[Farmer] Mage

Cal didn't hide his joy, and he couldn't have been any happier. He was more energized than he had felt in a week, and given how relaxed Tavia was, she felt the same.

"Cal, could you tell Amara and Vivi to come inside? I'm sure they want to talk." Tavia sat near the hearthstone. She intended to make use of it since Cal no longer needed it.

"I'll let them know." Cal bent slightly to smooth out-of-place hair. He thought she looked adorable all mussed up, but he was sure she wouldn't want to look unkempt in front of others.

He received a smile before he left the house.

"Finally!" Seris jumped from where she sat near the door and complained, "Vivi said you both needed alone time, but that was way too long."

Cal's lips twitched, but held himself back from saying anything and simply raised an eyebrow.

Seris pointed to the field. "Your friend's back from Mariner's Rest, and you should save the Initiates from him. He's stayed for days and always tails the them when they're here. He claims to be here for business, but it looks like a vacation for him."

"Friend?" Cal's sense of hearing deteriorated with the lack of mana reserves. Where he used to differentiate distinct words despite the distance, now they were soft murmurs.

Just two weeks before I regain my mana reserves. I won't even notice… surely.

He noted the previously ignored stable, which now had two additional horses, and a sliver of an unknown carriage peeking out from the side of the house.

"Yeah, Fintan. Says you know him. He came looking for you a few days ago and never left." Seris looked exasperated.

Cal chuckled and waved her off to do whatever she wanted, which was apparently rushing into the house to accompany Tavia. He made his way to the field and saw Fintan standing straight like a tree, behind five Initiates studying the crops… correction, a single crop.

Somehow, the first one who noticed his approach wasn't Fintan, who seemed more absorbed with his own voice, but the Initiates who were busy doing… something. The crops were ready to harvest, so he didn't know could be so interesting that all the Initiates needed to focus on this particular crop.

"—will come here and check it for you. My distant cousin, though I think he might be related to me by marriage, so he isn't really a cousin… hm, anyway, it'll take him a few days to get here. I'm sure Farming Apprentice Cal will appreciate an expert looking—why are you all looking behind me and ignoring me? That's very rude."

Cal's shoulders shook with silent laughter. If he didn't know Fintan's blustery personality, he would have written him off as the usual privileged noble. "I see you finally visited my farm, Fintan. How're you liking it so far?"

Fintan twisted his body so quickly that he almost fell from his imbalance. He blinked owlishly before beaming. "Welcome back, Farming Apprentice Cal! I must say it has exceeded my expectations! I expected a piddling number of crops, but you have an output that brings shame to some of the most fertile lands in the territory."

That's thanks to the [Blessing of the Time-Warped Seed] and the pond. Though they both originate from me, so he's not wrong.

"I take pride in my work," Cal accepted the praise with a smile. "I hear from Seris you wanted to speak to me?"

"Oh! Right, you know the cousin I mentioned when we last met?"

Is he talking about the cousin he was boasting about now, or a different one? I guess it isn't important. Cal nodded.

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"One of his purchasing managers got in contact with him, and he agreed to meet you! This is a tremendous opportunity, Farming Apprentice Cal." Fintan stared as if to make sure Cal understood, then reiterated, "A really huge opportunity!"

Cal wasn't immune to the excitement—not only absorbing it from Fintan, but finally having the chance to forget about transport limits and use his entire field at will. "I owe you one, Fintan. What about the crop seeds I asked about?"

"My cousin says he will talk about it with you when he gets here," Fintan said smugly.

He really takes his relatives' accomplishments as his own. Once again, Cal would have thought ill of such a person, but Fintan was an exception. He almost thought of the fact fondly.

"You're a good friend to have," Cal clapped his hand on Fintan's shoulder. "Seris tells me you're enjoying yourself here. Why not stay for longer? I would be glad to have you."

Fintan beamed—even more than he already was—before his expression fell into harsh disappointment. "I wish I could, but I can't leave the Registry Office empty. I had the excuse of waiting for you to return, but now that you're here…" He shuddered in fear at his imagined punishment.

Cal wanted to know why manning the office Fintan had a clear disregard for was important, but he supposed it had something to do with his family. He couldn't imagine anything else forcing Fintan to care… nor could he imagine anyone else daring to check Fintan's privilege with the Gane family behind him.

He saw Fintan off before returning to the silent Initiates. It occurred to him he had been unintentionally dismissive while drawn into the excitement from Fintan's news.

"I apologize," Cal said without reserve. "I hope you don't believe I was ignoring all of you. And please, there's no need to be so tense. I thought we had a comfortable rapport before I felt the farm."

He succeeded in loosening their uncertain expressions, especially Amara and Vivi. It felt strange for them to be so formal when they had seen him make a fool of himself around Tavia when he was younger. Even if that wasn't a factor, Tavia considered them family, which meant they were important to him too.

I don't remember my own family, but they are supposed to be closer than friends… so I have to treat them better than Oleg? I'll ask Tavia about it later.

"Don't worry, Cal. I'm sure we'll go back to laughing at you as you try to get Tavia's attention," Vivi said with a smirk.

Cal rolled his eyes and said, "Speaking of Tavia, she's waiting for you both inside."

Amara and Vivi left to meet Tavia with smiles, leaving Cal with his Initiate hires. He glanced at the crop there were all interested in and asked, "So, what's so special about this one? A mutation?"

Vaela looked at her two colleagues and spoke first. "Since we really had little work to do while you were gone, we catalogued each crop and tracked them to see if there were irregularities."

"There were some that had the expected mutations that make it worth more on the market, but this one is different," Liora continued, bending down to reveal the soil underneath by gently shifting the Sunfire Grain.

Cal saw the looks of expectation on all their faces and was confused. "What am I supposed to see here?"

"Um, the soil?" Bran said with confusion. He blinked rapidly before correcting himself. "I meant nothing by it, Apprentice Cal. You must be testing us, right? The soil under this plant is extremely rich in mana compared to the surroundings! If we could sense it so clearly, it might be like the sun to you."

Ah, the negative of losing access to my mana reserves strikes again.

Cal had a strained smile on his lips—though it was more fit to be called a grimace. "I see, and I assume you want to ask me something about it?"

All three Initiates nodded in unison. "We would like to transfer this to another part of the field and see if we could spread the mutation to other crops. It would be great for the farm if we could," Vaela said.

"It would be a shame to harvest it like a common crop… well, common relative to what's planted here," Bran added.

Cal gave them an encouraging nod. "Well done. You've all gone above and beyond what I expected. Go ahead with your plans and keep me updated."

Their expressions lit up, reminding Cal that this wasn't just a job for them. It was a way out of the purgatory that had become their lives.

Cal pulled Bran aside and asked a question that had been in the back of his mind since he arrived. "What happened to the oxen?"

Bran's expression turned strange. He glanced off into the distance before meeting Cal's eyes. "Um, they're training?"

Cal narrowed his eyes and looked at the usual suspects, the pack leader and Nibbles. They were still at the farm. "By themselves? The oxen might be magical beasts, but they're not strong enough to have true intelligence."

"Well… no, they're not alone. But I think a donkey took them from the farm?"

Cal waited for Bran to say that was a joke. When that didn't happen after several seconds, he sighed and walked to the pack leader without another word.