Chapter 436. A Father and Some Stupid Horses: A Crash Course on Farming. (1/5)

When I opened my eyes, it was morning. The tent was lit up. However, strangely enough, it wasn’t lit up from inside as a result of Rosa’s soul. Initially, I thought Rosa had already woken up and was out and about but that thought changed when I tried to sit up.

I hadn’t noticed but there was something hooked around my neck. I raised my hand and placed my hand on my neck and grabbed it. It was very smooth. Skin. 

I glanced down and realized what it was. A leg. Whose leg was it? I recognized it all too well. It was one of two sexy legs which belonged to my girlfriend that I was all but too accustomed to seeing by now.

The back of her knee was hooked under my chin with the back of her lower leg and thigh squishing my cheek. She didn’t have her body on top of me but it ran parallel to my side. When I followed the outline of her body, her head reached waist level. There I discovered another person, Dawn. Rosa had her arms wrapped around Dawn’s waist. Dawn had fallen asleep with the back of her head on the side of my hip.

This scenario kind of reminded me of Rosa’s birthday back at the hotel with Alicia. Only with even worse sleeping postures.

Just how the hell did they fall asleep like this? What sort of war went on last night while I was unconscious?

Wait a minute. What happened to the light from Rosa’s soul?

I examined her body more carefully and realized there was still a glow after all, it was just very dim right now. Is something wrong with it? No… it could just be because she’s asleep right now.

If that was true, being able to see her soul might not be such a big problem for my sleep. As long as she fell asleep I’d be able to fall asleep without much problem. This level of illumination wouldn’t be an issue to sleep with. At best it was a dim night light.

Hmm, knowing when someone’s really asleep could actually be quite useful. That would only be the case if I could see everyone’s soul though. If it was just Rosa’s it’d be pretty pointless.

I retrieved my phone, held it up in front of my face, and confirmed the time. It was already afternoon, we’d been up pretty late and slept in late as a result.

Well, it’s not like we were in that much of a rush. We were just leisurely enjoying our time. It was nice. Not being obligated to do something and spending it however we pleased.

When you had a work commitment every day, you could never enjoy this level of leisure. Work-related concerns were always at the back of your mind. Sighing to yourself while thinking depressing thoughts like, ‘Only X hours left until my next shift at work.’ ‘I’ve got to go to bed to get enough sleep for work.’ ‘I’ve got to do this and that tomorrow at work.’ ‘I’ve got to meet this or that deadline at work.’ Work, work, work. That’s all it ever was. It was the sort of mindset you eventually fell into when living in big cities. An endless grind.

The last few days I hadn’t had those sorts of thoughts even once. But deep down, I knew the clock was ticking. The closer the date came, the more the turning feeling in my stomach would grow at the thought of returning to it. It wasn’t particularly bad though since I only had one part-time job to work. 

This was more of a personal trauma than anything else. Something that developed from the unhealthy work-life I lived a few years after finishing university and working multiple jobs. Those days, whenever my stomach turned, it was extreme. My hands would be trembling and shaking whenever I woke up in the morning. I’d feel like I was ready to collapse.

The thought of one day losing everything I have right now and having no choice but to relive that zombie-like lifestyle with no end or hope in sight. Deep down, it scares me. Being trapped in a deep dark hole and being unable to climb your way out. Feeling helpless, powerless, unable to resist the weight of the crushing debt on your back.

I truly hate banks from the bottom of my heart. Making money simply by having so much money you don’t know what to do with. Casually printing money whenever you feel like it. Refusing to let asset prices fall to maintain the wealth of those already rich. The poor must suffer so the wealthy may continue to prosper indefinitely.

But can I really complain? That’s just how nature works. 

It’s survival of the fittest. Those who accumulated wealth are just that, the fittest, are they not? What’s strange is selflessly doing things for others without expecting any sort of profit in return. 

Noblesse oblige. It is an absurd concept. Nobody should be obligated to do anything for free for anyone. The foundation this world operates and functions upon is premised on a give and take basis, an exchange of value. Devils should understand this best.

I suppose as a devil I just have a predisposition to detest banks and governments who throw the principle of give and take out the window and simply print money out of thin air by punching a few zeroes into their system. Debts need to be repaid at some point, but banks and governments don’t seem to want to follow that fundamental principle.

Rather than learning to be financially responsible or self-sufficient, let’s just keep pushing all these debts onto the future poor people of the world, they can deal with our exorbitant wasteful spending.

I should really stop thinking about it. The more I do, the greater my urge to go find a few of the slimy politicians and bankers I remembered to use as punching bags. I’d be behind bars at this rate.

I raised Rosa’s knee up, slid my head out from under it, sat up, and stretched my arms out overhead.

Inside the tent started to brighten up. I looked down at Rosa to my side and asked, “You awake?”

“...”

“Don't try to pretend, I know you’re awake, Rosa.”

She scrunched her lips together and pouted, “I’m asleep.”

“How’d the two of you fall asleep in this weird position?”

“I said I’m asleep.”

“...” I fell silent.

“Well?” She suddenly questioned.

“Well, what?”

“If you want me to wake up, what do you need to do?”

“I don’t remember sleeping beauty having such awful sleeping posture.”

“It can’t be helped, getting Dawn to sleep in the tent with you around was impossible. I had to drag her inside and keep her pinned down like this until we both eventually fell asleep. She kept refusing and trying to escape no matter how I insisted to her that it was fine. It was a tough fought battle, but I eventually came out victorious in the end.”

“What a pointless battle.”

“Mmmm.” Dawn’s brow furrowed a bit before her eyes slowly opened up.

“Morning, rise and shine sleepyhead.” I greeted.

“Huh? Ran? Rosa too? Where... am I?”

“Did you forget you paid us a visit last night?”

“Ah. That’s right… to pay yuh back the money I owed you.”

“Yeah.”

“Huh? What time is it?” Dawn asked as she lazily sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“It’s already afternoon.”

“So late already?”

“Yeah. When do you usually get up?”

“I’m usually up and about by 6:00 AM.”

“That sounds exhausting.”

“Not when you’re used to it.”

“Dawn, do you have any plans today?” Rosa cut in.

“Mmm… no, not really.” Dawn shook her head.

“Then how about hanging out with us today? We can use your truck since it’s working now.”

“But I’ve already been getting in the way of your vacation for a full day now.”

“If you feel that way then make it up to us by accompanying us somewhere. It’s more fun with more people.”

“I’d just be a third wheel.”

“How about taking us to your farm today and showing us around?”

“My farm? Yuh want to go there?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun.”

“There’s nothing fun to do on a farm aside from watching crops grow or animals running around. That’s about as fun as watching paint dry.”

“It might be boring for you but it’s fun for people who aren’t used to those things. Do you have horses?”

“Yeah, we do, why?”

“Then let us ride the horses. I doubt my reclusive shut-in boyfriend has ever ridden a horse before.”

Rosa shot a glance my way.

“You’ve never ridden a horse before?” Dawn asked.

“No… I haven’t.”

“See, he’s a total noob. It’ll be fun for me to watch him suck at riding a horse.”