9 Chapter 009: The Barren Land of Peanut Hamlet

The date-red Fire Dragon Horse carried the Earth Knight Liszt, across the muddy land, to Peanut Hamlet. Peanut Hamlet was a residential area much smaller than a village, sparsely dotted with seven or eight thatched cottages.

"What are you dazed about? Seeing Lord Landlord has arrived, why aren't you kneeling quickly to pay your respects!" A clerk from the town energetically knocked on the door of each farming household.

The residents here were all serfs.

Emerging from the leaky houses with expressions numbed by the pressures of life, they stood woodenly at their doors, not knowing what to do. Under the loud scolding of the clerk, they knelt one by one on the ground, bowing in the direction of Liszt.

The actions of the adults were all numb.

Only a few bare-bottomed children would occasionally lift their heads, observing Liszt with their dirty but bright eyes. Then, they too were slapped down by the heads of adults, kneeling on the ground with their foreheads nearly touching the soil.

"Who is in charge of Peanut Hamlet?" Liszt asked.

Goltai sat on his own horse, looking as if the matter did not concern him; he did not know who was in charge of Peanut Hamlet. A clerk spoke up: "Replying to the Lord, it is Old George with the limp."

"Please have him come here."

The clerk quickly dragged over an old man with a limp and shaky walk. The old man wore patched clothing, and his withered body seemed as if it could snuff out at any moment.

"Lord Landlord, Old George has arrived," the clerk announced.

The clerk pushed the old man, seemingly trying to make him quickly pay his respects, but the old man just stood there nervously, woodenly, not knowing what to do.

Liszt waved his hand to dismiss the clerk and said warmly, "Old George, don't be nervous. I am Baron Liszt Tulip, the Landlord of Fresh Flower Town. I heard that there's a problem with the peanuts in Peanut Hamlet. Lead us to the fields to see if we can resolve this issue."

"Ah, oh, Baron... Lord Landlord..." Old George stuttered nervously, "I will lead the way right away... thank heavens... Peanut Hamlet is saved... the Lord Landlord has come to save us!"

Stirred with excitement, Old George suddenly walked as if carried by the wind.

Liszt had inspected the farmland before, but he had only stood outside for a glance; now, he truly took a close look at the farmland. Since the fields belonged to serfs, there were no ridges, and the long-shaped fields were separated only by a trench as a boundary line, with different serfs tending to different crops.

Nearly ninety percent of the farmland's yield belonged to the nobility, which is to say, Liszt's.

The remaining ten percent was their ration.

At this moment.

The peanut fields, which should have been lush green, were patchy with blue and yellow; all the peanuts were withered, sprawled lifelessly on the ground. The land was damp, clearly showing the serfs had not skimped on watering, but watering alone could not bring the peanuts back to life.

Wiping his tears, Old George said excitedly, "Lord Landlord, we haven't slacked off at all, watering thrice daily, but the peanuts are still dying. Now, only the field that Archie tends to hasn't withered, but it's also struggling, with some leaves beginning to yellow."

Following the direction Old George pointed, Liszt saw the long field in the center of Peanut Hamlet's farmland.

In the middle of the long field was a green area, much healthier looking compared to the surrounding blue and yellow withered peanuts.

Liszt dismounted, walked into the field, bent over, and plucked a yellowing peanut sprout, ready to observe it closely when Goltai suddenly said, "Liszt, you shouldn't touch these dirty tasks. These serfs should do whatever is needed." Although a fallen Honored Knight, he still looked down on commoners more than the average noble.

Liszt paid no attention.

He continued examining the peanut sprout in his hands, trying to ascertain the cause.

He was not an agronomist, but he had farmed in his childhood and was not unfamiliar with agriculture. The peanuts of both worlds were similar in some aspects and foreign in others. But he could still discern that the peanut sprout in his hand was malnourished, which was the cause of its current condition.

"Have you used wood ash or manure to fertilize the fields?"

"What?" Old George was puzzled, "Lord Landlord, we water the crops, three times a day!"

Liszt asked, "Don't you use fertilizer?"

Old George was taken aback and then asked in return, "What is fertilizer?"

Not even knowing what fertilizer is... Liszt was at a loss for words, "How do you all grow peanuts then?"

Old George rambled on about their methods, which essentially involved letting wild grasses grow in the fall and winter, burning them off the next year, and then planting peanuts. After planting, the tasks were watering and weeding. Generation after generation had done it this way, resulting in particularly low yields. Only the nobles could use elves to influence plant growth and achieve a bountiful harvest.

Understanding this, Liszt couldn't help shaking his head.

Without spreading fertilizer, even the best soil would become barren after a few plantings. The vast fields before him were almost turning into barren land, no wonder the peanuts were dying—they were "starving" to death.

However, Liszt soon had a doubt, "Why didn't they starve to death before, but the peanuts are starving to death now?"

According to Old George, they had been planting this way every year, and apart from droughts and floods, they hadn't experienced anything like this. Therefore, the nutrient deficiency in the peanut fields likely had another cause.

"What could it be?"

His gaze turned toward the green patch in the middle of the field, pondering seriously.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind, recalling the reward for the quest—saving the peanut fields was the task, and the reward was an Elf Bug. Based on the reward he received for his first quest, Liszt felt that the Elf Bug wouldn't just appear out of nowhere; he would likely find it unexpectedly along the way.

"Rewarding me an Elf Bug... the peanut fields suffering from malnutrition..." Staying up, Liszt already had the answer, "Perhaps, the cause of the malnutrition in the peanut fields is the Elf Bug that I am to be rewarded with for the task. Elf Bugs are born from plants, and my Elf Bug should be the Peanut Elf Bug."

With a wave of his hand, he summoned everyone, "Let's go and take a look in the center of the field."

The group tiptoed over to the center of the peanut fields, where the peanut seedlings were still fairly robust. Liszt searched his memory; as a child, he had seen Elf Bugs being collected. They were usually found inside a plant's flower or a new bud, resembling a jade-warm caterpillar.

Each type of Elf Bug had different patterns.

He currently owned four Elf Bugs, including a Tulip Spirit Bug, a Thorn Elf Bug, a Millet Elf Bug, and an Alfalfa Elf Bug. Breeding Elf Bugs required coordination with farming, and Goltai was still helping him find suitable fields for breeding the Elf Bugs.

After searching for a while, Liszt didn't find a peanut seedling that was gestating an Elf Bug.

"It's probably not the right time yet; if the nutrition can't keep up, this Peanut Bug will probably miscarry," Liszt couldn't help clenching his fist. Elf Bugs represented productivity, and he couldn't afford to fail this mission.

With that thought in mind.

He told everyone, "I think I understand the reason now, Old George; follow my instructions and let's save this peanut field."

"Praise to Lord Landlord!" Old George cried with joy.

Goltai asked in surprise, "Liszt, have you really found the problem? Do you even know how to grow peanuts? What caused the peanuts to die?"

"I can't say just yet; in a few days, we will know," Liszt cautiously refrained from stating the cause, worried that he might have guessed wrong. If there were no little elves, it would be a huge blunder.

So, the priority was to save the peanut seedlings.