The Assassin Ano

July had come, and with it the height of the rainy season, hand in hand with the scorching midsummer. Rain and heat arrived together, pouring surging vitality into the crops in the fields. The corn shot upward joint by joint, the beans twined around and climbed, and the pumpkins spread over the farmland, blocking the sunlight the weeds needed to grow.

In the agricultural production of pre-industrial societies, large livestock were not only an important source of power, but also the main source of manure. An adult cow could produce an astonishing eighty jin or more of dung each day. In the famous grass-field rotation, fallow farmland would be planted with pasture grass, then effectively fertilized through grazing by large livestock.

But in the Lake Kingdom, because there was a lack of large livestock, village compost was extremely limited, and could only be supplied in focus to part of the farmland. The farmers of the lake region followed the priests' guidance, concentrating a year's accumulated compost into the selected public fields to provide "life" for the rapidly growing crops. By now, most of the field management had been completed. Next came the patient wait for the Main God's divine power to ripen the crops and bring a bountiful harvest to the fields.

Blazing sun and heavy rain alternated, and the busy villages gradually returned to calm, nurturing new life. The Black Wolf Royal Banner patrolled among the villages, gradually coming from the western boundary of Zacapu Prefecture in River Mouth County to the rolling eastern boundary. Beyond that lay the fief of the glorious noble Tepopollo.

The summer sun hung high, spreading light everywhere. The Black Wolf Royal Banner halted once more, this time at a Dog-kin village near the border. Amid a killing chill, three hundred personal guards wore