The Farming Emperor: I'll Raise My Empire from Fields

🐔 Chapter 7: Whispers in the Chicken Coop

🌄 Another Day, Another Animal Problem

It started with a feather.

Not a fallen one, but one standing straight up like a flag of war, stuck in the soft earth by the chicken coop.

And beneath it?

A word.

Carved neatly into the dirt with a beak:

"WHY."

🐣 The Chicken Writes

"It's a prank," Bran insisted, arms crossed. "Chickens don't write."

Maelis, crouched beside the line of perfect beak-etched letters, frowned. "Bran. They also don't organize corn kernels into a map of the coop. Which they did yesterday."

Elly tugged Lira's sleeve. "Maybe they're asking why we keep stealing their eggs."

"They're chickens," Bran repeated.

Sylas, nestled in his cradle nearby, watched the scene with faint amusement. Bud stood on the coop fence, tapping one leafy finger against his chin.

"Hmm. One chicken… smarter. Hear root-song. Think… too much."

"Which one?" Maelis asked.

Bud pointed dramatically with a vine arm.

"Her."

A plump white hen stood in the far corner of the coop. Her feathers were puffed up, her eyes sharp. She pecked once at a line of cracked corn... then re-arranged it into a perfect spiral.

[System Notification]

Anomaly Detected: Spirit Threading via Soil Resonance

Hen Identified: Dalla — Spirit-Touched Avian (Low Cognition Class)

Behavioral Signs: Minor Awakening

Trait Gained: Spirit Echo Sensitivity I

🧠 The Chicken Philosopher

Bud waddled over to the hen. "Why… you write?"

The hen pecked the ground.

Then the dirt near Bud shifted.

New letters appeared, scratched with remarkable accuracy:

"I see patterns. I hear songs. I remember... being more."

Bran stared. "I need a nap."

Maelis was grinning. "This is incredible. She's… remembering echoes? Chickens don't have long memory."

"She dreaming," Bud confirmed. "Soil wake her up. From before. When forests ruled."

Lira whispered, "Before the age of steel…"

🌿 A Growing Circle

Sylas leaned back slightly, sensing it all through Bud's shared link.

This wasn't just a smart chicken. The land around the coop had become… thin. Thin enough for echoes from the old world to seep through.

The soil is remembering what it once nourished.

And it's using the weakest minds to tell stories.

Another message appeared:

"He walks in roots. We know his name."

Bran whispered, "Who's 'he'?"

The chickens all turned to look directly at Sylas.

He blinked.

📜 System Update

Minor Land Consciousness Detected

A soil fragment beneath the coop has gained Awareness Seed I

Hen Dalla recognized you as Rootwalker

Trait Unlocked: "Beast-Blessed Aura"

Passive: Low-level creatures within 5m may awaken passive instincts or memories from ancient bloodlines.

Spirit-Aware Creatures in Vicinity:

Bud (Companion)

Quorra (Songduck)

Olma (Goat Matron)

Dalla (Awakened Hen)

Total Beast Influence Score: 4/20 (Tier: Sproutling Lord)

🪶 The Chicken's Request

Later that evening, Sylas sat propped in a woven basket near the kitchen fire. Bud snored softly in a bowl of barley flour.

Lira entered with a strange look.

"She followed me, Sylas," she said. "The chicken. She followed me inside."

In her arms was Dalla, the hen. She looked remarkably serious for a bird.

"She kept pecking my boots. Then my pocket. Then—this."

She opened her hand. In it was a small, smooth white stone.

Etched into it was a symbol: the same spiral Dalla made earlier.

"Gift," Bud murmured, rousing. "Memory stone. She say… 'remember with us.'"

Sylas touched the stone with his palm.

🌌 A Vision in Feathers

The stone flared with warmth. Sylas gasped.

He saw not a chicken—but a white-winged beast soaring over forests. Long ago. When magic was wild and mountains still moved.

He saw the Henmother, a divine bird, nesting atop the first orchard of the world.

She sang into the land, and trees obeyed.

This chicken... carries a sliver of that blood.

And now?

She had chosen him.