My Weekly Refreshing Mentor Spirit-Chapter 290 - 270: Northern Border Chronicles

"Hmm? What’s that noise?" Xue Dili lifted the carriage curtain and saw in the direction of the Great Demon Beast Forest; there seemed to be some commotion just now.

"Maybe it’s just the wind." He paid it no more mind and silently returned to the carriage, where books and pens floated beside him, beginning to write automatically.

...

Although the Teaching Country is the unified human territory worldwide, its land area is not large.

From the extreme north to the extreme south is less than 800 kilometers, and from the extreme east to the extreme west is only over 1200 kilometers.

This area occupies less than one-tenth of the entire continent, while the rest are unimaginably primitive great forests and mountains for demon beasts to inhabit and reproduce.

Though this area is not large, it occupies the most fertile plains washed by the rivers of the whole continent, making it the most suitable place for farming.

However, this most suitable land for farming does not belong to ordinary people, but to the god-class nobles.

Yes, all the land in the Teaching Country belongs to god-class nobles, and ordinary people have no right to cultivate it.

On the journey in the carriage, Xue Dili could see a large number of expressionless, seemingly dead individuals planting in the fields, which are units specially used by the god-class nobles for farming.

And all these grains will be exchanged for infant food.

Xue Dili only hired a carriage, not a driver, as he only needed one order for the horse to execute.

The carriage stopped by the roadside, and Xue Dili stepped down, seeing those laborers who appeared like corpses.

He walked forward and then found there was no need to go further.

Those planting fellows are not human, or can only be said to have once been human, but upon getting closer, Xue Dili discovered their true faces beneath the masks.

Plant monsters, similar to those 600 million creatures in the parallel world, they toiled like tireless robots, and Xue Dili even saw a plant monster insert its hand into the soil, and the seedlings in this land visibly growing rapidly the next moment.

He lifted his head to look into the distance, where densely packed farmlands were all guarded by such monsters, eternally standing in their fields, killing birds and insects that dared to disturb, like a hunter plant supplementing its meals while planting its own fields.

Like scarecrows that could move in the rice fields. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Xediles, those in the rice fields... are Deadpool? No, why are all those in the fields Deadpool?" Lan Lin’Er stared at those mechanized individuals in the fields in shock.

"You are familiar with these things?" Xue Dili asked knowingly.

"Uh... of course, that is my father... no, seen within the family, referred to as Deadpool, but those I’ve seen in my family were combat personnel. Are all in the fields we’ve passed by Deadpool planting?" She asked dumbfoundedly.

Xue Dili nodded.

The breeze blew the white robe, and the seedlings in the distant fields grew visibly, yet this scene lacked any vitality; instead, it displayed a strange cycle of plants cultivating new plants.

"Then... with the land being farmed by Deadpool, how do ordinary people survive?" Lan Lin’Er asked an extremely foolish question.

A foolish question she didn’t even know despite being a local.

"By having children." Xue Dili turned away, choosing not to stay in this place.

"Huh?" Lan Lin’Er was momentarily stunned, staring at the lifeless fields that seemed endless, entirely made up of flat farmland.

The breeze stirred, and she clung tightly to herself, as though that was the only way to dispel the chill in her heart.

Why is everything I see in stark contrast to what Mother said? Mother told me that humans would farm and harvest grain every year, with fields filled with the songs of birds and children.

But now, everywhere I look, there’s nothing but desolation.

Father, what are you doing? What do you truly want?

She knew these Deadpool were cultivated by her family, but what she didn’t understand was why her father did this.

Did he feel happy witnessing this hell on earth?

For the first time, she harbored doubts and anger towards her stern father.

While the birthing factories and slums in the Divine Capital could be deceived and blamed on the god-class nobles and branch family nobles, here, she felt the strongest doubts towards her father, who spoke of justice and the world.

Why are his words and actions entirely different?

Once this seed was planted in her heart, it continued to grow like an opened Pandora’s Box.

...

Northern Border Rosmar.

The carriage finally arrived here; in fact, this border is just a few hundred kilometers from the Imperial Capital.

On Blue Star, you could reach there in a few hours with a single push on the gas pedal.

But here, even this short distance carried a chill in the air, a climate and environment completely different from the Divine Capital.

"We’ve reached Rosmar, the last station of fertile land; beyond to the north lies the unfit-to-grow frozen soil," Xue Dili said silently, speaking about the environment through cultural geography knowledge.

The southern regions of Rosmar in the Empire enjoy a temperate climate, but the border beyond the north turns into a frigid tundra climate.

Additionally, due to its proximity to the sea, moist monsoons bring air from the sea surface, making the northern area receive considerable moist air, yet with even slight temperature drops, it quickly turns to heavy snow.

However, in the farther north icefields, that’s where the demon beasts dominate the land, and it’s said that many icefield demon beasts reside there, sporadically attacking humans or completely massacring entire villages near the borders.

So Rosmar is actually a border combat fortress. In the memories of the Angel, she once laid out the border walls and watchtowers on this land for a very long time, giving the people here the protection to endure the cold.

