Chapter 355: The Farmlands and the Surrounding Fields

After inspecting Vrethka’s food stores, Darion decided he wanted to see where much of that food actually came from.

Food comes from somewhere, it can’t just fall from the sky. That was something Darion had learned early on, back on Earth as a kid, at Percvale particularly, when he became Baron.

Food didn’t appear out of nowhere. It didn’t materialize in storage rooms or fill itself into sacks. Every loaf of bread, every cut of meat, every handful of grain had to be grown, harvested, processed, and stored. It was a chain of labor and resources, each link depending on the one before it.

He had seen the granaries, the thousands of sacks of grain, the barrels of preserved meat, the dried fruits and vegetables. But those stores were just the end result. They told him nothing about the beginning.

They told him nothing about the fields where the grain was grown, the farmers who tended the crops, the workers who harvested and processed everything. To truly understand Vrethka’s food supply, he needed to see where it all started.

He turned to Femorn, the surviving warrior who had been his guide. "Take me outside the walls. Show me the farmland."

Femorn nodded and led him toward one of the settlement gates. They passed through the gate, leaving the main settlement behind. Darion looked back at Vrethka’s walls for a moment before continuing into the surrounding countryside.

The atmosphere immediately changed. The noise of the settlement faded behind them, replaced by something quieter, more natural. Darion began hearing wind moving through crops, a soft rustling sound that seemed to come from everywhere

Workers called to one another in the distance, their voices carrying across the fields. The occasional sounds of animals drifted through the air—cattle lowing, sheep bleating, the distant bark of a dog.

They took a horse for their journey now, two horses actually, one for Daroin and one for Femorn. They couldn’t continue trekking. Darion’s legs were starting to ache.

Darion soon reached Vrethka’s farmland. The sight surprised him.

The fields stretched for miles across the surrounding land, a vast expanse of green and gold. Large sections of cleared land were divided by wooden fences and narrow paths, each section carefully organized. Crops grew in neat rows, their leaves reaching toward the sun. Some areas were already harvested, the ground bare and brown. Others were still being cultivated, the plants tall and healthy.

Small channels of water ran between sections of farmland, their surfaces glinting in the sunlight. Darion noticed that the fields weren’t simply relying on rainfall. There was a deliberate irrigation system running through the agricultural land. Wooden channels and shallow trenches redirected water toward the crops, ensuring that every plant received the moisture it needed. Some areas had small collection pools that allowed farmers to store water before distributing it.

Darion realized maintaining all of this must have required considerable planning and labor. The irrigation system alone was a massive undertaking: digging channels, constructing wooden structures, maintaining the flow of water through the fields. It was the kind of infrastructure that took years to build, the kind that required a stable society to maintain.

He asked the warrior about the irrigation channels. Femorn explained that Dross had ordered much of the system to be constructed years ago. Vrethka couldn’t depend entirely on natural rainfall.

The settlement needed a reliable food supply because of its large population and military. Workers were ordered to dig channels and construct simple water-control structures. Over time, the system expanded as Vrethka conquered more territory and needed more farmland.

Darion looked across the fields again. He realized the irrigation system was one of the reasons Vrethka could support so many people. Even though Dross was ruthless in many ways, he clearly understood that an army was useless without food. His solution was to make the territory itself more productive.

Darion stopped near one of the fields. He crouched down and grabbed a handful of soil. The earth was dark and rich, its surface crumbly and moist. He let some of it fall between his fingers, watching the particles scatter in the wind.

The soil was far better than he expected. The warrior explained that this region had naturally fertile land. Combined with irrigation, it allowed farmers to produce large quantities of crops.

Darion immediately understood why Vrethka had been able to maintain such enormous food reserves. The treasury had wealth. The livestock grounds had animals. The granaries had stored food. And underneath all of it was this farmland, continuously producing more.

He thought about Percvale’s farmland. When he had first become Baron, the soil had been dead: pale, dry, and stripped of all nutrients. The previous Barons had let it degrade, had done nothing to maintain it, had allowed it to become barren. It had taken Seren’s ability, her soilsinging, to bring it back to life. Without her, Percvale would still be starving.

Vrethka hadn’t needed a soilsinger. Its land was naturally fertile, its irrigation system well-maintained, its farmers experienced. It had been producing food for years, building up reserves that could sustain the settlement through any crisis.

The contrast was stark. Percvale had been dying. Vrethka had been thriving.

Darion noticed the people actually working the fields. Many of them were women and children, more like teenagers, really. Some women worked together in groups, tending crops, their hands moving with practiced efficiency. Older children carried tools, water, or smaller loads, their faces serious and focused. Other workers guided animals through the fields, their voices calm and steady.

Men were present as well, but the agricultural workforce clearly included a large portion of the settlement’s families. Mothers worked with their children nearby. Fathers guided plows while their sons helped clear rocks and roots. Daughters carried water from the collection pools to the fields. It was a community effort, a shared labor that kept the farmland productive.

Darion watched them work for a while. Eventually, one farmer noticed him. Then another. Soon, people began stopping what they were doing. Conversations faded. Workers straightened and stared. Some children hid behind their mothers. Others stared openly at the strange man who had become the new ruler of their land.