Chapter 98 - Monotonous Symphony

Ned and I continued to stargaze for a little.

Once it got a little late, I told Ned that we should go to bed. He was resistant at first, but after I chastised him a bit more, he agreed.

Although I was tempted to fall asleep in the courtyard, I also remembered I agreed with Mildred to work on the farm for some money. The only problem was that I had no idea where this 'farm' was.

As for right now... I still didn't feel safe to ask Mildred about that. I only needed to work on the farm in the morning, so I imagined it was fine to ask her then.

With those thoughts, I fell asleep on my bed.

...

I woke up in a fluster, sitting up from my bed. 

My eyes immediately shifted towards the curtains. A weak ray of dawn shone through it, signaling the start of the day.

My mind still felt quite muddled and tired. It seems my anxiety about working on the farm made me wake up early.

...If only it were a little bit later.

I didn't trust myself to wake up early if I fell asleep now. As such, I forced myself off the bed and quickly freshened up.

The first goal was to ask Mildred where the farm was. Hopefully, she has calmed down by now. My hand pulled open the door to my room and my foot set down in the hallway.

It was quiet.

That was to be expected, given how early it was. My steps were soft, yet loud at the same time. Before I knew it, my hand was raised next to Mildred's door. Now that I think about it, Mildred was probably sleeping.

...She wouldn't be mad if I woke her up, right?

Um...

Well, here goes nothing.

My hand turned into a fist and lightly knocked on the door. As I probably should have expected, there was no response.

I knocked a little louder, at a volume that was reasonable to hear. Unfortunately, there still wasn't a response.

The corner of my lip twitched.

...Hopefully, Mildred doesn't get too mad.

My hand clenched, before slamming my knuckles really hard onto the door. The sound was quite loud and my knuckles were now sore.

There was a shuffling sound coming from inside.

"Go away!"

My eyelid twitched.

...That was one way to respond. At least it seemed like Mildred wasn't going to be hostile.

My fist blocked my mouth as a cough came from my throat.

"I just want to know where the farm is. It's to work out our deal for the fifty coppers!"

A few disgruntled sounds came from inside.

"...Open the door."

With a bit of hesitation, my hand pushed open the door to Mildred's room.

A flabbergasted expression immediately appeared on my face. The room was a mess. Clothes were messily strewn about the floors along with a few bed sheets.

As for the actual bed itself, Mildred lay there sprawled out on top. Her head was where her foot was supposed to be, and vice versa. A thin, wrinkled blanket lay upon her body. One pillow was on the floor while another was underneath the covers, next to Mildred's waist.

She seemed to be hugging it.

Her feet stuck out from underneath the covers as well as the top of her head. Her eyes were only open a slit, while her hair was terribly messy. Mildred yawned.

"Mm... I remember the deal. Just circle around to the back of the palace and you'll find the farm. Today, you'll need to hoe the fields so that they are ready for planting. Make sure the soil appears dark brown."

Mildred rolled around on the bed before letting out another yawn.

"From there, you'll need to sow the seeds. After that, you just have to water them until they are ready for harvest."

She forced in a deep breath through her nose.

"After you're done, come to me. I'll give you the money."

Mildred proceeded to wave one hand at me like I was a fly.

"Now get out. I'm trying to sleep."

My hand scratched the back of my head.

"Ah, ok. Thanks for the info."

With that, the tip of my finger pulled back on the doorknob, until the door itself clicked shut.

...Mildred seemed different, but at least she wasn't trying to snap my bones. It made me wonder what happened to her that caused such a drastic shift in personality. However, it seemed like those answers wouldn't come soon.

It seemed like Mildred was unwilling to talk.

And so, I slowly made my way to the back of the palace. There wasn't another person in sight. It was a really quiet day, making my soft breaths seem loud.

While my steps traced the side of the palace, I quickly realized that the building really was huge. It was hard to fully take in just by examining, but now that my puny figure stood side by side with it and went along its perimeter, its true magnificence was shown.

Though, that didn't really matter to me. My eyes were cast into the sky, a light blue day filled with a few lonely white clouds. Like the last few days, there was no snow. Logically, it made no sense.

But I decided not to question it too much.

By the time I reached the back of the palace, my lungs were taking in a few ragged breaths. Having a weak body really is too inconvenient.

A large field was presented before me, one that was slightly larger than the courtyard in the palace. It was probably going to take a while to finish all of this.

Suddenly, I found myself at a loss.

Where were the gardening things? There was no hoe lying around nor were there any seeds.

My eyes surveyed the area. Right when my anxiety was about to spike, there was a door in the corner of my vision. It was a rather pale looking door with a small handle. The door itself was attached to the palace and was grey like the walls. As such, it wasn't conspicuous.

After my feet made a few soft crunching sounds in the grass, they ended up right outside the grey door. My hand pushed against the grey door, revealing a large, but dull room.

There was a worn gardening hoe laid on the wall right next to a metal bucket. As for the rest of the room, it was filled with countless bags.

The bags appeared to be made from leather and mostly filled to the brim with seeds. There was a small stack of empty bags in a corner. They probably had seeds at one point, but were now empty.

Almost like a decrepit old man with only his boring story left, but he told it anyway.

My hand reached out and grasped the hoe. It had a wooden handle that had many small nicks and a stone head that still had some caked dirt on top. It appeared to have been through a lot, and was going to go through a lot more.

Almost like a middle-aged man toiling away, because that's all it ever did since young.

And now... it was time for me to work on the field. My lungs forced in a deep breath while my hands raised the hoe high in the air. The rays of day shone down brightly, giving the dirt caked hoe a faint luster in the few places it was still clean.

Then, the hoe slammed into the ground, piercing it with a light thump. My hands held on tightly and dragged it for half a meter or so in the ground.

Taking a look, I found that the dirt was light brown and dry. My mind recalled the fact Mildred said it had to be dark brown.

And so, my hands raised the hoe once more, before plunging down in the same spot. My hands tightened around the handle, while my knuckles became white. My teeth grit while my head flung backward in an attempt to gain just a little bit more momentum.

The hoe slowly pushed through the dirt, revealing dark brown soil. It almost felt like I was digging up a grave, to find a semblance of life within the dead.

After dragging the hoe a meter through the ground, I fell to my knees, panting. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead, while the skin on my palms became bright red.

It appeared like this was going to be difficult. If just one meter took me this much effort...

It would be a miracle if I even finished this today. My eyes cast over the wide and empty field.

Then, I did the only thing I knew how to.

Work.

My hands lifted up the hoe once more, tilling the land slowly, but tilling it nonetheless. The thumping sounds of the hoe hitting the ground accompanied the dragging sound that came soon after.

It was a monotonous symphony.

But it was one that I created.