(Steven Edwards)

Two days passed and Yenor came to the farm with a bundle wrapped in her arms. I waved at her and she returned the wave with a smile. She looked happier and a little healthier. “Your request is fulfilled.” She said with a proud smile. I laughed and called out.

“Girls, Come on out.” I said turning to the house. The three were playing inside and came out, the kitten’s ears were back and the three looked worried as they looked around. I waved at Yanor who looked a little shocked. “Go on with it.” She blinked at me, not sure what I was meaning.

“You asked me to make them, I had expected you to hand them out.” She said the shock was clear on her face. I laughed and waved at the girls.

“I think this may be more fun.” I said with a slight bow. The old elf walked to the girls and knelt. She reached in, slightly blushing and pulled out the first one. It looked like a blonde elf doll, mimicking Lu-Shi. It was slightly rough, but not bad with green buttons for the eyes. Lu-Shi made an excited squeal and hugged the doll to her as she danced in place. The twins looked with jealousy. This was worth the expense. Yenor pulled out the other two and the girls looked in awe at the dolls that looked like them. I laughed as the three hugged their dolls and talked excitedly. I patted the elf on her back and smiled at her. She clasped her hands in front of her and a tear made its way out, but the smile made the older woman’s face light up.

“Thank you Steven.” She said in a small voice.

YOUR REPUTATION WITH YANOR EMBERWOOD HAS INCREASED TO TRUSTED FRIENDS. SHE IS WILLING TO TEACH TAILORING FOR ONE GOLD.

I beamed at her and bowed. “The cotton you asked for will be ready in three days.” She turned at my words.

“You planted cotton for me?” She asked sweetly.

“Yep, you asked me to and I’d like for you to be able to go back to making good things for everyone. I have a plan for dresses for those little ones when I have a little more coin.” I said rubbing the back of my neck. She blushed and looked away. “Hey now, you said I was too young for you, don’t go back on your word.” I said laughing. She slapped my arm and smiled.

“Fool man, I’m just happy you are letting me get back to doing what I really love.” She said turning away from me. “Thank you, Steven. The day you two came here was the best day in a long time. I hope you can stay with us for a long time.”

“I don’t plan to go anywhere.” I said with a laugh. I was walking back to the house when a letter came in from Emma.

Steven,

Thank you for asking. I miss spending time with you and the movie nights. I’m going to try to ask for a checkup when the system goes down for updates. That should let us have a nice talk every now and then. My kittens are fine, but they have taken my dinner a few times. I’ve been watching you and love the way you play with the girls. I hope someday I can join you and the two of us can have a real date. I took a day off and bought a dress like the one Travis put me in. You seemed to like it. I’ll include a picture.

Miss you,

Emma Winters.

I blinked as I looked at a selfie she had taken. The dress didn’t quite fit the same way, but still looked amazing on her. She was wearing heels and blushing as she smiled sweetly in the picture. It felt like she was flirting and I would have to respond in kind.

Emma,

That looks amazing on you. I wasn’t aware we could send pictures too. I may have to take one that may make you smile. I’m looking forward to the days when you can join us. I’d love to play with you and the girls. I miss our movie nights too and hope we can do that at some time. Maybe that could be one of our date nights. Your message made me smile and I feel better knowing you are watching us, like my own cute guardian angel.

Stay safe and remember to relax,

Steven

I may have been blushing a little as I wrote it and then I had to do some hard work to try to figure out how to take a screenshot. “Was it a screenshot?” I blinked as a window popped up.

IF YOU WISH TO TAKE AN IN-GAME PICTURE, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SAY THE WORD, SCREENSHOT AND A PICTURE WILL BE TAKEN. THIS CAN BE ATTACHED TO MESSAGES OR SAVED IN YOUR GAME FOLDER. CAREFUL AS RESQUE PICTURES TAKEN OF OTHERS MAY NOT BE ABLE TO BE SAVED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE SUBJECT. WHEN TAKING A PICTURE OF OTHERS, HOLD YOUR FINGERS IN THE SHAPE OF A FRAME AND SAY SCREENSHOT.

I smiled and moved to a tree and leaned against it, crossing my arms and giving my best smile. “Screenshot.” I said as I beamed off into space. A screen popped up and I laughed. I may have taken a few others to get the right angle before sending it with my letter. There may or may not have been a picture in the message that showed the girls playing with the dolls. With a smile and the memory of Emma in that dress in my mind, I got to work on my farm.

