Chapter 530: Man Made

"It is strange how the lands are making people sick. I can not see anything wrong with this area. It seems to be full of nutrients which humans need. But there is nothing else… I do, however, feel death element, far off, but that is far away from here. It should not have an impact on the environment at all. Maybe we should check the fields… " Ganjo frowned. He couldn"t detect anything wrong with the ground.

"Let"s find a field then and see if there is something we are missing." Kana decided this was the only way to really understand what was going on.

The group traveled through the woods. Kana cleared the path in front of them by using her fire magic to burn the overgrowth. They traveled for many hours and only saw a few small animals here and there. But nothing bigger than a rabbit was spotted. Kana did not know if this was due to overhunting or what, but it seemed that there were still animals thriving in this forest. This meant that whatever was in causing the others to get sick had nothing to do with this forest. This made Kana begin to think even more that something else was up, and she felt it had something to do with the holy city.

After an entire day of traveling through the woods, they finally found a road. Kana flew up into the air and checked their direction before heading away from the holy city. She had spotted what looked like farmlands not too far off.

The roads actually had people traveling them. They all looked like refugees. It seemed they were also heading towards the holy city, probably trying to find if they were able to get in or not. Kana was sure they would probably not get in from what Tim had told her, but they could still try.

It was nightfall by the time they reached the first fields. As Tim had said, the crops were all destroyed. Even at this time in the evening, there was a farmer out in the field working desperately away. Kana felt this old man was the first place to start finding answers. "Let"s talk to this old man."

The others nodded as they followed behind Kana. They walked through the field full of dead crops that were all dried and shriveled up. "Anything?"

"No, the soil is fine, but these plants… They have something on them..." Ganjo bent down and picked up one of the leaves and rubbed his fingers on it. "There is a strange powder on it."

"Hmmm, so this was done by someone… they must have really planned for this since all the crops were destroyed. The farm animals were also probably killed off as well in the same manner." Kana frowned as she walked over to the old man who was still hard at work trying to replant his field. He did not seem to have realized she was there. Kana began taking the seed buds he had sitting to the side and picked one up. She looked at how the others were planted and knelt down, and began planting them.

As the sun fully set and only the light of the moon was all they had to see, Kana, Aoi, Aruya, Ganjo, Naru, and the old man continued working. The old man would even give some directions here and there. When he did speak, his voice was full of grat.i.tude. They continued working all night. Aoi had made some stone cups and filled them with water, and made sure Kana and the old man were hydrated.

Hours ticked by, and the sun began to rise, but the group six did not stop working. As the sun moved across the sky, more people began to show up. No one made a sound as they helped plant and clear the field. Aoi gave out water while the rest worked under the hot sun. Since more people had shown up, Kana and Ganjo began using earth magic to clear the field and create holes in the ground. The others would plant, and Aruya would use holy magic to try to speed up the plant"s growth.

By the time the whole field was completed, there were at least sixty people standing outside the edge of the field. It was then that the old man came over and knelt down in front of Kana. "To think an angel would come and a.s.sist this old man. My prayers had finally been answered."

Kana sighed as she helped the old man up. He looked completely exhausted. "Sir, we are no angels. We are just like you and everyone else who stopped to help you. Me and my friends just happened to be the first."

"Sigh… Although I have gotten rid of the dead plants, the sprouts I just buried will end up dying before they can turn ripe as well..." The old man had tears in his eyes. These were tears of desperation. But his eyes were full of a strong, unwavering determination.

"Sir, have you done this before?" Kana asked.

"Every year in hopes of being able to relieve the food shortage even by a little. At first, the plants start off well and grow, but before they could ripen, they would die." The old man answered.

"Hmm… Anyone else here heard of this issue?" Kana asked the others.

"I have! I have personally experienced it. The crops get to a point where they"re going to bear fruit only to turn up dead a few days later." one man said.

"I see… Then I would like to tell you all that this is no evil G.o.d trick. There is nothing wrong with these lands. The death of your crops is due to people just like you or me. Someone wishes for the crops and livestock in this world not to return. " Kana now knew that the current food shortage was man made.

"Are you saying this was not done by the evil G.o.d built or demi human?" One person asked.

"Yes, which means we need to protect this field at all costs and capture the culprit behind it!"