Waking the next morning━having slept on a bed in a guest bedroom━Noa heard chatter outside the windows. He lifted a quilt from over his form, and pushed himself up to peer out the window that overlooked the front of his property. Tents still sat, strewn about. Little campfires were lit in several places, and women, men, and children all walked about, even one familiar set of faces.

Burly man? And... and... Damn, what was her name? Eryl.

It was hard to miss a big man, one arm missing, and harder to miss the sound of his boisterous laughter. Noa smiled, the stress of the prior days slowly lifting from his shoulders. He’d helped save that man’s life, albeit poorly.

Once I’m a quickener, I can do so much more, he thought, his eyes scanning over the rest of the campgrounds before landing on Finbar. The man walked around, handing out loaves of bread to the families sitting around fires.

Noa turned away from the window, and started toward the door. Pausing, he lifted the collar of his shirt, and took one sniff before recoiling. Yeah, he stunk.

“Okay, bath... bath... bath...” he said, moving to a side door. Opening it revealed a walk-in closet, similar to the one in the master bedroom. Extra pillows and blankets laid on some shelves, alone with a set of towels. Grabbing one, he moved from the closet, then opened the bedroom door.

Moving across the hall, he entered the master bedroom, frowning at the smell alone. They’re gone, dead, he told himself. Knowing that ghosts technically existed, he wondered if it was possible they could come back to haunt the place.

He promptly closed that door. Not worth it. Maybe he could make Finbar take care of that room. Surely people could at least use the insane amount of clothing from the master bedroom’s closet. Starting down the hall, Noa opened the door to another guest bedroom, then what looked to be a study. Finally, towards the end of the hall, it opened up to a bathroom, albeit ancient looking.

Fortunately, it didn’t smell anywhere near as bad as he guessed it would. It certainly wasn’t as pretty as what he’d gotten living up at the manor, but it would do. I so need to upgrade bathrooms when I get the chance, Noa thought, considering that he should keep a list of possible inventions that━

No! I bet I can give these ideas to the carpenter! “What a good idea,” Noa said, using a hand pump to slowly pump water out into a wooden tub. “Today is a good day. Probably.”

After washing up and, sadly, putting on his old clothes, Noa finally made his way out to the front of the house, and found that most everyone was gone. A few mothers were looking after some babies, and the sound of people from behind the house.

“Lord Noa!” One of the women called, standing up.

“Lord?” Noa asked as the brunette approached, baby in her arms. She stood just an inch taller than him... Ah man, I was average height on Earth...

“Are you not the lord of this orchard?” she asked.

“Uh, well, I guess I am, I’m just not used to being called ‘lord’.”

“Oh! Of course, I heard you were a part of the church. Pardon my rudeness, if you will?” she cringed.

“Don’t even worry about it. How, exactly, did you all get here?” Noa asked.

“Most of our homes burned down with the orchards. Many of the workers lived on the land they serviced,” she explained. “My husband, actually, was the Northwestern Orchard Master, we ran it, but no orchard means no income for us, even if we tended to the land now.”

“Oh,” Noa raised his brow. “All of these people don’t have homes or jobs then?”

She shook her head. “Afraid not. Many were already accommodated by the church in town, but there just wasn’t the space. We’ve made do with donations and any acre of land offered to us for the time being. I hope you don’t mind our stay.”

“I...” Noa started, not exactly sure how to even handle the situation. “Um... how’s the farm doing here?” he decided to ask instead.

“Oh, come see for yourself!” the brunette nodded her head for him to follow around the house. On the other side, workers were plucking apples, tending trees, some even rolling by Noa with wheelbarrows full of them. Finbar stood at the orchard edge, looking over a parchment ledger. He wrote something down, peering at the wheelbarrow presented to him by a tall man with a farmer’s tan.

“Wow,” Noa blinked. “What was your name?” he asked.

“Liz, your holiness.” Noa cringed at that title.

“Just stick with Noa for now.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“That would be improper for a man of your stature,” Liz objected.

“Minister Noa, then.”

“Ah, of course.”

Noa made his way to Finbar, tapping the man on the shoulder. He turned, then gave the widest grin. Before Noa could even get anything out, he bellowed, “Ha! You’re awake! I have much news for you!”

“Yeah, I can tell. What happened?” Noa asked.

“The demand for apples in the capital remains high, and with the other apple farms down, yours is the only one that can provide. You won’t believe the money I haggled out of them,” Finbar said, releasing a highly concerning sinister chuckle. Noa matched it with his own nervous laugh.

Please tell me this is good news... he thought, concerned that Finbar might have been taken advantage of, not that Noa ever did better himself anyways.

