“Can this day get any worse?” Paige groaned as she sat on the broken couch.

Her eyes followed the lines on the ceiling as she starred gloomily at the boards above.

“You haven’t done anything the past three days, Paige. Why on earth is today bad?” Nick said accusingly.

“I’m bored.” Paige sighed to herself. That was the truth of the matter. Simple boredom. She had forgotten the thrill of fighting against people, and even if they weren’t up to par, it was still a fight. And now that she had fought, she had to hide.

Paige knew that her involvement would generate a lot of interest in their group, but she was hardly worried about that here. Without a Scion actively looking for them, there was no one here who could successfully pressure them to act.

That didn’t mean that Zenith and Stella saw it the same way though. She and Shavie had been effectively placed under house arrest until the commotion they had caused. Although Zenith was happy for the help, Paige and Shavie’s actions in the battle had almost eclipsed her own. And Stella had a fit when they had come back empty-handed without Isabella in tow.

Even Nick was crankier without Zenith around. He was sitting on one of his benches from the forest as he slowly whittled away at an unfinished bow. Maybe he was also bored and needed something to do. Paige brightened at the thought. “Nick, wanna explore the city a bit?”

Nick didn’t even bother looking up. “No. You’re not supposed to leave until Zenith gets back with the kids.”

Blinking, Paige frowned at the sudden reply. “Why not? We should be productive while we can. Just look at Stella and Shavie. They even found a shop that’s perfect for us!” Well, it was really for Stella, but Paige could use a bit of the space for her own stuff. After all, she wasn’t about to sell it to another farmer who would then charge a markup and sell it the exact same way.

“They know how to be low key. They’re looking at other shops and buying groceries, so there is really nothing we need to do outside.”

Nick kept working as Paige unsuccessfully probed him for a reaction. There had to be something she could do outside! And why was he being so calm about them now? Because they were a tad helpful? She was helpful! Could be helpful, Paige amended slightly.

“...farmland! I can go and look for some land to grow my crops. They can’t do that for me. You need some woods as well, so we can scout out a good location. Together. So that I won’t cause any trouble.”

Nick stopped as he looked over at her. She could tell he was thinking it over. Even he had to agree that it was something she could do away from the city. And it would be hard for her to get into trouble if he was there watching her. “How many more days for the orientation? Will they be coming back today?”

Paige hesitated. Truthfully, she thought they should’ve been back days ago, but even Odessa was still inside the school participating in the orientation. Truthfully, she didn’t think it would be that hard to make a schedule, but what did she know about how to be an actual Teacher. “I... think it was a few days for the students to apply to the teachers they want; interview, and then create their schedules. Or something like that. The school probably has a weird idea of how students should learn.” What baffled her the most though was the apparent freedom the students had. Practical lessons aside, having to secure your own teacher to teach you was a weird concept. “Come on, Nick. We can go and find a spot away from the city. It’ll be fun!”

Nick hesitated to agree, but Paige could tell that it was tempting for him. He probably hadn’t had much fun either these past few days. “I know Sara and Kate said they’d send over more of your saplings, but your stock was already low from the get-go. At a bow a day, you have maybe two weeks before you run out of things to do.”

“A bow a week, actually. That means I have plenty of time to kill. I intentionally limited my stock, Paige, since I’m making higher-quality bows now.”

“Tch.” Paige sighed as Nick watched the door. Both of them knew that the gesture was a moot point since she could easily overpower him and walk out that door, but she hesitated. She was an okay Party Leader, all things considering. But even she had to agree that she was a magnet for trouble, and staying inside was the least she could do while everyone was gone.

Resting her head on the table, Paige sighed as she rethought her plans for the day. She was really hoping Nick would relent on that. But maybe that was for the best.

‘Time for Plan B,’ Paige thought. Murmuring loudly, she slowly traced an outline of her dream farm on the table. “...I need to find a place to farm and the kids need a place to train. Hm… ten acres cut it last time, but this time I’m thinking more like thirty. A hundred would be ideal, of course, especially now that Lily has an Archer in her party, bu-”

“Archer? Or an Apprentice?” Nick asked.

Paige smiled inwardly. “What did you say, Nick? Ah, she was definitely an Apprentice Archer. One from Pruite Monarchy, if you could believe it.”

Nick narrowed his eyes as he watched Paige scribble on the table. “I thought Pruite focused on Knights?”

“Not quite, although that is true in the general sense. Last time I traveled through there though, I did see a ton of Royal Knights and Royal Crusaders. I think their dungeon mutated to test a person’s sense of loyalty, and the Monarchy took advantage of that.” And by the looks of it, nothing had changed either. Paige chuckled as she remembered that ridiculous outfit the archer had changed into. Sure, whoever designed her field clothes had an eye for ceremony more than practicality, but her everyday wear was even worse. She wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a frilly blue dress, one complete with a ceremonial robe and rapier! And to top it off, the poor girl had to lug around a shield so that she could hide her crossbow from view. At least she didn’t have a gaudy crown to go with it. That would have been downright embarrassing.

“Judging by her outfit, she was probably like the seventh in line or something, since she was able to get a recommendation to come here instead of being married off. Still, they’ll need to have space if they want to train their tactics. A farm and some woods would be perfect for them...”

Paige could literally sense Nick’s skepticism over the matter, but she kept her face blank. Both of them knew that she was very vocal about what she viewed as necessary for the kids to become competent Adventurers.

She was about to give up on her plan when Nick spoke up from his seat. “We’re just looking for land. We’re not finalizing anything without Zenith’s approval. And no fighting or poking our heads into other people’s problems,” Nick said rather pointedly.

“Done! Let me get into sight-seeing clothes.” Paige paused and looked over Nick’s outfit. “You too, you stick out like a sore thumb. And no bow; I’ll grab my ax.”

“I’m a bowyer, not a lumberjack.”

“And I’m a Farmer. Trust me, we’ll get better quotes for you if they don’t know you’re a bowyer. I’m thinking I’ll be a middle-class merchant’s daughter.”

“One able to buy large amounts of land at a whim? You might as well pretend you’re Tyler’s wife. Kate can help validate the loan too under his name,” Nick countered.

“I don’t look that old though,” Paige said as she looked into a mirror. She frowned as she looked for a mirror. She hadn’t aged in years even before coming here. In fact, she looked even younger after the mausoleum.

“Trust me, Paige. We’ll get in less trouble this way.”

Shrugging, she knew that was true, but she didn’t quite like pretending to be married. Whatever. It got her out of the house at least.

Paige stepped into her room and paused as she looked over her clothes. None of them really screamed ‘married’ to her. Or middle class, either, for that matter. ‘Merchant...merchant… meh, a sun dress will be fine. Erm, earrings and necklace too. Bangles?’

Rubbing her hair messily, Paige randomly chose things that loosely matched each other and went back downstairs with a spare ax in hand.

Nick was already waiting downstairs, clothed in a loose fitted shirt and pants. They were green, of course, but that worked better for her anyway. She was hoping to portray herself as rich enough to afford nice clothes for her workers so Nick’s outfit wasn’t too terrible a choice.

Handing the ax off silently, Paige waited for until he grabbed it before speaking. “Let’s look around for some spots. If we find one that works, we’ll go ahead and set up a contract and then let Zenith read it over. And I’ll do the speaking in regards to price.”

“Can you afford it?”

“Of course.”

----

“Four hundred thousand.”

“Have a blessed day, sir.”

Paige turned before she pummeled the man standing in front of the poorly graded soil. Running her hand along the edge of the embankment, her smile quickly faded into a grimace. It wasn’t hard to notice that whoever owned this land was not controlling the erosion of the soil, as the fields beyond were almost four feet higher than the road itself.

“Paige, that was the cheapest price yet.”

Paige turned and plunged her hand into the embankment beside her. Pulling it out she threw the compacted clay to Nick’s feet. “I’m not willing to spend more than fifty thousand gold for this waste of a field! Four hundred thousand? Peh. I might as well just buy an acre of land in the Imperial fertile plains for all the use we’ll get from it!”

“But we are close to the city. Land is going to be more expensive.”

That was a true statement. But even then, that much money for a poor return grated on her nerves. “...is a hundred acre too much?” Paige turned around and started jogging to her next location, a relatively smaller farm situated on the western side of the city. There weren’t many places that fit their criteria of woods and plains, especially if they had to factor in distance from the city. Half a mile wasn’t nearly long enough for her liking, especially for what she wanted.

“Maybe I should go for a short-term lease instead? I hate throwing money away though. What’d you think? Maybe six years? We should be long gone from here within six.”

“At this point, I’ll be happy for a grove of trees, Paige. Last one for the day. If we can’t find one, then we’ll come back with Zenith. Maybe having a Teacher here will help,” Nick said.

“Mrhm,” Paige grudgingly replied. That was something she wanted to avoid at all costs. She didn’t need Zenith’s help to buy a farm! She could be useful. “Hey, this might be a random question; but how do you think I should make things right with Lily?” Paige said.

Nick rolled his eyes. “You broke so many laws I don’t even know where to begin at, Paige. How about a heartfelt apology?”

“Did that. She was pretty down about it. Well, that or from the concussion she had. But either way, I do feel bad about adding a Princess into her party.”

“Were you able to explain why?” Nick looked over.

“...No, just told her she was a Fencer and left it at that. She was still sleeping, so I assumed that she’d be able to explain herself after I left.”

Paige ignored the look she was getting and sighed. She knew it would be troublesome for their party, but what could she do about it? She wasn’t about to babysit a Princess; not when there was a whole school that was very open and fervently opposed to Imperial schemes. Sure, even she couldn’t deny that one or two Teachers might have ties to an Imperial Scion, but it would be far easier to watch for Imperial Servants inside the school than out.

And more importantly, it gave her time to relax and cast her worries away. Rebecca’s words gnawed at her deep down. ‘Fix Peter’s mistakes. What mistakes could he possibly have made that warranted bringing me here? Well, me and Isabella. Rebecca did mention that was her reward.’

But as much as Paige wanted to deny it, there were major problems abroad. Her mentor at the Gate; a runaway Princess, and a half elf no less; even the Healer Hall sending their next Grand Healer abroad spelled trouble. And that was just within Humanity’s cradle. She hesitated to even think about the other borders.

‘...maybe it’s time to see what Peter had actually done. If he followed my trail, then he should have resolved the same problems I ran into. Of course, he probably didn’t have Scions attacking him the whole time, so he should have had more than enough time to formulate a better plan than I had,’ Paige thought sullenly.

Shaking her head, she pushed that thought out of her head and resolved to look into it another day. Surely all the problems could solve themselves without her help. What mattered to her now was getting some land, farming, and helping Markus and Isabella grow.

After all, the Imperial Capital surely had an abundance of Scions watching over things… right?

---

“The next one is a smaller farm. If our source is reliable, this owner used to own a large majority of the land the city is built on. The school paid him well, but he’s slightly resentful for losing his farm land. Also-”

Paige winced as Nick kept going through Shavie’s impromptu notes, carefully highlighting every reason why the owner would probably not sell to them. The girl worked fast, Paige thought. Well, she half expected Shavie to have scouted out people of interest, but Farmers? They usually weren’t high on anyone’s list.

“Tch, they’ve already lost most of their farmland. Still, they know their stuff. The soil here looks great.”

Paige glanced over at the fields as she commented. Whoever owned these fields had just finished their spring harvest, or was getting ready to plant their next crop. She breathed in deeply as the smell of the earthy soil wafted from the field. She laughed as Nick held his nose as a few younger farm hands slowly spread compost onto the fields. Now this reminded her of home!

“I have a good feeling about this place, Nick.”

“At least you do. This place stinks to high heaven. What are they spreading that stinks so much?”

Paige turned, a half smile on her face. “Never been to a farm before? It’s some type of compost. Never had to do it back in the forest since the soil was good enough.” She paused as she looked around. Already, the farm hands had covered at least a third of the fields. “They must be producing a lot of food if they need to do that.”

“I’ve been to a farm before, but this smells half rotted. Are they doing it right?”

“Hrm. They’ll probably place a thin layer of hay and burn it. Or just till it into the ground. Either way, it’s gonna be hard work for those apprentices.”

“Think they have the Class or just hired workers?”

“... some have the class. Maybe one or two of the lot. But there’s really no benefit for an apprentice to do this work though. From what I know, there isn’t a Skill that helps with rejuvenating the soil from over-producing.”

“You have [Green Thumb], Paige. Isn’t that the same thing?” Nick asked.

“No. That only let’s me know what will grow and when, not in what quantity or quality. That’s all on me.”

Saying that, Paige looked on as a few Apprentice Farmers slowly walked back to the far edge of the field toward a few farm horses tethered to a tree. Paige almost cursed when she saw the massive plow wheel resting under the shade. “Tch, they aren’t going to get better as Farmers if they don’t do the work themselves! Lazy slackers...”

“Efficient, you mean. Not everyone can work as fast as you, Paige,” Nick said.

“Meh. Dragging a hoe is just as fast,” Paige argued. “Look, at least one of them have the right idea!”

