I Became a Slave to a Mythical Shepherd

Episode 83. Demeter (2)

Opportunities to meet the immortal gods in person are rarer than you might think.

Even at this moment, countless people will sow seeds and reap fruit in the name of Demeter.

Perhaps hundreds of thousands… no, perhaps millions, offer their devotions to her.

Great cities carve her image out of precious stone.

Powerful monarchs hold a festival to honor her.

However, the goddess dared to come to this land.

To a city that has not even built a modest temple for itself.

The meaning is clear.

‘He’s looking forward to it.’

‘The gods are paying attention to Antandros and his lord.’

Ah, shining lord of the great city…

[The merchant’s son.]

Anoitus’ heart swells with pride for his lord for a moment, but quickly fades away again from the overwhelm.

[Hey. I already know whose servant you came here as.]

The corner of the mouth curled up, the eyebrows swaying like young grass that had just grown.

[I know the gift you brought me is from a great and virtuous monarch.]

Warm eyes, soft words.

Above all, a voice that seemed to rise between the soil and seeds tickling my toes.

It is as if the huge earth speaks directly to it. Where could a mortal feel a greater sense of overwhelm?

It is the Great One before their very eyes who feeds and starves all that they eat, drink, love, and hate.

[The merchant’s son. But before I see it with my own eyes, I want to hear your story. What do you say you brought? And what was it for?]

“… It’s a piece of equipment called ‘Homi’.”

[‘Homi’… ‘Homi’…]

Even though the pronunciation is not difficult, the word feels somewhat unfamiliar, like a spicy and salty spice from a distant country.

The goddess, savoring the taste of the word, again asks the mortal in front of her.

[It’s a word with a strange accent. It probably doesn’t come from the language of you Achaeans, right?]

“Paris-sama said that he came from the distant East…”

Unexpectedly facing the god, Anoitus stuttered involuntarily.

It was because Anoitus himself knew only the name of that thing called ‘Homi’. A person who had never been properly explained could not explain to others.

“that is···”

When Anoitos was only dragging on for a long time, blurting his horse’s tail like that.

“A hoe is a particularly good item for gardening.”

A familiar voice comes from behind him.

Kneeling, looking back, his lord was standing in front of the entrance to the sanctuary.

Paris, Lord of Antandros, slowly walks up to Anoitus and pats him on the shoulder.

The withered face of Anoitus comes to life. He naturally gets up and steps behind his master.

“I am sorry for coming late to the place where the goddess resides. Since I haven’t cultivated my territory for a long time, the subjects are holding on to it.”

[Okay. I am ready to wait as long as I can for those who are worth waiting for.]

Paris looked around lightly.

A few ramshackle houses of priests, a few fields, and altars and statues of gods laid on the dirt floor with no paving stones.

Indeed, it was built by farmers and some landlords with a little care.

It couldn’t be said to be shabby considering the quality of the statue, which was quite skillful, but it was difficult to see it as a place to worship someone who occupied a place in Olympus.

“… As the lord of this city, I feel pain. Up to now, Antandros has not been able to pay due respect to Mother Earth, so I feel guilty.”

[What is there to be guilty of? You fattened your people and their livestock, so that was enough.]

“It is all thanks to your grace that the crops of this land grow abundantly. I bow my head in shame as I have only managed to cultivate one city.”

At Paris’ words, Demeter smiles faintly and strokes his head.

[You are a child who knows how to honor God.]

“Thank you, Demeter.”

Unlike Anoitus, Paris faces Demeter without being weighed down by his overwhelming presence.

“This hoe is great for digging and breaking soil, planting seeds and pulling weeds. It’s good for thrifty use of a small piece of land like a garden.”

[Did you say it was good to take care of a small piece of land?]

“yes. That’s right. There is nothing better than this for gardening and taking care of flowers and vegetables.”

[Then this small thing is not good for cultivating large fields and fields.]

The smile fades slightly from Demeter’s face.

[If a few people in the city are helpful when taking care of flowers and grass for entertainment, it will be difficult to spread the favor of the Lord of Antandros to many children.

Instantly, the fragrant wind blowing around the sanctuary weakens.

[The entertainment of the rich does not rejoice my heart.]

Depending on the mood of the goddess, the quietly fluttering blades of grass subside, and each priest bows his head in reverence.

[Hey. I receive the faith of those who dig up the soil with their own hands and seek food.

Why do those who are far from the soil, wrapped in gold thread, and reluctant to step into the mud, seek me?]

Uneasy, Anoitus secretly looks back at his lord.

But Paris is still smiling.

With an undisturbed posture and voice, he said so.

“Do not worry, patron of farmers.”

Paris raised her left hand and snapped her fingers.

The sound of footsteps rises accordingly. Hearing this, Anoitus turned around to see a group of workers walking toward the sanctuary.

With objects Anoitus had never seen before.

“There are still many presents left for the Great One.”

***

aberration.

Now, if you say aberrations, you’ll laugh out loud.

There was a time when I ran around shedding tears of blood just because I was making one.

At that time, if that one collapsed, Troia would be ruined, so I really struggled.

From nob le mt l. co m

Looking down from the hill now, I can see six or seven waterwheels running with power from the river.

All of them blow air into the gigantic blast furnace and move a heavy hammer to pound the iron that came out of it.

“We are going to increase the number to 10 soon by adding all the things that are being built now. Compared to the past, it is increasing to an incalculable extent.”

“It’s fine. The timeline to get there won’t be much different from what we talked about before, right?”

“of course. On the contrary, with more carpenters than before, the situation must have improved.”

I stretched out in satisfaction at Skleos’ report.

