Wizard Farming Guide

Chapter 5 Wishing for the Future

In the past, Rod actually had many opportunities to make money.

Leaving aside the distant past, let's just talk about the essential oil extracted from this lavender field in the garden.

Even ignoring its most important ability to resist infection, its unique fragrance, which relaxes the mind and body, is enough to make it popular among the kingdom's upper-class nobles and earn Rhodes a lot of gold coins.

Unfortunately, he couldn't upgrade his wizarding progress by spending money. Given his status as the second son, the risks of making money far outweighed the rewards.

If the church or others were to discover the magical traces in the lavender, it would be quite a problem.

Rhodes looked down at the garden and shook his head. The sale of luxury goods requires publicity and promotion, and it was definitely too late now.

Instead, we should think about which noble families our father might be able to attract investment from.

Why don't we go to the capital and try to get on the king's good side? After all, we're family, so he should be willing to let us into the palace, right?

Rhodes wasn't quite sure; his father, Duke Bert, didn't seem to have a good relationship with the King either, and he was always in a bad mood whenever he left the palace.

This time, he came back and kicked himself out of his home, leaving him in the North.

The most direct way would be to demonstrate the knight's strength and persuade Duke Bert to increase his investment and provide more gold coins.

It's easy for his self-image to swing from one extreme to the other.

Throughout the kingdom's history, there have been many tragedies where second sons harbored treacherous ambitions, concealed their true strength, and turned against their elder brothers after the lord's death, engaging in a power struggle and ultimately leading to the decline and destruction of the entire family.

Rhodes had no objection to his brother Anthony inheriting the Sword Tomb, but his father might not think so.

Duke Bert clearly had a strong aversion to the throne.

After thinking it over, Rhodes decided that going to the capital, Fuxing City, would be more reliable.

Just as he was pondering which wealthy relatives in Fuxing City he could use to play the victim, a golden figure below was waving happily at Rhodes.

Upon seeing the petite and adorable girl in the garden, Rhodes' mood improved, and he walked down from the castle with a smile.

With her royal-inspired golden hair, slightly curled at the ends, and two meticulously braided pigtails hanging down on either side of her chest, the girl had delicate features, wore a flower crown, and a white dress with a blue waist belt. She skipped and hopped towards Rhodes.

There are two boys and one girl in Rod's family this generation. The girl in front of him is his younger sister Alice, who is twelve years old this year.

Because they spent a lot of time together at home, Rod and she had a very good relationship.

Alice's most striking feature is her pale gold eyes, inherited from her mother and the king of the northern barbarians, which resemble the color of some ancient behemoth.

Rhodes and Antony both had royal blue eyes, while only Alice inherited her mother's.

This was not good news. The kingdom's nobles looked down on these eyes with disdain and rejection, harboring deep-seated prejudice.

"Rhodes, why are you going to the North?!"

When Alice came to Rhodes, she changed her cheerful and cute demeanor.

She stood on tiptoe, puffed out her cheeks angrily, and pinched his cheek.

It wasn't forceful; it felt quite comfortable to be gently squeezed by her soft little hands, so Rod didn't stop her.

"Your wreath is about to fall off."

Alice, who is 1.4 meters tall, stood on tiptoe and tilted her head back to look Rhodes straight in the eye, causing the woven flower wreath on her head to slip down.

Rod reached out to help her back. "Rose, huh? Looks like the cat chewed up Mother's garden this time."

"Don't change the subject!" Alice's puffed-up cheeks turned slightly red.

"The North is too dangerous, the people there are fierce, can we not go?"

"I'll have to go out sooner or later." Rhodes gripped the scabbard of his sword. "The North is our homeland. They'll welcome me. I'll build a bigger castle there. If you're ever unhappy, you can come and stay with me."

"We're quite happy living here," Alice said, her voice trailing off as she looked into Rhodes's determined eyes.

Remembering her father's attitude, she knew Rod was right.

As Rhodes gets older, his situation in the castle will only become more and more awkward.

Under her mother's guidance, she herself will likely leave the castle and marry into another territory in a few years.

