Chapter 78: Life At A Farm - Part 1

Not long after their arrival at the farm, Rose showed Amedith and his friend the hall where they'd be staying. The place was filled with futons for everyone as well as closets and drawers at opposing walls.

At first, the group was slightly confused as to why she didn't just let them sleep in the rooms upstairs, however, when she told them that she wanted to share the room with them every night, things became a bit clearer.

"Where's Raven by the way? Is he not coming?" Rose asked, smiling still with her eyes glancing across everyone's faces.

Looking at each other, the group expected someone to answer, but when everyone seemed to be waiting, Aria scoffed and answered.

"I tried to get him to visit you with us, but he wanted to visit a friend he wanted to stay a few days with before joining us," raising both of her eyebrows in surprise, Rose was left slightly bemused.

"Oh...Did you guys cancel your plans to visit that person too then?" Pressing her lips shut, she felt a tinge of guilt digging at her heart.

"Not really, we don't really know her that well," Mel chimed in while making her way to the drawers.

Turning to the elf, Rose watched her setting her clothes inside the drawer–and noticing a flicker of frilly underwear, her eyes lit up with an idea. Washing the guilt out of her heart, she excitedly jumped on the ground and clasped her hands together.

"I'll go prepare the bath!" Shifting her eyes to her son, Rose gestured something to him with her head which made the hero grab his sword off the ground and walk up to her. Brushing her hands over his head, Rose moved to the side to let him pass through the doorway. "Make sure to do it quickly so they don't suffer, okay? I'll come and collect the meat once I'm done prepping the open bath."

'Meat?!' Just hearing the word, the girl's eyes lit up like the stars. Tired of the same meals at the Inn, and resorting to monster flesh during their adventures, getting to eat goat meat–an animal that actually tastes good when consumed, made their mouths salivate.

And while she was busy taking one hit on her womanly pride after the other, Amedith and the rest were taking care of the animals inside the barn. Around half the size of the main house, the place was packed with stables for a handful of horses, a dozen cows and calves, as well as chicken coops, and another tall fencing to keep all the goats inside.

"How does Rose manage all these animals by herself? Do they just stay here all the time?" Aria asked, feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of animals.

"There's not much to do here on the outskirts and instead of huddling up inside the house, she mostly spends her time with the animals and the crops," reminded of the past when he still used to live with Rose, Amedith felt a strange tug at his heart. "Anyways, I think she should sell this place and come live inside the city walls."

"Why?" Erika asked, stepping forward.

Ignoring her for a minute Amedith walked inside the goat's fencing, roped the most plump male, and led it out. Locking the fencing gate again, he looked at Erika and replied with a sigh.

"Because I don't want her to die for a piece of land.

Living all the way out here; the only reason nobody has touched her is because they know that she's my mother, but the moment I'm gone from the city, who knows what would happen?" Frustrated by his mother's refusal to sell the land, Amedith had been staying exclusively in the city so that she would get tired of making the trip over and over to meet him, and finally decide to settle in Athenia where they could live under the same roof again.

Left speechless for a while, the two girls simply watched him heading towards the barn door, until an idea popped inside Erika's head.

"What if we help you make sure she's safe?" Erika yelped out.

Stopping in his tracks, Amedith looked at her from over his shoulder with a confused look reflecting through his eyes.

"I mean there must be a reason she refuses to sell, right? And to be honest, I think we all know that the city isn't any safer either," her words only confused the other two some more, however, noticing that confusion, she quickly began explaining to them what she had in mind. By the time she concluded her explanation, even Amedith had to agree that her idea was at least worth trying.