Overnight, Aileen became a celebrity.
Her name caused a sensation in Felix, spread throughout Willis City, and even reached the far corners of the Kevill Empire!
Felix magic apprentices envied her for becoming Ajef's assistant, and even more so, they were jealous that Ajef, in a fit of anger for her, smashed the botanical garden and severely punished the Archmage.
Willis City citizens, on the other hand, marveled at Ajef's power and were shocked by the terrifying combat strength of the Lava Giant and Mountain Giant!
But for more citizens of the Kevill Empire, their attention was focused on the non-toxic mallow, which in turn led them to Aileen.
While the scene of Ajef smashing the botanical garden was certainly terrifying, for most commoners who had never left their mountain hollows in their lives, it was difficult for them to imagine, through text alone, how massive and fearsome a six-zhang giant could be!
This was a world unrelated to them;
This was a world for after-meal entertainment;
This was a world that could only exist in dreams.
When the bizarre internet scrolls disappeared, they still faced the poverty of their current lives.
They were grateful for the light and power the internet brought, but these things needed time to ferment and develop.
The limited land would not suddenly increase just because they gained a little bit of power.
The numerous heavy taxes would not decrease just because they became a little stronger!
The future was infinitely bright, but the present remained difficult.
Winter was approaching.
Only by surviving could they be qualified to continue pursuing light, pursuing magic, pursuing that world of dazzling beauty.
Aileen's mallow naturally became the focus of many people.
...
Aileen also hadn't expected that she would suddenly become famous.
Unexpectedly receiving the Purple Snowwood magic wand as a reward had already made her an object of envy for countless magic apprentices;
But compared to that envy, the attention she was receiving now was just a drop in the ocean.
She had become a prominent figure in Felix!
Everyone knew that she had become a favorite of Lord Ajef, the Archmage (or Great Archmage) of the Summoning Department.
Her friends suddenly increased.
Many friends she had made upon entering the academy, but had drifted apart from later due to differing ideas, suddenly reappeared.
At first, it was just occasional greetings when they ran into each other on the road or at the dormitory entrance.
Later, they started visiting her directly.
Either they had discovered special magic seeds and came to share a bit;
Or they would ask her to help cultivate magic plants, and of course, they would offer valuable gifts as thanks.
All of this, no matter how slow Aileen was, she understood.
The sudden surge in social interactions completely disrupted her life rhythm.
What made her even more uncomfortable, even awkward, was that she was suddenly being pursued by members of the opposite sex.
And it wasn't just one person; among them was even a noble disciple—Long Reddy, the grandson of the late Archmage Longfellow.
While reality was bustling, the internet was even more lively.
Opening the internet, among the top-pinned posts on major forums, there was always a topic about her.
Her identity was exposed.
When everyone learned that she was from a commoner background, was sent to an orphanage after her mother's death, and because of her diligence and hard work, received help from the orphanage director—a magic apprentice—to learn meditation and eventually enter Felix, everyone immediately felt a sense of closeness and pride.
Look, our commoners can also produce noble magic apprentices!
Everyone discussed her background, life details, and the mallow they were most concerned about.
Aileen's personal social media account was even leaked by her friends.
Her personal space saw tens of thousands of new followers overnight, with over a thousand messages!
"Lord Aileen, did you really cultivate non-toxic mallow?"
"When will the mallow seeds be available for sale?"
"Lord Aileen, can you sell us the mallow seeds you cultivated? I'm in Layatin Town.
If possible, could you have mercenaries deliver them? We are willing to pay one hundred silver coins for just one hundred seeds."
"Everyone says the sample you used to cultivate the mallow is gone, so there is no non-toxic mallow. Is this true?"
"Damn Machi, he actually destroyed the only sample! Lord Aileen, you must work hard and cultivate the mallow again!"
All sorts of messages filled the comment section!
Some were inquiring about the mallow;
Some were leaving messages of encouragement;
And of course, some were cursing Archmage Machi.
Amidst nationwide attention, one week after Ajef smashed the botanical garden, the official website of the Kevill Empire announced a major event using the most prominent banner section.
Non-toxic Mallow, Successfully Cultivated!!!
...
...
"Mr. Black, has the non-toxic mallow really been cultivated? The kids say it will be delivered to the village in a month at the latest?"
