Chapter 2093

Chapter 2093

When they made it inside the small building, everyone needed some rest before they would discuss their next steps. Jotem pulled water from the well and offered them all patties made of Ara Fruitmeal. Everyone but Randidly declined, and Randidly wished he had as soon as he had taken a bite. The nuts had a very pungent taste, something almost like citrus, that refused to leave his mouth even after washing it out thoroughly with water.

On a more positive note, Jotem’s farmhouse was relatively spacious. He took his own bedroom, laid Armel upon the kitchen table, led Demetrius and Bogart to his study, and finally brought Randidly around to what he called his ‘spare bedroom’ but was definitely a dusty and empty storeroom with a small pallet. Still, it was enough for everyone to have their own rooms.

Everyone separated to consider their own troubles. Finally alone, Randidly meditated. He allowed his mind to go black, for the churning awarenesses to go slack.

Gradually the shaking of the memory stopped. His Nether Core continued to rev in fixed intervals, giving him access to marginally more of his energies. He hummed tunelessly, inspecting his inner situation. He retreated into his mental area and physically hacked his way through more Grey Creature clones that had been steadily building up over the past few days.

Compared to fighting one of the cores of emotion, his efforts rewarded him with very little emotional potency. But it did prevent a new core from forming, like the self-pity one had. At the moment, he didn’t feel prepared to face one of the true sources of emotional chaos in his body. So he came out of the meditation and stretched.

It’s strange to think, but I do need to be aware of my presence here possibly affecting the memory. Especially saving these individuals. Obviously they seem relatively unimportant on the grand scale, but it would probably be best if I can keep them here, on the farm, to not affect the memory in unexpected ways...

He went to Jotem’s bedroom and knocked. After getting permission, Randidly entered the room and found Jotem rather frantically looking through stacks of paper. Seeing Randidly, he gave an exaggerated sigh and collapsed on a nearby love seat. “Tragically, this decision to come to the farm has led us to a new kind of slow death. Obviously, I never put much stock in this place, perhaps even acknowledged it failed as an investment, but... I must confess to you, if we remain here, we are doomed.”

“Why?” Randidly asked.

“The well of lucre has run dry. At this rate... hahh. We will be naught but paupers.” Jotem shook his body in a form deflated of air and good cheer, causing his skin to flap around him in a mournful way. “The particulars of which are, I assume, of little interest in a man of your station and regal bearing. Yet the yoke of the common man is ever-present-”

“Actually, I’d like to hear a little about the farm,” Randidly said. Personally, he couldn’t decide if Jotem was just a fool for trying to set up a farm in a location with such inclement weather or there was no arable land not stricken by a near-constant hurricane.

“Well, I suppose if you are curious, we have no option but to grant you satisfaction,” Jotem sighed, but not in an antagonistic way. He gestured. “Come. See my plight.”

As they left the small cabin, they passed the room of the Nether individuals. Randidly gave the door a single glance; within, he could tell they were engaging in some recovery Nether Ritual. Considering the size and delicate care with which it was made, it could have only been made by the Nether Herald. Randidly’s estimation of the frail old man rose by another few pegs.

Randidly had a weird mental picture, which he sensed was almost entirely true. A charismatic and enthusiastic young man, going door to door, selling all these established and rather foolhardy merchants of Malloon in the wonders of investing in Ara fruit farms, considering the rise in popularity of this befuddling game Hobfootie. Hell, it might have even been Drane Swacc himself. He sold them expensive seeds, supplies, and promises of a quick return on investment and then vanished with their money.

Isolated and completely out of their depth, these merchants failed one by one, too proud to complain to anyone but each other.

“Yet even the possibility of an Engraving is perhaps also surmountable. Yet there is one more block to keep such a plan from even being born.” Jotem paused for dramatic effect. “Money. How can a failing farm afford to reinvest into an expansion? It is just bad economics.”

Randidly briefly considered spending his time in Malloon opening the first-ever investment bank but decided it would probably be a waste of time. Better to return to his roots and see if he could make some DIY-improvements to the farming operation.

He nodded, ready to move on for now. “And the second crop?”

His body undulating behind him, Jotem floated back through the few mounds with Ara fruit and to the front area of the house. He gestured broadly to the messily cluttered front yard. “Carrots. Perhaps you haven’t heard of it, but this root vegetable is extremely hardy-”

“I have seen carrots before,” Randidly’s lips twitched. He gestured to the garden, which was sparsely populated with the distinctive top of the carrot stalk. “Why did you plant so few carrots? And it looks like there are a lot of weeds you’ve let grow in the same area...”

“I have seen plants grow large with more space; in my wisdom, I only planted a few carrots and let them joust against the riffraff of the plant kingdom to grow strong. On the triumphant corpses of lesser veggies, my carrots would have risen... if not for the poor soil, I have no doubt that I-”

Jotem continued to talk about his strategies, but Randidly’s mind had already moved on. He looked up into the wind-wrenched air above the farm, thick with dirt and other debris. Rubbings his chin, he began making plans on how to revitalize the farm.

The plan will be to make this area profitable. Spending time here will allow my Nether Core to rev further, pushing my abilities back up to acceptable levels. Also, these saved individuals won’t interfere too much in the development of the timeline. Especially since Elhume will apparently soon come to Malloon for a trial... In the meantime, I can learn more about the Second Cohort and refine my emotional affect.

Antagonizing Drane Swacc will be an inevitability; when he hears that Jotem’s farm is recovering, he will investigate. He will discover us here, Jotem still alive. Randidly grinned up at the sky. ...and I don’t doubt he will be apoplectic. But with all those important events coming up for Malloon... the Hobfootie Tournament, the Trial of Elhume... I doubt he will have much time to come up with a thorough plan to handle the issue.

Randidly turned slightly, so his gaze pierced directly through the storms to Malloon. “And believe me, I’m not someone you want to leave at liberty to fuck you.”

“Excuse me?!?” Jotem coughed and collapsed onto the ground, the violence of Randidly’s words making him lose control of the nearby gravitational waves.