The Spoils of an Agricultural War

The aftermath of the "Great Harvest," as it would later be known in Eldorian history, was even more surreal than the event itself. The army of Saccharo was not just defeated; it was humiliated in a way no military tactician could have ever conceived. They were not beaten by sword or spell, but by agriculture.

General Cassian, 'The Iron Tsunami,' surrendered unconditionally. His surrender was not offered to King Theron IV, but to a bewildered Eldorian captain, to whom he handed his ancestral sword with the dazed request, "Please deliver this to the Farmer God. Tell him his harvest methods are... unconventionally effective."

The twenty-thousand Saccharo soldiers were rounded up. They were not angry or vengeful, merely exhausted, confused, and covered in chaff. Many of them were pocketing the glittering 'Sunstone' kernels from the ground, having discovered that eating a few gave them a surprising burst of energy.

King Theron IV, his mind still reeling, gave an order that would be lauded for its wisdom for centuries to come. The prisoners were not to be mistreated. They were to be fed, given water, and then put to work. Their task? To help the Eldorian soldiers gather the literal tons of 'Sunstone' grain that now blanketed the Fields of Sorrow. It was a masterstroke of psychological warfare; the conquering army was forced to clean up after their own defeat.

Back on the fortress balcony, Ren was receiving the full, undivided attention of the kingdom's leadership.

"You... you defeated an entire army... with a wheat field," King Theron said, his voice a mixture of awe and disbelief.

"It was a very overgrown field," Ren corrected him gently. "It needed reaping."

Archmage Vance was looking at Ren with an expression of pure, unfiltered academic terror. "Your conceptual power... it's not just localized to your domain. You applied it miles away, on a massive scale. The laws of sympathetic magic and arcane distance do not apply to you."

"The sickle is a really good one," Ren offered as an explanation.

Lyra stood beside him, a fierce, proud smile on her face. She had known he was powerful, but to see it unleashed, even in this bizarre, non-lethal fashion, was breathtaking. He hadn't just won a battle; he had rendered the very concept of their army meaningless.

Ser Kaelen, for his part, simply looked relieved. The war was over before it had truly begun. Thousands of lives on both sides had been spared. He owed Ren a debt that could never be repaid.

The spoils of this strange war were immense. The Kingdom of Eldoria now had twenty-thousand prisoners of war, the captured armaments of an entire legion, and, most importantly, a mountain of magical grain. The 'Sunstone' wheat, when analyzed, was found to be a superfood of incredible value, capable of feeding the entire kingdom for a year. The "Fields of Sorrow" were renamed the "Fields of Bounty," and the site became a place of pilgrimage.

The news of Saccharo's defeat spread like wildfire. The story was so absurd that it was initially dismissed as a madman's fantasy. An army defeated by wheat? Impossible. But as the captured soldiers were eventually repatriated (after swearing an oath never to raise arms against Eldoria or its allies again), their firsthand accounts, all corroborating the same impossible story, confirmed the truth.

The Queendom of Saccharo was plunged into chaos. Their military might had become a continental laughingstock. Queen Carmella, upon hearing the details of the defeat, flew into a rage and subsequently locked herself in her chambers, her vanity and ambition shattered. Her kingdom, stripped of its fearsome reputation, would not be a threat to Eldoria for a generation.

Ren, however, had no interest in the political fallout. His work was done.

"Well," he said to the King, "since the pests are handled, I think I'll be heading home now. The 'Moonpetal' beans won't pick themselves."

"Wait!" the King said, holding up a hand. "Master Ren... how can we possibly repay you? You have saved our kingdom. Name your price. Gold, titles, land... anything. It is yours."

Ren thought for a moment. He didn't want gold or titles. He had all the land he needed. But there was one thing...

"Actually," he said, "there is something. That big empty field out there... the soil is very poor. All rocky and full of bad memories."

"Yes?" the King prompted, ready to grant any request.

"I'd like your permission to fix it," Ren said. "It offends my sensibilities as a farmer."

Before anyone could ask what he meant, Ren turned back to the balcony. He looked out over the now-barren Fields of Bounty, where soldiers of two armies were working together to gather his grain. He placed his hands on the stone railing and sighed.

He drew upon his power once more, but this time, it was a gentle, nurturing wave. He focused on the concept of renewal, of healing the land. He reached down into the earth with his mind, sensing the compacted soil, the lingering sorrow, the lack of nutrients.

He pulled life energy from his distant farm through the conceptual 'root network' of the world, and he pushed it into the plains. He commanded the rocks to break down into minerals, the bitter memories to fade, and the soil to be enriched.

The soldiers working in the fields stopped and stared as the ground beneath their feet began to change. The dry, cracked earth softened, turning a rich, dark loam. A gentle, sweet-smelling clover, with vibrant green leaves, began to sprout everywhere, blanketing the entire plain in a carpet of new life. This new clover, a creation of Ren's, would be found to be an incredibly effective nitrogen-fixer and a super-food for livestock.

He had not just won a war; he had healed the very land upon which it was fought, turning a place of sorrow into a pasture of unimaginable fertility.

Ren smiled, satisfied. "There. Much better."

He turned back to the stunned King and Archmage. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd really like to go home. Kaelen, Lyra, are you ready?"

He opened another Wayslip in the middle of the war room.

King Theron IV looked at the man who had defeated his enemies, fed his kingdom, and healed his land, all as a casual afterthought. He knew then that no reward would ever be sufficient. The only thing he could offer was the one thing the farmer truly wanted.

"Go in peace, Ren," the King said, bowing his head deeply, not as a king to a subject, but as a man to a miracle. "And know that the Kingdom of Eldoria is eternally in your debt. Your farm will be protected. Your peace will be our highest priority."

Ren smiled. "Thank you, Your Majesty. That's all I ever wanted."

He, Lyra, and Kaelen stepped through the portal, leaving behind a group of the most powerful people in the world, who were now tasked with the monumental job of explaining to the rest of the world how their greatest military victory had been won with a sickle and some very good farming techniques.