Despite several minutes passing, Elric's curses still echoed down the halls as he was dragged out of the room. Magnus pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering, "What a spectacle."
Alaric suddenly straightened, his eyes widening as he remembered his task. "I'll fetch a cleric for Elric," he said, hurrying toward the door.
As the room finally settled into an uncomfortable silence, Magnus exhaled a deep sigh and motioned for everyone's attention. "Since the tumult has finally been silenced, let us continue. Are there other matters to be discussed?
The Minister of Agriculture stood up, looking perturbed. "Your Grace, I'm afraid I have a very unusual concern to report. Our cattle farmers have reported that the number of cows is dwindling and that the last time a calf was born was over three months ago."
Magnus furrowed his brow hard. "Three months? That's highly unusual, isn't it?"
Selene stiffened slightly, her mind racing. No calves in three months? Unless something big is wrong, that cannot just happen. With the mana in the atmosphere, animals' reproduction cycles are much faster compared to Earth.
Magnus asked, "Is an investigation into the cause being carried out?
The minister nodded. "Yes, Your Grace. We have given the cattle a thorough examination. Their condition is good and fertility rates are normal. There's no trace of sickness or malnutrition in them. A problem does exist but with the bulls. They… well… aren't, um, disposed toward mating."
For a moment, the room was silent; then an incredulous noble muttered, "The bulls are not… in the mood?
Another minister snorted. "Absurd. That doesn't make sense."
Selene said nothing, her mind elsewhere. If their health and fertility were all right, then this is not quite as arbitrary as it might seem.
The Minister of Agriculture cleared his throat and elaborated, "We've observed that the bulls are behaving oddly—lethargic, disinterested, and, frankly, ignoring the cows entirely. We've tried adjusting their diets, increasing exercise, and even using magical stimulants, but nothing has worked so far."
The Minister of Trade suddenly rose to her feet, her face red with anger. "This is unacceptable! Do you have any idea how this will impact dairy production? If calves aren't born, the supply of milk will drop, and we'll face shortages in a matter of months!"
The Agriculture Minister frowned at her. "I know what this means, Lady Cordelia. You don't think I have a brain and that this hasn't occurred to me? We are doing what we can!"
Cordelia's voice rose. "Clearly not enough! This is your department's responsibility. How could you let it escalate to this point without results?"
The two bickered while their voices escalated in argument and tension became heavy within the room.
Another minister slammed his fist on the table, silencing them both. "Enough! You are in the presence of the Duke and Lady Selene. Behave yourselves." He turned to Magnus and bowed slightly. "Your Grace, their bickering will achieve nothing. We need a rational plan to address the situation, not blame-shifting."
Magnus nodded curtly, but Selene leaned in and whispered, her tone laced with disdain. "Perhaps they are blaming each other because they had asked for so much money from the merchants that they did not have the time to look and find out the problem in time."
Magnus's expression darkened slightly, but he gave a subtle nod, "I'll deal with that later."
Magnus exhaled and leaned back in his chair. "Does anyone here have a suggestion to solve this problem?" The room erupted into a cacophony of voices.
"We could import cattle from another region!" one minister proposed.
"That would take months and cost a fortune," another snapped. "Plus, if the problem lies in the environment, the new bulls will suffer the same issue."
"What about a spell to enhance the bulls'… vigor?" someone else offered.
A noblewoman frowned. "Have you forgotten what happened the last time we tampered with livestock using untested magic? Those chickens are still terrorizing the countryside!"
"We could try increasing the magical energy in their feeding grounds," suggested one minister. "It might stimulate their natural instincts."
"That's absurd," another minister countered. "We'd be wasting precious resources that could be better used elsewhere."
Another minister chimed in, "Why not just slaughter the bulls and start fresh? We can use the meat to offset the losses."
"Or, maybe we should hire a mage to mind-control them into mating," another added.
Selene's eyes widened in horror. What are these people thinking? she thought, disturbed.
Magnus's face grew increasingly red as the chaotic back-and-forth continued, his hands gripping the arms of his chair. He looked seconds away from slamming the table to silence them all.
Selene hesitated before raising her hand slightly. "Um, Your Grace, I might have an idea—two, actually."
A minister sneered, cutting her off. "A child's ideas? This is no place for silly games, little girl. Go play with your dolls or something—"
Before he could finish, the thud of a book hitting flesh echoed through the room. The minister fell backward with a yelp, clutching his bleeding nose.
All eyes turned to Selene in stunned silence, but she looked down at the floor where the thick encyclopedia lay, then at Magnus. He coughed lightly, avoiding her gaze, and said, "Continue, Selene."
Suppressing a grin, she nodded. "My first idea is artificial insemination."
A minister blinked in confusion. "Artificial… what? What does that even mean?"
Selene winced. Right. They don't have scientific terminology here.
She sighed and began explaining, "It's a process where you don't need the bull to mate with the cow directly. Instead, you… collect the necessary material from the bull and manually insert it into the cow."
The room was silent for a moment, then erupted into murmurs of disgust and disbelief.
"That's unnatural!" one minister exclaimed.
"Absurd!" said another, his face contorted in distaste.
Magnus, however, nodded thoughtfully. "It's unconventional, but if it works, I see no harm in trying. We'll have to train specialists for it, but that shouldn't be too difficult."
Selene smiled slightly, encouraged. "I have one more idea, Your Grace." Magnus gestured for her to continue. "We could give the bulls and cows an aphrodisiac. It might help stimulate them."
The room fell silent again, ministers and nobles exchanging glances.
A minister finally spoke up. "How did none of us think of that? It's so obvious!"
Another nodded. "It's simple, cost-effective, and wouldn't require too much effort. Why didn't we consider this sooner?"
Magnus raised a brow, his lips twitching in amusement. "Then it's decided. We'll pursue both methods and monitor the results."
Meanwhile, the minister who had been hit by the book, glared at Selene. He was angry but dared not speak.
Selene, still confused, thought, How could something as basic as using an aphrodisiac not occur to any of them? Are they just that out of touch?