“I was a little worried about you so I came to check on you.” Elincia admitted, arching an eyebrow as she watched the older orphans stretching. In the esplanade, Ilya bossed Wolf around with hands on her hips. The half-orc obeyed the best he could but his flexibility was lacking.
“To transfer strength from the body to the sword you have to be flexible!” I yelled as Ilya pushed Wolf’s back with her diminutive body. The half-orc struggled to reach the tips of his feet.
“You are doing quite well, Mister Scholar.” Elincia glanced at the orphans with a smile.
Elincia’s light blue bodice and wide beige dress fit her more than well, but I knew what was under her governess appearance. With no kids around, Elincia let her sassy nature come afloat.
“It’s my masculine presence. They subconsciously know who is in charge.” I said, trying to sound as serious as possible but a hint of a smile slipped into the corner of my lips.
Elincia slapped my shoulder and giggled.
“I can’t believe you can make such a good impersonation of Holst without having met him.” Elincia laughed. “Although, I do find the way you interact with children very manly.”
Suddenly, my neurons forgot how to produce coherent thoughts and my mind fell into the emptiest void. I was grateful my involuntary bodily functions continued working.
[Awareness]: You have received 18 points of psychic damage. [Lonely Boy] activated. Recalculating. 36 points of psychic damage received.
I leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. Getting compliments from beautiful women was truly dangerous for a loner like me.
“Mister Clarke and Elincia sitting in a tree. K-S-S-I-N-T!” Shu’s sleepy voice came from around the manor followed by a muffled group laughter. Elincia got startled for a second but quickly spun around to catch the harpy girl red-handed.
“That’s not how you spell kissing Shu. We just had writing lessons!” Elincia adopted her caretaker's serious voice.
“That’s not what I spelled, kissing is gross.” Shu retorted and more muffled laughter emerged from around the corner.
Elincia walked with long strides towards the corner and the orphans scurried everywhere giggling and shouting. Everyone except Shu, who had trouble running with her long talons. The harpy girl was quickly caught by Elincia but she was unfazed by the matter.
“You are in a good mood today, Miss Elincia.” Shu said.
I didn’t know if the lack of filter was a harpy thing or Shu's thing, in any case, it was part of her charm. Sleepy, slow, and unfiltered.
“Well, last night I had a nice meal and then a good night’s rest so I’m feeling very energetic.” Elincia winked at me just to turn around and face the harpy girl again. “Now go, I have to talk with Mister Clarke about some important matters.”
Shu gave us a playful glance before following the rest of the small orphans.
“Something happened?” I asked in a low voice.
“No, nothing bad. I just wanted to let you know I’m going out to collect donations.” Elincia sighed. “I hate to beg but we are literally out of food and the farm plot isn’t in any condition to yield anything.”
As I was still under the effects of Elincia’s psychic attack, it was hard for me to connect the dots.
“What about the food I bought? Zaon didn’t tell you?” I asked.
“Yes, and I’m grateful for the ingredients, but they already ate all the soup and the older ones are going to need a lot of food to sustain your training hell.” Elincia replied. As much as she wanted to sound playful, I could tell she was worried.
A mischievous smile appeared on my face as I realized Elincia didn’t know about the cart with supplies hidden in the shed. I wonder if it was Zaon who parked it there. In any case, I had to thank him for giving me the chance to surprise Elincia. She deserved it after her snark about my class.
“Come with me, I want to show you something.” I said.
“I don’t have time right now, Rob. Really.” Elincia replied, almost in distress.
“Come on, don’t you trust me?” I said with pleading puppy eyes just as [Awareness] told me to.
Elincia sighed and followed me into the shed.
“Look, I can understand you want to spend time alone with me but…” Elincia’s words died in her mouth as her eyes fell on the cart.
Sacks of potatoes and onions, bundles of carrots, a lot of squash, and a gazillion sacks of beans, everything was neatly piled on the cart and more importantly, it was ours. It was going to last for a while, although not as long as I hoped. I ignored how much a dozen orphans ate.
Elincia’s glance jumped from the cart to me and then to the cart again.
“How?” She asked.
“I sold a kidney.” I replied with a shit-eating grin.
Elincia turned around and hugged me, tight, as if she wanted to merge our bodies into one. My spine cracked but I felt no pain, my brain was orbiting the planet ten thousand kilometers high in the sky.
