Chapter 124: Dragon

"Alright." Walter and Zharok set down their chess pieces and helped unload the cargo.

Ethan took Pearl and headed for the fields, he wanted to see how the winter wheat was growing.

"Meow, it’s growing well."

The wheat was growing even better than he had imagined, the vibrant green stalks stretched wide across the field, brimming with vitality, a gentle breeze rolled through and set the whole expanse rippling, as if the wheat itself were waving at him.

Ethan set Pearl on the ground and crouched at the edge of the field, running his fingers over a few stalks.

The leaves were thick and healthy, the roots well anchored, he had been worried about leaving the wheat unattended during his trip, but Zharok and Walter had clearly kept up with the watering.

He straightened up and smiled. "I’m home."

His stay in the Elven Kingdom hadn’t been long, but he hadn’t gotten much rest, his mind was already turning to what came next — preparing for paddy rice in the coming spring.

"It’s best to build the paddy fields first." Ethan brought it up while preparing dinner.

Zharok and Walter sat around the dining table, enjoying the dishes Ethan had cooked, at his words, they both paused, unsure of what he meant.

"We don’t mind helping, but we have no idea how to do it," Walter said.

"Is there a difference between planting paddy rice and planting wheat?"

"Of course, planting paddy rice is much more complicated, from sowing to harvest, every single step requires meticulous care."

Direct seeding was an option, but the yield would suffer, transplanting was far more labor-intensive — growing the seedlings separately, flooding the paddies, then planting each one by hand — but it gave the rice the strongest possible start, Ethan had already made up his mind.

"That sounds like a lot of trouble..." Zharok said after a long sip of spicy fish soup.

"It is, but to increase the yield, we’ll just have to work a little harder." He explained the transplanting process in detail.

"Since that’s the case, let’s build the paddy fields first," Zharok said.

"We’ll leave the seedling cultivation to you."

"Yeah, I’ll take care of that, it’s best to build them near the river so we can irrigate easily."

"But what if there’s a drought? Will there be one next year?" Walter asked.

"Meow, no need to worry about droughts."

"How do you know?" Zharok asked.

"Meow, because before Lady Witch left, she cast a spell over the Great Forest that guarantees favorable weather."

"That’s good." Zharok breathed a sigh of relief.

"Then what should we do now?"

"First, find a piece of land suitable for paddy rice." Ethan could use Soil Fortification to turn any land fertile, but naturally rich soil would be even better.

"I actually know a place," Zharok said after a moment.

"It’s not far to the west, let’s check it out tomorrow."

"Alright." Ethan nodded.

"By the way, there’s one more thing."

"What is it?"

"I plan to start planting the World Tree."

"I see, have you gathered all the necessary materials?" Zharok asked.

"Just about, the only thing missing is dragon’s blood," Ethan replied.

"I plan to visit that dragon personally and ask for some."

"You’re going to see the dragon again? Will it agree?" Zharok asked, looking worried, the dragon had been polite enough last time, but who knew if it would agree to such a request?

"It should, it also hopes the World Tree will grow again," Ethan reasoned.

"I hope so," Zharok said.

"Alright, let’s focus on building the paddy fields first."

"Okay." Ethan nodded.

The next day, Ethan, Zharok, Walter, and Pearl arrived at the land Zharok had mentioned, it sat on the edge of the Great Forest, not far from the river.

"Meow, how is it?"

"The mana here is abundant, but I don’t know if it’s suitable for paddy rice," Walter said.

"Yeah, it’s good." Ethan crouched, grabbed a handful of dirt, and examined it closely.

"The soil here is very fertile, and it’s close to the river. Perfect for paddy rice."

He picked up the Pure Iron Hoe. "Let’s turn the soil first."

He activated Earth’s Might, the ground heaved and rolled, and Ethan followed up with a shovel.

Zharok joined in, Walter summoned three blood constructs and set them to digging, they were earth-attribute creatures and excelled at moving soil, a large patch of land was turned over in short order.

They worked until noon, finally roughing out the shape of the paddy fields.

"Let’s stop here for today," Ethan said. "We’ll finish the rest once it warms up."

"Alright." Zharok and Walter nodded.

"We still need to dig an irrigation ditch to channel water from the river into the fields," Ethan added.

"Okay, let’s go." Zharok and Walter picked up their tools and followed Ethan toward the river.

"Huh? What are you guys doing here?"

A beastman with the head of a dog and the body of a human stood at the riverbank, tail wagging as he surveyed the water, Vargan.

The moment he spotted Ethan’s group, he sprinted over. "Why are you all so dirty? What have you been doing?"

"We’re building paddy fields, meow~"

"Oh, I’ll help out too then," Vargan said.

"Don’t you have a mission?" Ethan asked.

"The monsters’ activities have been a bit abnormal lately," Vargan explained.

"They seem to have been frightened by something and have all run out of the forest."

Monsters usually hibernated during winter and rarely came out, but recently, acting completely out of character, they had been scurrying all over the place. Vargan had been ordered to investigate, but he felt it wasn’t important, so he ran off to help Ethan instead.

"We should probably help with the monster situation," Zharok suggested.

"No need, you guys focus on your work," Vargan said.

"If I really need help, I’ll come find you."

With Vargan pitching in, the irrigation ditch went fast, in less than half a day, it was finished.

"Alright, let’s head back and eat," Ethan announced.

"Great!" Zharok and Walter could hardly wait.

They were about to invite Vargan along when his companions appeared by the river and called him back. Vargan said a quick goodbye and left with them.

Ethan and his group chatted and laughed as they made their way back toward the cabin, the afternoon sun slanted through the trees, and the smell of fresh-turned earth still clung to their clothes, all in all, a productive day.

Then they stopped cold.

Ethan and Zharok were caked head to toe in dried mud, Walter, who normally took careful pride in his appearance, had gone rigid, his usually composed face was tight with tension, Pearl’s voice came out in a trembling whisper.

"Meow... Meow..."

Because standing in front of their cabin, as if she had been waiting there all afternoon, was a stranger.

"It’s been a long time."

"...Welcome, we were just planning on going to find you."

It was a gray-haired elderly woman, she was small in stature, but the pressure radiating from her body made it difficult to look her in the eye.

"You’ve been living quite well here, hasn’t anyone bullied you?" the old woman asked with a smile, looking around.