Chapter 93: Ch 93. Mysterious Rotting Fruits

Selena, of course, knew what her servant meant. The idea was to heal them immediately so that they would surely give her a reward. But before they brought her gold, silver, or other valuable treasures, Selena was asked to request one hectare of land as a reward.

That was actually a good idea. Selena’s treasure vault was now completely full and crammed. There were many gifts, including chests full of gold and silver, that she had collected over the past few days.

If she counted it all again, that gold and silver should be more than enough for a simple life. It seemed like changing the nature of her gifts was a good idea; she needed to secure her future with assets in the form of land so she could live comfortably.

"Yes, I’ll give it a try," said Selena, making Vee smile. "Hopefully they’ll give me some land for free after I heal them."

"Yes, Your Majesty. No pain, no gain."

Selena smiled slightly at that. It was true—she had to endure some hardship now so she could get what she wanted in the future.

"In that case, tonight I’ll ask Stevan one more time. If he really doesn’t want to, I can pass the third spot on to someone else. Whoever ends up with me will have to be prepared. Tonight I’m going to get a big reward."

***

"The Queen and her attendant went to our orchard? Why wasn’t I informed of that?" asked John, looking surprised.

"The Queen instructed us not to make a big deal out of her arrival; besides, not many people know she’s the Queen. Even though she was paraded through the village during the wedding and yesterday, it seems many of them really don’t know anything," Sovel said cautiously.

"The Queen just wants to sample a few types of fruit to make a drink—nothing else, Your Majesty. It seems she’s also tired of drinking plain water every day. So just let her spend some time there without us disturbing her; she’ll definitely head home afterward. You mustn’t go anywhere—the Minister of Trade is coming to discuss the harvest cycle at all the orchards."

Jhon, upon hearing this, immediately snorted in anger. "Fine, call him in here. I’m in no mood to meet with a bunch of ministers, so just switch the meeting room to my private office," he said, causing Sovel to nod.

Jhon remained seated with a sour expression as Sovel left to summon the Minister of Trade.

He didn’t really care much about the discussion regarding the harvest. For years, such matters had always been handled by the ministers under him. However, now that the minister had arrived, Jhon couldn’t possibly keep avoiding him.

Especially since this discussion concerned all the fruit orchards in the Phoenix region.

A few moments later, a middle-aged man in a dark red formal suit entered the room. He bowed respectfully to Jhon before standing a few steps in front of him.

"Greetings to His Majesty the King of Phoenix."

"Get to the point," said Jhon without beating around the bush. "What’s the problem?"

"Your Majesty," said the Minister of Trade, looking slightly nervous. "This concerns this year’s harvest."

Jhon raised an eyebrow. "Wasn’t this year’s harvest supposed to be better?"

"It was at first, Your Majesty. However, over the past three days we’ve received reports from several orchards in the southern region."

"What happened?"

The minister unrolled the report he was carrying.

"Some trees produced an enormous amount of fruit—nearly double the estimated yield. However, the fruit began to rot just a few hours after being picked."

Jhon furrowed his brow. "Rotten?"

"That’s right, Your Majesty."

"That’s no big deal. Check the soil—see if there are any pests or changes in the weather."

"We’ve already done that." The minister swallowed hard. "And the results showed nothing."

Jhon began to look serious. "What do you mean?"

"The soil is normal. The water is normal, too. There are no excessive pests, and no diseases were found in the plants."

The minister took a fruit out of the small basket he had been carrying. It was a red fruit with a glossy surface.

"This is one of the fruits picked this morning."

Jhon stared at the fruit. From the outside, there was nothing unusual about it.

"Cut it open quickly."

The Minister of Trade signaled to a servant. The fruit was cut in half. The inside looked fresh and juicy.

However, in just a few seconds, the flesh turned black.

Jhon jumped to his feet in shock. "What on earth is that?!"

"We don’t know either, Your Majesty." The minister bowed his head. "At first, we thought the fruit was just rotting faster than usual. But after examining it, we discovered something even more concerning."

"What?"

"The rotten fruit is emitting heat energy."

Jhon fell silent. As the Phoenix King, he was highly sensitive to changes in energy related to fire and heat.

He walked toward the fruit. Sure enough, a faint energy was swirling within the blackened part of the fruit.

