A Single Mother's Farm of the Gods
Chapter 234: The First Location

Chapter 234: The First Location

The next day, the saplings arrived, ready to be planted by Elaina. She is happy they are already saplings instead of seeds, as seeds would take longer to mature. As for the saplings themselves, they do look peculiar but it isn’t visible at first glance.

The tree saplings have a slight glow of blue on the stem and leaves that occasionally dims here and there. It doesn’t maintain its glow and it isn’t enough to light up the entire area. Of course, that might change once it grows or maybe it was fed with magic stones.

As for the first area to plant the tree sapling, it is located not too far from the dungeon. It was a bit further from the dungeon so it is the first one she decided to visit. The sooner the saplings are planted and supplied with magic stones, the better chances they will have once the Ice Lord starts his plans or whatever these trees do.

Like usual, Elaina told Julia and the others to guard her babies as she gives a reason to also survey the area in case more of the Snow Man roaming around which the others understand. And since even the Harvest Goddess is present there, she is not worried that a Snow Man will do the same trick it did a few days ago.

As for a way to head over to the four areas, Elaina needed a ride from place to place that would be capable of scaling the snow and being capable enough to fight as well while she was busy. And there is no better candidate other than Zaza. Shardu is also a good option and they can both tag along as well as they are good attackers if there are any monsters or wild animals that would be present on the way.

But first, she will need permission from Princess Margaux to borrow Zaza.

She went to her room and was about to knock on the door when Princess Margaux suddenly opened the door, causing Elaina to be caught by surprise.

"Eh? Miss Elaina?"

Elaina looked at Princess Margaux and from the looks of it, she was dressed up and seemed to be about to go out. She even carries her staff with her.

"Are you going to head somewhere, Princess?" Elaina asked.

"Not really. It’s been a while since I practiced my magic in nature so I decided to do it now while the weather outside is not that bad and everyone is currently in here. It’s a good opportunity for me to practice my abilities before I ultimately return."

Princess Margaux is indeed getting herself ready to head out as she is equipped from head to toe with cold-resistant clothes.

"So you are no longer afraid like before? You have recovered from your trauma with strangers following you?"

Princess Margaux fidgets a bit before she shows her determined face.

"It’s been a while and I mostly forgotten most of it so I can go back to my old routine as well. Anyways, why are you in front of my doorway, Miss Elaina? You need something from me?"

"Ah, not necessarily on you, Princess. I wanted to borrow Zaza at the moment as I have somewhere to go to that will need Zaza’s protection and capability to move on the snow unimpeded. But seeing that you are about to head out as well, I guess I should pass and just bring Shardu alone instead."

Hearing that Elaina is also about to go out, Princess Margaux’s eyes lit up.

"Miss! You are heading to the forest, right? Then, how about I tag along? Don’t worry, I won’t be baggage and I won’t disturb you with whatever you are about to do! That way, we both can benefit from Zaza."

Elaina scratched her head but seeing the face of Princess Margaux looking so enthusiastic, she decided to agree.

"Alright. But Zaza can only carry one person alone. Despite being big, it would be hard for both of us to ride with Zaza together. I will just ask Shardu instead."

"Eh? But Shardu is a small little cat...Ah..." Princess Margaux then remembered the incident and Elaina smiled after remembering it.

...

...

...

"I still couldn’t believe it... I thought that was just an illusion before but this was indeed the real deal of Shardu huh?" Princess Margaux’s eyes were still showing some disbelief seeing Shardu change form from a regular small cat into a big beast that is much bigger than Zaza.

"Even I couldn’t believe it either. You have seen Shardu in this form before but I won’t blame you if you forgot about it. Shardu doesn’t use this form regularly so you will get used to Shardu’s small form."

Shardu seems smug about it, looking proud of it.

"Still, even with Shardu like that, I won’t exchange Zaza for anyone else. Zaza is my partner and no way I will just let him be treated like an object."

Elaina smiled as the two beasts trekked through the thick snow in the forest.

It didn’t take them too long to arrive at the designated area where Elaina had to plant the tree. And by the looks of it, the area where she can plant the tree is very secluded to the point that no one will even know that something is being planted over that area.

"What are you going to do here, Miss Elaina?" Princess Margaux asked as she looked around the area they stopped on.

"I will be planting a sapling and grow it to a tree as soon as possible."

"Eh? Is that even possible?" Princess Margaux was surprised.

"In normal terms, no. But this isn’t normal to begin with so this isn’t something that would be explained by common sense. And besides, I am doing this for everyone else."

Princess Margaux scratched her head in confusion and just shook her head. "Well, I can’t understand what you are going to do but I won’t just on it. I will just go and practice not too far from where you will be planting so that I won’t disturb you. This area you have chosen is quite full of power as well so I think this place is a good area for practicing."

’Good area for practicing?’ Elaina thought. It seems that bringing Princess Margaux was a good idea as her ability can tell if the place is something that would be rich in mana.

Since Princess Margaux started to practice on her own, Elaina started to do her tasks as well. This is the first location to plant a sapling, she still has three more locations to go.

She pulled out her tools and started clearing the area she was going to plant the sapling from the snow. The area is quite full of snow so she has to dig it up using a shovel for a while. Thankfully, it’s not that hard for her to shovel all of the snow out of the way, it is only a bit annoying since the snow is quite deep.

After she managed to clear the whole area from the snow, Elaina turned her attention to the soil. Based on the soil’s properties, it is a good area to plant the sapling. It isn’t sandy nor it is rocky which would impede the growth of the tree. Not only that but there are no factors that would affect its growth either as the nearest trees are a few feet away.

The soil is also of good quality, not too dry and not wet. It is just right. The soil is also easy to scoop up, allowing Elaina to quickly open up a good portion of the soil for her to put the sapling.

Before she put the sapling, she took out the fertilizer given by the Harvest Goddess and poured it over the area she dug up and made sure to put enough for the sapling to absorb. Once it was done, she put the sapling into the hole and covered it quickly with soil, to take hold of the growth of the tree.

As soon as the sapling’s roots are fully covered with soil, the sapling suddenly glows brightly in blue, causing for her to squint her eyes and instinctively cover her face.

"Miss Elaina!" Princess Margaux shouted as she came rushing seeing the bright light coming from where Elaina was planting.

Even Shardu and Zaza came rushing as well as soon as the bright light almost engulfed the entire area for a few seconds.

The bright light was only a short duration so it didn’t take too long before the light dissipated and returned to normal.

"Wow, that gives me a surprise. No one told me it will glow that bright once it is planted though...ugh...my vision is still seeing flashes...ugh..."

"What happened Miss Elaina? Are you alright?" Princess Margaux immediately went to Elaina’s side, gauging her condition.

"Don’t worry, I am fine. But that was a surprise...didn’t expect that to happen."

Princess Margaux glanced at the sapling that glowed brightly earlier and she was surprised to see it. In her eyes, the sapling is swirling in energy. Although it is faint, the sapling itself feels like it is absorbing the surrounding mana and regulates it around before expelling more pure mana.

Elaina couldn’t see it, but Princess Margaux knew this sapling was not an ordinary one. However, just like what she promised, Princess Margaux didn’t bother to ask and know what the sapling was all about. Unless Elaina told her about it, she would not ask anything.

"Princess, if you are done with your business here, we should head to the next area."

Princess Margaux nodded. Although she is not sure what Elaina is doing, she ignores it and prepares to head off.

"Where are we heading next, Miss Elaina?"

"To the North West shore. It is the second location I will be heading towards."