Chapter 110: Seeds

With his current abilities, directing bees to gather nectar wasn’t particularly difficult, but if he could freely control them... then he could use the unique and special plants of the Great Forest to brew completely unique honey.

How could he refuse such a gift?

"Meow? Does it take a long time to learn this secret technique?"

"Since it is a passed-down technique, it will not take very long," Althea replied.

That made it even better.

Seeing that Ethan was tempted, Althea smiled in satisfaction, she turned to Eric behind her. "Bring it here."

"Yes, my Lady." Eric stepped forward, carrying a delicate box in his hands. Althea took the box and slowly opened it in front of the gathered crowd.

"This is..." Inside lay a crimson bracelet. Upon seeing it, the surrounding elves let out gasps of amazement.

"Isn’t that the Bee Queen’s Bracelet?"

[Bee Queen’s Bracelet — Unique]

[The legendary bracelet used by the Bee Queen, Chrisk, to control her swarm. The wielder can freely control bees. Wearing it for an extended period allows one to comprehend the Beekeeping skill.]

"As long as you wear this bracelet, you will be able to control bees freely. I am giving this treasure to you. I will teach you how to use it slowly."

"This... is too precious. I cannot accept it."

"If you truly feel bad about it, you can return the bracelet to me once you have learned the Beekeeping skill." Not a trace of reluctance crossed Althea’s face — only sincere goodwill.

Ethan looked at her and nodded solemnly. "Thank you."

"You are welcome."

"I am unworthy of such a gift. If there is anything you need my help with, please don’t hesitate to ask."

"Since you put it that way, there is indeed one thing I would like your help with." Althea’s gaze settled on Ethan.

"A long time ago, there was a crop that only humans could cultivate. If possible... I would like to taste the rice made from that crop again."

Hearing the word rice, the surrounding elves all revealed expressions of confusion. But Ethan was different.

’Could it be that this world has paddy rice as well?’

"Paddy rice — also known simply as rice — is a very special crop. It can only grow under the meticulous care of humans." Althea closed her eyes, and her voice softened with memory, in her mind, a golden field of rice stretched to the horizon. It was a beautiful sight belonging only to autumn, a sight that could now only be chased in memories.

"Paddy rice? What is that?" one of the nearby elves asked in confusion.

"It is similar to wheat, but the difficulty of cultivating it is much higher. It cannot grow even in land blessed by Goddess Gaia."

"How could that be..."

"Furthermore, cultivating paddy rice is incredibly labor-intensive. Even among humans, very few were willing to grow it. As a result, rice became extremely precious."

"Meow, can you grow it?"

"As long as I have the seeds, it shouldn’t be a problem." Ethan had grown paddy rice before, he knew that with seeds in hand, a harvest was only a matter of time and hard work.

"I am merely longing for the taste of the past. If it is too troublesome, please don’t force yourself."

"I’ll do my best to help you find paddy rice seeds. After all, this is a good thing for me as well." Ethan hadn’t eaten rice in a long time either. He missed the taste of it too. So he did not refuse Althea’s request.

"Do you know where paddy rice seeds might be stored?"

"Well... I’ve heard that a long time ago, the elven and dwarven races joined hands to build a seed vault — a place to preserve the seeds of the various crops cultivated by humans. Perhaps there might be paddy rice seeds there."

"It’s been so long. Are the seeds still viable?"

"Rest assured. Special magic was cast upon that seed vault to ensure the seeds would never rot."

"That’s wonderful, do you know where this seed vault is located?"

"I apologize — I don’t know the exact location. However, the royal family should know. I heard that when the vault was built, the royal family was also involved."

It seemed that to find paddy rice seeds, a trip to the royal capital was inevitable. Ethan had already been planning to go. Now he simply had one more reason.

"I see... a place preserving the seeds of human crops, how exciting." Besides paddy rice, they might find seeds of other precious crops — Mana Grass, perhaps, or things he hadn’t even heard of yet.

"Thank you for sharing this valuable information with me."

"You are welcome... Ah, it seems the banquet has paused because of me." The melodious music had stopped at some point, and many elves were looking in their direction, Althea smiled apologetically.

"Everyone, please continue. Don’t mind us." She smiled at the crowd, then, led by Eric, returned to her seat.

The melodious music resumed, Ethan watched the scene settle back into its rhythm and clenched his fists quietly.

’I absolutely must make it to the royal capital.’

The next day.

Early in the morning, several elves sought out Ethan, inviting him to visit their families as a guest, however, the place Ethan needed to go to the most right now was the royal capital, he politely declined their invitations, promising to visit them after he returned.

After seeing the elves off, Ethan went to rest in the garden. Before long, Leon and Elara found him.

"We plan to depart in the afternoon. Does that work for you?"

"I’m fine with it."

"Oh hahaha, then we shall depart in the afternoon, you shouldn’t have any other matters to attend to, right?"

Ethan actually wanted to see the glass workshops. But on second thought, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future. The priority now was to head to the royal capital and take care of business.

Seeing that Ethan had no objections, Leon spoke with a serious tone. "Also, regarding that seed vault you mentioned yesterday — I would like to go with you."

"I welcome it, of course. But... are there specific seeds you need?"

"Yes. I’ve heard before that among the crops cultivated by humans, there is one that is highly beneficial to sheep and goats. If we can find those seeds, I would like to ask you to plant them for me."

For a shepherd like Leon, the importance of such a crop went without saying. That was why he wanted to do everything he could to be involved in this matter.

Leon made his request with a smile, and Ethan readily agreed. With Leon’s help, things would definitely go smoother and save a lot of trouble.

"Perfect. I also have a favor to ask of you. If we find those seeds, could we plant them in the Great Forest?"

"Of course. That way we’ll have another trade good." Leon agreed without hesitation.

Beside them, Elara raised her hand. "I also have a favor to ask of you..."

"Please go ahead."

"I heard that among the crops cultivated by ancient humans, there was something called cotton."