To say that Town Zera's first party was an eye-opener would be an understatement. For many, it was eyeball popping when Rino showed how open he was to mingling and having fun with them. Nobody would be able to forget how Rino removed his boots to show off his ivory white toe bones.

Many people shared anecdotes about their pasts before arriving at Town Zera as a tradition of a hundred story night that Rino heard about in the east. Surprisingly, the tradition helped to foster a deeper understanding between his townsfolk. Rino shared with them something more private that not even those in Noir Province knew about, although it would soon change with Mutt yapping about it.

Rino did not know what made him want to talk about the failures he experienced when he first tried to imbue magic in the water. He talked about his toe breaking episode and how he made the very first hunting knife from his bones. 

Instead of feeling weirded out by his innovations and experiences, Rino's story inspired others to share their humiliating failures and insecurities. Nobody mocked anyone for their stories during the tradition, but there was an understanding by those who experienced something similar.

With more common topics to talk about, the relationship between different races improved tremendously. New friends were made, and a more open communication system meant that Rino received fewer reports about destructive fights. There might be arguments, but it was always resolved before it reached that very heated stage. It was a great improvement for the lich, just in time for his daily quest's update.

He heard the system notification sound in his height during the height of the party but ignored it. There was no need to ruin a good moment for work. Rino thoroughly enjoyed himself and waited until daybreak to check the newest quest.

Apparently, there were two notifications. Rino left the daily quest for later. Whatever it was, he wouldn't be surprised. After sowing, harvesting would come next. If anything, those greedy gods would ask for dibs on the first cycle of crops as offerings even if his offering reward shop did not have that option yet. It was the only natural thing to happen, according to their kingdom building project.

Indeed, the system update message was to inform him to check out his offering reward shop tab. The gods added several new offering options, including crops he discovered. Those that Rino did not discover yet were also included, and it came with free tips about their location as part of the item's description. Rino could only scoff at their predictability.

"So the purple potato has a name? What kind of name is Taro?" Rino asked himself as he scrolled down the tab.

Most of the crops the gods wanted were staple crops in larger quantities. He checked the regular spuds and blinked. Wasn't the previous quota five hundred for one GF credit? When did it become eight hundred?

Checking the prices of every crop, Rino finally understood what they did in the new update. Back in his previous world, there was something the nobles always complained about. It was the price for royal bonds and private banks. Similarly, the gods have decided to start something very annoying.

In simpler terms, a bond was a piece of paper endorsed by a bank or the royal treasury in exchange for a fixed sum of money. It was a loan contract by banks or the royal treasury sold for huge amounts of gold and could be exchanged for gold after a certain period. In addition, the bank or royal treasury would offer nobles who bought that piece of paper an amount of money in return for buying that paper over the contract's term. The payout wasn't fixed, but it was an investment that drove people wild.

There could be as much as four payouts from the banks or royal treasury in a good year. However, if the year was hit by a bad harvest or crisis, there would be no payouts. In fact, the bond contract would require the buyer to pay extra as part of the contract terms to retain rights to get their fixed money back.

It was a risky purchase, and only the rich would dare to put money in such an unpredictable piece of paper. Many noble houses fell from grace during bad times when they staked all their property to purchase that pricey piece of paper highly valued during good times. Rino was offered the option to purchase it, but he dismissed it. It was a waste of good pure gold on paper when he could use them to test his metal transmutation experiments.

Why would people buy such a risky thing? That was something attributed to the belief that good things will happen. In other words, human greed and gambling brought the downfall of many greedy individuals. Many who could not afford the bid price of the bond would buy it from someone else. Hence, increasing its value even if the deal prices fluctuate based on the economic situation.

In good years when a good payout by the treasury or bank is rumoured to happen, richer nobles with more bonds would sell it to rich merchants who wish to hold onto these contracts hoping that the payouts would cover the bond purchase price. Depending on the contract terms, the prices would differ.

In addition, those who were bond owners received special privileges to attend special parties. The many high ranking nobles and sometimes royal members made the value of that contract rise among rich merchants. It was a complicated thing to explain fully, but Rino knew exactly what these gods wanted.

With the power to decide the prices of GF credits from the variety of crops Rino now had, they wanted to limit his power to purchase rewards infinitely while encouraging him to work harder to serve their requirements. It made GF credits harder to obtain by inflating the prices of easily obtained crops.

However, their intentions were very clear. After checking the prices for the easiest way to earn his GF credits, Rino decided that he could afford to refrain from turning in anything to the system as an offering. Just like how the prices and value of bonds dropped, he would wait it out. There was no need to hurry to turn the crops in just yet.

From above, Ark froze. What was Rino thinking? Asking for three soybean sacks was a lot easier than fulfilling the eight hundred potato trade. Why won't Rino turn those in? It was at a very good price too. After their system update, prices could be changed at any moment, so it made sense to want to capitalise on this opportunity, right?

"I don't understand what he is thinking," Stephanie frowned. Why was it that this mortal was even harder to deal with than Ace? It was ridiculous for gods to be strung along by him!

Ace, who had an ear on their conversation from afar, only smirked. For the gods, they were going to lose if they kept trying to make unfair deals. Rino wasn't the one in need of GF credits. They couldn't kill him, and if they did, they would simply be granting his wish for eternal rest.

Without leverage over Rino, who wasn't even fazed if he was forced to work overtime. They should try to appeal to Rino instead of threatening him using authority. However, the siblings insisted that his methods were inappropriate, so Ace was going to mind his own business and watch the world burn. The number of prayers was increasing drastically, and they were starting to get somewhere with their divinity. The number of clients wanting unique produce from their small world increased, but if they kept acting wilfully, there would be no customers wanting to do business with them when their supplier goes on an offering strike.

As the gods continued to observe Rino from above, the lich was busy checking his new assigned quest.

===

Daily Quest #20

Objective: Harvest new crops

0/1 Rice

0/1 Wheat

0/1 Corn

0/1 Soybean

Time Limit: 5 Days

Tutorial here.

Reward: Windmill & Water Wheel Blueprint

Penalty: Deduct 24 hours of sleep upon failure and [Curse of Overtime] until quest is forcefully completed.

===

Windmill? Water wheel? If Rino was still alive, his heart would be racing a hundred miles per hour. He knew what those were!

If the gods offered him these blueprints as a reward, then that thing must be coming up next. There were equal parts of excitement and fear when Rino saw what his reward was going to be. Never mind about the five-day deadline for harvesting his new crops. The townsfolk could handle that easily. Instead, he was more concerned about the building site.

It wasn't uncommon for major accidents to happen in his previous world near windmills and waterwheels. It might not be very frequent, but there was real danger involved that nobody understood why. Rino did not detect any anomaly during those accidents that pointed that it was naturally occurring, although nobody understood what went wrong.

Maybe in this world, Rino could find the answer.