I Pioneered Scientific Magic

The wizards have occupied the southern and central regions of the kingdom for only a little over a year. Even if they started cultivating the land from that time, how much food could they produce?

Mortan firmly believed that these five thousand tons of wheat must be the council's last inventory, and releasing them all at once now was meant to intimidate them!

The news from the workshops must have been intentionally leaked to throw them off balance!

After all, Mortan had never heard of any supper, and how could those wizards suddenly show kindness and allow the laborers to have an extra meal in the midst of a food shortage?

This must be deliberately misleading them!

Under Mortan's analysis, Bell and the others clung to this last straw of hope. Whether they wanted to believe it or not, they had to!

However, they soon realized another problem.

Buying five thousand tons of grain at the current price would cost a whopping two hundred and fifty thousand imperial gold coins!

This was tantamount to their demise!

Now that everyone's assets were either mortgaged or spent on buying grain previously, where could they find so much money?

With this realization, Held and the others began to waver.

Understanding that if he didn't set an example, the noble alliance would collapse today, Mortan gritted his teeth and said, "Mortgage my estate, it should be able to raise twenty thousand imperial gold coins!"

"Everyone, now it's a matter of life and death! Think about it, as long as we can get through this, the grain in our hands can exchange for endless wealth. But if we fail, the accumulations of generations will be lost..."

Motivated by Mortan's words, the nobles reluctantly began to liquidate what little property they had left. After all, taking a step back would lead to an abyss, but perhaps taking one step further could grant them everything!

They had to take this gamble!

About half an hour later, more than forty nobles managed to scrape together the two hundred and fifty thousand gold coins. Mortan immediately dispatched his trusted confidants to ride airships to all the major cities of the kingdom and buy up all five thousand tons of grain!

After exhausting their remaining resources, not a single noble left the secret chamber. Everyone anxiously awaited news.

They waited for about an hour before a guard walked in from outside.

"How is it? Has chaos erupted in the capital?" Held and the others immediately surrounded him, eager for answers.

However, Mortan understood that it had only been an hour, and his trusted men sent to buy grain should still be on their way.

Or perhaps the wizards couldn't hold on any longer and were willing to negotiate...

The guard who entered didn't answer the nobles' questions but tremblingly handed over a newspaper. "Lord Mortan, this is today's Magic Daily..."

As Mortan gazed at the guard's fearful expression, a sense of unease surged within him. He snatched the Magic Daily from the guard's hand and began to read.

Upon seeing the prominent, deliberately enlarged headline on the front page, Mortan's pupils contracted, his blood surged uncontrollably, and he felt a rush of anger, causing him to faint on the spot.

"Lord Mortan..."

The nobles present were shocked. Bell quickly snatched the Magic Daily, scanned it, and felt a chill creeping up from the soles of his feet to his heart. With a horrified shout, he said, "Quick, send someone to bring back all those who purchased grain!"

...

Five minutes ago, in the City of Fire Oil, within the newly built Wizard Academy.

Ivina scooped out about ten kilograms of wheat from a wooden box storing grain, wrapped it securely in coarse cloth, and prepared to leave.

"Are you going to sell wheat at the granary again?" Monroe, who was praying in the living room, suddenly opened his eyes and called out to the girl preparing to leave.

"Yes, the wizards lowered the price of grain again yesterday. I think there might be some deeper meaning to it," Ivina replied casually.

"Deeper meaning? It's probably because the council is running out of funds, isn't it?" Monroe sneered.

Thanks to Ivina's covert investigations, he also 'understood' the reason why those wizards could hold out in the food war until now!

The council was using low prices to buy back the meager stocks of grain from the poor, supporting this food war and maintaining basic dignity!

But this was only a temporary measure. It wouldn't last long!

Monroe even believed that today would be the day those wizards would reveal their true colors, and the five thousand tons of wheat should be their last inventory.

Ivina pursed her lips. Her thoughts differed from Monroe's, but she didn't intend to argue. After picking up the ten kilograms of wheat, she left.

No one stopped or questioned her along the way. After all, it wasn't her first time selling grain, and there had been many others buying and selling wheat during this time.

Many wizards saw this as a chance to make a big profit, but lacking enough space to store grain and unable to compete with the wealthy merchants and nobles, they could usually only buy low and sell high to make a profit.

When Ivina arrived at the granary, there was a long line. Despite the council's daily decrease in the purchase price of wheat, the number of people selling grain continued to increase!

This surprised Ivina. After all, the difference between the wizards' purchase price and the market price was a whopping five thousand times!

In other words, selling ten kilograms of wheat to the council would only yield one copper coin, while selling to the various large grain merchants could fetch a whole fifty silver coins!

Maintaining silence for nearly a month, Ivina finally couldn't help but ask the question.

After hearing the girl's question, the townspeople waiting in line in front of the granary cast extremely envious glances at Ivina. It wasn't until Susan, who wrapped a little old grain in tattered clothes, sighed and spoke.

"You've never experienced famine, have you, my lord wizard?"