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

Chapter 98: Learning Methods

In order to find out if there were any more of these buried magic trees underground, Kroya decided to have the prospecting gray magic ants search the entire island.

Although he felt in his heart that there should only be one plant and it was impossible to obtain many so easily, he still had to investigate.

What if?

Whether it was the air coral, the secret chamber, or the suddenly appearing demonic tree, they all made him feel that there might be something else hidden beneath this island.

Therefore, under the mage's command, the new mining gray ants are about to embark on a journey to find more magic trees and ores—they will travel throughout the entire island, searching for treasures buried deep underground.

To prevent these gray ants from being trampled to death or encountering danger by some fool, Kroya specially sent his apprentice Jamie along.

All Jamie needed to do was mark the location; as for what was inside, that was up to Kroya to dig for treasure himself.

As his only mage apprentice at the moment, Jamie's status is even more exaggerated than one might imagine.

Of course, Kroya also kept his promise to the Grey Ants.

He found a place and bought a lump of Abyss Clay from the Holy Spring Merchant Guild, intending to use it to build a nest for the Gray Demon Ants.

This special soil, which is dark yellow and has a sticky texture, can only be extracted from certain mines.

It is one of the most popular nesting materials for many ant species.

The clay, imbued with the magic of the earth element, not only makes them feel comfortable and safe, but also nourishes their bodies with magic at all times, making them stronger.

"Here, you can go in." Kroa placed the ant colony there.

The worker ants of the gray demon ants were the first to enter and begin digging and eating the clay.

After diligently and incidentally stealing food, they dug a tunnel, carried their queen ant inside, and then went back to the original nest to retrieve food and eggs.

They were busy, yet they never seemed tired or lazy. Their astral bodies were always orange-red, radiating joy and happiness.

Kroya didn't leave immediately. During this time, he kept watching, observing the gray ants moving and bustling about, and he could feel their joy, and... music.

"Music...?"

He frowned.

Since he learned the magic of natural communication, he seems to have achieved some subtle resonance with the Orange Hymn. In any case, he can hear the "music" of magical beasts, magical plants, and even people.

This "musical sound" refers to the sound of emotion.

Different melodies echoed among them in times of joy, sorrow, and pain.

He had vaguely sensed it when he was riding the Fiery Horse across the sea, and now the music of the Gray Demon Ants was even more distinct.

Upon hearing these sounds, Chloe could clearly sense subtle changes in the previously blurry and incomprehensible text of the second chapter of the Orange Song that she remembered.

It's as if I can see it clearly and understand its meaning.

He immediately realized, "This must be the cultivation method for the second chapter of the Orange Song."

Thoughtful.

Actually, it makes sense when you think about it carefully.

As a qualified bard, one must accept the feedback from the audience; perhaps these sounds represent the response of life after being influenced by his power.

Self-indulgence is clearly not acceptable.

Based on this, the second chapter of the orange story should involve emotions.

"I need to listen carefully."

After listening for a while, he realized that the music of magical plants and beasts alone was probably not enough. To truly comprehend the second chapter, he would probably need to have more contact with humans.

The emotional voices of monsters and magical plants, though pure, are still too few.

The second chapter needs both quality and quantity.

"Hmm...humans." After a moment's thought, Chloe immediately figured out how to obtain the emotional voice of humans.

He is currently preoccupied with creating various special magical plants and has not yet actually applied them to the farm servants and free people in his territory.

Could we create some special magical plants that can improve people's lives?

In all the simulation management games I've played before, a crucial aspect was improving the attributes and happiness of the residents in my territory, allowing them to develop and continuously generate various resources.

What he needs now is a variety of different emotional sounds so that he can successfully learn the second chapter of the Orange Song.

In a sense, they should be the same.

As for what kind of magical plant he was going to create, he had a vague idea.

freshwater.

A magical plant that can turn seawater into freshwater.

Although Hanjiao Island has a considerable amount of water resources, and its freshwater resources are relatively abundant, they are still quite scarce if actually consumed.

Those springs, streams, and small lakes are far from meeting the needs of more people.

Developing a new freshwater source is imperative.

Nothing brings more joy and happiness to people living by the sea than being able to take a bath every day and use fresh water freely.

However, considering certain factors, Kroya did not intend to proceed directly. He planned to involve the island's inhabitants to foster a stronger sense of belonging.

