Chapter 103: [103] Farmlands (1)

The rainy season had fully come.

Over the course of the night, Artaris had been bathed with relentless rain that only ended early in the morning.

Because of this, the air was fresh with moisture, and the pleasant dewy scent was everywhere.

But that was not all…

“It’s muddy…” Yennefer was walking on the tip of her toes to avoid her shoes getting completely covered in mud.

The heavy rain had caused erosion in the village. Since they had no proper roads, the dirt roads were messy, there were water puddles everywhere, and deep grooves marked the ground.

Artaris was already terrible in appearance, but now, it looked like a slum.

Eliron crinkled his brows.

Yennefer sighed, and then her feet elevated from the floor as she hovered above it, giving up on walking.

Tiny seemed even more enraged by all the mud. Even after reducing his size, his leg would still often sink deep into a mud puddle.

“Hrukk!”

Eliron glanced at the wyvern and chuckled. It was the first time he was hearing it utter anything other than hryuu.

’I guess this is all it takes to make him angry, I’ll keep that in mind.’

Ice wyverns were actually meant to live in frosty biomes like the great northern mountains, so it was understandable that he was unused to this.

Yennefer folded her hands across her chest as she addressed the wyvern. “I agree, this is terrible! Are we going to endure this for the entire season?”

Eliron sighed. “Don’t be dramatic.” Then he turned to Ash, who had been walking by his side. “How do we normally handle issues like this?”

Ash skipped over a puddle. “Well, we often fill up sandbags to mitigate the rain damage, but it hardly does enough.”

“Hmmm….” Eliron stared at the muddy village.

If they allowed the rain to continue leaving the ground unchecked, then it would destroy the smoothness of Artaris’ lands.

He had major construction plans for the small village, if he did not handle this issue on time, then it could potentially affect him in the future.

“We’ll look into this later.”

For now, they were out for more important matters, Artaris’ agriculture!

Although they had managed to sustain themselves on meat and the natural gifts of the forest, it could only take them so far.

As soon as the first rain fell weeks ago, the elves had already begun to sow crops, hoping for a good yield.

Today, Eliron was out to inspect their farmlands.

“We are here, my lord.” Ash announced after they had walked for some time.

Eliron glanced at the field in front of him. He could see rows upon rows of crops, some already sprouted, while others were yet to emerge.

There was corn, beans, and most importantly, wheat amongst all others.

A good number of farmers were tending to the crops as they arrived, some noticed him and bowed in greeting, while others were too busy to even realise he was there.

Eliron watched the land for some time, then his brows furrowed together.

’It’s so small.’

He had expected to see sprawling fields that went as far as the eyes could see. In the modern world, and even long before then…

People cultivated in bulk, enough to serve them for more than two years, yet the elves were working on such a small piece of land.

They had the entire forest at their disposal, why the hell were they not using it?

“Ah! Good morning, my lord! I did not know you would be here today, I am Master Tang, the head of the farmers.”

Tang looked like he was in his late thirties, but Eliron was sure his actual age numbered in several decades, if not more.

Eliron glared at the man, causing him to stiffen. “So you are the head of this operation? Good.”

Strangely, Master Tang could sense that Eliron seemed agitated for whatever reason.

While he was trying to figure out how he could have caused offence, Eliron pointed at the field.

“You lazy bums, why is this farmland so tiny?”

“…”

Master Tang blinked and glanced at Ash.

But Ash just kept a straight face, trying his best to avoid eye contact. He had left Master Tang to fight his own battles.

“T-tiny?” Tang glanced at the field and rubbed his eyes to ensure he was seeing properly.

The field was so large that it took them an entire week of work to even cultivate it for the season.

’This kid!’ Master Tang scoffed in his mind. ’Leave it to a child to not know the actual affairs of grown-ups.’

He had heard of the young lord’s martial prowess, but it seemed he was still lacking in his understanding of how things worked.

’He has probably never lifted a single pebble in his lofty life, and he is here talking down on us.’

Master Tang slowly shook his head in a disappointed manner. “My lord, surely you jest. How can this field be considered small?”

Eliron raised a brow. “First you present us with this pitiful parcel of land, and now you are calling your lord a joker?”

Puff!

“Eeek—!”

Tiny blew a gust of chilling wind against Master Tang’s back, causing a shiver to run down his spine.

“M-my lord, I apologize if I have caused offense.” He quickly said, distancing himself from the wyvern.

Eliron sighed.

It was not that he took pleasure in just taunting the elf. It was just that seeing this land took him back to what had happened when he first regained his memories.

Although the elves were down at their worst, instead of getting back to work and toiling till their hands bled, they were waiting for some sort of motivational speech.

Was it not similar to what was happening here?

“How long does it take you on average to cultivate this land?”

“At least one week, my lord, if we work fast…”

“Artaris is suffering from a severe shortage of food, is it not?”

Master Tang nodded.

“If it took you one week to cultivate this land, why not spend a month cultivating a similar size of land?”

Eliron knew that cultivating a new parcel of land was different from one that had been used in a prior season.

They would have to pull down trees, dig up rocks, and a host of other annoying tasks.

But it was very much possible, Eliron could not just understand why they had not done it.

“Besides…”

Eliron squatted down and picked the leaves of one of the sprouts.

“These crops are in a terrible state, how much do you expect to even yield from this?”

The plants were still young, and yet, some were already having yellow leaves.

Which meant that the land had been overworked, to the point where all the nutrients in it had been depleted time over time again.

“Why haven’t you begun cultivating another piece of land?”

Master Tang’s shoulders slumped slightly, and he breathed out a tired sigh.

“I would have loved to, my lord.” He said, slowly shaking his head.

“But we are forbidden.”

“Huh? Who dares to forbid us from our own lands?”

The man had a defeated expression on his face as he spoke.

“The High Elves, my lord.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep