What's wrong with me, a mage, loving to farm?

Chapter 227. One Year Later, the Apprentices' Journey

A year has passed since Kroya decided to undertake sweeping reforms in the North.

With the help of Milfein, the Kingdom of Norland practically acquiesced to Kroya's control over the North—though nominally it was still given to Kemoye, who was advancing with great momentum towards the Counts.

Within a short year, Count Kemoyer had brought all the nobles in the entire North under his control, except for the Duke stationed in the Terenas Mountains.

To avoid them interfering with his farming plans, Kroya very kindly and sincerely sent his apprentices to invite them one by one.

He had already renovated the island in the sea that originally hosted these nobles, ensuring they were absolutely safe and well-fed, and that the weather would remain warm and spring-like no matter how it changed.

Of course, leaving is out of the question.

However, he also very kindly announced that he could accept the descendants of these noble families to join his apprenticeship.

If you do well enough, you can become a garrison lord in certain areas.

He is now a level 5 archmage, and with his connections to Prince Mifein and Archmage Celeste of the Mage Association, his position is unshakeable.

Anyone with a brain would choose to join Kroya's ranks. Following such a powerful archmage would certainly be much better than being a minor nobleman.

Given these almost perfect circumstances, if the North still cannot be drastically reformed, then it is definitely Kroya's problem.

Fortunately, he and his men were very capable, as the saying goes, "To get rich, build roads first."

Kroya's first order was not to carry out planting operations in various regions, but to require them to build a wide road, large enough to accommodate ten carriages traveling side by side, starting from the Trenas Mountains and connecting to the island of Han Reef.

After a year, the road was finally completed.

If this road were actually built according to medieval civilization, it would probably take all the farm laborers in the entire North to work themselves to death and still not be able to do it.

However, with the help of magic and magical beasts, even moving mountains and filling seas is no problem; now is the time to put them to the test.

Apprentice Jamie stood atop a bread-shaped vehicle, gazing into the distance. As far as the eye could see, there was a road paved with white rocks.

Surrounded by vegetation and rocks, it shines with a pure white light, like a sacred white path leading to the heavenly realm where the gods reside.

The apprentices around him all had extremely dark skin, as if they had been mining coal for years. It was hard to tell that they were actually noble mages and knights.

Looking at the road, they recalled the hardships of the past year, and felt a deep sense of emotion and reflection.

"Stop looking, let's go."

Jamie glanced at it again and then laughed, "Let's go with our plan. We'll test the road conditions along the way and pick up our brothers in the various territories."

We're pressed for time; we need to get to our house before Lord Chloe's birthday banquet.

Upon hearing his words, the apprentices around him hurriedly climbed into the carriages—these bread-shaped carriages were all sketches drawn by Kroya himself.

The entire body is made of a special alloy, and the wheels are made of magic rubber. It can travel at full speed on any terrain and can transform when necessary.

It's a kind of large-sized golem.

Their mission was to travel along this road that Kroya had once traveled by carriage, pick up the other apprentices who were working in the fields in various territories along the way, and collect local specialties from each place, so that they could return to Han Reef Island as a gift for Kroya's birthday.

After getting into the car, they drove quickly along the white avenue, extremely smoothly, with ever-changing scenery on both sides.

"The road is in good condition."

"It's been repaired well."

"The soil-stealing construction team and the wind-eroding sandworms are really something else."

Since the car is basically self-driving, they are more focused on whether the road will deform under the weight of the wheels, the road signs along the way, and the hidden patterns beneath the road...

The result was not bad, after all, the entire construction was handled by the Earth Thief Rat Construction Team. These monsters are more meticulous than humans when they get serious.

After all, they often dig tunnels and pave roads for the sake of their nests, and they dare not compromise on either reproduction or safety.

Soon, they arrived at their first stop.

This place is called Greystone Ridge, a complex grey stone mountain. It is far from the ocean, with very little water around it, and the winds blowing here are extremely dry.

But it is precisely in this kind of area that some extremely special magical plants can grow, for example...

"You've arrived!"

Apprentice Lina waved excitedly at the convoy: "Come quick, they're about to bloom! Let's pick some of the best to take to Lord Chloe!"

Upon hearing this, Jamie and his group of ten quickly jumped out of the car and followed Lina into the cave. Inside the cave, which was about the size of a football field and filled with a faint blue light, they found a pool of blooming stone lotus flowers.

Each lotus petal has a rough, stone-like texture, but when it blooms, the lotus seedpod inside briefly bursts out with a vibrant, earthy-yellow light, making even the rocky petals appear crystal clear, like crystal.

An indescribable, peculiar fragrance wafted through the cave, quickly attracting a large number of butterflies. The butterflies, adorned with phoenix feather patterns, danced gracefully around the lotus flowers, creating a truly magnificent sight.

