Kit waited patiently for Grandpa to reply. “Just leave the items you don’t want in the crate and give it back to Willow. She’ll organise the sale of those items for you.” Kit thanked Grandpa for the information then looked back at the wooden box.

He opened his personal inventory then the wooden crate’s and transferred the meat across to his pouch. Then he turned to Willow, “Can you sell the rest of the items for me please.”

Willow smiled and gave Kit a formal bow. “It would be my pleasure, Lord Kit.” An uncomfortable feeling spread over Kit at Willows use of his new formal title. She had even used a respectful tone instead of the casual manner she had previously been addressing him with.

A frown broke out between his brows, was this how people would greet him now? He didn’t want to be treated differently by his friends or peers just because he received a fancy title. His discomfort grew, he turned to Grandpa to see if he would act formally with him now. “Grandpa you’re not going to act weird now I have this title are you?”

Grandpa cocked and eyebrow, “Do you want me too?”

Relief flooded Kit, Grandpa still acted the same. “No, I was just checking to see if this title would affect the way people addressed me.” Maybe Willow was just trying out the Lord title because he had just received it.

Grandpa scratched his chin in thought. “Ah that, well I’ve never been any good at paying attention to those sorts of things. Folk usually only get fanatic about those things in the city. I don’t think many people will use your Lord title around here unless you insist on it.” Kit completely relaxed at hearing Grandpa’s words, he wouldn’t have to worry about being treated differently.

With that he was at ease, he could concentrate on other things. Then he remembered he wanted to talk to the old man about Pretzel. He quickly explained the situation to Grandpa then waited for his reply.

“Hmm, well honestly besides the schooling, food and shelter you have already organised. The most important thing for a young boy like him is for you to spend time with him. Then again, I guess you won’t be his only family now so you might have to take turns with those employees of yours.”

A smile broke out on Grandpa’s face, “You have a nice culture in that restaurant of yours that is great for giving all those misfits you employed a home. The boy will fit right in, don’t over think it Kit, the boy will let you know if he needs anything.”

Kit gave a soft hum in reply, he hoped Grandpa was right and Pretzel would find some happiness with his new home. Kit knew that he himself had found joy with the new family he established in the game.

Grandpa suddenly cleared his throat and straightened himself up. Kit warily glanced at the old man, every time he displayed uncharacteristic behaviours Kit found himself roped into one of the old man’s schemes. “Now Kit about that party to celebrate you becoming a Lord, I think we should invite some special guests.”

A groan left Kit’s mouth, he knew that old man was up to something! “Now Kit don’t be like that. It is important to do these things properly.” Grandpa admonished Kit as if it was him being difficult.

“Grandpa can you just spit out what you want to achieve with this party. I don’t want to be dancing around trying to figure out what you want.” Kit fixed a steady gaze at Grandpa, putting pressure on the old man to spill the beans.

“Kit, I’m hurt.” Grandpa clutched his chest and put a sad expression on his face. “I just wanted to celebrate your success like any old Grandfather would.”

Kit was not falling for the old man’s tricks today. “Spill!”

“Fine.” Grandpa pouted, once he realised Kit was not going to budge, he sighed. “The village has grown quite a lot since the monster run. It has also been getting more visitors, people have started grumbling about the lack of accommodation for travellers.”

Grandpa paused to make sure Kit was listening, when he was happy Kit was engaged, he continued. “Twix purchased a camping grounds blueprint and it is on the list to be built, but not everyone is happy to set up a tent. We need to entice one or more people to build an Inn in Spartan Fire as well. This is where your Lord celebratory party can help. Do you remember Oreo that I brought to your welcoming party?”

Kit nodded his head. “So far I have not been able to convince the man to set up an Inn in Spartan Fire, I was hoping you could convince him at your party.” Grandpa finished with a huff, Kit could tell the old man was still put out about having to reveal his intentions behind the party.

Even though Grandpa was upset, Kit was happy he knew the reason that Grandpa was insistent on having a celebration. He could skip the party altogether if he just talked to Oreo! He didn’t want to celebrate becoming a Lord in the first place.

“Can’t I just talk to Oreo one on one? I think that would be better than with a bunch of people around.” Kit watched as the old man contemplated his words. “You know Grandpa you can just ask me in the future if you need me to do something. You don’t have to wait for an opportunity to spring it on me. I want Spartan Fire to prosper as much as you do.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Grandpa had the grace to look apologetic. “Ah sorry Kit my boy. Sometimes I forget that you also want the best for my Spartan Fire. I will set up a time for you to talk to Oreo.” Grandpa looked very pleased that Kit had agreed to his request.

Kit became curious why Grandpa thought he could convince Oreo to open an Inn in Spartan Fire. “Grandpa why do you think I am the best person to talk to Oreo?”

Surprise flittered through the old man’s eyes. “Because you have a successful business established already. You can answer all of his questions related to his venture’s concerns.”

Kit was shocked by Grandpas simple answer. “Well, that makes sense. Just let me know when you arrange the meeting and I will be there.” He didn’t know if he would be able to convince the man to move to Spartan Fire, but Grandpa was right he should give it a shot.

