Xia Duo is confident he can bluff his way through, but in front of a Great Arcanist, it is better not to show off one's meager skills.

Having transferred all items that might be needed into the Dimensional Bag in advance, Xia Duo then observed the changes in the crack in the eastern sky with composure.

From the appearance of the crack to its expansion into a circular passage resembling a flowing water curtain, it took only a few minutes in total. Compared to Bishop Anbulier, who spent an entire morning opening a portal connecting to the Shadow Plane...

It seems to be cross-plane, but in fact, the Shadow Plane and the Material Plane are very closely linked, and it was only with the help of the power of the Lord of Radiance that it could be opened.

And this portal likely connects Seventon to Linshui Village; a distance that would take ordinary ships several months to sail has now become a step away.

Most importantly, this kind of power comes entirely from human hands. In other words, this is also a power that Xia Duo might master in the future.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo looked at the portal hanging in mid-air, his eyes already filled with anticipation.

"But the portal is already open, why hasn't anyone come through?"

Through the portal that looked like a water curtain, Xia Duo could vaguely see light and shadow fluctuations on the other side, like human figures, but he was not sure. Compared to the portal when returning from the Arcane Union to the Tower of Time, this portal was clearly much blurrier.

Of course, it is also possible that it is one-way visibility. Xia Duo remembers that there are techniques in the Tower of Time on how to see the other side through a portal, but this type of knowledge, in Xia Duo's "urgency and importance" classification, clearly belongs to the "not urgent, secondary importance" category.

Before long, Laidun, who had already pacified the residents, came to Xia Duo's side, "My Lord, the residents have already begun to continue their work."

"Mm."

Xia Duo nodded. In fact, before today, he had envisioned many situations, and a portal was certainly one of them, but he truly did not expect it to appear in the sky.

He had made many relevant contingency plans, the most important of which was—everything as usual.

(End of chapter)