"You've grown it very well!" Jamie exclaimed. "This is the main ingredient in the rock lotus perfume that Lord Kroya sells in the capital and abroad. The ladies of those noble families are buying it like crazy."

In fact, the popularity of these perfumes is quite exaggerated. Because of their delicate fragrance, they are not only purchased by noblewomen of the human race, but also by some men of the elven race.

Each lotus flower can produce about thirty bottles of perfume, and each bottle of perfume can be sold for a high price of twenty magic crystals.

The person Kroya arranged to come here must be someone he trusts quite a bit.

"Hehe." Lina laughed proudly, "I also want to thank Lord Kroya for arranging these Wind Feather Butterflies and the Magic Field Roots at the bottom of the lake. I don't know what kind of magic power it provided, but it was able to extend directly from the Reef Island to here."

An apprentice standing nearby couldn't help but ask, "What can't the omnipotent Lord Kroya do?"

Although this sounded neither scientific nor magical, the apprentices nodded in agreement, as if none of this was surprising in the case of Kroya.

The Windfeather Butterfly is a butterfly that lives in high mountains and can absorb "rock essence," which is an excellent catalyst for these stone lotuses.

With a catalyst, they can achieve three harvests a year, but the wind-feathered butterfly has a rather poor ability to adapt to the environment.

In other words, Kroa improved them by imbuing them with some adaptations learned from the insect swarm, which barely allowed them to live a little longer.

The difference between harvesting once every two years and harvesting three times a year is enormous; this pond of lotus flowers alone has generated tremendous profits for Kroya.

After the apprentices finished their usual boasting about Kroya, they searched the pool of rock lotuses for a while before finally choosing the largest lotus to take with them.

As they were leaving, the people who lived in Greystone Ridge mustered up their courage and gathered around. One of them, an elderly man with white hair, trembled as he offered a gemstone.

"My lord, this is a treasure of our village, obtained by one of our ancestors, a knight, in the Gray Mountain."

"It was the lord who gave us freedom, allowing us to farm and herd livestock, enabling us to survive."

The old man bowed respectfully, his voice slightly nervous: "We are willing to offer it to Your Lordship!"

"..."

Lina hadn't expected this to happen so suddenly. To be honest, although Kroya had taken all the nobles who ruled these areas away, the farm servants would be freer.

However, it is still very different from Hanjiao Island.

She had to return to Hanjiao Island every week to give a report, so she didn't think it was anything special. She never expected that in their eyes, Lord Kroya was almost like a saint.

She couldn't help but glance at Jamie.

The latter smiled, and despite not knowing what it was, stepped forward and solemnly accepted the crystal-clear blue gem: "My lord will surely appreciate this gift."

After taking the gem, he gave Lina a look.

Lina immediately understood and stepped forward, saying, "You have presented a gift to the master. I will request that the master send the tree spirit guards to bless your land."

The servants immediately expressed their gratitude with great joy.

But the apprentices had to keep traveling, so they left immediately.

With Lina joining the team, the convoy had one more vehicle, and they continued driving forward, arriving at the second, third, and fourth stops.

During this time, they gradually obtained some fish, pine nuts, and crystal watermelons from places such as Green Lake Ridge, Squirrel Territory, and Crystal Cave Territory, and continued on their way.

After passing through these four territories, it was already the second day, and they had traveled halfway.

As they looked at the scenery along the way from the car, they were quite moved: "These vast areas of land are uninhabited... that snowstorm really killed too many people."

Halfway through the journey, a full thousand kilometers, there were only four developed human settlements; the rest of the area was overgrown with vegetation and teeming with monsters.

It's easy to imagine just how low the population of the North is.

"So that's why the adults chose to have magical beasts and magical plants take care of that area together, right? Are we almost there?"

"We're almost there."

"Look, we're here!"

The apprentices' car stopped in front of a vast plain. The land in front of them, which was about a dozen hectares in circumference, was almost entirely covered with grass.

Drifting among the grass are tiny sprites with veil-like wings, like jellyfish. They collect the scattered magic power and provide it to the magical plants that are basking in the sun on the ground.

All those magical plants had roots exposed above the soil. They weren't long and thin; they were all flat, like human feet, with small fruits hanging from the roots.

At first glance, it looks like an upside-down sapling.

They can even run around freely, enjoying the sunshine and rain in this field, waiting to grow big enough to be taken to various fields to take root and grow.

These are all magical plants called tufted beans.

Through the tireless experiments of the apprentices, this special magical plant was found to be effective in increasing soil fertility. After comparison, its effect was found to be better than that of other magical plants.

Therefore, this type of bean was cultivated on a large scale.

Then, with the help of the Orpheus Oak, these tufted beans inexplicably gained the ability to move freely and were brought to this "tufted bean ranch" for free-range breeding.