Remembering the piercingly disgusted looks those nobles had given her, Alice's pouting lips deflated, and she let go, pushing Rhodes toward the castle.

"Where are you taking me?" Rod asked, puzzled as she pushed him.

Seeing that she did not answer, Rhodes had no choice but to let her lead him to the innermost living room of the castle.

This is Alice's bedroom. Looking at the familiar and cute art style in the room, and the wooden sign at the door, Rod felt a little nostalgic.

After Alice turned ten, because she often fiddled with various strange plants in her room, many of which were poisonous, Rhodes forbade her from entering his room.

Six-year-old Alice was naturally angry, and angrily hung a sign on the bedroom door that said Rod was not allowed in, along with a drawing of an angry child sticking out his tongue.

Rod flipped the blank wooden sign over to the other side and, sure enough, saw the childish and cute drawing. He laughed out loud.

Alice, who was barefoot and kneeling on the edge of the bed searching for something, turned around and saw this scene. She quickly ran over and kicked him.

"Don't laugh! You naughty Rod, come here right now." After pulling Rod inside, Alice peeked out and, seeing no one outside, quickly closed the door.

"Why are you being so mysterious?" Rod followed her to her bedside.

Alice then moved a wooden box out from behind the bed.

This is an exquisite wooden box made of walnut wood, with its surface inlaid with exquisite ivory reliefs.

"Building a castle costs a lot of money, so here you go." Alice pushed the wooden box towards him.

Curious, Rod opened the wooden box and found five gold coins placed on a red velvet cloth.

His sister was so rich? Rhodes was shocked. Even if he sold himself, he might not get five gold coins, let alone the sixty starting capital.

Just as he was about to express his gratitude, Rod quickly realized something was wrong.

He picked up a gold coin and examined it closely; it actually bore the portrait of his grandfather, William.

Due to commercial needs, the Kingdom of Rosa uniformly used the portrait of the first king on its gold coins, with very few exceptions.

When a king establishes a great achievement that is celebrated by the world, a special commemorative gold coin will be issued that year, which will only be available for one year.

William Hill gold coins are a prime example. With a gold content of 95%, compared to only 10% for ordinary gold coins of the same size, one William Hill gold coin can be exchanged for ten ordinary gold coins.

Rhodes looked ahead, his expression turning serious.

Fifty gold coins—that's a number Alice couldn't possibly accumulate with her allowance.

Then he noticed that there was another layer in the wooden box, and after opening the next layer, he instantly understood the situation.

Inside were various precious jewels, the most eye-catching of which was a small and exquisite platinum crown.

This contains Alice's dowry!

"You can't just give this away like that?" Rod felt touched, but amused, and put the gold coin back. "When your mother gave you the contents, she must have given you some instructions, right?"

"I know," Alice said, looking at him earnestly. "Mom said we should use them when we need them most."

Your mother's intention is that after you get married, you will be able to win over the people below you, so that you won't be left without anyone to use. This is a necessary course for aristocratic women before marriage.

He was thinking to himself, but Rod didn't say anything. Suddenly, his hand, which was holding the gold coins, stopped.

That would be at least two years from now. What will I be like then?

He didn't think he would die in the North.

After meeting Alice's pure and sincere pale gold eyes, Rhodes changed his mind.

He picked up the five William coins from the first tier and returned the wooden box to Alice.

He then found a pen and paper on the table next to him and started writing something on it.

Alice was pleased to see him accept the gold coins, but then Rhodes’s writing reminded her of the men who had borrowed money from her father.

After a moment of surprise, she pouted, her eyes revealing grievance and unhappiness.

"Here, take this." Rod handed her the note.

Alice took it with a hum, but the hurt in her eyes quickly turned into confusion, and she tilted her head cutely to look at him.

"Wish tickets?"

"That's right, 'Rhodes's Wish Ticket,' you can use it to make any wish come true in the future." Rhodes smiled and rubbed her little head.

"What? You're treating me like a child."

Alice rolled her eyes at him, but her expression turned cheerful as she happily put the wishing ticket into the wooden box.

(End of this chapter)