Chapter 109 - Second Paycheck

I continued to cast water spells despite the pain in my sides. Only when my vision became blurry and my knees began to buckle, did I decide to stop to cast the healing spell.

At first, I gathered mana normally. However, the time it took gradually made me impatient. And so, wild gales of wind stirred around me while my skin tore open. A little bit of the soil ended up getting lifted up as well, but not so much that it ruined the farm.

After a few moments, a gentle sensation spread through my body, mending the torn skin and getting rid of that painful ache.

I was about to stop gathering mana, but then had a thought.

How fast would the field be watered if I just continued to gather mana like this?

...Well, might as well try.

And so, my skin tore open once again while countless balls of water continued to fall from my hands, splashing onto the ground.

The soil picked up by the wind ended up getting wet, becoming muddy. Some of the muddy soil would occasionally hit me, making me close my eyes. It was a little annoying, but I guess it could be worse.

As my body deteriorated under the pressure of casting so many spells, it soon came time for a healing spell. As such, I switched gears to repair my body.

During that time, I opened my eyes by just a sliver.

I was just a few steps away from the end of this strip. Although the time spent wasn't large, my progress was fast.

Knowing this fact felt pretty nice.

Soon, my body was once again restored with a gentle sensation. My skin mended, but tore open right after.

It was time to continue watering the field.

Strip after strip was watered. A piercing pain began assaulting my mind. Though it was painful, I pushed through it.

Every so often, I would open my eyes slightly to make sure I didn't begin watering the grass. Sometimes, I would also sneak a peek at the progress I made.

It was very easy to tell progress had been made.

Before I knew it, there was only the last strip. After powering through it, the gales of wind suddenly died down while the tears in my skin mended.

I fell to my knees, holding the side of my head with my hand.

"Ugh..."

Although part of me wanted to celebrate completing the task, the piercing pain in my head made it hard to do so.

After taking a few deep breaths, the ache slowly subsided. Then, I walked back to the palace, stumbling occasionally.

With a muddled mind, I gradually made it back to the palace entrance.

The room was empty. The stillness almost felt like the stagnating air one would experience in a poorly built graveyard.

I moved on quickly. The fifty coppers for working on the farm were still on my mind.

...Hm.

I found myself at the foot of the stairs. To get to Mildred's room, I would have to scale up these stairs. However, the last time I did so with a muddled mind, I nearly fell off.

And might've even died.

Thankfully, Erin was there at the time. However, there was nobody nearby now to help me. The side of my face twitched.

...My mind came up with a solution.

However...

It was a little degrading.

The idea was to climb up the stairs on all fours. Even if a sudden dizziness assaulted me, my head wouldn't get hit too badly. Standing would mean my head would get plenty of time to accelerate downward before hitting the corner of a step.

...That wouldn't be pretty.

However, the same was true for crawling up the stairs like an animal.

Even if it was just me, just knowing the fact I did this would weigh down on my mind. As for why, I wasn't entirely sure, other than the feeling I should be.

...On top of that, what if someone just so happened to appear while I was crawling upwards like some mongrel.

A soft sigh escaped me.

At the end of the day, I still wanted the fifty coppers more than keeping my pride. And so, I began getting down. A pain shot through my knee as it buckled.

Suddenly, I lost sensation in my entire body, making me collapse.

This strange loss of control quickly disappeared, but only after my body had hit the ground. The corner of my lip twitched.

I guess I was on all fours now.

With that thought, I placed my trembling hand on the steps and began my journey. One after another, my trembling hands brought me up, while my foot would catch me. There were a few times where I slipped, but my foot was thankfully fairly secure.

Honestly speaking, my hands felt a little dirty from doing this. However, there were other things my hand touched that had been far more unsanitary. Especially the rocks of that canyon I climbed out of. Those things had way too much dirt on them.

Thankfully, my mind didn't blank out at any point. It was quite surprising to me that the strain of going up this was far less than just walking on flat ground. Although my hands felt uncomfortable, they reached the top.

"Are you pretending to be a zombie?"

I flinched and slipped down a few steps. Panic filled my mind, tensing my body up. Fortunately, I was still able to catch myself despite the sudden rigidness of my body.

I looked up to see Erin. She had her head tilted to the side as she stared at me.

An awkward smile appeared on my face.

"Um... I'm just having trouble getting up these steps."

Erin blinked a few times.

"Ah, let me help!"

She went down a few steps and grabbed onto my arm. With an energetic heave, she helped me get up to the top of the steps and get back up on my feet.

Erin slowly let me go, but I ended up stumbling. She quickly caught on to me, preventing me from falling.

An awkward chuckle escaped me.

"Uh, thanks for the help."

Erin nodded while curiously staring at me.

"No problem!"

I wiped my hands against my pants to get rid of the dirty feeling. Afterwards, Erin slowly brought me over to the door to my room. Once we got there, Erin pushed open the door, prompting me to scratch the back of my head.

"Um... could you bring me over to Mildred's room first?"

Erin gasped.

"Ah, are you getting paid?"

I nodded.

"Haha, yeah. I will be able to begin drawing sooner or later."

Erin giggled.

"Then let's go!"

After a bit of stumbling, we made it to Mildred's door. Erin lightly knocked, two short taps before a long one. It was almost like she was trying to make music.

There was a moment of silence before muffled shuffling sounds came from behind the door. They were intermittent, almost like someone losing their balance as they walked.

Soon enough, the door opened to reveal Mildred.

Erin enthusiastically waved.

"Hi, Mildred!"

Mildred smiled weakly.

"Ah, h-hi."

She was trembling slightly, especially so for her hands. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead while her cheeks were flushed.

I still wanted to ask about the money, but seeing Mildred like this made me concerned.

"Are you alright?"

Erin gasped.

"Oh no, are you sick?"

Mildred waved her hand dismissively.

"I-I just need some sleep. What are you here for?"

I coughed awkwardly.

"Ah, it's just I finished farming, so I came to get the fifty coppers."

Mildred blinked a few times, then nodded.

"O-Ok, let me get that."

She left the door open and walked over to the desk. Once she got there, she suddenly held the sides of her head and turned towards the curtains.

Mildred grimaced.

"I got it, I got it! Why do you have to scream?"

I scratched my cheek with my index finger. While trying to be as quiet as possible, I turned to Erin.

"...Did I say that too loud?"

Erin whispered back.

"Um... I didn't think it was loud."

Soon enough, Mildred came back with the coppers in hand.

She rubbed her eye.

"I-I think this is the right amount."

I held out my hand, prompting Mildred to drop them in my hand. From what I could tell, there seemed to be some extra.

Mildred began to close the door.

"I'm off to sleep now."

I raised my free hand awkwardly.

"Ah, wait! I think you gave me a little extra."

Mildred shook her head.

"Just keep it."

I blinked a few times.

"Ah, ok. Sleep well."

Erin waved.

"Sleep well!"

Mildred nodded.

"Thank you."

Then, she shut the door.

Erin smiled.

"Ok, now to your room!"

With that, Erin helped me over to my room. She pushed open the door and took me forward. I paused for a moment to put the coppers into the drawer of the table.

Soon after I plopped on the bed.

Erin waved.

"You get some sleep too!"

I smiled awkwardly.

"But I wanted to study the-"

"Sleep!"

Erin crossed his arms and pouted.

A soft chuckle escaped me.

"Ok, ok."