CHAPTER 493: CHAPTER 426: FORCING THE PALACE (TWO IN ONE)

Logosians toiled under the sun.

During the bustling farming season, they sowed, plowed, irrigated, built granaries, and wave after wave of hunting parties left the Kingdom to embark on journeys in pursuit of game. Their greatest danger wasn’t wild beasts but barrenness. The fishing grounds by the sea bustled with activity as they changed water sources, scattered fish fry, and dried sea salt... Beyond these, the remaining people had their own tasks—spinning, building. The King of Nimirda aggressively conscripted men to join expeditions sent out of the Kingdom to establish new city-states, plunging the entire Kingdom into the busy flurry of labor.

Everything was wearying, numbing.

The Logosians who once lived carefree in the Nus Kingdom seemed to have forgotten what their past life was like.

People worked day and night, clueless as to why they toiled. Poetry, literature, music were gradually neglected, their exertion barely exchanged for sufficient food to fill their bellies.

This land was too barren.

So desolate that the population of Elves had not seen any significant increase since the day of their arrival.

The King of Nimirda’s Attendants, the Priests, would often inspect the Logosians, those representatives of the King instructing the other Logosians mixed with praise for the King of Nimirda. It appeared as though one day, upon the fulfillment of their mission, God would grant them prosperity.

The Logosians complied, submitted, with scarcely a complaint, for blood and sweat flowed in hopes of milk and honey.

The barren soil beneath their feet had brought more hardships than any of their ancestors had ever known.

Dying from toil, from hunger, from expeditions, executed... The Logosians saw more deaths here than in the past two hundred years combined.

Prince Rowley surveyed the land underfoot.

He walked upon the vast wheat fields, where beneath the dry and loose soil lay grain seeds. The Prince bent down, hand scooping up earth, which crumbled with a mere rub—such was the barrenness of the land.

Rowley looked up, seeing the laboring Logosians, the stench of their sweat wafting in the air. The farmers timidly bowed their heads, awaiting the scrutiny of the Prince.

"What was life like before?"

Prince Rowley softly inquired of the Merfolk behind him.

"I’ve been to Nus many times; I only know that the Elves sow in the spring, then let it grow at will, and harvest the following year directly. They don’t just rely on wheat for sustenance, there are abundant berries and game in the forests.

The other races always think the Elves are noble, precisely because they seldom see Elves work as farmers."

Po Han relayed to Prince Rowley what he had seen and heard in the Nus Kingdom.

Rowley watched the cringing farmers and whispered,

"But here, it’s everywhere."

As the Prince walked through the wheat fields, the farmers knelt as he approached, quietly praising King Nimirda and flattering the Prince with complimentary words.

Prince Rowley frowned and said:

"What have I done to deserve your compliments?

Haven’t I done nothing for you?"

As his voice fell, the farmers instantly silenced, their heads bowed low, unsure of what to say. After a moment, a farmer raised his head and spoke:

"But you are the Holy King’s son!

God has entrusted the mission to King Nimirda, and it will likewise be entrusted to you one day."

Prince Rowley paused.

Then, another farmer said:

"Prince! Your father is so great.

The Priests all say, he is God’s representative, the path to salvation.

We cannot lose him now, and should you ascend, we cannot lose you either."

Prince Rowley fell silent.

Countless Logosians, confronting the barren soil, pinned all their hopes on King Nimirda, on the mission entrusted to his father.

King Nimirda had become not only the sovereign of a nation but also the spiritual foundation for the Exiles.

Farmers bowed their heads, hands clasped together, chanting their Scriptures, most of which were passages from the Twin Kings Book and excerpts from the Nu Mirda Epic.

Prince Rowley left the place, conversing with the Merfolk Po Han as they walked through the Kingdom.

Most of the time, Rowley asked, Po Han responded. This eldest son of the King of Nimirda was born in the Logos Kingdom. He had never seen the Nus Kingdom, hence his full curiosity about it.

Through the mouth of Po Han, a foreigner, the scenery of the Nus Kingdom was sketched out so beautifully, and with more details.

Po Han’s praise for Nus exceeded what Prince Rowley had heard from others.

"If the Nus Kingdom is so wonderful, then... why are my people not satisfied?"

Prince Rowley couldn’t help but pose the question,

"Why did they leave there, to come to this barren place?"

Po Han pondered for a while before slowly responding:

"So many stories happened among them, the division between the two races, the strife of faith, the mission of God...

But if to put it simply, I guess it’s because...

Humans... perhaps are never content,

You always strive for something better, always reaching higher...

Even if you don’t know what that destination is, you still placed your expectations of a utopia here, before coming to this land."

Saying this, Po Han thought of something and continued:

"In this world, amongst so many races, only you Elves encounter a crisis of rationality..."