Cultivar (1)
If one delved deeper into the argument that agriculture was the origin of human inequality, one would eventually arrive at survival and food.
It was an extremely fundamental statement, but human conflict could be said to have begun with the struggle for survival.
If everyone had full stomachs, warm backs, and abundant resources, why would anyone willingly risk conflict with their neighbors?
When food is scarce, people go hungry.
When people go hungry, they die.
When famine strikes, the people around them die as well.
If the rulers are the problem, the people rebel.
If the neighboring village is wealthier, they wage war against it.
That is how conflict grows.
Human beings are creatures that eat, sleep, and defecate.
As long as they cannot escape that cycle, food will inevitably remain of paramount importance.
To put it bluntly, food could be called the root of every conflict.
As long as agriculture remained the primary source of food, it was only natural for people to strive to secure fertile land.
And what happened when a group grew large enough to form a nation, only to find itself occupying barren land?
War would most likely follow.
It was a desperate struggle to avoid starvation—or to live a more prosperous life.
No matter how far civilization advanced, humanity would have to continue confronting that problem.
Title: Something Interesting About Elves
Land fertile enough for the World Tree to flourish.
Racial traits powerful enough to rival those of the demons.
Enough solidarity to drive out a particular ethnic group whenever they manage to unite.
They possess all three, so why haven’t they conquered the world?
└ Something strange slipped into the middle of that list.
└ But it’s true. Racial discrimination might be severe, but nobody usually goes that far.
└ Wouldn’t that be ethnic discrimination rather than racial discrimination? Though I suppose it really is racial discrimination now. =
└ Their land might simply be too good. They already have everything they need, so why bother?
└ Being too powerful might actually have hindered their development. Look at humans. We advanced by pulling every ridiculous stunt imaginable.
└ The most absurd part is that we became stronger just to survive against the demons...
└ And humans fought among themselves constantly, lol.
Title: Why the Messiah Empire Is Overpowered
There’s a reason they’ve managed to retain such an enormous territory.
First of all, the Karen Plains are absurdly overpowered. The soil isn’t as fertile as the land surrounding the World Tree, but it’s still excellent.
More importantly, the plains are ridiculously huge. People even say that the moment you enter the farmland, you’ll get lost.
Because of that geography, the Messiah Empire naturally has an enormous capacity to support its population. I heard it already ranks first in total population.
A large population means a large pool of talent, which is how monsters like Ash emerge.
└ Weren’t beastfolk the ones who previously dominated through sheer population? Are humans taking the lead now?
└ Beastfolk families have apparently started having only one child each these days.
└ I doubt that will last. Their mating seasons alone ensure that their birth rate remains high.
└ One careless moment and you immediately end up with another child.
└ Suspiciously: It isn’t quite that extreme. Their mating cycles have to align. Otherwise, both partners have an extremely difficult time.
└ Leaving the children aside, how can beastfolk lands support such a large population? I heard their naturally greater muscle mass means they consume far more calories.
└ Weed, the beastfolk nation, also has exceptionally good land. They couldn’t have survived otherwise.
└ That territory originally belonged to humans. The beastfolk took it through war.
└ Lmaooo.
It was what people called the advantage of the land.
In Earth terms, it was like the host starting on an overpowered map.
In that sense, there was no need to explain the importance of agriculture. Everyone already understood it.
If agriculture failed, the country failed with it.
That led people to wonder:
How could farming be made easier?
What crops could be grown to make farming more efficient?
Humanity had consequently spent countless years selectively breeding wild crops.
They transformed them so that they could escape the harsh wilderness and grow like sheltered flowers in a greenhouse.
They removed undesirable traits and focused on improving flavor and yield.
Title: Why Selective Breeding Is Difficult
Strong survival ability but tastes terrible → Reduce its survival ability → Tastes good → Every pest imaginable swarms it → Make it resistant to pests → Survival ability becomes strong → Tastes terrible again → Ptooey.
Repeat indefinitely.
└ Lmaooo. It’s more complicated than that, but this explains it surprisingly well.