In an inconspicuous village in the hinterland of the Kevill Empire, a group of villagers gathered around the only literate person in the village, their excitement palpable.
Mr. Black, the literacy teacher who had only been sent down from the town a month ago, faced the countless eager villagers, and even he, who was well-fed and clothed, felt a surge of excitement.
"Yes! Didn't I teach you to read? Look at these eight words: Non-toxic Mallow, Successfully Cultivated!"
"That's great! That's great! If it can be delivered in a month, the weather will have just turned cold, the mallow will grow quickly, and we can eat it in a month. Cut one crop, another will grow. Mixed with black grain, maybe no one in our village will starve to death this winter."
"Oh, my kid told me, but I didn't quite believe it! Hearing the teacher say it himself, my heart finally feels at ease!"
The villagers started talking animatedly.
"Mr. Black, read it to us!"
"Yes, Mr. Black, read it, read it!"
The villagers urged him excitedly.
"Alright, I'll read it to you." Mr. Black, the literacy teacher, cleared his throat upon hearing this, pulled the imperial announcement to the top, and began to read.
"The Kevill Empire announces: Aileen, a second-year student at Felix Magic Academy, has successfully cultivated non-toxic mallow. This mallow is divided into two types..."
'Oh, there are even two types?'
'My heavens, the mage lords are truly extraordinary!'
'We are saved this year.'
'Yes, I heard the mage who researched the non-toxic mallow is a woman!'
"I heard that too!"
'Oh, do you think Aileen might be an incarnation of the Mother Earth?'
The villagers couldn't help but discuss excitedly upon hearing this, interrupting Mr. Black's reading several times. The atmosphere was extremely lively.
When Mr. Black finished reading, everyone became completely excited, discussing the mallow they hadn't yet seen and looking forward to a bright future.
According to the empire, the mallow researched this time is divided into two types.
One is the white-flowered wrinkled seed spiral-leaf mallow;
The other is the white-flowered wrinkled seed broad-leaf mallow.
The former retains the mallow's original cold resistance and can be sown in the wilderness for planting;
The latter is not cold-resistant but has more edible parts and is recommended for careful cultivation.
Goodness, everyone was already very excited that non-toxic mallow could be cultivated, but who would have thought two types were cultivated at once?
Most importantly, these mallow seeds will be distributed to administrative regions at all levels by the empire in a month at the latest. The spiral-leaf mallow will not be sold but will be uniformly sown in the fields by people dispatched by the imperial governors, and anyone can pick and eat it.
The broad-leaf mallow will be sold for one Kevill copper coin per packet, with a minimum of fifty seeds per packet.
The empire finally solemnly warned that local governors are not allowed to arbitrarily increase prices. If there is any price increase, all imperial citizens can complain on the imperial official website, and once verified, the offenders will be severely punished.
"Long live the Empire!"
"Oh, the mage lords have done us a great favor!"
"What are you saying? It's all Lord Aileen's credit. If it weren't for her, where would the non-toxic mallow come from?"
"Right, right!"
"Long live Lord Aileen!"
Along with the promulgation of the Kevill Empire's new welfare project, Aileen's name once again caused a sensation throughout the Kevill Empire!
Countless commoners flooded Aileen's personal space with frantic messages, some singing her praises, some expressing gratitude, some offering commendations, and some even wanting to build a shrine to worship her!
For a time, Aileen's name was almost on par with the three great mage lords!
At this moment, Aileen, the person involved, lay in her simple private dormitory, looking at the constantly increasing messages of thanks in her personal space, her dark face flushing deeply.
She had never imagined that a wild vegetable would attract such widespread attention and praise!
Amidst all the commendations, it was impossible not to feel pleased and excited.
But within this pleasure, another emotion was tormenting her.
She knew she didn't deserve this great honor.
The non-toxic mallow was cultivated by her using the theories taught by Mr. Ajef. It could be said that if Mr. Ajef was willing to try differentiating the mallow's traits, he could also cultivate it, perhaps even better than her.
Furthermore, the two variant mallows, "spiral-leaf" and "broad-leaf," were not cultivated by her, but were cultivated by Mr. Ajef based on the white-flowered wrinkled seed.
She didn't know why Mr. Ajef had the empire announce that she had cultivated it, but she knew that this immense credit did not belong to her.