Monarch of Solitude: Daily Quest System

Chapter 66 - Spud Speedrun

It was nice to send Noir off at the door as the black cat insisted not to be followed. Rino took that opportunity to catch some sleep. The harvesting project could wait until tonight, and it was the diurnal subordinate's turn to enjoy the hot springs.

[8 hours of sleep successfully withdrawn. You have withdrawn the maximum hours of sleep for the daily limit. Sleep commencing in five minutes. Your current available sleep balance is 0 hours. Sweet dreams.]

With that, Rino felt the lull of something pleasant and drifted off to another dimension, unreachable by magic, Gods or potatoes.

Sadly, that kind of peace did not last for long. Rino hated how quickly time passed when he was finally starting to enjoy it. There was still no dreaming during his forced sleep, but the feeling of doing nothing was fulfilling. It felt less like a time skip and more like a reward, refreshing his very cluttered mind.

[You received a temporary mental buff [Sharper Focus] from the Gods for sleeping a daily recommended of 8 hours. Wisdom +10% for 4 hours.]

That would probably explain why he felt so clear-headed all of a sudden. The Gods updated the system in his sleep, and now, there was a reward for using a reward. How suspicious!

Up above, Ace grinned. Ark sulked. After discussion, the Gods took a vote to see if the new system update to encourage using the Offering Reward Shop should be implemented now while Rino was still asleep or after the reward shop was available to the lich.

There were three against one, and Ace let them do whatever they pleased. Stephanie was 'absolutely sure' that Rino would be thankful for the free buff in the update, but Ace assured her otherwise. If anything, the lich would hate the idea of more future work from that freebie and be in a foul mood for the whole time.

The other gods didn't believe him and Ace remained silent. Sometimes, it was better to let others fall than prevent them from jumping over a ditch. Fools never learned until they were taught the harsh way by circumstances.

For the magician, there was no mistaking what this new update meant. The Gods were attempting to be diplomatic and acting like generous bosses to placate him before working him hard like a horse. Nothing good came from receiving rewards that came with strings attached. Even the blind could see how this buff was related to reward spending and earning.

It was true that the sleep reward was something Rino desperately desired. However, this monopoly over the ability to sleep was like a noose around his neck. He did not want to be the donkey that forever chased the carrot or risk getting whipped. The Gods were really pushing his limits here.

"I'll see what else you want to make me do," Rino growled in warning, projecting his thoughts as loud and menacingly as he could to the ones constantly listening above.

Ace trembled with laughter when he heard the threat. Ark and his sister backpedalled from the reflecting pond, and Phil jumped, almost suffering a cardiac arrest.

Thankfully, the daily quest was very simple, and Rino noted how most of his servants were already back and ready to be given their next orders. The lich checked his task again to ensure that he would be given the reward he wanted.

Buff or no buff, Rino would never turn down the chance to claim his sleep reward. If harvesting potatoes was what it took to unlock the offering reward shop to offer 500 potatoes to earn that miserable 8 hours of sleep, he would do it.

Correction, he was going to make his slaves do it for him on the double. Nobody was going to do anything else. Everybody would just farm potatoes until their hands fell off. Even if their hands fell off, Rino would regrow new ones and ask them to continue digging. Undead rights did not matter.

The moment the sun dipped below the mountains, Rino summoned the full shadow army of a whooping 136 slaves. He had no idea where some new shadow slaves came from, but that wasn't very important for now.

"Fronzo, tonight, you are in charge of a very sacred mission."

The farmhand stood stiffly, and Rino placed a hand on the lad's shoulder.

"We're going to speedrun the farming of spuds. Every single ground bean that is in that field must be dug up. Not a single one of them should be missed. We're running against time here for it. There is no granary, so we will split the shadow army into two teams."

Mutt stood proudly when he was called upon, and Rino assigned him to oversee the granary construction workers with the help of gnomes. The eight tiny bearded men hopped onto the sabre-tooth wolf's back and left the compounds to get started. Thankfully, there were enough treated wood and bricks to start building the granary in the location that Rino explained to them previously.

Fronzo ordered the farmers to pick up their tools. Some carried shovels and hoes, while those who did not have tools carried baskets and rakes. The farming team was split effectively into subdivisions, and Rino witnessed a new side to Fronzo he never knew the timid farm boy had in him.

With the farmhand barking orders left and right, even the slow goblins picked up their place and scurried on their little legs. Those who had a hoe or a spade started digging at the ground. Those who did not have tools grabbed baskets and started collecting the potatoes to transport them to a designated spot away from the farms in a neat pile that rapidly grew.

Another group without baskets or tools started heaping potato plants off the field to pluck their berries before leaving the rest of the plant by the teleportation pads. These discarded plants would be taken to the kiln to be turned into ashes for future fertiliser uses. The fairies took care of bringing them to the kiln, and Rino stood by to monitor the harvesting process.

The fertiliser recipe that he received from the Gods turned out to be more effective when charged with mana, so only the fairies could oversee that process for now. In the future, Rino wanted to think of a way to automate that fertiliser process too. Imagine if he could combine that mana imbued water and mana fertiliser… there would be no other mortal who could produce better potatoes than his empire.