Chapter 36

In fact, Tang En still underestimated the impact of the mint candies on Fiona.

He felt it was just a small change, but for the locals of Plandar, it was an unprecedented innovation.

The wonderful transformation produced by the combination of the sweetness of the candy and the cool, refreshing mint instantly conquered this young girl.

Tang En asked, "Do you have any plans for these mint candies?"

"Can they be mass-produced?"

"The production process isn't difficult, but it depends on the supply of raw materials. Sugar is fine, but mint plants haven't been widely cultivated here yet. Relying on those by the river, we can probably only produce one batch. More than that won't be possible."

After considering for a moment, Fiona said, "If we can, we can set up a workshop to hire workers to produce mint candies. For sales, I can contact the former peripheral members of the Golden Rose family and reorganize a chamber of commerce to operate it."

Tang En raised an eyebrow, "The Golden Rose family has already disbanded. Will they be willing to come if you find them?"

Fiona was very confident, "As long as there's profit and a promising future, I believe they will be willing to come."

"Alright, I'll leave this to you. Write to those people first, and then issue an announcement in my name to encourage the residents of Ellington to collect and plant mint. We can buy it at one silver coin per kilogram, but they must protect the riverbank and not dig or harvest recklessly."

Fiona looked puzzled, "One kilogram?"

Tang En slapped his forehead, "I forgot to tell you, this is the unit of weight I've established... Well, never mind, I'll prepare a set of standard tools and new measurement standards for you. Release them along with the announcement, and from now on, all statistical standards within Ellington will follow this set."

"I understand. Is there anything else?"

"Nothing for now."

"Good... I want more! Give me more!"

Before leaving, Fiona stretched out her white, small hand, like a greedy little girl. She had fallen in love with the taste after just one piece.

She felt that after eating the mint candy, her mouth felt much fresher.

Tang En laughed, "Eat too much sugar, and you'll get cavities."

"Cavities? What are cavities?"

"Um... Forget it, I'll make you a toothbrush."

Tang En then used the remaining horsehair to make a toothbrush for Fiona. As for the handle, poor World Tree branch...

"What's this?"

"A toothbrush, for cleaning your teeth."

Tang En demonstrated with his own toothbrush, and Fiona immediately understood its function, her eyes lighting up, "What a great thing!"

Even if she didn't know the benefits of brushing teeth for oral health, she knew how uncomfortable it was to have something stuck in her teeth. With this toothbrush, brushing her teeth would make her mouth much more comfortable.

"I'll give it to you."

Tang En casually threw the toothbrush to Fiona.

After Fiona left, Tang En immediately made a set of standard tools for her using iron ingots, including a meter stick, a set of weights, a simple balance, and the names of the units of measurement along with a few simple calculation formulas.

With these tools, Tang En no longer had to worry about unit issues within Ellington.

After finishing these, Tang En looked at the remaining mint candies and thought of Ilia. He had jokingly promised to give her a lollipop, and now, though he didn't have lollipops, he did have mint candies.

Since he had nothing else to do, Tang En put some mint candies away and packed the rest in a small bag, planning to give them to Ilia.

Just as he went downstairs, he saw Tina cleaning. Tang En greeted her, "Hey, Tina, still busy?"

"Lord."

Tina turned and bowed to Tang En. Although she still felt a bit resentful, she had thought it through.

The matter was actually very simple: Lord was a good person who saw her tired and wanted her to rest. She, however, had overthought it...

All the misunderstandings were because she had overthought it.

Lord probably didn't even know about the misunderstanding...

Tina secretly glanced at Tang En and saw him rummaging in a bag.

"Stretch out your hand."

"Ah?"

Tina was taken aback, and before she knew it, her hand was holding a dozen round sugar balls.

"These are mint candies I made. Take them and eat them."

Tang En waved his hand, and by the time Tina came to her senses, he was already gone.

Sugar balls?

Tina was puzzled. She hesitated for a moment, then pinched one and put it in her mouth.

Then...

A bolt of lightning flashed through her mind! The stimulating and cool taste spread in her mouth, and in an instant, the maid was moved to tears by the strange taste.

Is this poison? It must be poison!

What did I do wrong? Why does Lord want to poison me?

Tina started to overthink, standing there dumbfounded.