Although the protection was weak and could only keep the soldiers from freezing to death or frostbite in the winter, she indeed invested a great deal of effort in this border. After all, as someone who was born in the primitive era, she knew better the disaster brought by the northern Demon Beasts migrating south for food during the dead of winter.

Thus, under her rule, this place was relatively peaceful. The brave warriors, who were blessed by her and unafraid of the cold, guarded the northern borders of the Church Court for generations. In the original Angel’s Church Court, they had an honorable title.

Named the "Wild Hunt Warriors," they were among the more elite group of the twelve warrior teams of the Church Court, having received numerous honors and even personal commendation from the Pope.

But now, Xue Dili observed the walls and watchtowers in the distance, and everywhere he looked, there was decay.

The line of defense that once resisted the Demon Beasts had completely turned to ruin. Those watchtowers and signal towers responsible for relaying messages had all collapsed.

The once glorious iron walls of the Church Court, and the Wild Hunt Warriors, had all disappeared into the river of history.

Perhaps those blessed by the Angel, the tribe with cold resistance, had all perished. Then who are the people left in this border fortress?

How do they resist the Demon Beasts, and how do they survive in this place?

Xue Dili thought of many things in an instant.

Lan Lin’Er also got off the car. A crystalline snowflake fell on her head. She saw snow for the first time and, like a child, secretly caught it, then, realizing Xue Dili wasn’t watching, quickly licked it.

But the snow had turned to water before she could lick it.

A large group of children on the road left Rosmar, seemingly heading towards the Divine Capital. This unusual behavior caught Lan Lin’Er’s attention. She asked, "Are you planning to go to the Divine Capital?"

One of the children, who seemed to be the leader, replied, "Yes, we plan to go to the Divine Capital to work. We’ve heard that you can get enough to eat without working there, so after discussing it together, we decided to go earn some money."

This leader had ice-blue long hair and was wrapped in leather armor, looking quite spirited.

If they were in the Divine Capital, a child at her age would probably already be a mother of several babies, but on this northern border, she didn’t look like she had given birth.

With a healthy figure of 82, 62, 79, it was even healthy enough that you could vaguely see the girl’s abs through the leather armor. A woman who has given birth, especially one who has had many children, would not have such a healthy body.

Xue Dili thought quietly.

"No, about this, earning money by having children thing..." Lan Lin’Er mentioned.

"Are you saying that bunch buys our tribe’s children with money? We would never do such a thing. But I heard some of the neighboring tribes plan to do that. However, they got their subsidies docked after handing over the children, causing such a commotion that we all laughed," the leader said crudely.

On the northern border, they didn’t seem to earn a living by having children for subsidies, which instead made a light shine in Lan Lin’Er’s eyes.

Yes, this is the normal human world her mother spoke of, not that Hell where you survive by having children.

She seemed to have found her Eden, eagerly asking, "Then how do you survive without having children for subsidies?"

The blue-haired leader smiled, gave a thumbs up to herself, and said, "Naturally by hunting and eating Demon Beasts!"

"Ah?" This left Lan Lin’Er stunned.

The farmland is all controlled by the nobility of God’s People. The northern border mainly doesn’t rely on having children for subsidies, they actually survive mainly by hunting Demon Beasts.

This kind of lifestyle seems to have returned to a primitive way of living, piquing Xue Dili’s attention.

"Come on, tell the nobles of the Divine Capital of our achievements, I’ve killed 148 Demon Beasts," the leader boasted, pointing her thumb at herself.

"I’ve killed 31!"

"I’ve killed 28!"

"I’ve killed 19!"

"I...I’ve only killed 6..."

The youth who had only killed 6 Demon Beasts immediately was subject to the laughter of his peers.

"Enough, let’s not disturb the nobles from the Divine Capital. We have to reach the Divine Capital before night and find a way to make a living," the leader said.

"Wait, don’t go! If you can live by hunting Demon Beasts, why go to... the Divine Capital?" Lan Lin’Er almost said "Hell," but changed it to Divine Capital at the last moment.

"Because winter starves a large number of people. During winter, the Demon Beasts become scrawny and ferocious, making hunting very risky, and the possible Beast Tide during winter makes Demon Beasts gather, making hunting difficult. So every winter, a lot of people head to the Divine Capital to work, and it’s said they can send quite a bit of money back," the leader said, "But for some reason, no one who goes to the Divine Capital ever returns home."

"We too are going to the Divine Capital to make good money."

"Ha, those who have only killed 6 Demon Beasts should not brag."

The boys and girls jested, but Lan Lin’Er was on the verge of tears.

What workplace is there in the Divine Capital which doesn’t produce anything? There’s only the reproductive factory!

Watching this healthy, cheerful, and energetic border girl heading to that Hell to work, Lan Lin’Er felt nauseated just thinking about how this girl would be pumped full of beast drugs, transformed into a sow by hormones, and become a breeding machine like livestock.

Those people from your tribe who went to work in the Divine Capital might never return!

They have all become the swine in the reproductive factory...

Don’t go! I beg you, that place is Hell!

She finally realized what the recruitment teams from the reproductive factory were for. She was probably captured coincidentally before; the professional recruitment teams from the Divine Capital’s reproductive factory are capturing those children from the countryside coming to work in the Divine Capital.