The Chronicles of Emberstone Farm [Cozy Fantasy] [Farming LitRPG]
Chapters 225 & 225.5 – A Simple Revelation of Profound Complexity

Mo giggled and Kharli’s face turned red, but neither one of them spoke.

I turned to Fengying. “Where is he?”

“He’s at the Monkey clan’s camp. I’ve sent Haoran with him. They should be returning shortly.”

My housekeeper’s tone of voice had been quite casual, but I frowned a little. I had not been told of this.

“He’s visiting the lady?” I had forgotten her name.

Their correspondence has started when we discovered a piece of clothing in a hot spring in the banana forest full of monkeys. Lari was the only one interested in finding the owner of said item, which led to him corresponding with several people, but most notably a young and eligible lady of the Monkey clan.

“Lady Diya sent him an invitation just after you left, my lady, and it would have been rude to refuse since they have been exchanging letters.”

“Okay.” It must not be a big deal based on Fengying’s explanation.

Sure enough, just a few minutes later, Haoran arrived with Lari in tow.

“Teacher! I saw you shoot holes in the demon!” said Lari as soon as he was within earshot. “Everyone in the Monkey clan was amazed.”

I tried to look modest, but I think I failed. “Oh, it was nothing much. I’m sure the Monkey clan fighters could do much better.”

“No, they can’t.” Lari frowned and corrected himself. “They can’t do that much individually.”

“It was the System that actually did the work.”

He tried to touch my crown but couldn’t. Like all Cash Shop items, it was made for my exclusive use, and others weren’t allowed to lay a finger on it. “Teacher, your clothes are magnificent. And your crown!”

“It is rather nice, isn’t it?” I chuckled. “How was your first face-to-face meeting with Lady Diya?”

My question triggered a round of teasing from the girls, and Mo sang a silly song. “Lari and Monkey sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

My apprentice rolled his eyes at their antics. “She seemed nice. We didn’t get to talk much since we were watching Teacher’s fight. She really liked the binoculars.”

That was all he would say no matter how much Kharli and Mo teased him about it.

***

We arrived at the farm half an hour later. The [Rain Statue] had done its job perfectly, and all of the crops were in fine shape.

“This is great.” I had changed into my normal clothes and Mr. Bear was back in human size standing beside me at the potato field. “Any volunteers who want to stay behind while I go to the desert farm?”

No one raised their hand.

“Then we shall do what we always do. You guys will take turns.”

They all nodded.

“For today, let’s plant more trees. What’s next on our schedule?”

“Please wait, Teacher!” Mo raised her hand. “Aren’t you going to hold a party?”

“A party? Why would I hold a party?”

“To celebrate your triumph on the battlefield.”

“Nah.” I understood what she meant, but I thought it would be in bad taste to make a fuss while people were still fighting. “Wait until the spring harvest. The war should be over by then. I’ll throw a huge party.”

Kharli sighed. “I guess it’s back to farming then.”

“Hey, I thought you loved farming!” I said.

“I do… but I also love parties,” said Kharli.

“Hey wait, you didn’t answer my question.” I frowned as I tried to remember the plan. “It’s persimmon trees next, right?”

“Yes, Teacher.” Lari smiled dreamily. “Persimmons are nice. We had a huge persimmon tree in the orphanage. We could only steal a few fruits to eat because most of them were sold off for cash by the officers.”

“I predict that by this time next year, we will all have our fill of fruit.” I gave them the seeds and we went off to plant them.

It was a fine morning, and I walked with a spring in my step. We hadn't cleared the area of all the old-growth trees since I wanted to keep them around to create a natural windbreak and protect the soil from erosion while the newly planted trees were still too small to get the job done. Also, they looked good.

“There’s really nothing like an old tree, is there?” I patted a rough tree trunk and looked up to admire its thick branches covered in bright new leaves unfurling in the spring sunshine. “I’m sure the new fruit trees will look great, but there’s just something about the old ones.”

“It’s just an ordinary tree. I'm sure ours will look a lot better.” Mo absent bent down to pick a dandelion flower. “But it is very nice here.”

Kharli nodded her agreement and gestured to the place we were walking towards. “I’m glad we planted the spirit grass seeds. The path looks and smells great.”

At the western side of the orchard area were two large maple trees that marked the beginning of the winding green lane we had sown with the [Fragrant Evergreen Walkway Seed Mix].

[Fragrant Evergreen Walkway Seed Mix:

A mixture of seeds that include chamomile, creeping thyme, and resilient, low-growing grasses that give a small boost to soil health. Once planted, it thrives effortlessly, drawing from the earth's energies to sustain itself even with minimal rainfall and no fertilizers. It’s perfect for creating green paths that are delightful to walk on. With every step, a sweet fragrance will fill the air around you. These seeds will grow into plants that will suppress weeds by outgrowing them and will also help keep the soil from washing away.]

