The core content of the announcement was clear and forceful: the Guild had officially taken temporary control over the actual management rights of Silentwind Town. All production within the town and the surrounding area for several miles would be entirely allocated by Branch Guildmaster Fahl.
The announcement also laid out specific follow-up measures. On one hand, personnel would be dispatched to investigate the current state of the Dungeon. On the other, they would clear roads in and around Silentwind Town, designate specific areas as mushroom growth zones, and assign Guild-appointed staff to oversee harvesting and management.
If adventurers still wanted to collect mushrooms, they would either have to enter the Dungeon or venture deep into the forests beyond the new management range.
And that wasn’t all. The announcement added that this management range might continue expanding in the future.
For ordinary townsfolk, the response was relatively calm, with even a faint trace of anticipation.
Though they lost the freedom to gather mushrooms on their own, Fahl’s ongoing relief-food distributions made them believe that the mushrooms under centralized control would likely benefit the refugees in the end.
Moreover, if large-scale mushroom fields were truly to be planned as the announcement claimed, the massive labor needed would inevitably come from these townsfolk rather than adventurers used to living by the blade. This, in effect, would provide many of them with a stable livelihood.
After all, in the previous free-for-all, they could never compete against adventurers anyway.
On the other hand, this was without doubt a blow to the adventurers’ profits.
It wouldn’t affect their survival, but it meant they could no longer make such easy money.Having fat meat snatched right out of their mouths, who wouldn’t get red-eyed with jealousy and rage? That was why they were protesting now!
Of course, their courage came from hiding in the crowd. Adventurers were always the best at judging the situation.
Fahl knew perfectly well he didn’t actually need to pay them any mind. He could just enforce the measures directly. Whoever dared to resist could be jailed for defying both the Duke and the Guild, and reminded of the laws confirming the Duke’s authority.
That was the straightforward solution Fahl had in mind. Though it would offend adventurers and cost some reputation, the effect would be immediate.
But Lady Inanna claimed she had a “more convincing” method.
She didn’t reveal the details. Fahl didn’t expect much from a duke’s daughter with no real accomplishments, but since she represented the St. Clair family, he had little choice but to indulge her.
At worst, she would bungle things and escalate the conflict. If that happened, he could step in to clean up the mess afterward.
In fact, if she really did mess things up, it would naturally grant him greater authority in the subsequent actions.
Under the protection of her guards and the Pujis, Inanna stepped onto the hastily constructed platform.
The moment she appeared, the uproar in the camp quickly faded, leaving only the sound of suppressed breathing.
All eyes turned toward the duke’s daughter, waiting for her words.
“Adventurers,” Inanna’s cool, clear voice carried effortlessly, reaching every ear. “You have no reason to be dissatisfied. This land, beyond any doubt, belongs to the St. Clair family.”
She paused briefly, her gaze sweeping across the restless crowd. “As for this Mycelium Carpet—it belongs to me. Naturally, I hold absolute authority over it. In fact, one could just as well say that all of you have been harvesting mushrooms without permission until now, and I have simply chosen not to hold you accountable.”
“What?”
“What did she say?”
“The Mycelium Carpet grows inside the Dungeon! How is it yours? On what basis? Just because of that so-called ‘King of Pujis’ that’s been away from the Dungeon for so long?”
Most of the adventurers had heard rumors of the “King of Pujis.” But none believed that possessing a Puji taken away so long ago could prove Inanna’s ownership of the Mycelium Carpet. The voices of doubt rose sharply again.
“You insolent rabble!” one guard snarled, his hand already on his sword, eager to drag out the loudest dissenters as an example. But Inanna stopped him.
Fahl frowned from the shadows behind.
He agreed with her claim to the land, but to declare the Mycelium Carpet as her personal property was too inflammatory. Did this young lady truly believe that simply saying it aloud would make others accept it?
With a gesture, he summoned Mirabelle, already preparing to step in and salvage things when Inanna inevitably failed.
But faced with the mounting doubts, Inanna calmly lifted the Knight Puji in her arms and descended from the platform. She walked straight toward a patch of Mycelium Carpet that had just spread near the camp.
Every gaze followed her. The adventurers exchanged confused looks. Was she just going to make her claim and walk away?
At the edge of the Mycelium Carpet, she turned to face the crowd and declared:
“First of all, it is not called the ‘King of Pujis’! Its name is Knight!”
She raised the Knight Puji high and her voice rang with authority: “Secondly, this Mycelium Carpet does indeed belong to me! And the proof is—”
Before she finished, she thrust the Knight Puji toward the Carpet.
Pop-pop-pop—
An unbelievable sight unfolded.
Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, the Mycelium Carpet behind Inanna seemed infused with life!
From the point where she stood, countless mushrooms erupted as if summoned by an invisible force, rippling outward like waves across water.
They didn’t just sprout sporadically—they surged forth in dense clusters, expanding wildly!
In less than half a minute, the Carpet was buried beneath a suffocating, flourishing mass of mushrooms!
Mushrooms of every variety crowded together, far beyond what natural growth could ever achieve. Among them gleamed the adventurers’ most coveted prize: the delicious red mushrooms!
The entire camp fell into dead silence.
The adventurers who had been shouting moments ago were struck dumb, staring wide-eyed at the miraculous Carpet, at Inanna, and at the Knight Puji.
Even Fahl’s mouth hung slightly open, shock plain on his face.
Those with some knowledge might have guessed it was a powerful natural magic artifact. But to Fahl, who truly understood natural magic, that was impossible.
Even with nature magic, achieving such an effect would require the personal intervention of a great elven archmage. No ordinary magical tool could accomplish this.
And so, the same thought surfaced in every mind, absurd yet undeniable: this Mycelium Carpet… really was hers?!
“Hmph!” Inanna’s lips curved into a smile as she gave a soft, triumphant snort.
Her heart was brimming with pride. After all, just now, her boss had praised her performance!