Therefore, the person guarding this place is naturally—

"Teacher Oak!"

As Jamie approached the edge of the lentil ranch, massive roots suddenly rose from the ground, completely encircling the edge of the several-hectare field in just a few seconds.

It's like a fence being erected on a pasture, instantly separating the lush green grass inside from the outside.

What's even more outrageous is that there was almost no magical fluctuation, yet all those roots rose up. The apprentices didn't dare to imagine what it would be like to be attacked like that... they'd rather just close their eyes and wait to die.

"You've arrived."

A tree-man, over a meter tall, emerged from the tree roots. Its leaves were lush and green, but its trunk was covered with dry, wrinkled bark.

The apprentices all bowed respectfully to it.

The reason is simple: this Oak Teacher is not only a friend of Lord Kroya, but also a powerful chosen one of the gods—it guards the only road leading to the deeper parts of the North and also raises the Tube Beans.

It is the only one on the entire Desert Reef Island that possesses the special magic that allows magical plants to move freely. It is said that it also teaches elven magic, but almost no one can learn it.

Jamie said, "Professor Oak, Lord Chloe's birthday is coming soon, so we would like to invite you to return to Reef Island with us."

Oak's eyes lit up, and his tone almost immediately became cheerful: "My friend's birthday is coming up... and I've prepared a gift for him!"

It didn't seem to do anything, but suddenly, some blood-red ears of wheat sprouted in the boundless field behind it.

They are inconspicuous in the vast field, but tiny insects grow on the ears of wheat.

They were all plump and chubby, lying on the ears of wheat and munching on them, with one blood-red pupa after another hanging around them, which looked quite peculiar.

That is……

"An Elf Blood Silkworm?" Jamie asked in surprise.

"That's right. I started raising these little guys when I came here a year ago, just to prepare a gift for my friend."

The Orpheus Oak waved its branches (hands) at the blood silkworms, and the silkworms immediately began to spin silk. The blood-red threads intertwined in mid-air, just like the most diligent and skilled weavers.

Soon, an extremely beautiful robe was formed.

It features patterns of flowers, trees, and plants, as well as depictions of clouds, mist, and rivers, all vividly rendered as if they were real landscapes.

As they spun these silks, the once plump blood silkworms seemed to be completely drained. By the time the robe was finished, the silkworms had withered away, turning into withered vines that fell to the ground.

"Thank you for your hard work. I will allow you to be reborn within my roots and embrace..."

The Orpheus Oak waved its branches once more, causing the wheat field and the silkworms to sink down, enveloping them with its roots.

As an elemental creature, the Blood Silkworm can only spit out a fixed number of silk threads in its lifetime. After it finishes spinning them out, it will die immediately. Unless it is nurtured by sufficient life force, it is impossible for it to be reborn.

After taking the robe, Orpheus Oak took out a small model, which, after being infused with magic, quickly grew larger and transformed into a convertible wooden sports car.

It sat down inside and waved to the apprentices: "Hurry up, or we'll be in trouble if we miss our friend's birthday!"

"Oh, here it comes!"

The apprentices quickly got into their own cars and drove into the fields, where they also harvested a lot of ripe berries and grass seeds.

Nourished by the magic of the Orpheus Oak and the divine power of the Earth Mother, these fruits are of level three to four in both taste and the magic they contain.

The surrounding vegetation helped them move forward, so even an area of ​​tens of hectares was traversed in just a few minutes.

After passing the lentil pasture, they crossed a bridge and could see the rushing Terai River and the perfectly orderly fields on both banks.

Not only do common staple crops like wheat, potatoes, and corn grow there, but also vegetables and fruits such as cabbage, tomatoes, green onions, and carrots.

They were all arranged neatly, and from a distance, they looked like a colorful painting, extremely beautiful.

This is one of the most important regions in Kroa, where all the crops he cultivated are grown, and it also has the largest population in the North.

At a glance, one can see the giant golems cultivating the fields and the ordinary people sitting on top of them, manipulating the golems to cultivate and harvest.

After training, even ordinary people can skillfully control these golems, without worrying about how difficult it will be to cultivate and harvest.

When the apprentices and the Orpheus Oak saw this scene, they couldn't help but stop and gaze into the distance.

They all knew that everything growing here was edible, and that under the care of Mifein, the Son of Harvest, and Rhea, the crops could ripen five times a year.

And right now, it's the third of the five harvests a year.

They were going to pick up Mifein, Rhea, and the others here, and also gather the best and most abundant fruits, vegetables, and crops to take back so that Kroya could taste the fruits of their labor.

Thank you all for the monthly tickets and recommendation tickets... I was a little late today because I was under a lot of pressure from the hacker community.

(End of this chapter)