46: Shadow Vine

Night fell.

The main hall of Red River Fortress was bustling with activity, packed to the brim with dozens of people gathered together.

All the managers and scholars of the Red River Territory, along with the former village chiefs and Professionals at the level of Guard Army squad leaders, were assembled here.

The flesh of the Shadow Leopard had already been served on the dining tables, and everyone secretly salivated as they looked at the fragrant magic beast meat before them.

The flesh of a Silver Rank magic beast was a luxury that even nobles rarely enjoyed on ordinary days; today, they would all be able to feast to their hearts' content.

Renn stood up, holding a wine glass, and said, "Come, everyone, let us raise our glasses together and wish for our Red River Territory to become even more prosperous."

"May the territory become even more prosperous!"

One after another, everyone picked up their glasses to echo Renn's toast, drinking the fine wine in their cups in large gulps.

"Alright, everyone, enjoy the feast!"

"Don't be formal!"

With Renn's instruction, no one held back their appetite any longer and began to feast voraciously.

After a few bites of leopard meat, everyone felt a warmth in their stomachs, a surge of power flowing from their bellies to every part of their bodies.

Professionals like Ross and Wayne could eat a few more bites, but ordinary people like Fornal felt full after only a few; the energy contained within the leopard meat was so rich that they couldn't eat another bite.

While the crowd in the hall enjoyed the delicacies, all the soldiers in the military camp next to the castle were also eating cooked leopard meat.

In Red River Town, all the residents of the Red River Territory were also feasting; Renn had Fornal distribute sufficient fish and grain so that every resident could have a full meal.

Tonight, the aroma of meat drifted everywhere in the Red River Territory, and the sound of laughter and joy filled the air above the land.

In the hall, Kapdo and Cecilia, sitting by Renn's side, quietly watched the joyful scene before them.

Kapdo hadn't intended to come, but he couldn't resist Renn's persistent invitation, and since Cecilia also really wanted to attend such a gathering, he followed along to look after his precious granddaughter.

Cecilia loved these lively scenes where everyone ate and laughed happily; it made her feel very relaxed, as this was a collective activity she had rarely been able to participate in before.

Before this, she had mostly kept to herself while following Kapdo, rarely interacting with others; aside from her grandfather Kapdo, she had no friends.

Cecilia had never even dreamed of having such a happy gathering with so many people before.

Cecilia narrowed her eyes, smiling as she enjoyed this hard-won joyful atmosphere, her small hand secretly reaching out to grab a cup of wine; she had never drunk alcohol before and had always wanted to taste what it was like.

Kapdo casually slapped away Cecilia's small hand as it reached for the wine glass.

"Little Cecilia, you are still young; children cannot drink alcohol."

"I know, Grandfather!"

"Grandfather is so stingy!"

"Little Cecilia is ignoring you now, hmph!"

Cecilia pouted her lips indignantly and turned her head away.

Kapdo smiled and said nothing more.

At this moment, his thoughts were far more complex than Cecilia's, and the look he gave Renn had become much deeper; he had thought it would be a simple banquet, but Kapdo hadn't expected to see such a unique scene.

Kapdo possessed powerful spiritual strength; although he hadn't personally walked around outside, he could sense the general situation out there while observing the people in the hall.

Throughout the entire banquet, there wasn't a single noble besides Renn—everyone else was a commoner—and yet the main dish of the banquet was actually the flesh of a Shadow Leopard.

He found himself less and less able to understand this young Baron before him.

The flesh of a Silver Rank magic beast might not be much to the great nobles in Golden City or Rage Bear Fortress, but for a minor Baron like Renn, it was already extremely precious; Kapdo hadn't expected Renn to distribute this magic beast meat so casually as a reward.

Even after the Red River Territory had been struck by Fel Orcs and suffered a major blow, Renn remained ungrudging, one could even say he was generous to a fault.

"Is he lacking in guile, or are his schemes too deep?"