The plan didn’t deviate too much. Rather, even if there is an overachievement, thanks to the added grace of the gods, things do not go very wrong.

“Did you say you would increase the number of aberrations to about 10?

“That’s just a goal I’m thinking about right now, so if I go further… I’m thinking that maybe even the 15th or 16th generation will be possible.”

“Then it would be better to turn one or two to other purposes.”

“If it’s for some other purpose, can I ask what it is?”

“Yes, now I think… it would be all right if we made it our new Demeter temple.”

“Temple?”

Skleos stopped involuntarily, as if he had received an unexpected answer back.

I turn my head towards Skleos.

“It is good that there is a network of roads. Large-scale installations are probably more efficient. Ah… By the way, if you think about it, it would be nice to build more small waterwheels in nearby brooks in each neighborhood.”

“They use up one big waterwheel, and when it’s not enough, they build new ones.”

“yes.”

The reason I clung to the invention of the waterwheel at that time was not purely with steel in mind.

Of course, at that time, I couldn’t see anything but steel.

A water wheel is a power source.

can be used anywhere.

“May I ask what it is for? The temple was the answer because I didn’t expect it. I heard that you had Anoitus prepare a sacrifice for Demeter, but…”

Skleos seems to be taken aback by my words, so he puts down his technical language.

And I shuddered lightly at Skleos’ question.

One of the most difficult things for me to adapt to in this era was food.

“…suddenly, I wanted to stop eating coarse bread.”

Compared to modern times, the quality of the bread is very, very terrible.

Bread fermented with yeast is rare, and oven-baked bread is also easier to find if you go to Egypt. There are as many breads made from barley as there are breads made from wheat, and coarse barley bread is as tasteless as brown rice.

Above all, it is difficult to grind wheat properly and finely to eat. Putting it in a mortar and grinding the grain is a job that consumes quite a bit of labor.

However, whenever mankind is like this, there is a power source that has been used second only to axial force. Such a power source that was stably supplied unless there was a tolerable drought or flood.

So, I have an aberration.

I told Skleos my goal.

“I will build a mill. powered by water power.”

***

Of course, this isn’t just to improve the taste of bread in the face of war.

Antandros now needs miners to mine iron ore and coal.

We need carpenters to save the trees, and above all, we need people who can become soldiers in the future.

To sum it all up in one word:

I need surplus labor.

What should be done to increase the surplus labor force in this era?

The so-called primitive communist societies, hunter-gatherer societies, or early agricultural societies have only a small amount of productive power, so everyone focuses on food production.

Since there is not enough production to support the country and government, they are idle only to create surplus products that have no use. Thus, the working hours of primitive tribes usually do not exceed three or four hours.

But when you move on, things change.

After some degree of domestication of plants and domestication of animals, surplus products are accumulated that can be used to support the non-working population.

Finally, there will be a nation and a government, a class and a professional army, and a professional craftsman.

In other words, there is only one way to increase the surplus labor force other than farmers.

We need to reduce the labor force required for livelihood.

Surplus production must be increased.

If there is a shortage of miners, the number of farmers must be reduced.

To reduce the number of farmers, we must reduce the labor required to plow the fields, harvest the ears, and pound the grain.

In other words, it is an improvement in agricultural productivity.

“careful. I’ll give you a gold ear of wheat in the statue’s right hand, so you can carve it from the other side this time.”

“I understand, lord.”

That’s why I dare to build a temple to the goddess Demeter.

And the reason for building a large mill next to it.

In any case, the technical achievement of operating a bellows with a water wheel was achieved.

Keep the structure as it is, but just attach a millstone to the end.

As they rebuild things that have already been built many times, the movements of the carpenters have become much faster and more skillful than when they built their first waterwheel several years ago.

What would have taken months then was now over in less than a month.

“Put a grain of wheat in it.”

“Bring the grains of wheat! right now!!”

“Demeter, I use the food you have given me by grace…”

The mill was built at the same time as the water wheel, so it took only one month.

And a few more days to put wheat grains on a trial basis, to check if the flour comes out finely ground, and to improve it.

“How is it?”

“What would have taken several days by human hands was over before morning! All thanks to the help of the river god.”

The work proceeds in an orderly fashion. Neither I nor the carpenters are newbies who break down a few waterwheels and weep in front of the fairies.

“Anoitos? Deliver the news to the landowners. Now, if you bring the harvested grain here, he will grind it for a small fee.”

“My lord, do you really need a little? Anyway, the landlords will pay the usage fee to the lord without saying anything.”

“Yeah, that’s right. But it’s not because of the money.”

If he had been chasing gold coins, he would not have built a road network that would cause a deficit, and even after it was built, he would have collected huge tolls. He must have built something like a Troia toll road and raised money with a pitchfork.

But I didn’t have to. Just because that’s not what matters.

“It would be difficult if the slaves were reluctant to use it for no reason, so it’s better to just leave it alone.”

If slaves or small farmers are reluctant to use it even if the usage fee is high, it is a handshake.

After all, the only thing left for the poor is time, so if they ask for a high fee, they will just grind it at home with a mortar in their spare time.

It is the same reason why farmers in the Joseon Dynasty chose a thatched roof, which only required periodic time, rather than putting up a tiled roof with good cost-effectiveness in the long run.

Rather than causing such a situation, it is better to induce labor savings at a lower price.

In exchange for less usage fee, I can buy their surplus time.

Those whose bodies become idle look for work to earn something to eat. Like Egyptian farmers who went to build pyramids during the off-season.

They become miners in mines,

Become a chore in the forge,

you will be my soldier

that’s my goal