The days passed, I worked on my fields, grew crops and took care of the girls. I woke up one morning feeling like my excitement couldn’t be contained. Today was the day that the happy oats would be ready. This was going to be a good pay day. All of my pests were Kara’s prey so I didn’t have to risk my neck. I know so manly being saved by the smaller cat woman. I had expected her to take the twins back as soon as the dolls were done, but she demanded that they be allowed to play with Lu-Shi. This meant that I had to start making them for breakfast and lunch, but my plan bore fruit and I was now able to do so. Now every morning Kara would drop them off and the girls would stay with me until sunset. I didn’t mind as the kittens were good girls and played well with Lu-Shi.

I woke them with breakfast and the three played with their dolls in Lu-Shi room as I worked on the farm. The five plots of happy oats were nearly done, and I watched them closely as I worked to make sure my land had a nicely mowed lawn. I was tempted to talk about propane and propane accessories. Once they popped up, I harvested them and called out to the girls. Five Happy Oats gave me twenty seven units of happy oats. I wonder if that goblin woman would like them. I think oats can be used to make bread. She had been very happy to take the wheat I had harvested last week. The girls came out holding their dolls.

Stolen story; please report.

“We are going into town.” I said beaming at the girls. They nodded and linked hands before joining mine. I had a thought that it may end up costing me a bit, but if the oats sold well, I may be able to get everything done. Yenor was happily working on a dress for Mayor Herris and was happy to watch the girls play so I could work on not just getting my herb gathering skill, it would help me work on my evil plan.

Heinz was sweeping the path and smiled at me. We had our normal game and my last question was to ask him to give me the skill. I had a little saved up and as it was payday, I didn’t need to save it for an emergency. The huge troll held out his hand and took mine.

YOU HAVE GAINED THE SKILL HERB GATHERING. THIS SKILL HAS UNLOCKED HERB SIGHT, HERBS ARE NOW EASIER TO FIND. THIS SKILL IS AT LEVEL ONE AND YOU HAVE TO TRAIN THIS SKILL TO UNLOCK HIGHER LEVELS. HIGHER LEVELS IN THIS SKILL WILL HELP YOU MORE EASILY FIND HERBS AND HIGHER LEVEL HERBS. HIDDEN SKILL UNLOCKED. DUE TO YOUR PRIMARY JOB AS FARMER, YOU HAVE GAINED THE HIDDEN SKILL GREEN THUMB. THIS SKILL WILL ALLOW YOU TO GROW CROPS OUT OF SEASON. CROPS GROWN THIS WAY WILL HAVE A 50% REDUCTION IN YIELD. CROPS GROWN IN SEASON WILL HAVE A 50% INCREASE TO YIELD.

I jumped up and down cheering as Heinz laughed at me. I was right this skill was amazing and I would abuse the hell out of it. If I was right or crazy, crops sold out of season should sell for more. I would have to test that. “Thank you my friend. We will have to go flower picking tomorrow.” I said, patting the huge troll on the arm. He rubbed the back of his head and blushed slightly. I went to see Gillie who was sleeping face down in front of her place. Did the goblin even own a bed? I moved closer and called out to her. She sat up and smiled at me in a fairly evil way.

“Hello Steven.” She said as she looked up at me licking her lips. I inwardly shuddered and tried not to think about what she wanted to do to me. Little green women aren’t my type, but I bet a few other heroes would like her.

“Hello, Gillie. I have some happy oats.” I said, holding out my hand. She jumped up and reached out a clawed hand gripping mine. I winced as she took three points of health in her powerful grip.

YOU ARE OFFERING GILLIE FOSROCKET 27 UNITS OF HAPPY OATS FOR 5 SILVER EACH. ACCEPT (YES) NO

Hell’s gate, that was a lot of money. I now had thirteen point five gold from this one sale. This was turning out to be a great day. The goblin turned back and looked over her shoulder beaming at me. “You know if you were shorter and maybe green, I’d probably force you to be mine.” She said with a playful wink. I tried not to shudder and made my way to see Orga. The huge muscular woman was as shy as ever.

