Chapter: Morning Delivery
In the morning, white mist drifted through the woods.
A dozen cavalrymen dismounted and led their horses to the front of the manor.
One cavalryman called out, "Boss Cheng Yu! We're here to get the buns!"
After a moment, Cheng Yu, Mina, and Ivennie emerged, each carrying several large bags of buns.
The cavalryman pulled out 4 gold coins and handed them to Cheng Yu.
The price of buns had increased from 20 copper coins to 50 copper coins each. Eight hundred buns totaled 40,000 copper coins—or 4 gold coins.
"Wait, I raised the price to 50 copper coins each, and you're still buying all of them?"
Cheng Yu had been a bit worried before about whether sales would drop if he raised the price to 50 copper coins per bun.
If sales volume decreased, he'd lower the price back.
This was a test.
Unexpectedly, the cavalrymen still bought them all.
"Don't worry about it. We need this many anyway," the cavalryman said with a wave of his hand.
The price of buns had risen to 50 copper coins each. Some people in the cavalry unit thought 50 copper coins was too expensive and didn't plan to buy buns anymore.
After all, no matter how delicious the buns were, they were just food—not addictive.
However, there were still plenty of people in the cavalry unit who could afford 50-copper-coin buns.
The buns were delicious. Even if the cavalry couldn't finish them all, they could resell them to other defenders at a markup—55 or 60 copper coins each.
There were so many people at the Northern Fortress. Someone would definitely be able to afford the buns.
"Where's your Captain Karl? I haven't seen him."
Cheng Yu and Karl were somewhat close, so out of friendship, he cared about him.
"The demons sent a great demon—[Blood Queen] Aphra. She's very powerful. Captain Karl was injured when he followed the main force in a charge."
"Give my regards to Captain Karl."
The cavalrymen hooked the bags of buns onto their warhorses and returned to the Northern Fortress.
A day's plan begins in the morning.
Austin started teaching Maxi magic, and Ivennie stood nearby watching and learning.
"On the path of magic, talent is important, but diligent practice is indispensable. Success is 1% talent plus 99% hard work."
Austin taught Maxi seriously.
"I understand, teacher."
Maxi was pumped up. He gripped the golden magic staff with both chubby hands and practiced plant growth magic.
As the magic incantation was recited, magic power gathered at the tip of the golden staff, condensing into a circular magic array about 20 centimeters in diameter.
Maxi released plant growth magic on a weed at the edge of the farm.
New buds emerged from the grass core and slowly stretched into new leaves.
A minute later, the weed grew from 5 centimeters tall to 6 centimeters tall.
Adhering to the idea that hard work would be rewarded, Maxi practiced plant growth magic like crazy until the magic power in his body was completely exhausted.
"Have you learned this magic?"
What's the point of living if you don't show off?
Maxi had been studying magic for over a year. He wanted to flex in front of Ivennie, a beginner.
"Yeah, I know a little bit."
Ivennie's eyelids drooped slightly. Her face looked a bit tired.
Because she loved magic, after getting two magic books from Austin yesterday, Ivennie had read them all night.
"Use the plant growth magic, and let your senior brother guide you."
Maxi acted like a top-tier expert instructing a newbie.
"Then I'll try."
Ivennie had studied plant growth magic all night last night and learned some of it.
Her wooden magic staff condensed magic power. At the tip of the staff, a circular magic array formed—over a meter in diameter, several times larger than the array Maxi had just conjured.
Then she used plant growth magic on a plant in the farm.
The weed, just a few centimeters tall, grew rapidly. Soon it became an oversized weed over a meter high.
Maxi was stunned. "Have you learned plant growth magic before?"
"No, I just started learning it yesterday."
"You got this good in one night?"
No comparison, no harm. Maxi felt destroyed. The gap between people was bigger than the gap between people and dogs.
"Teacher, didn't you say success is 1% talent plus 99% hard work?"
The slap in the face came too fast, like a tornado.
Austin looked a bit embarrassed. He pretended to be stern. "You're human. How can you compare your magic talent to a forest elf's?"
Elves' magic talent was higher than humans'. Forest elves were especially proficient in plant magic. And Ivennie was royalty among the forest elves. Her plant magic talent was maxed out from the start.
Maxi comparing his plant magic talent to Ivennie's was no different from comparing swimming with a fish or flying with a bird.
Austin had heard of the forest elves' talent for plant magic, but seeing it for the first time, he couldn't help but marvel. What Ivennie learned in one night was better than what Maxi had learned in a year.
"Ivennie, how are you doing with the other magic—vine magic?" Austin asked.
"I've learned a little bit."
As she spoke, Ivennie stood in place with her magic staff in hand. A green magic array appeared beneath her feet.
A green vine as thick as a wrist burst out of the ground—over two meters long, like an octopus tentacle.
Seeing this, Maxi was completely speechless.
He'd been studying vine magic for over a year, and the vines he summoned were only a dozen centimeters long. Ivennie could summon vines over two meters long after self-studying for one night.
Is there no justice? Is there no law?!
"Very good." Austin was extremely satisfied with Ivennie.
"Teacher Austin, can I ask you for help if I don't understand something?"
"Of course." Austin was happy to teach Ivennie, a magic prodigy.
She really does have a protagonist template from a power fantasy novel. She's cheating! Cheng Yu marveled internally.
At nine o'clock in the morning, the cavalry returned to the Northern Fortress and distributed the buns to others.
[Positive Emotion Value +5]
[Positive Emotion Value +5]
[Positive Emotion Value +6]
...
The system notifications kept chiming.
Cheng Yu's positive emotion value started climbing rapidly.
By ten o'clock in the morning, his positive emotion value had increased from yesterday's 126 points to 2,066 points—a total increase of 1,940 points.
"Huh? Strange. Why is it higher than before?"
Cheng Yu remembered that when he'd sold buns to the cavalry before, the positive emotion value he gained was between 700 and 900 points. This time it had doubled.
What he didn't know was that the cavalry had returned to the Northern Fortress and resold the buns they couldn't finish to other garrison troops.
As more people ate the buns, he naturally gained more positive emotion points.
With positive emotion points, he could exchange things again.
Cheng Yu remembered Ivennie had said she liked sweets, so he'd make some desserts for her to improve favorability.
He opened the system shop and exchanged mascarpone cheese, cream, cocoa powder, rum, and other seasonings unavailable in this world.
After redeeming those, Cheng Yu checked the positive emotion value in the upper right corner of the main page. He had 1,226 points left.
"System, exchange 6 strength points and 6 defense points for me," Cheng Yu said.
[Host has spent 1,200 Positive Emotion Points. Strength +6, Defense +6]
Host: Cheng Yu
Cooking Level: Max
Strength: 397
Defense: 397
Skills: Silver Moon Shockwave
Equipment: Dragon-Pattern Golden Knife
Strength and defense had increased a bit. He had 26 positive emotion points left.
Cheng Yu stood up. "Mina, let's make a cake called tiramisu."
"Okay!"
Mina's eyes sparkled. Though she didn't know what tiramisu cake was, she knew it had to be delicious.