The majestic splendor of the sun slowly rising greeted the entirety of Whitemoor in the morning as Bren goes inside Isamu"s room to wake the cat-folk up for the morning tasks."Kah… wuh?" Isamu is seen comically with drool falling from his mouth as he reacts from Bren shaking him. The cat-folk then got up as he rubs his eyes and saw the u003cWell-Restedu003e buff manifesting in his system notifications. With his vision wholly cleared, he greeted the old farmer. "Oh, good morning, Elder Bren."
"Yes, a fine morning to you, lad." Bren returns the gesture. "We"ll have breakfast first before going out to the fields."
Indeed, after a sufficient morning meal of bread and water, with the addition of a quick dip of their faces at a bucket of clean water, they set foot outside to join with their fellow farmers.
Bren, being the de facto representative of the farmers, delegated the workload before they all proceed to their respective tasks.
Isamu was placed in one of the groups of four farmers that are tasked to harvest the wheat in one of the vast fields.
As such, the group proceeded to the barn to grab some sickles for the job ahead.
***
The month of Joy"s Hallow for farmers is the time for the main grain harvest as permitted by the weather and would usually be completed by the end of the month.
Wheat and rye are first ripened and harvested for the coming winter season, followed by barley and oats for spring. Of course, there are a lot of factors taken into consideration, and most of them rely on the weather.
Weeks filled with the warm sun and only gentle rain are required for an excellent crop to flourish as well as several dry, sunny days for the harvest to be brought in. Of course, in such cases where the grain is unripe, caused by the dampening of the rain, the crop is still harvested and placed in special corn-drying ovens.
"Ah, it"s harvesting season, at last!!!"
As the group arrived at a vast wheat field, the senior of the group, a man named Lloyd said to them as he emphasized his presence. Then, he begins lecturing Isamu on how they do things here. "Alright, since you are new here, I suppose I"ll impart you on the procedures on how we cut the wheat. Now, look at me as I demonstrate. First, grab a fistful of that yellow beauty. Then, carefully cut this part away from your body or to the side so you won"t get injured. Once the cutting is done as you grab a good handful of the wheat, drop it and proceed to cut to the next. Someone will simply pick the wheat up and tie the bundles into sheaves. Very simple, right?"
Isamu simply nods in response as he understood the procedure.
"Alright, then." Lloyd nods with approval as Isamu, and the others began harvesting the wheat.
Despite how the seemingly simple the harvesting process itself is, the cat-folk at first, though, is shown to be a bit clumsy in his every movement as he has never done this type of labor before in his whole life. It"s as if he is certainly out of place, being new to the job.
Sure, fighting low-level monsters and bandits might be a piece of cake for the Champion, but farming is a work on a whole new level. Crops needed to be treated with great care, and the heat of the sun is certainly not helping. Isamu"s eyes definitely blink in wonder at seeing how the farmers that are in his vicinity seemed to make it look easy.
And add to the fact that him being the only cat-folk out of the group is very much not helping.
To his credit, however, Isamu is significantly improving in every action, cutting the wheat with precision as to not lead to the wasteful loss of the grain.
With the sun now s.h.i.+ning gloriously in the exalted horizon, the farmers tending to the fields could now feel the heat of the sun warming their skins, as sweat starts to flow on every portion of their body accompanied by the discomfort evident on their faces.
And the cat-folk was of no exception as he could start to feel the toll of the blazing sun while he is working at the field, cutting the wheat with the sickle provided together with his group.
"Hey, you"re the new guy, right?" One of his fellow group mates initiated a chat with him as he heard a female voice.
Turning his head, Isamu was greeted by the appearance of a pretty young human girl with short brown hair around her late teens smiling at him in a friendly manner. Her outfit of a simple green long peasant dress is shown with slight dirt all over it, evident by the toils of her hard work in the field.
Farm Girl
Lvl 9: u003cSilverhartianu003e
Health: 992 / 992
Stamina: 510 / 410
Mana: 200 / 200
"A level 9." Isamu thought as he took notice of the girl. "She"s on her way to choosing her own cla.s.s. I wonder if she"ll remain as a simple u003cSilverhartianu003e or make a path of her own elsewhere?"
"Yes, I am, la.s.s," Isamu answers her as he while still cutting the wheat.
"I see." The girl is also witnessed to be working as she did her part by cutting the other wheat with a sickle of her own. As she continues to observe the cat-folk, she could not help but be amused by how awkward-looking his action is. "Fufu, from the looks of it, you seem to be not used with this kind of work. Are you perhaps someone who came from a rich family but decided that you are not worthy of inheriting their wealth, and instead, they send you here working to the farms like us peasants?"
"Haha, that"s a good one, la.s.s." Isamu simply shook his head in hilarity, acknowledging the girl"s sense of humor. "As grand as your tale is, I"m afraid I"m going to have to say no. It"s just that, I"ve never done this type of labor in the past."
"Ehhh, I see." The girl responds with intrigued on her voice. "So, what"s your name, oh feline man?"
"It"s Isamu." The cat-folk answers while occupied on the job. "And yours?"
"Sarah." The girl replies with a smirk. "I"ve never seen a cat-folk working as a farmer. So, what brings someone like you here?"
Isamu thought for a moment if he should be stating his true intentions of why he is here with the farmers working. Seeing no benefit whatsoever in keeping it a secret, he then answers. "I"m simply doing this as some sort of agreement between sir Krothu and myself. I have to work here as a farmer for about a month before the Baron fulfills his end of the bargain, by the form of training me."
"Ah, another Guild Warrior. That explains your high level." Sarah smiles in response. "Baron Krothu sure loves to torment you folks, huh, hehe."
"Torment?" Isamu tilted his head in question. But before he is going to inquire the girl further regarding the matter, one of the farmers, Lloyd specifically, called their attention.
"Hey, Sarah!! Stop pestering the new guy and get back to work!!!" The farmer scolded him. "And new guy, just ignore her. She can be quite a talking menace at times, especially to newcomers."
"But I am working, old man!!!" The girl whose name is Sarah retorted as she stands firmly with her sickle proudly displayed at hand. "Is old age blinding your eyes so bad that you can"t even see my skillful cutting of the wheat with this sickle that I currently wield!?"
"Haha!! She got you there, Lloyd!!" Another farmer teased the man while the rest of the farmers in the vicinity held an entertained expression on their own faces.
"Tsk, what a brazen little girl!" The old man clicked his tongue. Despite his annoyed look, the man is also seen with an amused smile while shaking his head as this is an everyday occurrence for them all.
Friendly name-calling or two is one of the norms around here at the farmlands as the farmers cope up with the hards.h.i.+ps and the heat of the sun with smiles and laugh all over their faces, maintaining a positive atmosphere to ensure the success of their great harvest.
As the cat-folk observes the actuation of his fellow workers, he could not help but notice that the farmers all possess an amiable bond towards one another, evident by their willingness to help each other in their daily struggles of life and work.
"Heh, I guess this ain"t so bad after all." A smile graces forth on the cat-folk"s face as he continues his work of harvesting the wheat. "The people here sure are easy to get along."
And with that, the rest of the day was spent with harvesting the wheat, with a little break every once in a while, as Isamu eventually integrates himself with the social hierarchy of the farmers.