When we stepped onto the path, my feet sank into the lush carpet of living greenery and released a gentle herbal fragrance with every step.

“This was definitely the right choice! I’m going to replace the stone tiles in the other areas on the farm with this.” I turned back to look at Lari, who was lagging behind us. He had been unusually quiet today. “Lari, what do you think?”

“What?” Lari, who had been looking down at his feet, seemingly deep in thought, hadn’t been listening to our conversation.

Kharli walked over to Lari and elbowed him on the side. “It’s work time. Stop daydreaming about your monkey girl.”

“I think it’s sweet.” Mo covered her mouth with a hand and giggled.

Lari raised a hand. “You guys are the ones who need to stop. No teasing since it’s work time.”

“Yes, that’s right.” My lips twitched as I fought the urge to giggle, too. “I was saying that I’m going to replace the tiled paths with grass paths using the [Fragrant Evergreen Walkway Seed Mix].”

“That would be a waste of energy,” he said.

“Hmmm.” I thought it over as we walked. “Well, it’s true that I want to do this primarily for aesthetic purposes, but surely beauty is worth it?”

“Is it?” Lari did not look convinced. “If we spent that energy on planting more trees, we could harvest more fruits next year.”

“But the grass does prevent the soil from washing away when it rains.” Kharli put an arm around Mo’s shoulders. “We can spare a little energy for that.”

“Trees would help the soil more,” said Lari.

“No, no, let’s not argue on such a lovely day.” I took out the [Spade] from the System toolbelt when we reached the roped-off area where we were going to plant the persimmon seeds today. “I’ll decide that later. Time to plant those seeds!”

We all went off to different parts of the cleared land.

As we worked, I thought about our discussion.

Lari was undoubtedly correct from both the rational and gamer point of view. Efficient players only used their energy on other things after they already maxed out their skills. Stuff like making the farm look nicer was end-game content in Adventure Incarnate.

However, all the talk about the value of beauty reminded me of my parents who died before I was transported into this world. Both of them would undoubtedly urge me to value beauty more than efficiency, and I smiled a little to myself as I thought of what their attitude to this would have been.

My mom was a Chinese Singaporean beauty with long, luscious dark brown hair and eyes that drew people in and held them captive. Of all her many, many suitors, she chose to marry my dad who was an ordinary-looking person. Unexpectedly, behind my father’s plain facade was an enormous zest for life. He was the type who felt stifled if he stayed in one place too long. Thus, I spent my childhood being homeschooled in dozens of countries.

I chuckled mentally when I remembered what my mother used to say when people asked her why she married my dad.

“He never bores me,” was what she said.

One of the things they had in common was an appreciation for stunning views, picturesque landscapes, and beauty in general. Mom and Dad would trek over rough terrain with a child (me) for three days or more just to enjoy a “must-see” waterfall, hot spring, volcanic lake, etc.

Maybe this was the sort of upbringing that made me value lovely surroundings over efficiency on the farm.

By the time we finished, I had decided to use at least a little bit of energy to make my home prettier.

***

We spent two days making sure everything was okay before traveling south to the desert farm which was actually built in a semi-arid grassland rather than a sandy desert.

This one was a long-term project with a long list of things I needed to do to transform it into a fertile land.

[Epic Quest: Greening the Desert

Turn the cursed desert into fertile land.

1. Improve watershed by using water harvesting methods by digging contour swales. - done

2. Improve watershed by using water harvesting methods by digging a lake reservoir.

3. Plant the berms with one hundred fruit trees and one hundred berry bushes.

4. When the lake is full, plant a riparian buffer of one hundred trees.

5. Plant one hundred fertilizer trees. Use a cultivation box. - done

6. Graze spirit animals. Sow wild grass and flowers on the grazed land.

7. Plant one hundred fruit trees. Use a cultivation box.

8. Plant one hundred nut trees. Use a cultivation box.

9. Plant one hundred trees. Use a cultivation box. - done

10. Create windbreaks to protect the crops.

11. Plant one hundred perennial crops.

12. Create a food forest made of a diverse array of one hundred fruit trees, one hundred shrubs, one hundred vines, one hundred grasses or herbs, and one hundred root crops.

Progress: 3/12]

Now that all of us were higher level, it was time to step up our efforts.

Chapter 225.5

An excerpt from the journal of Shuye Skullcrusher, Guardian of the Ancient Hill Forest:

Prince Vikarna’s report was leaked and the four clans are in an uproar. Unlike the long-winded reports from the White Tiger clan scholars, his report contained only ten words:

Vermillion eyes see the truth. Lady Violet is a demigod.

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