└ How did our ancestors manage to selectively breed crops?
└ Because all the ancestors who failed starved to death.
Improving wild crops inevitably involved countless failures.
Humanity enlarged corn that had originally been no bigger than a finger joint.
They removed all the seeds from banana flesh that had once been packed full of them.
They filled the insides of watermelons with red flesh when they had originally possessed almost none.
Countless experiments eventually produced a wide variety of crops, but many problems remained.
After all, securing food was a challenge faced not only by humanity, but by every living creature.
In that regard, the Messiah Empire had enacted a remarkably sound policy.
It offered rewards to anyone who successfully developed an excellent new cultivar.
It was another policy spearheaded by Robert, and it encouraged the academy’s talented scholars to concentrate on agricultural science.
"You should have attended the academy."
"I’m telling you, all I did was scatter some soil."
"I’m sorry your father was too poor to send you there."
"No, Father. I really did nothing but scatter soil."
However, even the most talented scholars were useless unless they could conduct experiments themselves.
Agriculture was measured in yearly cycles, so experiments naturally took a long time.
In other words, if crops could be grown instantaneously, selective breeding would become considerably easier.
What in the world is happening?
Roy was an ordinary young farmer.
He could hardly believe the sight before him.
All he had done was sow seeds and scatter soil over them.
It just happened to be the soil he had received from Grylls.
He had thought that plants might grow a little better if he sprinkled them with soil from the Forest of Four Seasons.
Since he had also shared his agricultural knowledge with Grylls, it had been a beneficial exchange for both of them.
"Wow, look at this. The heads are completely filled with grains."
"Just one of these must hold three or four times as much as ordinary wheat."
The farmers exclaimed as they examined the rapidly matured wheat.
It was visibly much larger than ordinary wheat.
But what mattered wasn’t its appearance. It was what lay inside.
An empty cart made the most noise, after all. The wheat might only look impressive on the surface.
"But the taste is..."
"Blech! Why is it so bitter?! We can’t sell this."
Although the yield might have been impressive, the wheat failed completely in terms of flavor.
In the end, they decided to dispose of the first batch they harvested.
"This one tastes fine, but..."
"The yield is too low. We’d only lose money growing this."
"This one is no different from our usual wheat."
"This one is the same too."
The other wheat varieties fared little better.
Most were exactly like the wheat they normally harvested, and they only inspected the occasional plants that stood out.
Most of those possessed unusual traits but offered almost no actual advantages.
What they needed was a cultivar that offered both quantity and quality.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t find one.
"Whatever Roy did, it looks like he stumbled onto something interesting."
"Right. Try scattering that soil again like you did earlier. Something good might emerge."
The natural-born farmers quickly crowded around Roy.
Some of the wheat possessed distinctive traits.
What if they managed to produce a cultivar that offered both superior yield and quality?
That year’s harvest would not merely be abundant. The government might even grant them a reward.
As Roy stammered helplessly, his father stepped forward and restrained the excited farmers.
"Listen. I don’t know exactly what my son did, but aren’t all of you being rather shortsighted?"
"What do you mean?"
"It’s certainly good that the wheat grew instantaneously. But shouldn’t we also consider the condition of the soil?"
At the mention of the soil’s fertility, the farmers belatedly realized their oversight.
Farming did not end with the sowing of seeds.
Sunlight, water, pests, diseases, and periodically occurring natural disasters all had to be endured or avoided before a stable harvest could be secured.
And producing an abundant harvest was an entirely separate matter.
The most important factor was the land itself.
The nutrients contained in soil were not infinite.
If they were, the word "desertification" would never have existed.
Why had so many nations criticized Alvenheim’s tree-planting campaign?
Because the trees planted by Alvenheim absorbed every last nutrient from the surrounding soil.
The native vegetation withered as a result, naturally causing significant harm to the ecosystem.
Plants were living creatures too, and they survived by consuming nutrients.
Therefore, unless the soil was exceptionally fertile, it was difficult to plant the same crop in it every year.
