More than ten days passed uneventfully. It had been a month since Rennes arrived in Iron Armor City.
In the magic potato cultivation base on the outskirt of the city, an encouraging exclamation was heard.
"It's a success!"
"It's a success!"
Many people were gathered in the greenhouse.
A row of green seedlings could be seen breaking out of the soil. Flower buds were even growing out of the slightly more mature ones a little further away.
If one were to carefully dig into the soil, they would be able to pick a bunch of potato sprouts from the roots.
Although the potato sprouts were still very small, they were the seeds of hope for the future.
This pleasant discovery made everyone very excited.
In the past month or so, they had tried many times.
They had wasted a lot of seeds brought by Lord Rennes. Now, they had finally succeeded.
The five experts and scholars now had a deeper understanding of how to cultivate the magic food, potato.
Now, they only needed to wait for the potatoes to mature in this cold-resistant greenhouse. When the time comes, they, who had a wealth of experience, would be able to bring the seeds of hope and spread them throughout the entire northern region.
The potatoes had already taken root in the north. Rennes' mission could already be considered done.
The number of mysterious light spots in his body once again increased, this time by a few dozens.
Now, when he closed his eyes, he could see a starry sky consisting of hundreds of light spots.
Rennes did not know what use they had. There were no immediate benefits that he could observe at the moment. He only felt a slight increase in his power.
However, his instinct told him that the quantitative change would surely trigger a qualitative change sooner or later, allowing the power in him to undergo a new transformation.
Rennes was having his last dinner in Iron Armor City. Just like when he came, he left the city amidst the cheers from the entire city.
After this, he would return to the capital!
After not seeing Lifa for a month, Rennes was really looking forward to seeing if she had changed.
Also, they were already a month deep into the winter season. It must have snowed in the capital, right?
The capital was more magnificent than Iron Armor City. If it was covered in snow, the scenery must be spectacular.
With such expectations, Rennes's convoy rapidly shortened the distance between them and the kingdom capital, helped by magic power.
..
At the same time, in the southernmost part of the kingdom, in a place called the Golden Bull Town.
Charles was in a sticky situation.
As a minister of the kingdom and the initiator of the port construction plan, he was under a lot of pressure, and the task he was burdened with was very heavy.
After more than a month of hard work, the recruitment of the pirate descendants in Golden Bull Town had reached around 50% completion.
Although the mission was already half done, Charles was still not satisfied.
He could only hope that by the beginning of spring next year, he could complete the recruitment process, so that he could devote all his energy to the construction of the port.
Charles believed that under his command, the Golden Bull Port would become Noah Kingdom's most recognizable landmark in foreign countries.
Besides the unrest at the borders, the entire kingdom was peaceful thanks to abundant food reserves. People were looking forward to the arrival of the New Year Bell.
Three days later, a convoy that had arrived from a distant place stopped at the northern gate of the kingdom capital.
When the guards at the northern gate saw the people in the carriages, they were first surprised, then shocked. They sent news to the palace without delay.
...
In the palace.
"Your Majesty, Lord Rennes is back!" A guard reported at the door.
Hearing this, Lifa, who was sitting in the administrative hall, abruptly put down the quill in her hand.
A hint of joy crept onto her face as she leaped up from the chair.
The moment she walked out of the hall, she could already see Rennes walking over, chatting and laughing with his entourage.
"Lord Rennes!" Lifa quickly walked over and greeted him warmly.
The past month had been a huge test for LIFA who had to rule alone in the absence of Rennes. Although the nobility in the kingdom did not make any big moves, they had made a lot of little moves.
But the biggest problem was at the border of the kingdom. It caused Lifa much headache.
Fortunately, she slowly learned to endure the huge pressure and was already looking like a real queen.
Lifa was slowly becoming stronger. Only in front of Rennes would she show the gentleness of an ordinary girl.
"That's strange. So, when someone is lonely, they can't help but think of someone else?"
During the days when Rennes was not around, such thoughts often popped up in Lifa's mind.
Now that Rennes was back, Lifa could no longer suppress the urge to talk about her troubles with him.
She sent the others away. The two of them sat in the administrative hall to have a good, long chat.
"Lord Rennes, I've already received the news from the north. The successful cultivation of potatoes has helped solve a major problem for the kingdom!" Lifa said with a smile.
But the next instant, she suddenly frowned and said, "Unfortunately, the Cinda Kingdom in the northeast is getting more and more restless.
"In the past month, dozens of soldiers have been killed. I feel that the Cinda Kingdom is testing us.
"Our investigation has confirmed that the culprit behind the deaths is the Cinda Kingdom's assassination unit!
"The Cinda Kingdom and the Noah Kingdom were allies once, but the old Cinda king passed away and the prince took over. This new king seems to be a warmonger. He has been making military preparations ever since he inherited the throne.
"Now, the size of the Cinda Kingdom's army has more than doubled since the time of the previous king.
"And this new king also also formed an assassination unit to carry out special missions!"
Lifa's voice was cold, and her face was filled with displeasure. It was obvious that the assassination unit that had appeared recently had caused her a lot of trouble.
The Noah Kingdom had just defeated the Raytheon Empire a few months ago.
News of this had spread throughout the entire eastern region of the continent. Logically speaking, with Lord Rennes, who had the strength of a nine-star Archmage, protecting the kingdom, the Cinda Kingdom should not be foolish enough to invade Noah at this time.
If Rennes was truly angered, Lifa did not even dare to imagine what would happen to the Cinda Kingdom.
Would it get exterminated?
Considering that, why did the Cinda Kingdom continue to probe and even provoke the Noah Kingdom?
Lifa could not figure it out. She felt like this was a conspiracy with hidden undercurrents.
Therefore, she wanted to hear Rennes' opinion.
"Oh, that's right. When I was in Iron Armor City, I heard the news that you wanted to promote the 'Introduction to Magic' to the whole kingdom, but why hasn't there been any further news on that?" Facing Lifa's worries, Rennes did not answer immediately. Instead, he asked another question.
"Because I'm worried!"
"Worried?"
"Yes. The 'Introduction to Magic' is simply too important. After it spreads to the whole kingdom, it'll only be a matter of time before it spreads to the whole continent."
"And when that time comes, the other countries will definitely cast their greedy gaze on the Noah Kingdom. I don't know if I'll be able to handle the pressure!" Lifa's eyes dimmed as she told Rennes honestly.
She did not want to rely on Rennes for everything. She wanted to make contributions to this kingdom together with Rennes.