“How, umm,” Her voice dipped lower as she gulped. “Help you?” She asked. I smiled hoping to make the huge woman feel a little more comfortable.

“Your helpful pamphlet told me to ask you about custom orders.” I started. “I was hoping to ask you for a doll house.” I said, holding my breath. She nodded and moved halfway behind the door. Was she worried I would attack her?

“How large?” She gulped. I smiled and held my hand at chest level.

“Ideally, I’d like it to be two floors about this high.” I held my hands about a foot apart. “The dolls are about this big and I think my girls would love having a doll house to play with them in.” I said putting on my best smile.

“Five gold fifteen wood.” She said, I pulled out the catalog and noticed that each wood was two silver. So that would be about six gold.

“How much does it cost to fix up my house?” I asked, seeing I had a little extra to play with. She nodded and moved more behind her door.

“Three gold and three wood.” So I was already looking at nearly ten gold. That would be a pain, but not undoable. I held out my hand and smiled at her.

“Let’s call it an even ten for work and wood.” I said with a smile. She took my hand and held her breath.

YOU ARE OFFERING TEN GOLD TO ORGA GUTRIPPER IN EXCHANGE FOR WOODWORKING. DO YOU ACCEPT (YES) NO?

I nodded at the huge shy woman and rubbed my neck. “Thank you so much. Could you work on the house first?” I asked. She nodded and said in a small voice.

“I can start today and it will take me two days.” She said in a small voice. I laughed and turned my back to her.

“I can offer you lunch if you like.” I said turning away from her. She squeaked and slammed the door. I still had a little over three gold to my name and that should let me get the next round of crops going. Everything was coming together and I couldn't wait until the girls could see the doll house.

In Tina’s shop, the goat woman was still her shy self. I had hoped that she would have become more comfortable with me, but between her and Orga, I was starting to feel like a wolf walking around sheep. Buying the next round of crops, I returned to pick up the girls. They seemed slightly upset about going back to the house, but Yenor was able to offer me the ball they were playing with for five silver. This seemed to sooth the girls and they now had the room to really play with it. As I worked I looked over to see the huge orc woman working on my roof. Even though she was just pounding on the roof, the holes faded and the door frame straightened. I had to remind myself that this was a game and had game logic.

The next week I walked around the now fixed up house and marveled at the way everything looked. The wooden toilet was now nicer and had running water, The door opened easily and nothing seemed to squeak or groan as I walked around. There was a knock at the door and the huge woman held out her hand. “I have the doll house.” She said in her small voice.

“Would you like to give it to them?” I asked not sure if she would want to or not. She looked around my house and shook her head quickly.

“No thank you.”

ORGA GUTRIPPER IS OFFERING YOU A DOLL HOUSE. DO YOU ACCEPT (YES) NO?

I accepted it and as soon as I had it the big orc woman turned and nearly ran away from my land. Why was she so scared of me? I turned back and went to Lu-Shi’s room. I placed down the doll house without waking the little girl. On returning to the front door, I saw Kara approaching me. Her eyes were focused on me and narrowed in anger. I waved to her. The twins were holding back at the tree line. “Orga?” Kara asked in anger. I smiled and put my hands on my hips in pride.

“Get the girls and I’ll show you.” I said in excitement. She frowned at me, but waved them over. She seemed out of place as she looked around the inside of my house. I took them to Lu-Shi’s room. On opening the door, the twins ran in and woke my little elf princess. The three of them beamed over the doll house and I heard Kara breathe a sigh as she hid her face in her hood. The girls giggled and played with their dolls as I took Kara outside. “Sorry for worrying you, but I wanted to get the girls something nice to play with. She nodded, but didn’t look at me. In place of that she was looking out over my land for something to kill. She had five crabgrass, two skinny deer, and a large buck elk. The system was throwing me harder and harder pests, but Kara seemed happy about it all as it put more food on the tables in town and she didn’t have to work as hard at hunting. The daily quest was now offering me seven silver. I would have to fight the crab grass myself, but they went as bad as something that had shown up a few days ago. The Rock Lobsters were large lobsters that walked on land with rock-like skin. They were easy to deal with though and all one had to do was get behind them and flip them over to expose their soft underbelly. From there it was simple just to attack their stomach before they could right themselves. Rock Lobster meat sold for three silver each too. I liked those little guys.