"Ellie, it's Nara," the petite young woman entered the house. It seemed today Nara had intentionally brought some of her family's leftover food for her. At least it was better than the plain hot water from yesterday. She had used leftover rice boiled in hot water, resembling a porridge for the sick that only looked like a murky liquid for her friend.

    The petite girl placed the bowl of rice in front of her with regret. She still felt disappointed about the damage to her friend’s family crops. Therefore, her small mouth moved involuntarily up and down. Ellie felt a slight amusement but did not reveal the other's secret, pretending to be distracted instead.

    "Ellie, when will you be back to your old self? Nara...really wants Ellie to be like before. I want us to run around together like the old times. We should be setting traps in the forest for fun now."

    Hearing this, Ellie's eyes slightly changed. Memories from the novel slowly surfaced—indeed, there were times when Nara mentioned going into the forest to set animal traps. Back then, when Ellie still had her parents, she thought it was just fun and games. While for the small animals they caught, Ellie would give them all to Nara.

    Ellie inherited her skills from her father, whether it was tracking footprints or building simple traps. Whereas Nara was completely inept at these things. Ellie’s childhood fun seemed to really satisfy Nara.

    ".............." The girl with freckles on her face remained silent. She continued to pretend to be depressed and absent-minded, even though Ellie’s heart was filled with the trace of reluctance.

    In front of her was the idol she had always imagined—a charming, humble, and innocent heroine, filled with sincerity. This admirable nature always made her a favorite of the heroes. Otherwise, it wouldn't be possible for 4 heroes of the story to not take their eyes off her.

    However, after facing this reality, Ellie was somewhat disappointed in Nara’s true character.

    "Sigh, well, if that's the case, Nara will leave now. When Ellie comes back to her senses, let's go out and play together again," the girl in front of her seemed to have lost hope in her friend. She had taken time out of her every day to coax Ellie back to normal.

    Ellie's ability to track and trap was indeed excellent. Many times, she had caught animals and made a considerable amount of money for herself. Although it was just a small amount of money, it was still income that helped her maintain her dreams.

    Nara walked out of her friend's house contemplatively. The young woman needed to plan a new way to make money, and fast, because she heard that in 2 months, the top institute would start enrolling students again.

    It was a chance for Nara to transform her life. Living in the remote rural area wasn't suitable for her to grow to the full potential. Moreover, from what she had heard from her father, those who awakened their powers naturally were well cared for by the top institute. A village a bit further away once had such a fortunate child, a woman she had seen once at the market.

    Initially, that woman was thin, with a face and physique similar to Ellie's, marked by freckles and blemishes and a dull complexion from long hours in the sun helping with farm work. However, after studying at the top institution, she returned transformed, more beautiful than ever.

    Her lifestyle improved, having money she could spend freely, adorned in beautiful clothes and accessories, and she also became a revered figure among the powerless villagers.

    To achieve this, Nara knew she had to strive harder!

    Seeing Nara's determination in her eyes, Ellie felt that the world of the novel held many secrets. She did not hesitate to enter the dimension granted by the Setter family to improve the soil by plowing. Though she could accelerate the growth of plants with her power of botany without needing soil, her power had its limits.

    Since her power was still at a low level, she could only slightly enhance the growth of many plants per day. Relying solely on her power to accelerate growth was not ideal, so she used her own power like fertilizer, letting the plants otherwise take care of themselves.

    In just 7 days, the pumpkin field was a vibrant yellow. They received magic power as a growth boost daily, reducing the harvest time from the usual 60 days significantly due to the high-quality fertilizer. Unfortunately, they did not possess any special powers because they didn't receive enough magic power to become level 1 pumpkins.

    Ellie was satisfied with the outcome. She looked over the produce that filled the fields. Although she had initially planted only 4 plots of 100 meters each, they yielded a robust crop, untouched by pests. Displaying them would surely deem them splendid.

    Looking at the ripe pumpkins ready for harvest, about 400 pumpkins from 1 plot, planted at intervals of 1 meter with 2 pumpkin holes per meter in parallel, thus 200 plants in total. However, each plant produced 2 pumpkins, weighing nearly 2 kilograms each, and their price was about 80-100 copper coins per kilogram, or approximately 1 silver coin in market value.

    In this fictional world, the exchange rate seemed to be 100 copper coins equal to 1 silver coin, 100 silver coins equal 1 gold coin, and thus 1 gold coin was equivalent to 10,000 copper coins.