While he was thinking about the Inn, he wondered if he could do anything to entice more businesses to move to the area. He knew that Spartan Fire would need more shops to attract more residents to the area it was like a vicious circle. More shops equalled more people, more people equalled more shops.

Kit sighed, Spartan Fire was so far from a city that it was hard to get people to move here in droves. So far most of the new residents had migrated from there neighbouring hamlets or villages. They needed Spartan Fire to have something special that made it stand out from the rest of the villages to lure people to permanently move here from the cities.

Kit’s mind wandered to the hidden blueprint Snickers had told him about. Maybe he should put more effort into finding it. If they could build a hidden restaurant, then Spartan Fire would have that unique feature to attract more residents and businesses.

He decided to have a proper chat with Snickers about information gathering. With all his matters settled at the town hall Kit finally decided it was time to head over to his restaurant. He bid farewell to Grandpa and Willow then walked outside.

As he was about to head over to his restaurant, his name was once again called. Kit turned around to see who was looking for him now. Lindor was frantically waving at him as he jogged over.

“Hello Lindor.” Kit waited for the man to catch his breath.

“Lord Kit, I’m glad I caught you.” Kit froze at Lindor’s greeting, Lindor didn’t notice Kit’s behaviour. “We discussed your offer to run your farm.” Lindor was grinning from ear to ear when he spoke.

Kit forgot all about being addressed by his new title and anticipation rocked his body. Looking at Lindor’s beaming face he guessed that he would soon have a new farm manager! “That’s great when can you start!”

“Wait no, Kit we can’t run your farm.” Kit wanted to curse Lindor, why was the man smiling like that then! Kit face morphed into one of displeasure at being deceived. Lindor started to get flustered at Kit’s expression.

“Ah Kit! We really want to work on your farm, but we can’t run it!” Kit continued to frown at the man and waited to hear what he would say next. “Kit, I know you don’t understand anything about farming, so I will explain why we can’t accept being responsible for your farm.”

Lindor rushed to explain. “Most farmers will work with the land that is already established on their farm. Such as growing crops that suit the land and climate. You want specific produce or creatures that need certain conditions for them to grow or thrive. For that you need someone to create those conditions. That type of farmer is called an environment farmer.”

Lindor paused to make sure Kit was paying attention then pushed on with his explanation. “None of us are even close to becoming an environmental farmer. We can start producing what can be grown on the farm without any changes to the environment, but you will need to hire an environmental farmer soon.”

Lindor stopped after he had dropped that bomb. Kit felt a headache emerge between his temples, this was not good news! He couldn’t afford a regular farm manager let alone a specialised manager. Kit pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

He then turned his sights to Lindor. “Thank you for agreeing to work on my farm. I don’t think I will be able to afford an environmental farmer for a long time. I’m guessing that they would cost a large sum to employ.” Kit wanted to be transparent with Lindor, if he and his friends were going to start working on his farm, he needed them to know what they were in for.

“I’m sorry to give you bad news Kit.” Lindor ducked his head and started to fidget with the bottom of his shirt.

“That’s ok Lindor, thank you for being straightforward. You are right I am completely clueless when it comes to farming so if you don’t tell me I won’t know. Honestly, I will be very happy if you and your friends can grow any of the ingredients.” Kit wasn’t lying, right now he was paying in candy apples to get people to collect his ingredients, he knew that this wouldn’t be sustainable as his restaurant grew.

That’s why he wanted to establish his farm as soon as possible. Not all his ingredients would be easy to collect from adventures in the future. He didn’t think candy apples would cut it as a reward for tougher locations.

Lindor cleared his throat and caught Kit’s attention. “Kit if you can’t afford to recruit an environmental farmer there might be another way to get one.” Lindor dodged Kit’s eyes as he spoke.

Kit watched Lindor avoiding his eyes with curiosity. “How?”

“Not long ago we went through a small hamlet to look for work. The man that owned the farm often went missing for a day or two, when we asked the other staff about this, they mentioned that he was trying to convince an environmental farmer to join the crew.”

Lindor tentatively gazed at Kit then kept talking. “The thing is when we probed further, we found out that the owner had been trying to convince the man for over a year to no success. The even stranger thing was that it was not a big farm, so it didn’t produce a large amount of profit. So, I started to wonder how would the man afford to pay the environmental farmer.”

Kit ears pricked up at those magical words. How indeed would the man pay the environmental farmer? Kit waited for Lindor to continue with bated breath.

“You can imagine how the curiosity ate away at me. So, I did the natural thing and investigated more into the matter. I found out that the environmental farmer didn’t work for money but something else.” Kit was hanging on every word coming from Lindor’s mouth. Would this be a hidden quest to get an environmental farmer?

Lindor became enthused at Kit’s rapped attention to his story. “That’s something else the owner kept a tight lip on so we couldn’t rustle up that information. But Kit what I did find out was where the environmental farmer was located. I know it’s a long shot if that man couldn’t do it after so long, but it worth a try right?”

Kit blinked stupidly at Lindor, of course it was a good idea to try! “Lindor what’s the name of the hamlet that farm was in?”

“The environmental farmer is living in the hills behind the Astro Bronze hamlet.” A pleased grin broke out across Lindor’s face as he parted with the information.

“Well, it looks like I will have to make a trip there very soon!”