Sophia has been waking up from crying for days on end.

Since the death of her parents, Uncle Oliver has been her only relative. Although she had an uncle, she didn't want to go back to her father's family, and the fat-brained merchants would only count everything as gold, and I was afraid that in their eyes she was nothing more than a pile of gold coins that could walk.

After a few days of grief, Sophia began to think about her future plans.

As a good friend of her uncle, Duke Violet once wrote to her, saying that he could bring her back to Thunder City to take care of her.

But she eventually refused.

In addition to going to the Western Continent to study for two years, Sophia has been living in the fortress since the death of her parents, not to mention feelings, and she has long been used to it.

She wasn't worried that the new lord would drive her away, after all, it was Uncle Fairmont's son-in-law and Veronica's fiancé, so it was a bit of a relationship, not to mention that she was confident that she had a lot of experience in magic, which was a big help for the fortress.

Sophia woke up early this day and decided to sweep away the gloom and start her life again.

However, as soon as she finished putting on her makeup to cover the faint dark circles under her eyes, her maid hurried over.

"Miss, you...... It looks like your wheat is about to be plucked by your lord. ”

"What?"

Sophia, who had just regained her spirits, was immediately hit by a thunderbolt from the sky.

……

To the west of Winterfell, at the foot of the Dragonspine Mountains.

Colin looked at the large green wheat seedlings in front of him thoughtfully.

Several apprentices are measuring the size of the fields and collecting the soil under his instructions.

Because the fortress is built on the mountain range, the nearby terrain is rugged, and it is rare to have some flat land, which is also dominated by rocks, and the quantity and quality of the soil are not up to par, coupled with the high altitude and cold temperatures, the food production of Winterfell has been very sluggish.

After inspecting his surroundings for the past few days, Colin set his sights on this piece of flat land that had obviously been artificially repaired.

The soil and size here are just what he wants.

But it has already been taken preceded.

Just as he was thinking about whose masterpiece these wheat seedlings were, he heard a movement behind him, and then he heard a female voice: "My lord! Lord Vane! ”

"Miss Sophia?"

Colin recognized the girl in front of him as Sophia, the niece of Duke Oliver.

Since taking over the fortress, the two have actually met a few times in the castle, but because one is immersed in sadness and the other is busy with various affairs, they just say hello to each other.

Seeing the girl in the magic robe hurriedly running over, Colin immediately understood who the land belonged to.

"My lord, are you going to pull out these seedlings?" Sophia, who rushed all the way down from the fortress, still looked out of breath even with the help of wind magic.

"That's true, Miss Sophia." Colin did not deny it.

"Yes...... Why, the wheat will ripen in half a year. Sophia said in a hurried tone.

Colin looked at her a few times and said with a smile: "Miss Sophia, did you grow this wheat?" ”

"Yes...... Yes. ”

As a noble lady, she works in the field herself, although Sophia herself doesn't care about this kind of thing, but she is also afraid that it will affect her uncle's reputation, but now the lord asks, it is meaningless to deny it, after all, many people in the castle know about it, not to mention that if you don't tell the truth, the fruits of your hard work for half a year will be burned.

"Who planted it for you?" Colin asked again.

"I'm alone." Sophia Road.

"You're alone?" Colin was stunned by this answer.

There are 10 acres of land here, about the size of a standard football field, and she can sow seeds alone as a young girl, even if she is a magician.

"Yes."

Sophia seemed to let go, and said: "Not only the wheat, but also this land was leveled by me, removing rocks, sprinkling water to fix the soil, turning the soil and plowing the land, all of which I did by myself. ”

Colin was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "Then your earth-based magic attainments must be very good." ”

"Also...... Okay. Sophia was a little confused by this question, I don't know if it was a joke, and then reacted and immediately said, "So, my lord, why are you pulling out these wheat seedlings?" ”

Colin didn't answer, but asked, "Miss Sophia, these are all winter wheat that has been modified by germs." ”

"Yes." Sophia was stunned for a moment and asked, "How do you know?" ”

"Such green wheat seedlings can grow in this environment, but ordinary wheat does not have this ability."

"You have such a good eye."

"May I ask, where did you learn the embryo modification technique? This is already considered high-end research in the biology of magic. Colin looked curiously at the badge on her chest, confirming that the Duke's niece was just a beginner magician.

"I studied in the Principality of Brighton for two years, studying at Cambriggi High School of Magic, Department of Magical Biology, majoring in Magical Plants, and the tutor was the Grand Magician His Excellency Stanley Bennett."

"Oh......"

Colin was slightly taken aback.

In the information he obtained in Thunder City, although Sophia was also mentioned, it was not so detailed.

It turned out that the duke's niece was still a "returnee".

The Duchy of Brighton, the Blue Alliance, and Gilman belong to the same first echelon, and Cambrigis High School of Magic is one of the top two universities in Brighton, and it is also a top ten high magic school in the entire continent, as for Stanley Bennett, although Colin has heard of it, he only knows that he is a great magician who specializes in the earth department.

No wonder he has the ability to carry out germ transformation, a high-achieving student from a prestigious school.

Such a talent is a bit condescending to the Twilight Fortress.

"This wheat is my graduation project, and I hope to be able to adapt it to the cold environment and soil on this side of the fortress through modification, as long as this time is successful, after a few more screening cultivation, it may only take 8 years...... No, 6 years, it only takes 6 years to completely solve the food problem in the fortress. ”

The more Sophia talked, the more excited she became, and she even danced a little later.

Magically modifying seeds and soil to influence plant growth is not unimaginable in this world, but it is not easy.

This kind of transformation is often carried out with a high degree of precision and purpose.

For example, Sophia's experiment, if successful, could indeed bring a huge increase in wheat production to the fortress, but even if it was successful, this wheat would only be effective in the vicinity, and could not be grown anywhere else.

That's why the continent can't use this approach to increase food production.

On the one hand, there are technical problems, and on the other hand, there is also a mismatch between costs and benefits.

A scholar at the level of a great magician, spending a few years, can only make a certain crop in the land of a barony abundant, this kind of cost-effective research, obviously impossible to promote on a large scale.

After listening to Sophia's bold words, Colin waited for the other party's emotions to calm down, and said:

"Miss Sophia, what you have done is admirable, and as the current lord of Xiaya, I must express my gratitude to you."

"So, sir, you're not going to pull out these sprouts anymore." Sophia was instantly relieved.

The next moment, however, she heard Colin Vane reply:

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to pull them out, and there's not a single one left."