“More than twice what they paid before. Apples are practically noblemen’s food now, ha!” Finbar chortled, giving Noa’s shoulders two big pats.

“Aren’t they like, sort of important for our own population? Can the people here afford that?” Noa asked.

Finbar paused, raising an eyebrow. “You don’t know how to do business at all,” he stated, Noa staring blankly at the man.

Not knowing what to pay you wasn’t big enough of a hint? he thought.

“I tend to run things by people who know how to do this stuff.”

The large man sighed, then turned towards the orchard. “Come on, son.”

“Son?” Noa asked. Why? Why! He raked his hands down his face, following after. At least it wasn’t as bad as “kid”.

“You look twelve,” Finbar shrugged.

Noa deadpanned.

“At the edge of this orchard,” Finbar pointed, “We’ve started tending to the newer trees, and we can start processing seeds to either expand here, or purchase the land from the other orchard masters to plant on their lands.”

“Wait,” Noa held up a hand, halting. “They’re selling?”

“Of course, ogres have been frequenting their lands, but I figured you and the church would be busy clearing them out, and they’d soon be available again,” Finbar said.

“And they’re flat.” Noa looked at the gradual decline of the orchard, which rolled into uneven pastures, just hill after hill until the incline to the forest line near the mountains. Putting a large guild building here would require excavation, and then if he wanted to expand, even more excavation. “Would building, erm, essentially a mansion on flat land save time and money?”

“Yeah, of course, but nothing can be built where the ogres frequent,” Finbar said.

“I’ll worry about that, but it gives me options. How much have we made so far, and how much are they selling the land for?” And are we ripping them off from a huge misfortune?

“Um...” Finbar hummed, flipping through his ledger. He stopped on a thick piece of parchment in the back. “After labor payments and land taxes, we’ve netted seven plat and sixty gold. One orchard master is selling for two plats and the other at one plat and seventy gold.”

Maybe it is time someone explained the currency system to me, Noa thought. “Can you explain what that means like I’ve never spent money before?” he asked.

Finbar rolled his eyes, then hit Noa in the head with the back of his makeshift clipboard. “It means you’re rich, and that two very unfortunate farmers get off with a lucky break to start anew, probably elsewhere. I imagine Liz won’t want to stick around with the newborn.”

Rubbing his head, Noa frowned. “How much is each person paid a day?” he asked.

“The junior workers━children━are paid per bucket,” Finbar pointed, and Noa looked towards some kids that were climbing over the low branches of an apple tree. Each held a wooden bucket by the handle. One kid ran to a woman who was counting crates with a gentleman that was loading them into wheelbarrows. When the kid tugged on her skirt, she turned, smiling, then bent over and took the bucket. She dumped it into the crate, then tied a small ribbon on the handle.

“Clever system,” Noa said, impressed, then went on before Finbar could continue to explain the wages, “Did you think all of this up?”

The larger man shrugged. “You told me to take care of the farm, thought I’d help the new lord out. Heard how he’d been swindled a time or two from some of the townsfolk,” Finbar grinned.

“So you’re using me?” Noa asked.

“Lad, you’re the reason I moved here with my family. The ogres might scare some folks, but no, not I,” he shook his head and scratched at a stubble. “I got faith in you and the church.”

“Then we’ll use each other,” Noa said. “I have no idea what I’m doing, but you do, and you’re keeping track of it all like a bonafide secretary. Keep running the orchard, and expand it on the land here, and...” Noa looked the man up and down. What if I had a spokesperson for business? he thought. Finbar certainly would be the best for the job, assuming he cleaned up, and either grew the beard out, or shaved. “I want you to be the frontman of all my business ventures.”

Finbar blinked. “The what now?”

“Make the deals for me, haggle like you do. You seem to have this stuff figured out.”

“Well, yeah, I was a merchant’s son. Hagglin’s in the blood, you know,” Finbar said.

Noa smiled. “Great. Then you’re my guy.”

“So long’s the pay is good,” Finbar grinned. “Then I’m your guy.”

“I’m sure we can come to an agreement,” Noa said, offering a hand.

Finbar raised an eyebrow, then grabbed at Noa’s wrist. Apparently handshakes didn’t exist.

“By the way, a messenger stopped by, said the church needs you,” Finbar said.

“You’re only mentioning this now!” Noa huffed.

“Thought I’d give you a moment before you faced danger again,” Finbar grinned.

Sighing, Noa shook his head. “Purchase the burned orchards, and don’t cheat them out. I want to leave these guys with a good new start,” he said, pointing a finger. Then he shook his head, “Meanwhile, I gotta go fight not-Shreks.”