Chapter 19: Hard day at work
Thomas took up a cluster of wheat, and cut its stem. Then, still bent down, he threw it in the pile that they were making, and went on to cut more wheat.
It was hot, almost unbearably so. He was down to his sweatshirt and short pants, while Rina was wearing her uniform as if she couldn't register the heat. He envied her for that. How he wished that he could regulate his temperature as well as she did.
His stomach gave out a growl, and his face scrunched up. Owen's words came back to him. It had been a calculated risk, at the time, to eat three eggs for breakfast instead of what the farmer ate. Yet, now, he sort of regretted it.
"Thomas, how are you holding up?" Rina asked from next to him. She threw another wheat cluster on the pile, and stood up to wipe sweat from her brow.
"I am just fine," the summoner lied. He was not fine. He was ready to drop.
"Hey, you should go and rest up a bit. What, with you being as red as a crab, and all," one of the workers told him. Thomas looked to Owen, who was also harvesting, but the farmer shook his head.
"The boy needs to learn that not everything that flies is to be eaten! I better not see you drop to the ground, boy. Now, get back to work," Owen snapped. With a sigh, Thomas did just that.
About an hour after that, they were all allowed to take a small break from their work and luxuriate in the shade of the few remaining trees near the field. The dark-haired adventurer was now glad he had not allowed for Karl to eat the outermost edges of the forest.
As they stood in the shade, their backs to the tree trunks, Thomas's stomach let out another growl.
"Lunch is in two hours," Owen reminded him, and he handed him a water skin. Thomas took it and drank greedily. Then, he handed it off to Rina.
"Thanks," she took a couple of small sips, and handed it to the next laborer. "Thomas, you shouldn't go back in the field after we are done resting."
Rina could see that Thomas had barely stood on his feet. No one would benefit if he got a sun stroke. Or, if he dropped in the wheat field.
"No, he needs to earn his keep. Plus, he has to learn that hard work means hearty meals," Owen snapped. He had been a farmer all his life. His father had taught him that lesson. His grandfather had taught Owen's father before that. And, Owen was passing it to this adventurer, no matter if the man wanted to hear or not.
"He already earned you a fortune," Rina snapped, pointing at the golden fields. "With how early you are harvesting, you will be able to beat everyone for the best prices. Don't tell me you don't expect for him to go and play in a different patch of the fields later."
Owen sighed. He knew that he was coming off as a greedy old man. Still, he was doing this for the good of the adventurers. They needed to be taught the meaning of hard work and get some common sense through their thick skulls. Better now, where he could pick them up and get them back on their feets, than later in some goblin infested forest.
"It is ok, Rina. I can manage it," Thomas said, standing up. "Hey, Owen, can I ask you to get a message to Lucius from the Orestria adventurer's guild?"
"Sure, if he is there when I go to the city, I will make sure he gets it," it would cost the farmer nothing to get the message delivered. Even if it would be a slight detour.
"Tell him the zone doesn't work, and I am trying an egg diet. Ask him if I should continue it, or switch for something else," then, Thomas went back towards the fields.
"I don't get it, he can lose weight from hard work alone," Owen told Rina. She shrugged.
"He needs to be fit for us to cover long distances. We can't stay at the ranch forever. Both of us want to become S ranked, at the least," for Thomas, it would be a longer journey than for Rina. Still, she believed she could see him achieve his dream.
"I don't see why you want to get out of the ranch. With him growing the crops, and you, doing what needs to be done, you can both have an honest living here," Owen made the sign for the rest of the laborers to get up.
"Adventurers are free birds," Rina said wistfully. "We don't train to become farmers."
"Foolish children," Owen mumbled under his nose. Rina chuckled, and got back to cutting wheat clusters. They worked until noon, and then went back to the trees, where their lunch was waiting.
Thomas was famished. He ate his three eggs in record speed. Then, he drank some water and eyed the nectarines. The rest of the workers were grabbing them and enjoying them, but the ominous scales made the dark-haired adventurer reconsider.
There would be a time for him to eat fruit, once he lost all the weight. Now was not the time. He saw as Owen stood up, and picked up his things.
"I will be going to Orestria now. Rina, make sure that Thomas doesn't drop," with those words, the ranch owner was gone. Rina looked at Thomas, and winced.
"Well, personally I believe that you shouldn't return to the field," Rina said, but Thomas shook his head.
"This is good endurance training. I won't pass it up," he washed his hands and stood up. Soon, he was back in the wheat field. And he worked on it until the evening.
The only thing that Thomas could do was go to the trees and slump against the nearest one. Karl came to him and placed his tail over his summoner. Instead of the usual heat that the slime-dragon gave off, Thomas felt coldness coming off him. He closed his eyes, murmuring a thank you to his battle companion.
