"Your Highness Draconis, all the fields here have been Dug. After drying for a day, we can start planting!"
Several farmers found Draconis, who was training his Dratini by the river, and reported on the progress of the work in the fields.
These past two days, in order to complete the work as soon as possible and plant the seeds, they had been Digging from dawn till dusk, not daring to rest for a moment. Finally, today they managed to Tillage up a large area of fields.
Upon hearing this, Draconis pondered and nodded.
He didn't know much about reclaiming barren land. Looking at the dark brown fields not far away, Draconis thought for a moment and then asked, "Don't we need to fertilize them?"
One farmer shook his head: "The soil here is very fertile, and because it's close to this river, the soil moisture is just right. We can temporarily do without fertilizer."
"Alright, then the rest is up to you," Draconis nodded and said, "You can go find Alfred for the seeds later. He will be responsible for bringing the seeds over. Also, go find a basket."
A basket?
The farmers were slightly stunned, somewhat unclear about Draconis's intention, but they still obediently returned to the camp and brought a sturdy basket woven from vines.
"Wait a moment," Draconis said to them, then turned and ordered Dratini, "Dratini, go into the water and use Thunder Wave!"
The temperature these past few days wasn't very cold, and there was even sun yesterday, so the previously frozen river surface had completely thawed.
Upon receiving the command, Dratini plunged into the river.
The next second, a dense yellow electric light emerged from its body.
From the shore, it looked like a constantly expanding yellow ball of light.
"Sizzle crackle!"
Through the conduction of the river water, the electric current released by Dratini expanded to a very large area in the blink of an eye.
Immediately after, shadows appeared on the river surface, and these "shadows" slowly floated to the top of the water.
Everyone looked closely and saw that they were plump fish that had fainted!
"Th-this is?!" Several farmers were greatly astonished.
"Dratini, bring those fish up," Draconis continued.
Dratini obediently swam in the river, using its mouth and body to push the fish floating on the surface to the shore.
"Pack these fish and take them back to the territory!" Draconis said to the people behind him.
"Y-yes!"
The astonished individuals quickly came to their senses. While looking at Dratini with amazed eyes, they put the fish paralyzed by Thunder Wave into the basket.
In a short while, two large baskets were filled with fresh fish.
What a great harvest!
Several farmers' faces showed excitement.
Draconis used a handkerchief to wipe the river water from Dratini's body, then opened his coat and let it burrow into his arms to warm up.
However, when he turned around, he saw a farmer excitedly holding a Magikarp.
"..." Draconis couldn't help but say, "Put those red fish back in the river!"
"Huh? Your Highness Draconis, why is that?" A farmer couldn't help but ask.
"Those are not edible fish. They are a type of monster called Magikarp," Draconis explained. "They are all bones and scales, inedible, and very vengeful. If they grow up, there's a high chance they will come back to retaliate against us."
Monster?!
Upon hearing this, several people quickly threw the Magikarp back into the river.
"Ahem," Draconis lightly coughed, then said, "Alright, thank you all for your hard work. Take these fish back!"
Thinking about being able to drink delicious fish soup again tonight, several people couldn't help but grin.
What could be more comforting than a hot bowl of fish soup on a cold winter night?
After training today, Draconis did not return directly to his tent but took Dratini to the tent of the physician, Lila.
When they arrived there, Lila was in her tent mixing Potions with some herbs.
Seeing Draconis arrive, she was very surprised: "Your Highness? Why have you come?"
"I need a Potion to treat frostbite and restore stamina," Draconis said in a deep voice.
Both of these medicines could be used by Dratini. The Potion could help it recover stamina, and the frostbite medicine contained an ingredient that could warm the body, which was also very useful for Dratini.
"Okay, I'll get them for you right away!"
Lila quickly turned and took out several bottles of Potions from her medicine box and handed them over.
"Thank you for your trouble," Draconis accepted the Potions and prepared to leave.
But he was called back by Lila.
"Your Highness..."
Draconis turned around, a little puzzled: "What's wrong?"
"I want to thank you on behalf of everyone!" Lila's eyes were full of gratitude.
Their Prince truly was a benevolent and kind person!
Not only did he share his medicinal herbs with them, the Commoners, but he also sent her many useful Potion recipes.
"The recipes you gave will definitely help many people!" Lila said gratefully.
Draconis smiled and said, "No need to be so polite. In my heart, you are more important than these things."
After all, what kind of territory was it without subjects?
Lila was stunned, but Draconis said no more, turning and leaving with Dratini.
*
By the time Draconis learned about what happened at the logging camp, it was already evening.
Old Butler Alfred came specifically to report on the day's work progress in the territory after Draconis had finished dinner.
But as soon as he entered the tent, he ran into a basket of fish.
The Old Butler was very surprised: "So, so many fish!"
Draconis smiled. These were all caught by Dratini using Thunder Wave in the river this afternoon.
The territory currently had no Fishing nets specifically for Fishing, and manual Fishing was too inefficient to meet the needs of so many people and Pokémon in the territory.
Now with the Thunder Wave move, Fishing had become much simpler.
In addition to the food carried by the convoy, the residents could also eat some fresh fish.
Whether used to make fish soup or directly grilled, they were excellent choices.
However, these fish could not be stored for a long time. If kept too long, the fish would spoil and become inedible.
Fortunately, the territory currently had Ice-type Pokémon like Snover.
The leftover fish could be frozen by them using Ice-type moves, allowing them to be stored for a longer period.
With the berries and tree fruits Gathered by the residents, plus the fish caught by Dratini, their food supply could last longer, and getting through this cold winter was completely not a problem.
After a brief shock, Alfred reported to Draconis what had happened at the logging camp today.
"...Those three Snover actually helped us with a lot of work today! Thanks to their help, everyone cut down a lot of wood today!"
"If this can continue, in less than a month, we can solve the housing problem in the territory!"
At this point, Alfred couldn't help but grin:
"Those three Snover are very popular in the territory now!"
Hearing this, Draconis was a little surprised. Snover helping to cut trees?
From Alfred's words, it seemed that the people in the territory were slowly beginning to accept the existence of Snover.
Undoubtedly, this was a good start.
However, Draconis did not dwell on this matter for too long.
Because there were still many affairs in the territory waiting for him to deal with and resolve.
The problems of housing and food were temporarily resolved; next was the problem of heating.
Looking at the burning charcoal in the brazier, Draconis asked, "Is there enough charcoal left to last for a month?"
Although wooden houses could shield from wind and rain, they could not completely isolate the cold. Especially such simple wooden houses, there must be heating facilities inside.
Alfred shook his head: "A lot of charcoal has been consumed these past few days. It seems that it may not be enough for us to use for a month."
"Is that so..." Draconis couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
If only there were Fire-type Pokémon.
Whether for heating in winter, or for making charcoal, burning cement and bricks, and building stronger and safer houses in the coming year, Fire-type Pokémon were indispensable.
However, it was winter now. In this season, apart from Ice-type Pokémon being relatively common, all other Pokémon had disappeared to who knows where. Outside, even Grass-type Pokémon were hard to find.
But even so, Draconis did not want to give up easily.
"Still, we need to send people to explore the surroundings," Draconis murmured.
He needed to find out the types of wild Pokémon inhabiting a certain range near the territory.