It took her a long time to come to her senses.

"Huh... I didn't die?"

Tina blinked, then froze again.

The taste in her mouth had changed from initially stimulating to soft, becoming a very peculiar but captivating taste.

"Mint candies...?"

Tina found that she had fallen in love with this thing in an instant. She carefully held the mint candies and found her good friends, sharing them with them.

"Wow!" Marin exclaimed, covering her head, "I feel like there's a bolt of lightning in my brain!"

"I feel like I'm frozen! So cool!"

"It's magic, it must be some kind of magic!"

"So amazing, so captivating! Tina, did Lord really make this?"

"Yes," Tina nodded vigorously, "Lord said it's called mint candy."

"Any more? I want to take one for my brother."

"My sister wants one too!"

"Me too!"

Tina didn't expect everyone to be so enthusiastic. In a moment, the large handful of mint candies that Tang En had given her was completely divided.

"These... These are for me... I... I want to keep them and eat them slowly..."

Tina was on the verge of tears, but seeing everyone's happy faces, she sighed and quickly let it go, happily discussing with everyone.

They discussed the mint candies, discussed Lord, Lord's kindness, Lord's wisdom, and Lord's gossip...

Tang En, of course, didn't know he was being discussed by the maids. He wandered out of the lord's residence and was stunned.

He didn't know where Ilia lived.

"Right, I'll ask Edgar."

Tang En clapped his hands and ran to Edgar's blacksmith shop.

As soon as he entered, he heard Brian shouting, "You're too slow! Speed up! We won't finish by the day after tomorrow! Humans are really troublesome!"

"You're making the molds, and you're giving me all the work, of course it's slow!"

Edgar was full of complaints but didn't dare to argue with Brian. He suddenly saw Tang En and was taken aback, "Lord, why are you here again? Don't worry, the task will definitely be completed."

Tang En looked at the half-finished products on the ground. In just an hour, over a hundred had been made. He estimated that there was still plenty of time, so he smiled, "I know, there's still plenty of time. Don't overwork yourself."

Edgar flexed his muscles and chuckled, "Thank you, Lord, I'm fine."

"Um, do you know where Ilia lives?"

"Ilia? The orphan girl with a bit of a reclusive personality?"

"Orphan?"

"Yes, no one knows who her parents are. When the townspeople found her, she was in the forest on the west side of town."

Edgar scratched his head, "After bringing her back to town, strange things kept happening around her, so people gradually distanced themselves from her, and her personality became very reclusive."

"Strange things?"

"Yes, strange lights, eerie whispers, and even people getting injured. Some people thought she was a harbinger of misfortune and wanted to drive her away." At this point, Edgar's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly added, "But that's all in the past. Since the Aberdon couple adopted her, with Elsa's company, she has become much more lively."

"I see..."

Tang En pondered for a moment and asked, "Where does Elsa live?"

Edgar pointed, "Go out and walk about two hundred steps along this road, and it's on the right."

Tang En nodded and then turned and left.

Ilia was an orphan and had been treated unfairly as a child, so it was normal for her to be reclusive. In fact, it would be abnormal for her to be lively now, thanks to Elsa's influence.

However, the strange phenomena Edgar mentioned were probably due to Ilia's affinity for magic. The elements around her were too concentrated, and without knowing how to control them, strange things would happen. If a mage had seen her, they would have taken her as a disciple long ago. Unfortunately, in Ellington, adventurers were rare, let alone mages, so Ilia was treated as a monster.

What a poor little thing...

Tang En shook his head and came to Elsa's house.

"Hey? Big brother!?"

Before he could knock, he heard Ilia's surprised voice. He turned and saw the cute little girl sitting in the yard, washing clothes with a basin of water.

The residents of Plandar matured early, but it was too harsh to make a little girl like Ilia wash clothes, right?

Tang En frowned.

"Cough... Ilia, who's here?"

A woman's voice came from inside.

Ilia said brightly, "It's big brother—Lord big brother."

"Lord?"

The woman was a bit surprised and then said, "I'm very sorry, Lord. I'm Elsa's mother, Clara. I'm not feeling well, so I can't welcome you..."

I see! Because she's not feeling well, Ilia is helping out.

Tang En understood, patted Ilia's head, and thought what a good girl she was!