Chapter 119 - Still Asleep

Ned and I probably spent a little too long underneath the night sky, but neither of us was that tired.

...It seemed our sleep schedules really were going to be screwed up.

In the end, I gave up on going to sleep altogether. After saying goodbye to Ned, I went to water the farm a little early today.

I stood before the plot of land and examined it for a few moments. The soil was a little dry, but not so much that it would make me concerned about the seeds underneath.

The moon was still out, meaning it was a little hard to see. From what I could tell, the sun would probably come out in a couple hours, signaling the start of the day.

For a few moments, I stood there awkwardly before the plot of land.

It was because I couldn't help but hesitate on the method to water this plot of land. There were definitely trade-offs for the two methods I had in mind.

There was watering with the bucket, so not relying on magic. Then, there was watering by casting magic, without overdoing it when gathering mana.

After all, that way actually made me lose time.

I deliberated over this for a few moments, before coming to the conclusion that my headaches were what made me sleep so much. As such, it was probably better to rely on my physical body.

And so, I took the bucket from the shed and made my way to the river. After scooping up some water, I began walking back.

Unfortunately, even while walking at a relatively slow pace, the bucket still swayed and spilled out quite a bit of water.

My only solution was to slow down and hold on to the bucket so that at least two-thirds of the water would remain inside. But carrying it in this way strained the arm I was using to hold it up.

Nonetheless, I decided to go through with it.

By the time I made it to the farm, although I salvaged most of the water, the journey was a bit tiresome and lengthy.

I splashed the water onto the first patch of land and went back to retrieve some more water.

This time, I tried to go a little faster while holding the bucket up with both of my hands. The bucket ended up hitting my leg several times, making it a bit painful.

Unfortunately, I ended up losing most of the water, with less than a third still left in the bucket. With a sigh, I splashed it onto the farm, but it hardly did anything.

The side of my face twitched.

What kind of progress was this?...

It might be difficult for me to even finish this today, even though I started before the sun even came up.

...Did Mildred do this before?

If so, how did she possibly have the time to?

Or maybe this was something new?

I rubbed my temple with my knuckle. A soft sigh escaped me.

"...It looks like I will just have to cast the water spells."

I gave up on trying to water the farm with just the bucket, so I placed it into the shed.

And so, I slowly gathered mana to cast water spells and slowly made my way across the farm, dropping balls of water along the way.

I had already noticed that my body had gotten considerably stronger, but this was even more evident from the fact I could now go through three strips of land before the pain got really bad.

That also meant I didn't need to cast as many healing spells.

However, it didn't seem like my mind was getting stronger, or at least, not at the same pace.

The water spells did not cause much stress, but the healing spell was a different story. Although it was relatively simple to cast given how strong its effects were, the strain it put on my mind was befitting of its potent effect.

If nothing else, at least it seemed like I would need to cast fewer healing spells in the future.

After a couple hours, I finished watering the field. The moonlight was nowhere to be seen, while a few weak rays of sunlight replaced it.

It was early morning.

My head hurt more than I was expecting by the time I finished, and it seemed as though not all of it was from the healing spell.

That was my conclusion because the type of pain my head was experiencing was a little different. Normally, casting more spells than my mind could handle would provide a very sharp piercing pain, one that would make it hard to notice anything else.

As for now, while there was that piercing pain, there was also a dull ache that made me feel lethargic.

It did not take long for me to remember Ned's words about an 'all-nighter'.

'In any case, it brings a lot of regret, headaches, messed up sleep schedule, and a bunch of other health problems that I don't really get.'

Headaches...

It seemed the effects were already taking their toll on me. If things continued like this, it would greatly hamper my progress.

As such, I made a mental note to sleep on time.

...Speaking of sleep, I was beginning to feel really tired.

It wasn't readily apparent at first. In fact, I felt pretty awake, other than the ache in my head.

But now, I was really tempted to just lay down and go off into dreamland.

Though, giving into that temptation was the reason my sleep schedule was ruined as badly as it had been.

I sighed.

To fix my schedule I would just have to power on, I imagine.

Like that, I went back into the palace. Although the day had started, it was still fairly early. As such, it made sense that nobody was in the hallways.

But it still felt a little lonely.

Nonetheless, I made my way to Mildred's room. By the time I reached the door, it occurred to me that I hadn't taken my pay for the last day.

After all, Mildred wasn't exactly in the best position to do that type of thing.

But...

That didn't mean I shouldn't get it, right?

Since I already had roughly one hundred coppers, collecting this day's pay along with yesterday should be two hundred total.

In other words, I would have enough to buy the ink for a silver, or one hundred coppers, the feather for fifty coppers, and the parchment for fifty coppers.

That meant I could finally put my first plan into action, drawing the spell diagrams onto the paper.

Those thoughts made me anxiously raise my fist to knock on the door, but I remembered how early it was beforehand. Thus, despite my lack of patience, I knocked very lightly.

That way, if Mildred was already awake, she would notice, but wouldn't be woken up if she was asleep.

There was no response.

I hesitated for a moment, as I imagined it was probably improper to intrude. After a moment of deliberation, a soft sigh escaped me.

There was no harm in being a tiny bit patient. Though, I was still pretty reluctant.

Since the others still hadn't woken up, there was still some time before they were going to cook breakfast.

I wanted to join them, partly out of guilt for not showing up, and partly because I genuinely wanted to help out. It wasn't the most exciting activity, but I had fun doing it.

However, for now, there was still some spare time. Finally, I could continue memorizing the spell.

I went down towards the palace entrance and began studying the spell once more. It was hard to keep focus because of how tired I was feeling, but at least the pain wasn't so bad.

The pain wasn't pleasant, but it was far better than the time I had to take breaks every few seconds just so my mind could actually focus on the diagram.

It was going pretty well.

That is, until everything went black.

...

My eyes shot open to find myself resting my head on the table, on top of the spell diagram. I jerked up and looked down at the diagram in front of me.

Thankfully, it was not damaged.

After confirming that fact, I sighed.

...How did I even fall asleep this time?

I looked to the side to see a plate of food that was still warm.

A bitter smile formed on my face.

I had to remember to thank them later.

After quickly eating the meal presented before me, I decided to check up on Mildred once more.

It did not take long for me to reach her door. Like last time, I lightly knocked.

There was no response.

I scratched the back of my head.

"Still asleep, I guess."

"Huh? You mean Mildred?"

I turned around to see Ned, who seemed a little distressed.

"Ah, yeah."

Ned furrowed his brows.

"...That means she has been sleeping for nearly an entire day."

I blinked a few times.

"Is that bad?"

Ned clicked his tongue.

"....Hopefully, it isn't."