A Single Mother's Farm of the Gods
Chapter 207: The Harvest Festival Under the Deep Snow

Chapter 207: The Harvest Festival Under the Deep Snow

By the time Elaina and the delivery man arrived, the snow had reached Elaina’s knees. And they only walked a few minutes after leaving the store. Elaina thought that the farm would be buried in snow by now, but she was surprised to see that the whole place was not too knee-deep in the snow. There is still a pile of it, but it is not as huge as the outside.

"Huh, good farm you got here, Miss. With a forcefield that slowly melts snow, stacking up snow like in the road won’t be too much of a problem."

"Does snow stack up this fast?"

"Yes. No one knows why but it is how it is and the people of Darcero Kingdom have gotten used to it. But it was totally a hindrance most of the time whenever it snows and cleaning up roads is troublesome. Melting the snow requires a lot and it usually impedes on different work daily."

Elaina immediately understood now that the winter can be really harsh in Darcero Kingdom. Having to deal with snow daily is annoying and cleaning up a mountain load of snow every day is something troublesome indeed.

After the delivery man successfully delivered the heaters, he bid farewell to Elaina before going back to the store. Elaina made sure to give him some extra tips since he had to wade through the snow back to the store he was working with. At least, a little money would allow him to at least cheer up a bit.

With the delivery man gone, the gods started to comment about the snow.

"[I have seen my fair share of snowfall and this is the first time I am seeing quite a lot of snow stacking up without a blizzard happening. This looks weird..." The God of Farming is bewildered by the situation.

"Same here. Back when I was still hunting and taming various monsters, I did many hunting in wintertime due to how easy it is to find them hiding in various spots and even I have not seen snow stack up that high. Even when a blizzard does happen, it wasn’t this severe."

Elaina glanced at the snow piling up outside the farm. It is getting higher than before and it is about to reach the waist soon enough.

"Will the Harvest Festival still happen with a snow so deep like this?"

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"Ah, you mean why the snow is building up slower on the farm? Well, I tweaked up the barrier a bit since Princess Margaux mentioned that the snow would stack quite high if not cleared fast. I made sure to increase the heat power of the barrier, allowing less snow to pile up. It also will melt the excess snow and will control the surrounding snow stacking up, " Julia explained.

"I see now. No wonder the snow building up here on the farm is minimal. Still, doesn’t that mean you will be using up more mana than usual?" Elaina asked.

"Nah, the mana I use with this is negligible. I only tweaked the barrier. It isn’t that troublesome so I can do this continuously without losing all my mana in the process."

"Are you sure, Julia? Don’t dare to lie to me. Even if I am not knowledgeable about magic, I still know that it is dangerous to run out of mana. I won’t be happy if you made this heat barrier in exchange for your health and well-being," Elaina is concerned. She didn’t want to have Julia sacrifice herself just for this kind of thing.

"Promise, Sis. I am not insane and desperate enough to drop dead just like that. You can guarantee that I am not lying."

Even though Elaina is worried, she decides to believe Julia’s words. And besides, she is helping with the snow problem so there is no harm done.

After her talks with Julia, Elaina let Curaj carry the heaters outside the patio to the rooms of the girls so that she could install them. Since it was a ready-made installation machine, there was no need for an expert to properly install them and even someone like Elaina who has zero experience in machines could install them while following the manual.

Thanks to the manual given, the heaters were properly installed and can now be used anytime.

As for the heaters for the hencluckle’s coop and the cows, Curaj was the one who did the operations and it didn’t take him a few seconds before they were operational. After all, even if these cattle are not humans, they also feel the cold weather, having heaters will reduce the coldness of the weather.

Now that the heaters are set up, Elaina decided to prepare for the Harvest Festival. She made sure to check her mailbox if there was any mail that mentioned it was canceled due to the snow or not but seeing it remain as empty as before, the festival will remain in full swing.

Princess Margaux and Curaj will be tagging along with Elaina this time with Julia remaining at home to keep the two babies company. She wanted to tag along but because she hated the cold weather and Elaina was worried the babies would get a cold if they were exposed to the snow, she got a good reason to not accompany them. Instead, she will be lounging with the babies this time around and waiting for them to come back with some leftovers.

