"Lord, this doesn't seem right..."
"What's wrong with it? I'm not asking you to use any force. Just stay there."
"But..."
"No buts. Stay put."
"Ah, Lord, that's too much force!"
"Huh? Is it? Then... how about this?"
"Seems like that's not quite enough strength. Could you... use a little more?"
"How about this?"
"Mm... feels good."
"Feels good? Then shall we leave it like this?"
"Mm..."
"Hey, Avina, are you really sure planting a field has to be this troublesome? You have to dig every hole and plow every patch with such precision. Can't it be a little deeper or shallower?"
"This is how my alchemy master taught me. She planted her alchemical materials like this. Not only did she have different requirements for planting depth, she even had different requirements for the soil. The books I've read about growing food never mentioned any of this, but I think all plants should have something in common, right? Isn't that how I planted the last field?"
"So you're still treating food crops like alchemical materials?"
"Huh? I... I suppose so."
"Argh! I'm done!"
Landen dropped the iron shovel in his hand, walked back to the field ridge, and sat down beside Avina, watching the busy scene before them.
There were more than just the bear hobgoblins here. To harvest as much as possible and gather the prosperity needed for the Territory Upgrade quest as quickly as he could, Landen had also transferred groups of people from the greater hobgoblins and the Lizardfolk, forcing the total to a full complement. Of course, their only task was plowing the fields. The subsequent planting process still had to be handled by Hogg and the bear hobgoblins.
The land in the Yumaas Region was barren not only because the poor soil made it difficult