After leaving the farmland, Louis mysteriously leaned closer to Sif, lowering his voice and saying, "Come on, I'll take you to eat something good."Sif looked at him in confusion, but still followed him.They arrived at a small workshop, where the air was filled with a faint sweet aroma.Inside the workshop, a middle-aged woman was concentrating on stirring the syrup in the pot.Her name was Doris, a refugee who had followed Louis to the Northern Territory.A few days ago, Louis learned through the Daily Intelligence System that she was proficient in sugar making, so he specifically arranged for people to help her collect tree sap and try to make birch sugar.The first batch of sugar had already been made, and today was the boiling of the second batch.Outside the workshop, workers were systematically collecting sap from the birch forest.They drilled holes in the tree trunks about a meter from the ground, then carefully inserted tubes, allowing the clear sap to slowly flow into wooden buckets."You can't collect too much from each tree every day, no more than half a bucket, otherwise it will harm the tree," Doris instructed the workers while busy, "Remember to plug the tree holes after collecting, a wooden stopper will do."The simmering syrup bubbled, and the sweetness in the air grew stronger."Oh! My Lord!" Doris looked up and saw Louis, a smile appearing on her face, "You've come at just the right time, the sugar made yesterday has cooled, and can be eaten today!"Louis smelled the sweet aroma in the air, and the corners of his mouth turned up: "Then I truly am in for a treat today."Doris picked ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) up a piece of golden, translucent birch sugar from a nearby wooden tray and handed it to Louis.Louis casually tossed it into his mouth, chewed it, and exclaimed, "Hmm, it tastes really good."Then he casually grabbed another one and held it out to Sif: "You try some too."Sif frowned, not taking it immediately, but instead stared warily at the candy.She had never seen such a strange food, and even wondered if Louis had added poison to it.Louis smiled at her reaction, deliberately throwing the one in his hand into his own mouth, chewing it with a crunch: "See, it's not poisoned."Only then did Sif carefully take the candy, and after a slight hesitation, put it into her mouth.Sweetness instantly spread in her mouth, carrying a unique woody fragrance—a taste she had never experienced before.Her eyes widened slightly, and the indifference on her face vanished for a moment, but she quickly forced it back down.Then she swallowed it as if nothing had happened, nodding slightly: "It's alright."But the slight upward curve of her lips still revealed a bit of her true feelings.Louis saw it clearly, couldn't help but smile, and directly grabbed a small bag of sugar, stuffing it into her hand: "Take it if you like it."Sif clutched the bag of sugar, looked down without speaking, but her ears quietly turned red.Then Louis nodded to Doris with satisfaction: "The taste is good, better than I imagined, you've done very well, continue to produce more."Doris's face broke into a wide smile upon hearing the praise: "Yes! My Lord, I will certainly work hard!"However, Louis soon thought of a problem.Birch sap can only be collected for a few short weeks in spring; after this period, the sap flow will stop."What a pity," he sighed lightly, "The collection period is too short, so it can't be developed into a specialty industry for sale."Doris also sighed with some regret: "Yes, after all, in a while, the sap won't be collected anymore."Louis stroked his chin, pondering for a moment: "However, since birch sugar can be made, we can try planting fruit trees in the future to see if fruit sugar can be made.""My Lord is indeed clever! If good fruits can be grown, perhaps more types of sugar can be boiled out!" Doris nodded excitedly upon hearing this."Let's take it slowly," Louis said casually, "When conditions permit in the future, we'll have the craftsmen try to build a sugar refinery."Doris's eyes were full of drive: "Thank you, My Lord! I will definitely research more methods!"Afterward, Louis also grabbed a small bag for himself, casually stuffing it into his pocket, while a large bag of sugar remained in the workshop.Louis instructed: "Distribute these sugars to the children."The accompanying knight immediately took the sugar bag, preparing to go to the school to distribute them.Yes, Louis had set up a "school," but rather than a school, it was more like a daycare.Children under thirteen were gathered here, cared for by several women.This allowed the children to learn some basic knowledge and also freed their parents to work.Fortunately, the number of children in Red Tide Territory was not large, otherwise such an arrangement would probably be difficult to maintain.Moreover, once children here turned thirteen, they had to start working, such as helping with fishing.When they arrived at the school, they happened to hear the woman caring for the children vividly telling them a story about Louis:"Lord Louis had just returned with his knights from cutting down orcs in the Northern Territory, their armor still stained with green blood, when he immediately worked through the night with a few knights to arrange a commendation banquet.Everyone was busy until midnight and about to disperse when he suddenly stepped on a stone, pointed at the sky, and cursed loudly: 'You dragon, flying around my territory every day, do you really think I'm a pushover?'Saying that, he bent down, picked up a cobblestone, swung his arm in a full circle, and threw it into the sky.The stone 'whooshed' into a red streak of light, actually punching a hole through the clouds.Only a mournful 'awoo—' was heard, and a thirty-meter-long Frost Dragon spun down, crashing with a thud into the Black Pine Forest..."Sif listened to the story of "smashing down a giant dragon with a stone."The corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily, and her gaze slowly shifted to Louis beside her, her eyes filled with silent disdain.Louis was a little embarrassed, coughed lightly, and explained in a low voice: "They made that up themselves."Sif crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow: "Oh? Is that so?"Louis's gaze drifted elsewhere.Suddenly, a child spotted the figures at the doorway."The Great Lord has arrived!"One child shouted first, and then as if the atmosphere had been ignited, the entire room instantly erupted."My Lord! Great Lord!"The children jumped around Louis, holding up their small hands, their eyes full of admiration and anticipation.Clearly, this was not his first visit.Louis faced this group of enthusiastic little ones, a hint of helplessness in his eyes, but he still smiled and patted the head of the nearest child.Then he took the sugar bag from the knight's hand, grabbed a handful of candies, and bent down to distribute them to the children.The little children excitedly took the candies, cheering with joy."Thank you, My Lord!"Then they eagerly stuffed the candies into their mouths.As the candies melted in their mouths, innocent smiles immediately bloomed on the children's faces, accompanied by a sweet sense of satisfaction.Sif saw the genuine smiles on these children's faces.Her originally dull and gray mood also unconsciously lightened a little.

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