NOVEL NEXT Chapter 305 Leon's New Role
Though confident in their own abilities, they knew that having multiple fallbacks was far better than being caught unprepared. With so few hands at their disposal, their best option was to build as many obstacles as possible to slow their enemies down.
And even when the pack eventually returned to reclaim this land, once the lingering biochemical traces had been dealt with, the traps would remain, ready for the pack's continued use of the traps for defense.
What none of the four realized, however, was that while each worked separately on their own section of the border, they were all thinking and doing the same thing.
While the four were busy setting up defenses along the border, Addison had already received reinforcements from the border patrol and immediately sent them to help with the harvest.
The section leaders divided the extra hands among themselves, and their combined effort quickly increased the output by nearly 30 percent, which brought a smile to Addison's face. She joined in the work as well, all while waiting for Elric to call her over.
Meanwhile, Lance had assigned two of the caravan's best guards to stay by Addison's side, ensuring her safety against any possible threat. But Addison, never one to let anyone stay idle, also put them to work in the fields.
As she swung a long-handled sickle with its curved blade to cut through the wheat, one guard followed behind her, bundling the stalks together for collection once the donkey-drawn cart arrived.
The other guard kept close, about a meter away, also harvesting with the same type of sickle, turning their protective watch into a joint effort in the harvest.
"Princess, you should rest for a while and drink some water before you get dehydrated. Leave this work to the two of us…" said the guard bundling the wheat as he stretched forward, his back sore from bending too long. He tilted his head with a small crack, easing the stiffness in his neck.
"Yes, Princess, please take a break and let us handle the rest," the other guard added, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve as he spoke.
But Addison shook her head as she looked around. A large section of the acre still remained untouched, and she realized that no matter how hard everyone worked, the progress was much slower than she had hoped.
Determined to change this, she resolved to push the research department and the mage tower to develop a machine or device that could speed up the harvesting process. That way, the western packs wouldn't have to rely solely on manpower or, worse, compromise their defenses by pulling more people into the fields during planting and harvest seasons.
With the growing number of rogues, weakening a pack's protection was far too great a risk.
She made sure to take note of this idea so she could bring it up with her father later. It was fortunate that she had been sent to the West, where she could witness firsthand how the people worked the fields.
Although she had also started a farm in the Midnight River Pack, the scale there couldn't even compare to the vast farmlands of the west, so she had never realized this problem before. At Midnight River, everything generally met her expectations and stayed on schedule.
The workload in the fields was balanced, neither too heavy nor too light, and it provided them with enough options to survive and keep food on the table.
The West, however, was a different story. As the kingdom's main granary, its terrain was perfectly suited for large-scale farming, which meant the fields stretched far wider. But that also meant most of their manpower had to be devoted to farming, leaving far fewer hands for anything else.
If the crops couldn't be harvested in time, especially with the rainy season or winter fast approaching, any delay would surely lead to waste. That made it clear to Addison that appealing for the creation of a device or machine to aid in harvesting was no longer just an option but a necessity.
She also realized that relying solely on the West as the kingdom's main granary was a dangerous strategy. It would be far better to encourage other packs in different regions to reclaim land and begin farming as well.
This way, each pack could become more self-sufficient rather than depending heavily on the West's harvest. And if disasters such as a locust swarm were to strike the west again, the other regions would remain stable, and the Royal Capital would still have a fallback option, preventing the kind of chaos they were facing now.
She could even use the Midnight River Pack as an example for the other packs. After all, the Midnight River Pack had become largely self-sufficient and no longer relied solely on other packs or grains from the west.
This independence had come about because, during hard times, many packs had turned their backs on them, forcing Addison to take matters into her own hands. She began farming and raising livestock, including poultry, cows, sheep, and more.
Thanks to these efforts, they even had a surplus, which they could trade with traveling merchants or other packs to obtain necessities they lacked, such as clothing and other supplies.
If other packs followed the example set by the Midnight River Pack, the kingdom's packs would prosper even more. Without expanding their skill set beyond fighting, packs would remain limited in perspective, and when times of need came and options dwindled, they would surely fall.
This was almost the fate of the Midnight River Pack. When their former Alpha suddenly died, their primary source of income, which was protecting the kingdom's border and nearby packs, vanished.
In return for their protection, they had previously received monthly food allocations from neighboring packs or traded byproducts from their hunts with traveling merchants or other packs.
With the Alpha gone, many believed the Midnight River Pack would never rise again. Losing their main source of income was effectively a death sentence for any pack.
But with their own source of food, the farm and livestock, the Midnight River Pack no longer had to rely on anyone. Trading became a choice rather than a necessity, giving them more options, and the pack grew stronger, eventually becoming one of the wealthiest packs in the kingdom.
Even if other packs couldn't reach the same level of prosperity, the idea itself was powerful. Addison believed that if she presented it at the conference once she returned, few packs would turn down the opportunity.
Addison nodded to herself as she considered the plan. To make sure she wouldn't forget, she hugged the long handle of her sickle and pulled a small notebook and charcoal pencil from her magic bag.
She began jotting down her thoughts carefully; these points were all too important to overlook.
As for livestock, the west was clearly the best option, with its vast granaries, abundant food, and spacious grazing areas.
But then she thought of Leon. Now that he would become her "subordinate" and he hailed from the grasslands, perhaps it would be wise to let some of the Tigrens handle more of the livestock.
After all, Tigrens had far more experience raising animals, they were carnivores who relied heavily on meat, and their grassland homeland was ideal for livestock farming.