    Indeed, gold coins were seldom used by common villagers like them, with copper coins being commonplace and silver coins occasionally seen, just like when Ellie heard about her share of the vegetables.

    Isn't that an increase of 15 silver coins, equivalent to about 1,500 copper coins? However, this was because vegetables like morning glory and bok choy already had good market prices. Compared to Ellie's pumpkins, which were priced at 100 copper coins per kilogram, they could easily fetch 150-200 copper coins.

    With the pumpkins Ellie had grown, numbering about 1,600 pumpkins, it's quite a substantial amount if sold all at once in the market. This would surely raise suspicions about her. Therefore, Ellie couldn’t just take the 3,200 silver coins or 32 gold coins she would earn.

    Such a large income resulted solely from Ellie's magic powers. There's also a dimension isolated from the outside world, ensuring no pest damage. Otherwise, if planted outside, there's no way such a bountiful harvest could be achieved. Moreover, this world lacked the use of fertilizers or chemicals; it's no wonder a single pumpkin might weigh only about 0.5 kilograms or have hollow insides, making them unsellable.

    Otherwise, many farmers would have become rich by now!

    Ellie's current problem was how to sell these pumpkins. She could take 1-2 pumpkins to the market. However, these exceptionally high-quality pumpkins might create problems for the future; that was, she could probably only sell them once. For the second batch, people would likely trace back to her production source.

    What should she do then?

    Ellie's brows furrowed. It had been three days since Nara had last visited. It seemed the other girl was trying to gather as much money as possible.

    Ellie wasn't overly concerned but had to wait until the time they had agreed to meet passed, so Nara wouldn't discover anything unusual.

    Ellie's frail figure, which had become better nourished, was concealed by oversized clothes, making the change less noticeable. Even Nara, who had visited 4 days ago, hadn't detected anything unusual.

    Deciding to use her cloak again, Ellie pondered that her persona as a botanist, who was experimenting with cultivation, seemed to be accepted by the influential Setter family. Surely, they would take interest if she made an appearance.

    Before heading out, Ellie visited the secret dimension provided by the Setter family once more. She took out the voice- changing poisonous mushrooms she had cultivated for regular use. Choosing to disguise herself again as the hoarse-voiced old man, she grabbed a well-hidden cloak from the dimension and left the village.

    Ellie had no idea that trouble was already brewing in the village!

    Taking a shortcut through the forest to reach the town, her small frame cloaked in a roughly sewn black garment by an aged spirit, as soon as she appeared in town, the news reached the ears of the Setter family.

    Before Ellie could reach the front door of the grand mansion, a carriage bearing the Setter family crest swiftly approached her disguised as an old man.

    "Esteemed Mage, please board the carriage of the Setter family," the high-class polite language made it clear to Ellie who had sent them, as she had never interacted with other high classes; it could only be the Setters, known for their unfortunate eldest son.

    "Um," replied the old man's hoarse voice. Her small feet, clad in her father's shoes, awkwardly moved forward without revealing any suspicion. After all, she was pretending to be an old man; a bit of shuffling wasn't out of character.

    They soon arrived at the Setter family home, where the welcome was exceedingly warm. Even the villagers were interested, as rumors of the mysterious mage who had treated the eldest young lord of the Setter family had spread throughout the town, attracting many onlookers to the mansion's front.

    Even the petite girl who had sneaked out of the village to change her fate was among them.

    The girl's big, round eyes looked towards the interior with curiosity. The Setter’s grand residence seemed truly fit to live in. The servant quarters alone appeared bigger than her 2 houses combined.

    The girl's small hands clenched the cloth bag tightly. She had finally gathered a gold coin, or 100 silver coins, today! Going back now...everything would change!

    While the outside was bustling, the inside of the mansion was filled with tranquility.

    The Setters greeted Ellie respectfully, escorting her to the patient's room once more. But now, the man who was supposed to sleep was sitting up, leaning against the headboard. The eyes of the person who should have died years ago flickered with life again. It seemed the previous Tezetrons plant had greatly benefited him.

    "Thanks to your help, my eldest son's body has grown much stronger. We now understand just how potent the life force of the Tezetrons plant is. Previously, we were only prolonging his life, letting him suffer every day. This time, we decided to use the entire Tezetrons plant to awaken him,"

    "All of this, we owe truly to you," the head of Setter family said in a serious tone.

    The patient's eyes also intensely fixed on Ellie. Though he lacked the strength to speak, the fierce gaze filled with a will to live made Ellie's entire body tremble.