Manor Lord of the Elf World

Chapter 58 Ranch Products
Before Raven could react, he saw Ryan and a bean pigeon walk in from outside.

He was carrying two creatures that were tightly bound with ropes.

That's... a chicken?

Raven was slightly taken aback. At first, he couldn't believe it and thought it was two Pokémon or something, but upon closer inspection, he found that it was indeed two pheasants.

Two ordinary pheasants, without any energy fluctuations, exist at the bottom of the food chain in this world.

Ryan exclaimed with delight, "Your Highness, we can finally have meat to eat!"

Raven's lips twitched: "...Where did you catch them? And weren't you, Christina, and Cleveland investigating the magical beasts around the territory?"

"Oh, those two! I found their tracks while investigating monsters in the forest."

Ryan scratched his head and then explained:
“The Bean Pigeon used its tricks to help me catch them. Not only that, I also found a nest of eggs in their nest! I remembered that Your Highness had given instructions this morning, so I came to bring them back first.”

"Your Highness, does that mean we can start raising these chickens?" A look of surprise appeared on Elif's face.

Raven nodded. With chickens and eggs, they could indeed try to domesticate these pheasants and hatch the eggs into chicks.

The chicken lays the egg, the egg hatches into a chicken, and so on. Before long, they will have more chicken and eggs than they can eat.

"Well done!" Raven was quite pleased. He praised Ryan and then said to the old butler beside him, "Cliff, go and ask if there is anyone in the territory who knows how to raise chickens. Give these two pheasants to him to raise. Also, have the carpenter make a fence around them to prevent them from escaping."

"Yes, Your Highness Raven!" Elif agreed repeatedly, then hurriedly left to find someone skilled in raising chickens within the territory.

“Your Highness, I must take my leave now!” Ryan said. “Christina and Cleveland are still waiting for me in the forest!”

Their mission was to investigate the newly emerging magical beasts around the territory, and they needed to complete it as soon as possible.

Raven nodded and said, "Go!"

Elif was very quick; he found someone skilled in raising chickens that very afternoon.

He was a middle-aged man who was about forty years old.

The man's name was Rick, and he had previously worked in the chicken farming industry in the royal city.

Raven inquired about some aspects of aquaculture from the other party, and after confirming that everything was correct, he finalized the selection.

Carpenter Tucker made a fence from timber felled from the forest and set up a chicken coop behind Rick's house specifically for raising chickens.

Looking at the two pheasants scratching for food in the ground, Raven couldn't help but start thinking about what to do with any Pokémon he might catch later, such as Shuckle, Tribeca, Deerclops, or Miltank.

Just find anyone to take care of you?
That would be too scattered.

If that's the case, why not build a ranch specifically for raising and breeding Pokémon?

In this way, the ranch can supply the territory with products such as honey, tree sap, milk, and tea in bulk.

That's a good option, Raven thought.

However, they haven't officially started raising those Pokémon yet; all of this will have to wait until Ryan, Christina, and Cleveland finish investigating the types of Pokémon that inhabit the surrounding area.

Moreover, raising Pokémon is not as simple as raising chickens.

Raising chickens only requires throwing them some grain or letting them forage and catch insects in the ground.

But raising Pokémon is a different story.

Different Pokémon have different food preferences, and Pokémon like Miltank especially need fresh hay.

There is currently no pasture in the territory, and even the reserves of tree fruit are insufficient.

Without enough food, they cannot support feeding a large number of Pokémon.

"Sigh, we still have to wait for the crops to ripen." Raven couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

However, the only saving grace is that with Pokémon like Dugtrio, Snivy, and Sylveon, they can shorten the crop growth cycle as much as possible.

In the evening, the gathering team returned from outside. Just as Raven had predicted, the spring forest was teeming with wild delicacies.

Tree fruits, wood ear fungus, mushrooms, leeks, bamboo shoots, bracken...

In addition, there were fish that the dwarf dragon caught from the river in the afternoon.

"What a great harvest!"

"Great! Now I don't have to worry about going hungry!"

The Pokémon living in this territory also gathered around, and looking at the basket full of food, they couldn't help but let out happy cries.

Raven watched this scene with a smile on his face.

This place is indeed very rich in resources, so they can successfully wait until the crops in the fields ripen.

*

The next day, early in the morning, Raven borrowed the three gophers from the farmland.

They stood in front of a large open space on the south side of the territory, with Snivy and the five Bubble Squirrels standing beside Raven.

A group of Pokémon lined up, looking expectantly at the open space in front of them.

"Gopher, please." Raven glanced at the Gopher beside him.

Although it's unclear how the farmers and the gopher got along, judging from the gopher's appearance, it seems that the farmers had already accepted it.

At this moment, the three-horned rats understood the task Raven had given them when he called them over today.

Since it has already agreed to Raven's request to stay here and work to repay the losses it caused, it should rightfully be the one to do these jobs.

"Squeak!" the three-horned mole squeaked, indicating that it was ready!

“In that case, let’s begin!” Raven nodded.

"Squeak!"

A powerful energy burst forth from the three-legged hamster, and the next second, it seemed as if layers of ripples were spreading across the ground.

The three voles began to run forward with all their might, and the soil they passed over was immediately turned over and made soft.

In a dozen or so rounds, the three ground squirrels had turned over and cleared a complete field.

Raven took out the pomelo seeds he had collected over the winter from his bag.

“Foam Squirrel, I’m going to plant these fruit seeds in this garden next,” Raven said to the Pokémon beside him. “That way, when autumn comes, these seeds will grow into fruit trees and bear fruit again.”

If you let a Grass-type Pokémon help nurture the fruit with energy, the berries will mature even earlier.

"Chestnut...!"

Upon hearing Raven's words, the five foam squirrels on the grass couldn't help but conjure up a scene in their minds.

—In that harvest season, all the fruit trees in the orchard had grown to maturity, and large, plump pomelos hung from the branches of each tree.

They flitted happily among the trees, branches, and fruit, picking a pomelo whenever they got hungry.

When the cold winter comes, they huddle together in the hollow of the fruit tree, where snow falls heavily outside and the hollow is warm and cozy inside.

"Chestnut...!"

Just thinking about that scene makes me so happy!

　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)