[Awareness]: You have received 65,535 points of psychic damage. SYSTEM ERROR. INTEGER OVERFLOW. REBOOT SEQUENCE INITIATED. SYSTEM ERROR. Just kidding.
Then, Elincia let me go and started inventorying the contents of the cart.
[Awareness]: Your name is Robert J. Clarke, you are inside a shed at Lowell’s orphanage in Farcrest.
“This will last for a while but we need to secure a steady income to buy food.” Elincia said after checking on my vegetable loot. “With your skill in finding ingredients with high mana concentration I could start brewing potions for a profit. We can also expand the farm if we are going for the long run, but Holst managed to ruin most of the plants… if you hadn’t arrived with a cart full of food, I wouldn’t have known what to do… thank you.”
A shudder ran through my back. Holst’s betrayal would have been a coup de grace against the orphanage in any other scenario. Or maybe not. Despite how dire was our situation, I chose to believe Elincia would’ve gotten by even without my help.
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“I don’t think we should go to the Farlands for ingredients yet. The Marquis and his men are probably waiting to conscript the older ones before tax day. We can’t leave the orphanage unattended.” I said.
“What should we do then?” Elincia asked as she passed her hands over the potatoes.
It was the first time she let me take the lead, it was flattering.
“Let me check the farm plot for now. Maybe I can salvage something. Then we could think of something else.” I said.
“Good call. You go check that and I will take one of these to prepare lunch.” Elincia replied, grabbing a few potatoes and onions. Then, she walked to the dilapidated shed’s door but stopped before exiting. “And Rob, don’t get used to hugs.”
My face felt flush.
“You don’t get used to them!” I replied as Elincia laughed her way to the manor.
You have obtained Denial Lv.9. Temporary.
I had to wait a moment to regain my scholarly gravity.
As I stepped out of the shed, the picture of the kids resting near the big stump greeted me. Zaon and Wolf were sitting upright while hearing Ilya’s rant. As interesting as her monologue appeared to be, I walked to the farm plot.
Carrot Plant, Dying, Poisoned. [Identify]: Edible. Cooking ingredient. This plant has been poisoned.
Squash Plant, Dying, Poisoned. [Identify]: Edible. Cooking ingredient. This plant has been poisoned.
I walked along the rows of vegetables, identifying every single plant. Half of the garden had the [Poisoned] status and the other half had the [Withered] status. Whatever poison Holst had used to destroy the crops, it was working. He had made sure the Marquis would get those orphans conscripted.
The future looked bleak, even if we planted autumn crops that same day, we would have to wait at least two to three months to see the first yields. The thought of building a greenhouse crossed my mind but the lack of materials and money made the idea unfeasible. The only solution seemed to be rebuilding the farm and holding out until the first harvest.
I sat on the ground and scratched my chin. My beard had started to hitch but I ignored it for the time being. Every problem had a solution even if it wasn’t immediately evident at first sight.
When I opened my eyes, I noticed that Zaon, Ilya and Wolf had joined me in my meditation.
“What are you doing in the farm plot, Mister Clarke?” Ilya asked.
“Shhh, don’t interrupt him, he is clearly thinking about something.” Zaon hushed her.
The elven kid was surprisingly tactful for someone his age but I also noticed that he used to hold himself back to not disturb others.
“Miss Elincia and I are planning to expand the farm in order to become self-sustainable and not having to rely on donations. However, we are too busy to start the project right now.” I explained.
As soon as my words left my mouth an idea materialized in my mind.
“For that reason, one of you will be in charge of developing the new farm. Any volunteers?” I asked with a smile.
The announcement took them by surprise. They exchanged nervous glances and, as I expected, none of them volunteered for the position. The tyranny of the index finger it would be then.
“Alright. Congratulations, Zaon, you will be the project leader. Ilya and Wolf will be your assistants.” I smiled and clapped twice just like Elincia would have.
My genius was frightening. This was going to be a great opportunity for Zaon to develop skills like leadership and organization while Ilya and Wolf cultivated their teamwork skills.
“Your goal will be to have your first yield three months from today.” I said.
Zaon looked at me pale as paper. He seemed to be seconds away from passing out.
“B-b-but I don’t know anything about farming. I barely know which side to grab a shovel. I wouldn’t know where to start, the project will be a failure and everyone will starve to d-d-death.” Zaon’s stuttering got worse by the minute.
I put a hand over Zaon’s shoulder. He was trembling.
