The core content of the announcement was clear and uncompromising: the guild was officially assuming temporary administrative control over Mute Wind Town, and all produce within the town and surrounding areas for several miles would fall entirely under the authority of Branch Leader Fal.
The announcement also outlined specific measures for Mute Wind Town’s future. On one hand, they would dispatch specialists to investigate the current situation within the dungeon. On the other hand, they would clear roads around Mute Wind Town and its vicinity, demarcate clear mushroom cultivation zones, and assign guild-appointed personnel to handle unified harvesting and management.
If adventurers still wished to collect mushrooms, they would have to either enter the dungeon or venture deep into the forest beyond the current management zone.
And that wasn’t all—the announcement stated that as development progressed, this management zone might continue to expand.
For the common folk, the response to this measure was relatively calm, even containing a hint of anticipation.
Though they had lost the freedom to forage on their own, Leader Fal’s continued provision of relief food made them believe these centrally managed mushrooms would ultimately benefit the refugees.
Moreover, if large-scale mushroom field planning truly proceeded as the announcement claimed, the massive labor requirements would inevitably fall to them—the common people—rather than the adventurers accustomed to living on the edge. This would essentially provide stable livelihoods for some of them.
After all, in the original free-for-all gathering, they could never compete with those adventurers anyway.
Conversely, this undoubtedly harmed the adventurers’ interests.
While this measure wouldn’t affect the adventurers’ survival, it would prevent them from continuing to earn this easy money as they had been doing.
Having the fat meat snatched from their mouths would make anyone’s eyes red with envy, so they had to protest here and now!
Of course, this boldness relied entirely on the cover of strength in numbers—adventurers had always been the most astute at reading the situation.
Fal knew perfectly well that he need not actually concern himself with this clamor. He could simply push forward forcefully—anyone who dared jump out would be arrested for contempt of the Duke and the guild, helping them recall whether the ducal house legally possessed such authority.
This was also Fal’s expected method of handling things. Though it would offend adventurers and damage his reputation somewhat, it would produce immediate results.
But Miss Inanna indicated she had a “more persuasive” approach.
Inanna hadn’t revealed the details. Fal didn’t harbor much expectation for this Duke’s daughter who had no proven achievements, but since she represented the Saint-Clair family, if she wanted to try something, Fal could only accommodate her.
The worst-case scenario would be her bungling things and escalating the conflict—then he could step forward to clean up the mess.
From another perspective, if she truly made a mess of things, Fal could naturally gain more initiative in subsequent actions.
Under the protection of her guards and Puffshrooms, Inanna walked onto the hastily constructed platform.
The moment her figure appeared, the boiling voices in the camp quickly receded, leaving only the sound of suppressed breathing.
All the adventurers’ gazes focused on this Duke’s daughter, waiting for her explanation.
“Fellow adventurers,” Inanna’s clear voice pierced the air distinctly, reaching everyone’s ears, “you should not be so dissatisfied. This land, without question, belongs to my Saint-Clair family.”
She paused slightly, her gaze sweeping over the restless crowd below. “As for this mycelial mat, it belongs to me, and I naturally possess absolute authority to dispose of it. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that you have all been harvesting mushrooms without permission, and I have never held you accountable.”
“Hah?”
“What did she say?”
“The mycelial mat grew from the dungeon—how did it become yours? On what grounds? Based on that ‘Puffshroom King’ beside you who’s been away from the dungeon for so long?”
Most of the adventurers present had heard about the “Puffshroom King,” but none believed that possessing a puffshroom that had been taken away long ago could represent Inanna’s ownership of the mycelial mat. Questioning voices surged again.
“These crude creatures!” Faced with these questioning voices directed at the young miss, a guard’s face turned iron-blue. His hand moved to his sword hilt, wanting to drag out a few of the loudest troublemakers to make an example of them, but Inanna stopped him.
Fal stood in the shadows slightly behind, his brow furrowing.
He agreed with Inanna’s claim of territorial ownership, but directly declaring the mycelial mat as personal property was far too likely to provoke public outrage. Did this young lady really think others would simply accept it just because she said so?
Fal gestured for Mirabelle to approach—he was already prepared to step forward and clean up Inanna’s mess.
Facing the questioning, Inanna simply picked up Knight Puffshrooms and calmly walked down from the platform, heading straight for a mycelial mat area at the camp’s edge that had recently spread nearby.
Everyone’s gaze followed her. The adventurers looked at each other in confusion, not understanding what she intended to do. Was she going to declare ownership and then just leave?
Inanna stopped at the edge of the mycelial mat, faced the crowd, and declared loudly: “First, it’s not called the ‘Puffshroom King’! Its name is ‘Knight’!”
She raised the Knight Puffshrooms in her arms high, her voice suddenly rising, proclaiming with unquestionable authority: “Second, this mycelial mat does indeed belong to me! And the proof is—”
Before her words finished, she suddenly thrust Knight Puffshrooms toward the mycelial mat!
*Pop pop pop—*
An incredible scene unfolded!
Under everyone’s horrified gazes, the mycelial mat behind Inanna seemed to be infused with life!
With her position as the center, countless mushrooms appeared as if catalyzed by invisible hands, like ripples suddenly spreading across water, bursting forth from the mat in eager succession!
They didn’t emerge sporadically, but surged forth madly in patches and clusters, expanding!
In less than half a minute, the entire visible mycelial mat area had been completely covered by a thick, luxuriant layer of mushrooms dense enough to suffocate!
Mushrooms of various colors crowded together, their density far exceeding the limits of natural growth, with no shortage of the highly coveted delicious red mushrooms scattered throughout!
The entire camp fell into dead silence for a moment.
The adventurers who had been clamoring just moments before were struck speechless, staring dumbfounded at that seemingly miraculous mycelial mat, and at Inanna and Knight Puffshrooms standing before it.
Even Fal’s mouth hung slightly open, unable to hide the extreme shock on his face.
Those with some knowledge might guess it was some kind of powerful natural magic artifact, but someone like Fal, who truly understood natural magic, instantly dismissed this possibility.
Even with natural magic, achieving the effect before their eyes would require at least a personal appearance by an elven Archmage—this was clearly not something any ordinary magic artifact could accomplish.
At this moment, a somewhat absurd thought floated through everyone’s minds: This mycelial mat… really is hers?!
“Hmph!” Seeing the speechless crowd, Inanna’s lips curved in an arc as she let out a soft snort.
The satisfaction in her heart nearly overflowed—just now, the boss had praised her for performing very well!