Speaking of the magical plant he planned to cultivate, it originated from a booklet given to him by the Orpheus Oak.

The booklet contained a special method for cultivating "sea salt stone flowers"—planting ordinary sea salt flowers in a high-concentration salt water solution and then using natural magic to help them grow. They will gradually absorb the salt, and their surface will become salty.

It can not only purify the salt in seawater, but also directly obtain salt, which can be regarded as a way for sea creatures to obtain salt.

"It's a win-win situation, absolutely feasible."

With that in mind, he made a decision and decided to begin immediately.

……

after a while.

The remaining young and strong men on the island were taken to the beach by the knights At and Joshua.

There was obvious unease in their eyes, and their bodies trembled as they walked.

Although the lord had been there for some time, he had never given such an order before, and they were worried that something might happen.

"My lord, everything has been brought."

Art walked over to Kroya, who was sitting on the rocks by the sea with his eyes closed, and said respectfully.

"Um."

The mage, dressed in a blue robe, opened his eyes.

He glanced around at the anxious crowd and announced in a megaphone, "I have a task for you."

He held a pale white algae in his hand, shook it, and the sound clearly reached the ears of everyone present.

"This is sea stone flower, you should all know it. Now I need you to go into the sea and collect as much of this sea stone flower as possible."

"Whoever collects the most will be able to use fresh water without restraint once I finish building the reservoir."

"As long as it's not wasted, it can be used however you like."

As he said this, he lifted his foot and gently stomped on the ground.

Even though it was just a simple step, without much force, the earth trembled, and the sand on the beach churned up, quickly forming a pool under the influence of magic.

It is about 20 meters wide and 3 meters high, and is extremely well-proportioned.

It doesn't look very big, but the ground has actually sunk to a depth of ten meters, leaving an inlet for seawater and an outlet for freshwater.

By planting sea stone flowers in a pond and cultivating them into sea salt stone flowers, they will gradually filter the salt in the seawater.

Finally, after a second filtration, sedimentation, and disinfection, the seawater becomes drinkable freshwater. He plans to accomplish all of this using a combination of magical plants and magical beasts.

For example, elements, microorganisms, snails, algae, hydroponic plants... you can easily think of quite a few.

If I add some markings to them myself, I'm sure I can achieve it.

Doing this would require a lot of effort and time in the early stages, and is far less quick and convenient than simply setting up a magic array.

However, once his experiment succeeds, this method and approach can be applied anywhere.

Any mage can set up a magic circle, but this special water purification method is something that not many mages would research.

Perhaps he will have more territory in the future. He can't do everything himself. Leaving behind a feasible method is obviously better than a magic array.

After all, magic arrays... require magic crystals, and quite a lot of them.

The province should still conserve its magical crystals.

……

The serfs and freemen were stunned when they heard the lord's request.

Could it be... that the lord plans to build a reservoir for them?!

They felt like they might be dreaming.

This is a high-ranking mage!

Would the monks pay attention to them?

Doubt, joy, unease... all sorts of emotions swirled in their hearts, which Kroya keenly observed.

"I was right."

Kroya felt the effects of these emotions on his magic and nodded in satisfaction.

Human emotions, though not as pure as those of magical plants and beasts, are certainly abundant and complex.

Moreover, he discovered that only by addressing his emotions could he gain insight and understanding of the second chapter.

"That means I really need to manage my territory properly."

He thought about it for a moment and decided to take it one step at a time.

Let's get this freshwater pool sorted out first, then we can consider other things.

It's all the same old thing anyway.

Running water pipes, toilets, houses, smooth roads, plenty of food...

Let's get these infrastructure projects in order first, and then worry about getting them to help us farm.

"Hmm, wait a minute, speaking of food, we also need to take care of Poseidon Barley."

He suddenly remembered something very important and immediately ordered the knight to summon Elena.

Even back when the torrential rain was falling, he had already noticed that there were many limitations and inconveniences to growing sea barley by the sea.

If you want to generate a stable income, you still need to cultivate crops on the island itself, which is also more convenient for harvesting and taking care of them.

As for the method, he had already figured it out.

We'll see how it turns out in person.

Hey everyone, the group's all set up! Feel free to join and have a look!

(End of this chapter)