"Roy, take the rest of the day off and learn more about that strange soil. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Father."
"All right, everyone. Let’s return to work. We still have plenty to do."
Thanks to his father’s skillful handling of the situation, Roy escaped the commotion.
However, his thoughts remained complicated.
He looked down at the bundle in his hands.
It contained the soil from the Forest of Four Seasons that he had received from Grylls.
Was this really responsible?
There was a great deal to test.
He immediately headed home.
Since agriculture was the Messiah Empire’s primary industry, nearly every household maintained a small vegetable garden.
Experimenting there should give him a rough understanding of the soil’s effects.
"Hm? Roy, why are you home already?"
"I have something I need to do."
"Wow! Big Brother! Did you come home to play with me?"
"No! He came home to play with me!"
The house became noisy the instant he returned.
Roy forcibly detached his adorable but troublesome younger siblings from himself.
He had experiments to conduct.
His father had even given him time off specifically for that purpose, so he couldn’t waste it.
If crops grow instantly, couldn’t I identify better cultivars much more easily?
Many people held a certain prejudice.
They believed that people who did nothing but farm were ignorant.
But how much did those people actually know about agriculture?
Roy came from a family that had farmed for generations, and he possessed extensive knowledge of agricultural science.
Although circumstances had prevented him from attending the academy, he had steadily read books and acquired a wealth of knowledge.
He had studied how his ancestors farmed and why they had adopted particular methods.
The wisdom of one’s ancestors could never be dismissed.
There were reasons those practices had been passed down as practical knowledge, and Roy had learned something new each time he put them into practice.
There must be a reason they bred wheat this way... No. Before that, I should tell Mr. Grylls what happened.
Roy postponed his reading and logged into the Gallery.
Because of his occupation, he didn’t access the Gallery very often, but he visited whenever he had spare time.
Moreover, the current political climate gave him little choice but to check it more frequently.
He would have to walk an entire day to the city just to obtain a newspaper.
He had even learned through the Gallery that the emperor had recently changed.
Come to think of it, I forgot to take a picture. I’ll have to explain it in words.
Roy searched the Gallery for Grylls’s posts.
A post greeting everyone that morning and announcing the beginning of Grylls’s day was near the top.
Sending him a private message would be a little embarrassing.
Instead of sending a private message, Roy left a public comment.
Normally, this kind of matter should have been kept strictly confidential.
But Roy was a farmer by nature.
He lacked awareness of such finer details.
└ Grow, Grow, Grow: Mr. Grylls, the soil you gave me yesterday was incredible.
└ Wild Grylls: How was it incredible?
└ Grow, Grow, Grow: The wheat grew almost immediately after I scattered the soil. It seems even the soil in the Forest of Four Seasons is extraordinary.
└ Wild Grylls: It grew immediately? All you did was sow the seeds?
└ Grow, Grow, Grow: Yes. I don’t know how things will work on your end, but they’ll probably grow well there too.
└ Wild Grylls: Ah. I should’ve been scattering it everywhere from the beginning. I’ve missed out big time.
└ Grylls, didn’t that elf give you a sapling before? What happened to it?
└ Wild Grylls: It’s still growing well. I think it has grown about thirty centimeters since the last time I checked.
└ The wheat grows instantly, so what the hell is that sapling?;;
└ Did the elf seriously give you a World Tree sapling?
└ Does that mean we’re getting another World Tree? Lmaooo.
After leaving a message of thanks, Roy logged out of the Gallery.
Selective breeding was more important than the Gallery right now.
He had to develop high-quality wheat somehow and provide tremendous assistance to his village.
Let’s see. I should start with this book.
Roy began slowly reading a journal that had been passed down through his family for generations.
However, there was something he didn’t realize at all.
He had no idea what effect the single comment he had posted on the Gallery would have on his village.
As a farmer by nature, such possibilities never crossed his mind.
***
Meanwhile, Grylls—
"All right, let’s go. We have plenty of work to do today too."
"Understood."
He and Ludwig began their daily routine.