"This Baron is also excessively kind to the ordinary residents, distributing meat and grain; has the morality of the Northland nobles truly become so noble?"

Thinking of this, Kapdo laughed at himself and shook his head, dismissing his own conjecture.

"I didn't expect to encounter such an interesting and special Baron after being injured; if such a peculiar figure continues to develop like this, he will either perish early..."

"Or, sooner or later, his name will be known throughout the entire continent!"

The thoughts in Kapdo's mind multiplied, and his gaze as he looked at Renn became somewhat vacant.

Renn, who was sitting nearby, was baffled by Kapdo's stare, so he simply raised his wine glass to toast Kapdo.

"Master Kapdo, thank you for gracing my banquet with your presence despite your physical discomfort."

"I was able to defeat the Shadow Leopard and return alive this time largely because those two pieces of magic equipment played a crucial role; thank you for your help."

With that, Renn paid a solemn tribute to Kapdo and then drained the fine wine in his hand.

"Baron Renn, you are being too kind."

Kapdo responded politely to Renn, and the two then engaged in pleasant conversation as Renn recounted the process of his battle with the Shadow Leopard.

Cecilia, who was nearby, also pricked up her ears to listen, and soon everyone in the hall was curiously listening to Renn's narration of the battle with the Shadow Leopard.

Relaxed and happy times always pass quickly, and the banquet reached late night in the blink of an eye; after eating and drinking their fill, the crowd dispersed, and the Red River Territory returned to tranquility under the night sky.

Early the next morning, Renn went to the Derrick Family's Medicinal Herb Field inside the castle and took out the magic plants from his spatial ring, preparing to plant them in the field.

Time is frozen inside a spatial ring; items placed inside will not decay or lose energy, but they will not undergo any other changes either.

These magic plants could only continue to grow if they were planted in the field.

The Medicinal Herb Field before him had been established by the Derrick Family at the cost of considerable resources, with an area of only two mu; planted within it was the magic plant that the Derrick Family focused on cultivating—magic wolf grass.

magic wolf grass was the key to the Derrick Family's cultivation of the raging bears, and it was also the only magic plant in the blood of the magic wolf potion formula.

Currently, there wasn't much mature magic wolf grass in the Medicinal Herb Field; Renn had taken a batch of the already mature portion and given it to Cecilia for her to use in researching and upgrading the blood of the magic wolf formula.

In addition to the magic wolf grass, the Medicinal Herb Field also contained some magic plants collected by the Derrick Family in the past, numbering only a few dozen; the rest of the field was filled with ordinary medicinal herbs, which were basically auxiliary ingredients for the blood of the magic wolf.

Ordinarily, the Medicinal Herb Field was tended by a dedicated person, but the magic plants to be planted this time were unknown magic plants that had never been seen before; Old John, who was usually responsible for tending the Medicinal Herb Field, was unsure of his ability to plant them and was somewhat nervous.

Renn glanced at the apprehensive Old John and told him to go tend to the other magic plants, while he personally planted these special magic plants dug up from the Shadow Leopard's nest.

Renn found a vacant spot in the Medicinal Herb Field and planted all the magic plants from the spatial ring into it.

Not long after he finished, Renn discovered a problem.

The magic plants he had just planted were weakening and withering at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"What's going on?"

Startled, Renn hurriedly dug up all the newly planted magic plants and put them back into the spatial ring.

While Renn was busy, Cecilia also came to the Medicinal Herb Field.

"Brother Renn, you're busy so early?"

Seeing Renn hurriedly digging something up, Cecilia stepped forward to greet him.

"Eh?"

"Is this a shadow vine?"

Renn looked up at Cecilia, holding the last magic plant he had dug up in his hand.

"shadow vine?"

"Cecilia, you recognize this magic plant?"

Renn immediately became interested upon hearing the name Cecilia mentioned and handed the magic plant to her.