Under the bright sun, on a low, gentle slope in the northern Valley Land, a large clay pot over a fire was steaming. The meat porridge inside the pot was bubbling and boiling. A farmwife and an old woman were stirring diligently, while several children carried small bundles of firewood they had gathered to the fire.
Looking out from the low, gentle slope, a busy scene unfolded—dozens of people on both sides of the river were bending over, cutting, hoeing, chopping, and pulling weeds from the wild grass. Several wide firebreaks in the overgrown land were almost complete.
Today was the third day of reclamation. Everyone in Wood Fort participated in the land-clearing activities. Emma moved the kitchen to the Valley Land, and Art divided everyone into six groups. They cut firebreaks along the marked boundaries. When there weren't enough scythes for cutting grass, long swords and short swords were distributed. Farmers used scythes, iron hoes, long swords, and short swords all at once. They had to seize the sunny weather and dry weeds to quickly cut out the isolation belts and then burn them.
On the simple wooden bridge made of several logs over the river, Kazak and Bas were carrying two large bundles of thatch to the gentle slope on the opposite bank.
"You said we could just burn it all at once, but no, we had to cut some firebreaks. Why bother with all this?" Kazak was quite confused by the time-consuming and laborious firebreaks.
"All you do is complain. What do you know? Just burn it all at once? Do you know if the fire, once started, will spread to the forests on both sides? If you set the mountain forest on fire, will you put it out? If you anger the God of the Forest, He'll use you as a sacrifice." Bas snapped quietly at the chattering Kazak.
"Bas, I'm not complaining. I just haven't done farm work in so long that I can't adapt to it all at once," Kazak replied sheepishly.
Bas stopped and turned to Kazak, saying, "You haven't done farm work in so long? Look at what the Master is doing! In the past, being a laborer in Lucerne was much harder than this. How did you adapt then? Shut your mouth and work."
Kazak sullenly closed his mouth.
In the wasteland on the other side of the river, Art was using a short sword to cut down a patch of thatch at the roots. Odo followed behind, bundling the cut thatch into large piles. Ron carried a large bundle of thatch to the open space in front of the low, gentle slope, then scooped a bowl of clear water from a wooden bucket and drank it. He then took off the water skin at his waist, filled it with clear water, and brought it to Art.
"Master, please rest. Have some water." Ron handed the water skin to Art.
Art straightened up, wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve, took the water skin, and sat on a pile of grass, drinking deeply. Neither the original owner of this body nor Art himself had ever engaged in heavy farm work. If it weren't to motivate everyone and create a stable foundation for his future, Art would not have voluntarily done this. Compared to farming, he preferred to fight wolves and beasts in the forest.
While he was lost in thought, a cheer came from the opposite bank of the river; they had already opened the firebreak on the left bank of the river.
Art stood up on his tiptoes, looking towards the opposite bank, then turned to the farmer beside him and loudly encouraged, "Folks, the other side is finished. We need to work harder too!" With that, he returned the water skin to Ron and continued to bend down and cut grass.
Soon after, cheers also came from the right bank of the river.
In the Valley Land, on both sides of the river, a person holding a torch stood every few dozen steps along the firebreak.
Art leaned on his knight's sword with his right hand, placed the Holy Cross on his chest with his left hand, and knelt on one knee in front of the firebreak at the bottom of the gentle slope. He bowed his head and prayed, "Lord, I pray you bless this fertile land. Please, in Your mercy, grant a bountiful harvest here each year. You look after the earth, send abundant rain, and make the earth fruitful; You irrigate the furrows and level the soil, soften the soil with rain, and bless the growth of plants. Lord, may Your footsteps walk over every field, so that it may always drip with richness; may Your breath blow over every seedling, so that even in the harsh winter when all things wither, life's tender shoots may grow here. Lord, we believe Your promise is the greatest mercy to all Your children who trust You on earth; we believe that with Your blessing, every inch of this land will be a blessed land flowing with milk and honey! Amen!"
Everyone behind him followed by making the sign of the Holy Cross on their chests, chanting "Amen."
This was spiritual power. For a group of displaced strangers, nothing was more important than receiving God's blessing and protection, so Art inherited the original owner's faith in God.
Art stood up, took the torch handed to him by Cooper, and stepped forward to light the first dry grass. The flames of hope spread and rose over this fertile land forgotten by God.
"Light the fire! Light the fire! Light the fire!" Voices calling to light fires came from all directions.
Old Cooper tremblingly took the torch from Art's hand, his voice somewhat shaky, "Master, I haven't been this excited in many years, not like today."
Art's gaze shifted to Cooper and he nodded, then focused intently on the rising flames.
The large fire burned for half the afternoon. Dozens of farmers were scattered across the large, flat, black areas after the burning, collecting unburnt grass stalks and miscellaneous branches into piles to continue burning them.
Art was on the low, gentle slope, discussing the construction of temporary shelters with Cooper and Bard.
"Cooper, next we will enter the most difficult phase of reclamation and plowing. This place is too far from our Wood Fort. These past few days, running back and forth between Wood Fort and the Valley Land has been time-consuming and exhausting. So, next, we will clear and plow the land while building temporary shelters. I think this gentle slope is very good; it's close to the river, slightly elevated, and still flat."
Cooper looked around and replied, "Hmm, I think so too. This flat area is a bit narrow, but building a few large shelters is no problem. And it's close to the forest, so it's convenient to gather materials. With the thatch we've collected these past few days, if we have enough hands, we can build a shelter in two or three days."
"Good, do this immediately. In a moment, I'll have Ron ride back to Wood Fort to get tools. Tonight, the women and children will return to Wood Fort to rest, and the men will stay to gather wood and dig foundations. Tomorrow, I'll have Odo and the other two help you build the shelters. Also, this place has been desolate for many years, and there must be wild beasts in the surrounding dense forest, so I plan to issue a short spear to Lawrence and Scott as guards."
Just as they had finished discussing the construction of temporary shelters in the Valley Land, a burst of laughter came from the distant wasteland. Ron was seen running over from the wasteland, holding something in his hand.
"Master, Master, haha, look what this is?" Ron held up a wild rabbit, charred black by the fire.
"Brother Odo and the others also found a wild boar suffocated by the thick smoke. There must still be pheasants and wild rabbits in the ground that didn't manage to escape..."
"Good, go tell everyone to search carefully. Tonight, we'll eat meat and drink soup."
That night, the men who stayed in the Valley Land had a meal of roasted wild rabbit and thick soup made with onion and wild boar meat.
