Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence-Chapter 490 - 3: The Pressure of Food and New Wheat Seed

After Su Li purified his body from the corrosion, Minister of Agriculture Vandar and Minister of Livestock Edmond walked into the conference hall.

These two Elder Druids are biological brothers, making them an admirable example of nepotism within the territory.

There’s no need to worry about them engaging in corruption though; both of them have a bit of an idealistic tone, with each holding a grand vision.

Minister of Agriculture Vandar Oak is focused solely on developing the Dawn Goddess Church. He is fully committed to the great endeavor of the Church. As the Minister of Agriculture of the territory and the Shepherd Leader of the territory’s Dawn Church, he is devoutly loyal to Reya, this ancient god.

The Dawn Church believes that since humankind transitioned from nomadic to settled living, there has been a devout faith in the Dawn Goddess Reya. It is said that the mysteries of agriculture were gifts brought by her to humankind. The earliest humans believed that Reya gifted domesticated grains, tamed animals, and the secrets of cultivation to humankind as a gift. Out of gratitude, humans revered Reya in the mysterious stone circles found in this land. The women tasked with guarding the secrets gifted by Reya established a budding priestess system.

Some scholars think that Reya is a modern incarnation of the goddess worshipped in ancient faiths. Others believe Reya to be the first god of civilization, bringing stability and order to the unpredictability of nature.

As more tribes embraced settled life, those most reliant on cultivation revered Reya more than other native gods.

Even the fiercest warrior kings recognized the necessity to avoid famine and ensure healthy childbirths. After Redema established the Empire, the worship of Reya remained significant, though it gradually distanced itself from the power centers of urban areas. The Church was never formalized. While Priest Yurik, Priest Tal, and later Priest Redema engaged in political struggles around the new Empire, the Reya Church maintained a pragmatic approach, focusing on an eternal concern for the land—an arena of Reya’s domain.

Thus, Vandar has been dedicated to expanding Reya’s faith into the countryside and villages of the Hesse Territory. This is necessary, as while Reya is much loved by the Imperial people, townsfolk rarely pay attention to this goddess unless blessings are needed—for easing childbirth, filling granaries and markets, or ending harsh winters. Priestesses would visit larger settlements to care for expectant mothers, but they rarely want to be surrounded by walls and stone for long.

Reya’s true core of belief lies in the villages and farms of the Empire’s countryside, where her blessings are essential for survival and prosperity. Life in the countryside is considered "under Reya’s grace" for good reason. If you live in the countryside, she accompanies you from birth, watching as you grow, find love, wed, and have children of your own. Even in death, she is responsible for delivering your soul to Mole, and in certain tales, hopes your body is buried into the earth to foster future life in the soil.

With the recent war coming to an end, the Dawn Goddess Church has a significant expansion opportunity, with numerous villages and farms spreading out beyond the towns, and many monasteries and mysterious stone circles of the Reya Church emerging.

The Church now urgently needs more nuns of the Dawn Goddess. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Edmond Oak, however, is even more radical than Vandar. As an Elf Druid, he is not interested in human endeavors and faiths but is intent on developing a forest town suitable for elves. His vision is, as the Hesse Territory’s lands and borders expand, to find a forest in the vast foothills of Hesse, preferably along a tributary downstream of the Brionne River, with a river running through the entire forest. Then, on both sides of this river, amidst the sprawling forest, construct numerous elf buildings, housing thousands or even tens of thousands of elves, thriving and trading with humans.

He has already had some success in this area; the Holy Forest is his pilot project. The development of this forest has vibrant vitality, indicating that as long as the territory supports him and enough elves move in, he could at any time establish a larger forest in another vast wilderness.

If there could be an Ancient Tree of Life, this process would be even faster. Indeed, some powerful Elf Mages might even relocate.

However, this also means that the territory will face some conflicts and disputes. Forming a military alliance is never easy. The grudging Dwarves have never forgotten their ancestral grievances. The past of the Battle of the Longbeards has led Elves and Dwarves to always view each other with enmity.

Perhaps reaching a trade agreement is somewhat feasible, but if the Hesse Territory aims to assemble Elf Mages and Dwarf Cannons into a military force, they might start fighting among themselves before engaging any external enemies.

Even these serene Druids can’t tolerate the irritable Dwarves’ temperament.

Thus, when Vandar walked into the conference room, his vine-like old face furrowed with deep wrinkles, and he exasperatedly complained, "Lord, you really should discipline these lawless Dwarf Engineers! They actually used gunpowder to blow up a drainage channel in the northeastern direction of Lake Reiflin. How can we tolerate this? Even rat waste is cleaner than their filthy gunpowder and bodies!"