Ridge

The greenhouse Ridge manages is a facility where United Harvest grows experimental new plants. As the company rapidly shifted its research direction, the poor transition process and chaotic management left many greenhouses half-idle. As one of the few managers still at her post, Ridge continues to keep her greenhouse running normally.

A sign posted in the corner of the greenhouse— "Please DO NOT TOUCH the plants without permission, or you'll be treated as a thief!" (It comes with a simple line-drawn warning sign: a stick figure with a shovel about to drop on its head.)

It turned out Ridge didn't even know about what has been happening in the company, thought that might be a bad thing. She wasn't gossiping about me and Firenze like everyone else. Her little greenhouse is just so isolated from the rest of the world. Come think of it, growing her own crops here is probably a violation of company policy... But then again, so is me napping here. Guess I'll keep her secret. P.S. Her fruit tastes way better than the cafeteria's, and sometimes she even gives some to me to take home. —Nyx, while talking about Ridge

Ridge hasn't noticed anything unusual in the company—same offices, same facilities, and the employees are still busy with work. The only thing she finds strange is that ██████████████████████████, they've even started granting her research funding again. The last time she got funding was when she first joined.

"Technically, taking company resources for personal farming is against the rules. But her crops ... they remind me of what United Harvest used to be. I'll let it slide." —Firenze

"Napping in the greenhouse is super comfortable. Every morning I can clock in, then sneak back here for a nap without being late. Waking up to Ridge's fruit is a nice bonus... If only I can avoid running into those rampaging plants." —Nyx

In light of current company finances, a review of non-core departments was conducted. Findings regarding several greenhouses are as follows:

Though many have lacked direct funding for a long time, they remain in good working order and have successfully bred several new varieties. Considering their potential commercial value and the minimal cost to maintain them, the Review Committee has decided as follows: Some greenhouses will retain their current staffing and will not be dismantled at this time.

Effective immediately. United Harvest Resource Optimization Committee

Year 994, █/█

Clarus Month, 5th—— A whole month has passed, and Corn No. 8 still shows no signs of life... Did the seed lose its vitality? Maybe I should dig it up tomorrow to check. ... Or maybe I'll just wait a few more days.

Clarus Month, 21st—— Last night I dreamed that Corn No. 8 sprouted. To my surprise, when I woke up this morning, it really had! A month and a half has passed; I thought it had gone bad! From today on, you're no longer Corn No. 8. I shall call you "Dream Corn!"

Floris Month, 13th—— The first batch of sprouted corn has already started to flower! Dream Corn hasn't bloomed yet, but its growth is astonishing. It's already taller than the rest.

Floris Month, 29th—— The other corn has all finished pollinating one after another. Why hasn't Dream Corn bloomed yet? I worry because the rain season will come next month.

Pluvia Month, 24th—— Dream Corn still hasn't bloomed. I noticed cracks in the greenhouse roof and reported it to the company. I wonder if anyone will come fix it. For now, I'll just reinforce it with some planks.

Pluvia Month, 26th—— The planks I fixed ended up giving way, and a lot of rainwater flooded in. Corn 1 through 5 suffered badly and probably won't make it. Numbers 6 and 7, as well as Dream Corn, look fine for now; I've set up drainage and rain shielding.

Pluvia Month, 27th—— I can't believe it! Dream Corn has finally bloomed! And it's producing more flowers than all the others! Sadly, Corn 6 and 7 have died, too... Now Dream Corn is the only one left standing.

Calor Month, 4th—— Dream Corn is thriving and has already started producing ears. But... can it really handle this much weight?

Messis Month, 8th—— Dream Corn's ears have grown ginormous, so heavy that the stalks are bending. I hammered in three wooden posts around it, and they're just barely holding the whole thing up.

Messis Month, 22nd—— Dream Corn's ears are so massive that a single ear needs a whole wooden cart to carry it!

Messis Month, 3rd—— Today Shrubshrew and Boss came by, and Boss suggested we roast the corn. But as soon as we held Dream Corn above the fire, it exploded! Thankfully no one was hurt, but ... is Dream Corn actually Bomb Corn?

The disaster statistics for Philae City were cold and merciless: 83% of the plains' farmland wiped out, 62% of mountain fields destroyed, and the city's total grain output cut by 76% in a single season.

Hunger arrived faster than anyone expected.

The city quickly enacted an emergency food rationing system, but the scales of distribution were tipped from the start. In the Gold District, tables were filled with soft white bread and aged wine still; in the Silver District, residents could received coarse black bread padded with bran, though in portions half the usual size; and in the Ash District, people clutched a handful ration slips, queuing outside United Harvest's grain storehouses for a daily allotment of 200 grams of moldy old rice.

"Please, just one more piece! My children haven't eaten in two days..." "Want extra grain? Sure—twelve times the market price, cash only!"

United Harvest's storehouses held three years' worth of reserves, more than enough to see the entire city through the disaster. Yet instead of opening their storehouses for relief, they took the chance to buy up ruined farmland outside the city for pennies, and sell the reserves at staggering markups.

The gentlemen of the Gold District scoffed at the soaring prices, Silver District families tightened their belts, while those in the Ash District struggled on the edge of hunger and despair. If not for some farmers secretly sharing the food hidden in their cellars with their neighbors, the streets of Ash District would have been littered with countless frozen corpses that winter.

It was in those days that Ridge developed her fierce obsession with food. She would never forget that single memory: a creaking wooden cart slowly rolling in, piled high with golden, fluffy loaves of bread, steaming with the rich aroma of wheat under the noonday sun.

However, during development, the engineers slowly strayed from that original vision...

The multi-purpose shovel Ridge holds is the 205th prototype, and the most outrageous one yet: built for high strength, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, and heat resistance. It can dig pits, chop wood, serve as a weapon, act as a shield, work as a frying pan, and even fire bombs... In short, there's nothing this shovel can't do.

Unfortunately, production of the 205 prototype was soon halted due to its excessive unit cost. Yet somehow, this particular shovel has remained in Ridge's hands.

Perhaps... It's simply because Ridge was too easily overlooked. —After all, ever since the shovel was handed over to Ridge for test, apart from a few perfunctory "How's it working?" from developers in the first few days, no one ever followed up. Not even a single feedback entry was updated in the project files.