"Alright, we should get going to the festival. You guys should wear something comfy and warm. Don’t underestimate the weather outside, it is very cold. Take care of yourself, Julia. Don’t worry about the food, I will bring a container to bring back a lot for you," Elaina said.

"Thanks, Sis. You’re the best," Julia happily gave Elaina a thumbs up.

Curaj didn’t need to change while Princess Margaux changed into a much comfier sweater, a shawl on her neck, knitted gloves, and a beanie on her head, keeping herself warm from the weather.

"Sis, take this. You said the snow outside is deep and hard to navigate on foot. It’s a little stone I created before that will allow me to recreate the barrier around the farm. That’s two pieces and should last for quite a while. Crush it in your palms and all three of you will be inside the barrier where the center will be the one who crushed the stone. It should allow you to ease up your movement outside," Julia explained before handing two brittle red stones which are easy to crush in one hard clench.

"Thanks, Julia."

"No problem, Sis. Just make sure I have plenty of my share, alright?"

Elaina smiled and nodded before she left with the two tagging along with her. As for Julia, she decided to continue reading the book regarding potions as she plans to help Elaina earn money by selling potions of various kinds soon.

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Just outside the barrier of the farm is the stack of snow reaching the hips. Thankfully, it seems the snowfall has ended as well, stopping the stack on the hips. Plenty of street cleaners are already shoveling the snow out of the way and the others are melting the other snow around to ensure that the snow is only moderate.

"Let’s crush the stones Julia gave us then. You two, stick with me close," Elaina beckoned the two and she crushed the red brittle stone in her hands. It easily crumbled in her palm which then prompted a barrier forming around the three of them.

The barrier is not warm and it doesn’t look different from the others. But it emits a reddish color. Elaina and the other two opened the gates and left the farm, walking through the snow. As the heat barrier touched the snow, it immediately melted, allowing the three to pass through the snow, unimpeded by it. Some of the people who saw them nodded in response, seemingly thanking them for reducing the work being done.

The three quietly headed to the town square and it seems that the place is already prepared for the festival. Despite the surroundings being covered in snow, the town square’s snow is nowhere to be seen. People are gathering around and various farmers are handing their produce to the cook who is currently stirring the big pot.

"Hmm...smells like stew..." Curaj sniffs in the air.

"Stew huh? Then that means the ingredients I brought are perfect," Elaina smiled as she uncovered the little basket containing the sweet potatoes they harvested yesterday.

Even with the cold weather, the town square is crowded and Elaina can see both familiar and new faces in the crowd.

As they enter the town square, surprisingly, the whole area is warm enough to fend off the cold temperature on the road.

"Ah... it’s warm..." Princess Margaux smiled as her breath started to fog.

"No wonder the people are gathering here, this place is much more comfortable to lounge around while waiting for the food."

"Looks like the organizers used outdoor heaters to fend the cold off," Princess Margaux pointed out the outdoor heaters that are similar to what Elaina bought earlier.

"You guys stay there, I will hand the veggies to the cook, alright? Make sure you guys don’t wander too far."

The two nodded and Elaina headed to the one receiving the vegetables which turned out to be Douglas. Beside him is Marigold, currently chopping and peeling the vegetables that are being handed to her.

"Hello, can I submit these?"

Douglas saw her and smiled before looking at her basket containing the sweet potatoes. Seeing the sizes of the sweet potatoes in the basket caught the attention of a few people and wanted to ask about it, but Douglas gave a nod and a thumbs-up showing that it was accepted.

Elaina didn’t bother to strike up a conversation with Marigold this time around since she was busy as a bee with her current job.

Still, the smell of the stew is mouth-watering despite the various ingredients being mixed in.

However, for some reason, Elaina had a very bad feeling. Something is nagging her but she can’t tell what it is. As she looked up at the sky, she spotted a few ball-shaped things floating up the sky. No one has noticed them just yet, but Elaina is getting suspicious of what they are.

Not sure what they were, Elaina quickly returned to the location of Princess Margaux and Curaj while holding the sword on her hip tightly. She observed it a bit and she is now quite sure of it, that was not just some decoration...that is a monster born from the snow.