When a person threw themselves into something, time always flew by.
The experiment only drew to a close when the setting sun dyed the sky orange-red once more.
The experiment with the blessed crops had yielded a great deal.
The five large carts that had arrived empty were now filled with enormous ears of wheat, potatoes, and grapes.
The food was piled high in the carts, and any more would have spilled out.
According to Nausicaä, the wheat would be stored in the granary near the castle, beside the village highlands.
There was a windmill there, where most of the wheat would be ground into flour for fragrant baked flatbread.
Potatoes were usually boiled and eaten with spices, though sometimes they were served alongside stewed meat.
Unfortunately, the Valley of the Wind no longer had a single head of livestock, so the potatoes could only be taken to the castle cellar and stored as reserve food.
The grapes would likewise be taken to the cellar.
According to Beruto, the wine, which was already popular with merchants, was about to receive a wonderful upgrade.
He said he couldn't wait to see the merchants' eyes pop when the newly produced "secret sweet fruit wine" appeared on the trade list.
As for the soybeans... nobody liked eating them.
Not only were they coarse and astringent, but their earthy smell was also unbearable.
Worst of all, eating too many caused gas. Nobody wanted to go out to work farting all the way...
After hearing Nausicaä's explanation, Mu En could only sum it up in one word.
Wasteful!
Too wasteful!
Soybeans were known as "the meat of the fields," the crop with the highest protein content, bar none!
Yet the people here only used them as cattle feed.
When he had the chance, he would teach Nausicaä the recipes passed down for five thousand years and show them just how vast and profound Chinese cuisine was.
But for now, solving the famine was more important.
The crops they had just harvested were enough to feed all six hundred-odd people in the valley their fill for several days.
Fortunately, perhaps tempered by the desolate end times, the people here were naturally much stronger than the humans Mu En knew.
Even a skinny old farmer could easily carry a 200 mm shell for a Tolmekian self-propelled gun, so naturally he had no trouble pulling an overloaded cart.
The wheat took up three carts and weighed around 900 kilograms in total. The potatoes and grapes each filled one and a half carts, weighing about 900 kilograms combined.
Incidentally, the grapes here were more like table grapes, with plump, firm fruit that didn't bruise easily.
There were fewer soybeans than anything else, only the sack produced at the start. Any farmer could carry it back.
The two blessed ones had put quite a bit of effort into growing all this food.
Nausicaä was fine, with only a fine layer of sweat on her forehead.
Beruto, on the other hand, had gotten so excited that he'd accidentally prayed too much.
He had nearly fainted from exhaustion and had already been helped back to rest by a foreman under him.
Based on a rough estimate from the recorded data, Beruto had enough stamina to ripen about one and a half mu of crops a day.
And the yield of the blessed crops was several times that of the Valley of the Wind's original crops.
Calculated entirely in wheat, that would amount to a harvest of nearly 1,000 kilograms.
Even accounting for losses from processing it into rations, that was an astonishing figure.
Under normal circumstances, the Valley of the Wind, with its six hundred residents, consumed only a little over 400 kilograms of food a day.
In other words, Beruto alone could feed two Valleys of the Wind!
With Nausicaä added to the mix, the figure was even more staggering.
Judging by the incredible stamina she had displayed when she cleared a forest firebreak on her own, if she devoted herself fully to farming, she could produce enough food to feed thousands, or even tens of thousands!
A mere estimate was enough for Mu En to clearly recognize the terrifying potential contained in the prayer Erdtree's Favor.
It was easy to foresee that as long as he, the Erdtree, existed, the Valley of the Wind would never be threatened by famine.
However, farming involved more than simply waiting for crops to ripen. Tilling, sowing, and harvesting all took time and labor.
Not to mention that a plot of farmland had to lie fallow for a year after its crops were ripened just two or three times.
These restrictions shattered the beautiful vision of "unlimited food production."
Most importantly, having someone as talented as Nausicaä spend all her energy in the fields would undoubtedly be a tremendous waste.
Even if she were willing, Mu En wouldn't agree.
Managing a territory and leading troops into battle was the path he had designed for the future queen.
There was still much to do to build an efficient social system with the Golden Order at its core and spread faith in the Erdtree.
For example, they could begin making changes with the most basic need of all: food and clothing.
"Nausicaä, how do you plan to handle this food?"
"I plan to leave the distribution to Uncle Beruto as usual, and restore the normal supply to calm the growing discontent in the valley... Do you think that's inappropriate?"
"Mm, I have an idea. It might also help you solve the Valley of the Wind's current problems once and for all..."
The sky gradually darkened.
A gaunt man limped through the fields with a gloomy expression, clutching a cowhide ration bag to his chest.
If Beruto had been there, he would have recognized the man as Yiduo, the warehouse guard he had personally chosen.
He was a poor disabled man known for being simple, honest, and sincere.
His parents had both died when he was young, and his legs suffered from an incurable illness, leaving him unable to do hard physical labor.
Even in the Valley of the Wind, where "everyone was equal," people would not look kindly on someone who truly did no work.
So Beruto, who had been on good terms with Yiduo's father, had arranged a relatively easy job for him to keep people from talking.
Strangely, although his shift was already over, he didn't go home or head to the tavern to relax. Instead, he made for the castle.
"I'm here to deliver something on Elder Beruto's orders."
After exchanging the password with the guards at the entrance, he stepped into the network of passages in the castle's base.
The castle's base was a fortress carved directly out of the hill, serving several important functions, including storing supplies, making weapons, and providing shelter.
"Whew... I shouldn't have attracted any attention, right?"
Muttering to himself, Yiduo proceeded along the steps, deliberately avoiding several blacksmiths who had just finished work. Only after making sure no one was following him did he begin feeling along the wall.
He found a particular spot and gave it a gentle push-
Click.
The seamless wall turned out to be a revolving door, revealing steps leading into darkness.
Yiduo hesitated, then took a palm-sized oil lamp from inside his clothes and lit it before cautiously descending the stairs.
This was a secret passage, and there were countless others like it throughout the castle. Only the clan leader's lineage knew the location and course of every one of them.
These winding stairways and rooms would become an invader's nightmare.
When Yiduo reached the end of the passage, he found what appeared to be a dead end.
He didn't turn back. Instead, he rapped on the wall in a rhythm, then pressed his hand against it once more.
Click. A second hidden door appeared.
Dim candlelight flickered in the hidden room, revealing a storeroom with a specially dug ventilation shaft.
A damp, moldy smell filled the air, along with a faint whiff of decay, making Yiduo reluctant to take another step forward.
The room wasn't large. A table, a bed, and machinery he couldn't make sense of occupied more than half of it.
A person sat in the room.
With their back to Yiduo, the person sat in a chair, tinkering with some ominous-looking reagents and several bamboo baskets that kept making noises.
An orange full-face mask resembling an insect's exoskeleton and thick military-green protective gear completely concealed the person's features.
The smell of decay in the room seemed to be coming from there.
Seeing that the person hadn't turned around, Yiduo swallowed and spoke as respectfully as he could.
"Lord insect tamer, today-"
"Leave it by the door."
The person known as the insect tamer spoke from beneath the mask, in a woman's voice that had been deliberately lowered.
"Yes."
Yiduo obediently put the bag by the door, but lingered instead of leaving.
"Is there something to report?"
"Yes, I-I have important intelligence to report to you. It concerns the empire's plan!"