“You need to split the problem into smaller chunks and then solve them one by one.” I smiled reassuringly. “Come on, use your assistants. If you don’t know something, ask someone who knows. If you need more hands, ask for them. If you want my opinion, just ask and I will guide you the best I can. But you have the last word.”
Zaon nodded, still pale as a ghost, and Ilya had to rub his back for a solid minute before the elven boy regained the capacity to speak.
“W-w-well, what should we do first?” Zaon stuttered.
“Determine the size of the new farm, prepare the ground, sow the plants in the most efficient order, and tend them until they yield fruits… evidently.” Wolf rattled off, raising a finger for each step.
The three of us turned around in shock to look at Wolf. It was the first time I heard that many words coming out of his mouth and it seemed that Zaon and Ilya shared my impression.
“What?” Wolf asked.
Despite my best efforts, I had created a wrong mental image of the half-orc.
“Nothing. You are right, that’s roughly what you have to do.” I said.
Suddenly, Zaon wasn’t as scared. He was starting to see that the problem wasn’t an unclimbable mountain but a series of gentle hills.
“We also have to choose the right plants. Not every vegetable grows in autumn.” Ilya pointed out, sitting cross legged and scratching her chin just like me. Was she imitating me? “I also have heard you can plant them in a particular formation to maximize the yield.”
“And, we have to decide what to do with the old farm plot.” I added at the end.
Then, I overheard the group's discussion about the most efficient way to carry on the task. As the discussion progressed, Zaon lost part of his shyness and began to give strong opinions about different matters. Wolf’s general knowledge about farming continued to surprise me and I didn’t intrude in the conversation.
The three made a great team so far and I had to congratulate myself for devising such a great project.
“Consider this as part of your training so let me know what you are going to do.” I said.
“We’ll keep you informed, Mister Clarke.” Zaon briefly said just to resume the debate about the most efficient way of planting the farm plot.
I stood up and walked back to the manor, thinking about farming. In the long run, the farm was going to be our main source of food so it had to work out on the first try.
Inside the manor, the young ones played around in the receiving room. Not wanting to interrupt their games, I turned in the opposite direction and walked towards the kitchen. I had to talk to Elincia about the dying crops.
I silently entered the kitchen and stopped in the doorway, looking at the woman preparing lunch. Her silky platinum hair was tied in a high bun, revealing her delicate neck. I glanced at her for a moment as she cut vegetables and fed the fire on the stove with an inhuman grace. Not wanting to look like a creep, I knocked on the door.
Elincia gave a small jump and turned around.
“Were you staring at me?” She asked instantly.
“Were you doing something I wasn’t supposed to see?” I replied entering the kitchen and leaning over the counter next to her. She had gotten me good at the shed and I was waiting for the opportunity to even the score.
“I don’t usually spit in the food, if that’s your question.” Elincia whispered near my ear.
“Did you spit in Holst’s food?!” I whispered back. It wasn’t something I'd expected from the Governess Elincia but the Alchemist Elincia I had met in the Farlands was a completely different beast.
Elincia gifted me a charming smile and returned to her chores like a ballerina floating over the stage. Even her long dress fluttered around highlighting her rhythmic movements. She had totally spit in Holst’s food.
“Please remind me not to make you mad any time soon, would you?” I looked at her feigning dismay. In reality, I liked this version of Elincia even more than the selfless and severe caretaker.
“Do you really think I am such a petty woman?” Elincia asked, focused on cutting carrots.
“Holst poisoned the crops so I’m pretty sure he deserved a bit more than spit. You could’ve served him hemlock tea and I would be okay with it.” I said.
“He what?” Elincia asked.
“Poisoned the plants, literally. The plants have the [Poisoned] status.”
The knife fell from Elincia’s hand producing a metallic rattle against the floor. Trembling with anger, she recovered the knife and stabbed a squash. I could almost envision the woman stabbing Holst’s head.
“Poison. No wonder. Holst had a thorough personality.” Elincia gritted her teeth.
“If you brew an antidote, do you think we can recover the crops?” I tentatively asked. Back on Earth the plants would’ve been lost for good, but as far as I knew antidotes in this world were magical in nature. Maybe they worked similarly in any living being.
Elincia stopped for a moment.
“It’s the first time I heard of giving antidotes to crops… but it might work. If you have any other crazy ideas, please just tell me.” Elincia gave me a half smile and pulled the knife out from the squash she had skewered.
It seemed we were having vegetable soup again.