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

Chapter 275. The Granary of Gluttonous Paradise

The necklace contains some of the ramblings that Milfie recorded.

To be precise, it was a memory he had lost from the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess a very, very long time ago; it was a ballad:

"Holding the scales, a knight riding a black horse..."

"Accompanied by winged insects."

"It devours all the fruits and seedlings on the ground."

After watching this ritual, which resembled something from a demonic cult, Kroya felt a sudden unease.

Because this folk song... to be more precise, it should be a prophecy, foretelling the coming famine, locusts that will swarm across the land, and the ensuing death.

At this moment, his premonition was frantically warning him, and it was clear that the prophecy was highly likely to be true and would definitely happen in the future.

Hunger and locusts... Even the ancient dynasties of his previous world would have found it extremely difficult to deal with these, and that was only with the help of wise ministers and virtuous rulers.

What about the world?

A little thought reveals just how difficult it is to face.

He thought for a while and then told everyone he could about the necklace.

"The current situation is..."

After listening, Oak and Samir said in unison:

"We encountered a situation where the earth suffered from famine during the construction of the Earth Academy!"

"Why didn't we pay attention at the time?"

Both the man and the tree were extremely frustrated. The matter was so important, yet it had been overlooked as something that was slightly rare.

It was Mifein who spoke up: "That must be the influence of divine power. In fact, the authority of the Earth Mother Goddess inherently contains the power of concealment and cover-up."

Upon hearing this, Kroya suddenly remembered the sea god Barley that she had once modified, and a thought struck her. She asked, "Does the power of the Mother Goddess have the effect of repelling magic?"

Miffy nodded silently: "Yes."

"The power of the earth embraces and contains, but it also has the power to isolate and reject. In fact, your miracle was blessed with these effects."

He was referring to the dream of the golden apple, which had imprisoned the power of God and Moses.

"I see."

The power of the sea god's barley, and the various types of rice, corn, and beans that could not be mutated into magical crops that were gradually discovered...

Those crops all possess the divine power of the Earth Mother Goddess.

Kroya had a vague feeling that there was a hidden thread connecting everything, which was very likely related to the current situation.

But strangely enough, ordinary crops are also withering now, or rather... the more ordinary the crop, the less able it is to accept the sudden changes in the earth and wither away.

Those powerful magical plants, especially elemental magical plants, can continue to live as long as magic exists and the sun shines.

It's like the difference between nobles and ordinary people—the former have too many ways to cope with disasters, while the latter have no ability to withstand risks.

Does this mean that Mother Earth really intends to eliminate ordinary people? But if ordinary people are gone, who will give her so much faith?

It's important to understand that the number of ordinary people who believe in gods is far greater than that of nobles and mages, since religious belief itself is a form of spiritual sustenance.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at everyone in the conference room: "Since it has already happened, there's no use in being upset. What we have to face now is hunger and death."

"Fortunately, I have always been prepared."

As a time traveler, he had a great fondness for hoarding food; it had become a habit of his, and a full stock of food gave him a unique sense of satisfaction.

Therefore, he not only carried out large-scale farming and development in the North, but also prepared granaries in another place.

He clapped his hands.

In the center of the conference room, a huge projection sand table was immediately displayed, showing the entire landscape of the North, down to every tree and every stone, and it was being updated in real time.

"There are now 130 villages in the North, with a total population of about 600,000."

For the Northern Territory, 600,000 people is not a lot, but there was nothing that could be done, since far too many people died in that blizzard.

Even with his efforts to attract population and develop the economy, it will be a long process, taking years, decades, or even longer to complete.

"I will have people build their own granaries, organized by villages. The granaries will then distribute the grain to the villages, and the grain will belong to each village."

With his voice, the phantom image of a granary appeared in the air of every village, a golden granary.

Kroya knew very well that even if he said he had food, it wouldn't be as effective as actually showing people that the food was right in front of him.

He absolutely could not allow the North to be in chaos due to food shortages, so he decided to distribute the food stored in the underground warehouse on Han Reef Island to various villages, where it would be freely disposed of by the villages and their inhabitants.

There might be some problems with doing this, but he believed that the village chief he had trained for so long and the apprentices who patrolled the North could handle these matters.

If he does something right, he demands that his subordinates also do it right, otherwise he'll have to whip them to keep going.

When he shared his thoughts, the apprentices were alright, but Miffy's face started twitching.

The prince, the bishop, couldn't help but ask, "Kroya, how much grain will you be providing?"

"While your idea is good, we'll be in trouble if all the food is distributed."

As the person in charge of the grain production areas in the North, Mifein was well aware that the annual grain surplus was not actually very large, as a large portion was sold outside.

After adding in regular consumption, how much will be left?

