Elf Lord, intelligence updated daily.

Chapter 4 Contract Spirit Insect!
Before dawn the next day, Loren's personal maid Anna woke him up as instructed.

According to regulations, male nobles were not allowed to have personal maids.

However, the original owner never followed the rules.

Loren didn't want to be served by male servants either.

It's rather strange to have a man serve him when he changes clothes or takes a bath.

She was a little nervous, afraid that Loren would bully her again because of his morning grumpiness.

Loren has no time to care about these things right now.
This morning, a little insect will be born in the rye field!

This is very likely the first spirit insect he obtained after transmigrating!

"Anna, go and wake Miss Shirley up too."

"Yes."

Loren went to the first floor of the castle and woke up the knight who lived there.

Everyone gathered on the first floor, looking completely bewildered.

They had no idea what kind of trouble Loren was planning this time.

If Loren hadn't given them two fire rabbits yesterday, these knights probably wouldn't have given them such a friendly look.

Liz asked, "My lord, why did you wake us up so early?"

"Wait, let's talk about it after Miss Xuefu comes down."

When Xuefu came downstairs, she found that Loren had not only woken her up, but had also summoned all the knights.

She approached Loren and asked, "It's not even dawn yet, why did you wake us up?"

"Come with me to the rye field to find the fairy bugs!"

Everyone was startled, and all sleepiness vanished.

Fairy bug?
Is the lord alright?

You can't just find fairy insects whenever you want.

Liz looked at Loren with a strange expression. "Lord, is this also one of your precognitive abilities?"

“That’s right!” Loren made up a story off the cuff. “I had a dream yesterday that fairy insects would be born in the ground today. Maybe it’s the guidance of the fairy goddess!”

The Elf Goddess is the deity worshipped by everyone in the Elf Kingdom, and it is said that the goddess will protect all living beings in the Elf Kingdom.

Xuefu knew that Loren was talking nonsense.

Yesterday at dinner, Loren mentioned that he needed her help with something this morning.

So it's all for some vague and uncertain probability?

Sandstone Town truly needs the Elf Bugs to save it.

The fairy insects do indeed originate from various plants.

But even hundreds of millions of plants might not be able to produce a single fairy insect.

Is it too far-fetched to gamble the future of Shashi Town on such a non-existent probability?
No one believed Loren's nonsense, but they had to help.

They were ordered to work in Sandstone Town, so they had to obey the lord's orders, especially since Loren had treated them to a roasted rabbit yesterday.

Even if it's just nonsense, they have to go along with it.

Rye is cold-resistant and adaptable, and can grow even in poor soil. It is one of the main crops in Shashi Town.

Of the nearly 200 mu of farmland in Shashi Town, 20 mu are planted with rye.

The nymphs are bred from rye plants, and finding a single plant in a twenty-acre field is no easy task.

As the sun gradually rose and dawn broke, Loren and the others began their operation.

Twenty acres of land is a large area, but there aren't many plants growing vigorously on it.

Looking at the soil in the field, Loren was puzzled.

The quality of this soil is just too poor!
Did these farmers not apply fertilizer?

The knights were skeptical, but they still searched quite diligently.

They get up early every morning to train.

Finding the sprite bugs is much easier than training them.

Everyone searched one by one and, as Loren had requested, recorded the best-growing plant.

Xuefu carefully observed the plants in the ground, a faint hope in her heart.

She didn't really trust Loren either.

Fairy bugs aren't something you can just find anytime, anywhere.

But what if?
If a sprite bug really does sprout from the ground, Sandstone Town might actually be saved!
Xuefu passed by a stalk of rye that was growing exceptionally well and secretly made a mental note of it.

She was about to continue forward when she inadvertently noticed that the rye ears seemed to move slightly.

Wait a minute, aren't these ears of wheat a little too "fat"?

Xuefu stopped and observed carefully.

really!

It's moving!
Could it really be a fairy insect?

"Loren! Come here for a second!" Xuefu called out.

She was extremely excited.

The wheat ears are really moving!

Upon hearing the shouts, Loren rushed to Xuefu's side.

The other knights stopped what they were doing and looked over.

Liz walked directly toward Xuefu.

"Is it a spirit insect?" Loren asked.

"It's possible! It's moving!"

Liz walked over and saw that the wheat ears were indeed trembling slightly, and her eyes widened in surprise.

Is everything Loren said true?

The three of them stood beside the rye plant for a long time.

The other six knights, seeing that Loren and his companions remained in place, all surrounded them.

Xuefu waved her hand, "Move aside, don't block the sun!"