However, the energy felt unfamiliar. It wasn’t the fire energy of the Phoenix clan.

"How many orchards have been affected by this?"

"So far, there are seven orchards."

"And you’re only reporting this now?"

The minister immediately turned pale. "We only confirmed this morning that this isn’t a routine issue, Your Majesty."

Jhon glared at him. "How much of the harvest has already been distributed?" he asked, silencing the minister.

Jhon immediately understood the answer.

"Answer me!"

"Some of it has already been sent to several regions."

The room suddenly fell silent. Jhon closed his eyes for a moment.

If the fruit did indeed contain something dangerous, the problem was no longer just a failed harvest.

It had become a problem for the entire Phoenix clan.

"Recall all the fruit from those seven orchards!"

"Your Majesty, some of the fruit has already reached the market."

"In that case, shut down the market!"

The minister looked taken aback. "Close the market?"

"Yes." Jhon stared at him coldly. "I don’t care how great the losses will be. If there’s even a possibility that the fruit is dangerous, not a single one must be consumed by my people."

The minister immediately bowed.

"Very well, Your Majesty."

He was about to leave when Jhon spoke again.

"Wait."

The minister stopped.

"Where is the orchard where the problem first arose?"

"In the southern region."

Jhon was silent for a few seconds. Then, he stared at the fruit that had turned black.

"Prepare a vehicle."

The trade minister was taken aback. "Your Majesty?"

"I’m going to see it for myself."

***

Meanwhile, Selena had absolutely no idea that trouble was brewing in the Phoenix territory. She was still strolling leisurely with Vee among the fruit trees.

The Phoenix clan’s orchard turned out to be much larger than Selena had imagined. Various kinds of fruit grew along the path. There were red fruits that looked like gems, golden ones, and even some that glowed faintly from their skin.

Selena picked one. "What does this one taste like?"

"Very sweet, Your Majesty."

Vee took the fruit and cleaned it before handing it to Selena.

Selena took a small bite. Her eyes immediately lit up.

"Delicious."

Vee smiled. "I told you so."

Selena picked up another one.

"I think these fruits would make a delicious juice."

"Juice?"

"Yes."

Selena began imagining all the different kinds of drinks that could be made from these fruits.

However, she suddenly stopped in her tracks when she caught a whiff of something. It wasn’t the scent of fruit. Nor was it the scent of soil. Instead, it was a very faint odor, like something burning.

Selena wrinkled her nose. "Vee."

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Do you smell anything?"

Vee sniffed as well. "Like... smoke?"

Selena shook her head. "It’s not smoke."

She walked over to one of the trees not far from them. Several red fruits hung there.

One of them looked a little different. The skin of the fruit appeared dull.

Selena reached out her hand.

"You shouldn’t touch it, Your Majesty!" Vee said, immediately panicking.

But Selena had already grabbed the fruit. She stared at it for a few seconds. Then, her expression changed.

"This isn’t normal."

"What?"

Selena cut the fruit open with a small knife she always carried. The inside looked normal. But a few seconds later, the flesh turned black.

Vee’s eyes widened. "Your Majesty..."

Selena didn’t answer. She observed the change with great seriousness. Then she raised her finger and touched the blackened part. Instantly, a familiar voice echoed in her head.

[Warning.]

[Abnormal energy detected.]

[Source: Curse of Extinction.]

Selena’s eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the mysterious voice; her hand froze in mid-motion.

"What?"

Vee hadn’t heard the voice. She only saw Selena’s expression suddenly change.

"Your Majesty, is something wrong?"

Selena stared at the fruit in her hand. "That’s impossible. The Curse of Extinction is supposed to target the Beast Kings and their races. Yet now, the same energy is found in a fruit?" she muttered, then immediately plucked another fruit from a different tree.

She cut it open. Nothing happened. The fruit remained fresh.

Selena picked a third fruit from yet another tree. This time, the flesh also turned black after a few seconds.

She began to understand something.

"So it’s not all the trees."

Vee furrowed her brow. "What do you mean, Your Majesty?"

"Only some of them are affected by the Curse of Extinction," Selena murmured, turning toward the vast orchard stretching out before her.

Her eyes slowly grew serious.

"And if this energy really does come from the Curse of Extinction..." she murmured, clutching the black fruit. "Then the disease afflicting the Phoenix clan may have already begun to spread to their surroundings."