His suggestion was actually very pertinent and important. Maintaining stability on Han Reef Island is essential to preventing the collapse of the situation in the North.

Kroa simply smiled mysteriously.

"It seems it's time to show you my private territory."

"Everyone, please don't be surprised."

As soon as he finished speaking, the tower spirit retrieved the foundation stone of the spatial teleportation magic circle and immediately set up the teleportation magic circle in the middle of the conference room.

Anyone with a bit of knowledge was shocked – the spatial runes of that magic circle and the coordinates it represented were clearly the territory of a demon.

A teleportation magic circle to a lower plane?

They felt like their brains were about to explode.

Fortunately, they had all experienced many major events, and if they weren't standing in front of Kroya, they wouldn't even show any surprise.

About ten minutes later, a portal formed by orange light slowly took shape. Kroya was the first to walk in, and the others quickly followed him in.

Once inside, after their minds adjusted to the spatial fluctuations and they saw what was before them, they were even more astonished—

Before me stretched a lush field, the crops growing so close together that they seemed to be touching. Corn, wheat, rice... all sorts of crops were everywhere, and they were growing very well.

What's even more shocking is the enormous glass tower in the distance, hundreds of meters high and with a radius of thirty or forty meters.

Through the glass, you can clearly see that it is filled with corn kernels, rice, flour, and various fruits and vegetables.

An immeasurable amount of food was neatly arranged inside the tower, its colors more dazzling and radiant than any magical creation.

A towering grain mill!

If you ignore the gloomy sky and the faint, eerie atmosphere in the air, this is a beautiful land that would turn heads wherever you go.

"..."

They were all speechless with surprise.

"Isn't this the territory of demons?"

Mifein and Orpheus Oak were already feeling a bit dizzy; they were the two people (trees) who understood the special circumstances of the lower plane the most.

You should know that the lower plane does not have a complete growing environment with sunlight, clear water, and clean soil, so it is impossible to grow crops there.

In lower dimensions, crops either die or mutate.

What did this turn out to be? A perfectly intact field!

Kroya smiled proudly: "Of course it was modified by me. Didn't you see the magic grapevines creeping among the crops?"

Only after he said that did everyone finally notice that all the crops in the field had pale blue grapevines twining around their base.

Those were the magic grapevines that the apprentices hadn't seen in a long time.

Since Kroya began extensive farming and environmental improvements, the Magic Field Grapevines have essentially been used as special fields on a few islands.

I never expected to see them here.

"You mean, the Demon Field Grapevine can adapt to the demon's environment?" Jamie couldn't help but ask.

"It's not just about adapting." Kroya gestured for them to follow, and the group walked with difficulty along the path in the middle of the field, with various crops growing extremely lushly on both sides.

Surrounded by vitality and filled with the fresh aroma of grains, this place is simply intoxicating.

When they arrived at an area where rice was planted, Kroya bent down, picked up a magic field grapevine, pointed at it, and said, "It's transforming this place."

Inside the crystal-clear, pale blue Magic Field grapevines, you can see flowing water, which seems a little murky, like salt water.

Is salt water used for irrigation in farming?

When the murky salt water drips onto the ground, it splashes up visible "dust," and there seems to be a voice shouting furiously.

—That consciousness is actually the consciousness of the gluttonous demon that still remains in this land. Although the demon is long dead, its greed remains here.

Only the "Salt Stakes" of the Salt Mountain Knights can suppress it.

This is a long process. Even though Kroya has been working on it for five years, he still needs to use salt water every day to suppress the demon's consciousness.

It's unclear how long it will take to completely eradicate the demon's consciousness and transform this land into truly fertile soil. For this reason, the vast majority of the demon's grapevines have been sent here.

The consciousness of the Demon Field Grapevine protects and nourishes these crops, using its own power to keep out the demonic consciousness that has not been suppressed by salt.

It should be noted that when the Holy Spring Merchant Guild sold the Demon Field Grapevine, they actually cut off all its potential to transform into an elf.

For the Shengquan Chamber of Commerce, this was a necessary means of monopolizing the market.

However, this kind of resistance to the demon of gluttony, day after day and year after year, is a difficult but also very valuable form of training for the Demon Field Grapevine.

It's almost as if a grape fairy has been born.

Kroya gently stroked the magic grapevines. The magic grapevines had been helping him since he started farming, and now they were helping him cultivate a field in the demon world.

"Thank you~"

His voice entered the celestial body of the Demon Field Grapevine.

Meanwhile, the others had already scattered, marveling at the surroundings.

Everyone's face was filled with excitement and joy. All the crops here were thriving, without any of the negative effects of dense planting, such as stunted growth.

After a while, Kroya gathered them together and said, "The land here is very special. After I transformed the land with the Magic Field Grapevine, it can ripen almost once a month."