No one knows the hatching conditions for the Fairy Bug.

All they knew was that the better the plants grew, the higher the probability of the fairy insects hatching.

Logically speaking, it would be difficult for such barren land as Shashi Town to nurture elf insects.

However, today they seem to be able to witness the entire process of the fairy insect's birth! The wheat ears are shaking more and more violently.

About half an hour later, a chubby little creature finally broke open the husk of the wheat ear.

Its whole body is crystal clear and pure white, with a tiny black dot on its head, making it extremely cute.

Everyone was shocked.

It really is a fairy bug!

A magical insect truly emerged from the rye field!

"Sign the contract quickly!" Xuefu tugged at Loren's clothes.

Elf insects are magical creatures, born with the ability to form master-servant contracts.

Loren extended his finger, guiding the elven insect to his fingertip.

The little guy looks drowsy, like he hasn't woken up yet.

No wonder it took so long to break open the wheat husk.

The little sprite worm showed no reaction for a long time.

Loren reached out and gently flicked it on the forehead.

The sprite was furious.

It bit Loren's finger, and a faint trace of blood oozed from it.

Loren vaguely sensed a mental connection in his mind.

Contract successfully signed!

The rye sprite looked at Loren with a blank expression.

It is not yet sentient and understands nothing.

Loren took out the prepared jade box and put the spirit insect inside.

He wanted to take the fairy insect back and feed it properly.

"Remember to tell the farmers to cultivate this rye plant properly."

This rye plant is a type of cordyceps from the Elf Insect.

Cordyceps can affect the growth of several acres of land around it and increase the yield of rye.

As the insect grows, the area affected by the cordyceps will also increase.

The insects themselves are not particularly fragile, but once the cordyceps dies, they will also suffer a great loss of vitality.

If new cordyceps cannot be conceived in time, they may even die directly.

Only after evolving into Pokémon can they break free from the constraints of the Cordyceps.

However, the evolution probability of the Spirit Bug is extremely low.

Of a hundred bugs, only two or three might evolve into Pokémon.

However, if they can die of old age, they can still bring great benefits.

Xuefu glared fiercely at Loren, "If you kill it again this time, I will never forgive you!"

Unlike the previous two fairy insects, this fairy insect was born under the watchful eyes of Xuefu.

Such a cute little guy, Xuefu absolutely will not allow Loren to make the same mistake as before.

Loren thought so too.

This was the first spirit insect he encountered after his transmigration.

It was also the first spirit insect he had contracted, so he had to protect it well.

Loren was overjoyed to have harvested the fairy insects.

“There’s another question. Don’t the farmers in Shashi Town fertilize their fields?” Loren asked.

"Fertilize?" Xuefu asked, puzzled.

Loren thought that Xuefu probably didn't know anything about farming, so he looked at the knight beside him and said, "Go and bring the farmers of this land here."

"Yes!"

Before long, the farmer, trembling with fear, approached Loren.

The Pete couple own this rye field.

The couple were in their fifties and had a sixteen-year-old son who worked at a blacksmith shop in town.

The townspeople were quite afraid of Loren, and Pete was no exception.

"My lord, what are your orders, Miss Xuefu?"

Loren glanced at Xuefu.

Xuefu understood and spoke up.

“A rye sprite worm has been born in your field.”

As a reward, I've decided to award your household a gold coin and exempt them from taxes this year.

This rye plant is a type of cordyceps from the "elf insect" (a type of insect), you must take good care of it, it can greatly increase the harvest for you and the surrounding farmers.

Pete was overjoyed upon hearing this. "A... a spirit insect? My land? Thank you, Miss Xuefu, thank you, Lord! I will definitely take good care of this insect plant!"

"Also, I'd like to ask, how do you usually cultivate the land?"

Xuefu didn't know why Loren was interested in farming; she was just asking questions based on Loren's ideas.

Pete was taken aback. "How do you farm... it's just normal crop rotation and fallow, that's what farmers in Sandstone Town do."

He really didn't know how to describe it.

Xuefu turned to look at Loren.

Loren couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you going to fertilize?"

Pete shuddered. "My lord, what do you mean by fertilizing?"

No wonder the soil quality in the field is so poor.

No wonder rye production is so low.

So these farmers have never applied fertilizer?

"Then how do you increase grain production?"

Pete answered truthfully, "Fertile land yields high grain production, while barren land yields low grain production. To further increase production, we can only rely on the Fairy Insects."

So that's how it is. Because of the existence of the fairy insects, farmers had no concept of fertilization.

Simply put, they believe in magic more than science.

(End of this chapter)