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

🐐 Chapter 6: The Sick Goat and the Talking Bud

🌤️ Morning Begins with a Sneeze

"ACHH-CHHHHHH!"

A violent sneeze shattered the peaceful morning.

Not from Bran.

Not from Lira.

Not from a child.

It came from the goat pen.

Specifically: Olma, the grumpiest goat this side of the valley.

🐐 The Goat Situation

"I'm telling you, Ma," Bran said, staring at the sniffling goat. "That thing's possessed. No normal goat sneezes five times in a row and then eats a hammer."

"She didn't eat the hammer," Maelis corrected. "She licked it. With passion."

"And it vanished."

"She hid it."

"In her second stomach?!"

Lira sighed, kneeling beside the pen. "No fever. But her breath smells like burnt ginger root."

Sylas, from his cradle nearby, blinked slowly. Bud sat beside him on the railing, legs dangling.

The rootling sniffed the air once, then gave a soft, whistling wheeze of his own.

"Goat... sick. Weird... soul."

Everyone froze.

Lira blinked. "Did… the root just talk?"

Bud nodded solemnly.

"Talking Bud," he said proudly.

Bran stepped back. "It talks now. Great. That's not creepy at all."

📜 System Alert

[Spirit Field Trait Detected: Beast Convergence Node]

Olma — High-Blood Goat Variant (Passive Core Mutation)

Status: Fever. Dormant Spirit Core attempting to activate.

Warning: Without guidance, beast will regress or explode (messily).

Would you like to stabilize the awakening?

—YES / NO—

Sylas sighed inwardly.

Why are the loudest animals always the first to ascend?

Yes.

🧠 Bud the Translator

"Goat... brain... fuzzy," Bud explained with slow leaf-blinks.

"She dream fire. See... giant field. Become... queen."

Elly gasped. "She's having visions?!"

"She wants... own barn. No share."

Thira leaned in. "Wait, are you telling me the goat is having delusions of grandeur?"

Bud nodded.

"Also... she want hat."

"…a hat?"

"Big. Like... emperor hat. With bell."

Bran groaned. "We're raising a goat monarch."

Sylas rolled slightly in his cradle and mentally reached into the soil beneath Olma.

He found the pulsing instability in her core—fiery, chaotic, and proud.

A warrior goat spirit. Not destructive. Just lonely.

Misunderstood. Loud. Needs space and structure.

He whispered with energy.

A calm pulse flowed from his rootpath through Bud and into the pen's soil.

The fever broke.

🐐 Olma's Ascension (Kind Of)

The goat let out a burp.

Then stood straighter. Her hooves glowed faintly gold. Her breath stopped wheezing.

She trotted once in a circle… and bowed.

The entire family stared.

"She... just curtsied," Maelis whispered.

Bud nodded. "Swear fealty. Want... crown next."

🌿 System Update

[Beast Bond Initiated: Olma the Goat]

Title: Crown-Horn Matron (Low-Tier Spirit Beast)

Traits Gained: Iron Headbutt, Queenly Patience (Passive Buff), Hunger for Hats

Beast-Wisdom Bonus: +1 to Emotional Herd Stability

Trait Gained: "Beastbonding I"

You may now guide up to 3 Spirit Beasts simultaneously.

Sylas's Beast Stable (3/3)

Quorra the Duck (Songweaver)

Olma the Goat (Matron)

Bud (Root-Echo, Companion)

🏡 Evening Talks and Goat Crowns

That evening, Sylas lay in his cradle while the family laughed at Olma's new behavior.

She had relocated all her straw into a throne-shape pile.

She demanded her water bucket be held.

She sneezed once more… directly into Bran's boots.

"Great," Bran muttered. "We've got a goat diva."

Lira watched Sylas quietly.

"How… are you doing this?" she whispered.

Sylas met her eyes and did something unexpected.

He raised one finger.

And gently booped Bud's nose.

Bud blinked.

"Good... baby."

Lira just smiled and kissed Sylas's forehead.

"Whatever you are," she thought, "you're going to change this land."