"Moreover, the yield per mu is no worse than that outside."

"Since you guys have nothing better to do, you can harvest the crops here. I need to go out and take care of some things."

After saying that, he simply waved and left, acting incredibly carefree.

Only a group of people holding important positions in various parts of the North and the tree smiled helplessly and began to pick the fruit seriously.

As they picked the fruit, they sensed something was amiss—something seemed completely out of place in the field.

For example, there are trees growing on the ground with branches that look like roasted chicken legs, meat chops with blood still on them, meatballs, fruits... and even wine flowing inside the tree stumps.

It wasn't entirely unfamiliar; they had eaten at the buffet restaurant in the underwater base before. They had assumed it was meticulously prepared by the chefs, but they never expected it to be something that could grow from the land.

The land can grow roasted meat.

When did I become able to have dreams like this...?

……

the other side.

Orders from the Isle of the Reef have been delivered to villages throughout the North, along with magical iron to keep food fresh and prevent mold.

Once the granary is built, simply attaching these iron plates to the inside of the granary will ensure that there are no problems with grain storage.

This is a perk that Kroya is giving them, so that they can build their own granaries and have a real sense of participation.

But what he didn't expect was...

After the order was issued, all the lords and village chiefs replied, "We do not need food. If Hanjiao Island wants to increase food taxes, we can cooperate."

The accompanying text includes the handprints of everyone in the village, indicating that they did not force the villagers—in the North, anyone who dares to force someone is truly courting death.

When the tower spirit placed all one hundred-plus replies in front of Kroya, the busy Kroya was stunned.

He couldn't help but ask the tower spirit, "Is this true?"

"Of course," Tarin replied earnestly. "These are the sentiments of the people under your rule; you should be able to feel the abundant emotions within them."

Even so, Kroya still found it hard to believe: "Do they have enough food?"

"Don't worry, I've already placed sensors in every piece of magic-textured iron that's being sent to each village. You'll get the results soon."

"...Well then, I'll wait and see."

He continued to handle the complicated work—if a disaster really occurred outside, especially a locust plague, then he would definitely have to arrange a plan to deal with the disaster.

We must suppress the locust plague as much as possible before the locusts hatch.

Meanwhile, he was working hard to handle and plan.

The entire North was mobilized.

Every household with able-bodied young men mobilized to build granaries, following the instructions of the construction supervisors who came to each village.

In fact, the materials and appearance of the granary don't really matter. What matters is the magic-textured iron that Kroya gave us. As long as it can cover the entire area, even just a layer of dirt will work.

But people still built the granary with great seriousness, even to the point of being meticulous—the young and strong dug up mud and stones that could be used for construction, the women and the elderly processed the materials, and the children lost their desire to play and followed the adults to help.

Every stone was cleaned of grass and roots, and the construction was carried out with utmost devotion, including the worship of the granary.

The women painstakingly smoothed out the interior of the granary, inch by inch, and then carefully applied the magic-patterned iron that Kroa had given them.

The exquisite coldness of the magical creations contrasted sharply with the warm-toned walls of the granary, as if steel had protected a soft heart.

Once the granary was built and approved, each household would bring out their stored food and meat, registering them with the village head one by one before storing them in the granary.

They genuinely believed that the granary could protect their food supplies, so they kept only what they needed for daily life and handed over all the rest of their grain.

During this period, people with time and leisure often went out hunting and searching for wild fruits to store more food in the granaries.

As they watched the granary gradually fill up, they all felt an indescribable sense of joy.

Finally, a month later.

With the granaries in all 130 villages of the North completed, the Tower Spirit showed the images it had obtained to Kroya, who was resting after finishing her work.

Inside the cold, blue-glowing granary, different kinds of grain were piled up, categorized and labeled with the name of the person who delivered them.

To be honest, from Kroya's perspective, it's a bit messy.

But these different kinds of grains represent the trust of each household. You know, it's practically impossible to get farmers to hand over their stored grains.

As it turned out, the North actually did it, and all 130 villages did it, with no one questioning his decision.

Looking at the fragmented images, he felt a sense of pleasure and said to the tower spirit beside him, which was acting as a cushion:

"Tower Spirit, I finally feel a sense of responsibility as a lord now—although I treated them very well before, it was all for the sake of stability and development."

But now I feel that I really need to protect them.

The tower spirit simply nuzzled against Kroya without saying a word.

It is processing some data given to it by the tower spirit of the Illist Mage Tower. The data has been encrypted using the latter's special encryption algorithm, which can only be deciphered if it has complete control over the algorithm.

And what those algorithms seem to contain is...

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

What exactly is it?

Thank you everyone for your monthly tickets and recommendation votes! I have to go back to work as Palu tomorrow QAQ

(End of this chapter)