Nick eyed the farm girl grabbing a hoe and compared it to the plow wheel. “I’m not going to argue over what you think is acceptable, Paige. But hopefully this Farmer is more accommodating than the rest.”

---

“I can’t do that, Miss. This is all the land I have left. If I leased even ten acres out, why, that’s… why, ten percent of my land,” old Farmer Line said slowly.

It was more like half a percent of his land if she believed the other Farmers, but Paige wasn’t about to argue over the math with the wizened man. When they had arrived outside the small settlement nestled deep in the middle of the field, even she hadn’t thought that the old man leaning back in his chair at the gate was the owner of all this land. His skin was rough and sun-tanned; a testament to all the time he spent out in his fields.

But it was his mannerisms that evoked her memories of her own grandparents, even if they were little more than a faint recollection. Still, it was better to be polite than not. Paige coughed politely and interrupted the man. “I know I am asking a lot, sir, but I have no intentions of misusing your land. I simply -.”

“I heard that when that there school asked for land. And again when they wanted to expand. And again when they built that city. This here’s my family’s farm. Twelve generations back, and now we’re down to a small patch of land! All in the name of progress. Peh!” Farmer Line wheezed.

Paige winced. She could see why he would be dead set against someone looking at his land. She looked over to Nick, who was talking with a younger woman, probably the farmer’s daughter, or maybe an in-law. Hopefully he would have a better result. Paige listened as the old Farmer repeated his stance and interrupted him before he could start again.

Exasperated, she asked “Look, Farmer Line. I want to farm the land for at least four years.That’s it. What’ll it take for me to rent a plot?”

Farmer line stopped. Narrowing his eyes, he sniffed heavily, as if he was a hound dog. “... a fellow Farmer, eh? Where’s your tool?”

Paige waved off his question. “I always carry it with me, but that’s -”

“Let me… see it,” Farmer Line said. Struggling to stand up, Paige moved forward but was quickly cut off by the younger woman Nick had been talking to. “Grandpa, let me.” Holding onto her arm for support, he nodded gratefully before looking back.

The man was serious. Paige sighed but eventually pulled her ring out. The ruby ring shone with a brilliant light as her hoe appeared in her hand. Holding it out, she grudgingly gave it to the man’s granddaughter. The farmer’s eyes glistened as he watched. “I’ve heard stories from my great-great-grandparents about rings like that. That reminds me o-” his eyes narrowed as he held the shaft of the hoe. “Good hoe!” Standing as upright as he could, he lifted the hoe to rest on his shoulder.

Paige chuckled. “Yes, I know; made it myself. Perfectly balanced and everything.”

Paige could hear his joints cracking as he moved slowly to the fields, while his granddaughter followed him worriedly. “Grandpa, you know father will worry if you go to the fields.” He brushed the criticism off with nary a glance while he moved slowly closer to the edge of his field.

“And I’ll whip him across the butt if he tries. Bah, a man can’t even work his own fields in peace,” he said. He looked around at the empty field and dropped his cane by the edge. He planted one foot in front of the other as he glanced around.

“Grandpa…”

“Too bad Heidi isn’t here. Meh, when she gets back she’ll see what a true Farmer can do.”

Paige blinked. That stance… her eyebrows shot up. Now this was interesting to see. She motioned to Nick quickly. “Back up a few paces. He’s getting ready.” Nick backed up as the old man hefted her hoe above his head.

Balancing the hoe, Paige watched as Farmer Line slowly shifted his hands down the shaft and shifted his balance as the blade dipped down behind him. Taking a deep breath, the old man started forward and swung forward as he moved.

“[Power Till]!” Farmer Line wheezed.

The ground in front of the Farmer heaved upwards in a wave as the hoe struck the ground. Five, twenty, a hundred, five hundred, nine hundred feet down, and maybe that much wide, Paige estimated cooly. Paige nodded her head at the sight. That was impressive for a man his age. Her earliest memory of that move hadn’t even traveled half as far, at least from her own recollections.

Gasping for breath, the old farmer dropped to his knees as he held the hoe, though his eyes never left the newly tilled field. Waving over his shocked granddaughter, he grabbed onto his granddaughter's hand for support and looked over at Paige with pride. “Hard finding a hoe to do that. Haven’t done that in decades.”

“No kidding? Must have seen some action to know that Skill. Some story?” Paige asked quietly. There was a story he could probably tell; she knew that as a matter of fact. Something dangerous enough that he had learned a wide area attack as a Farmer, at the very least.

Farmer Line eyed Paige and her hoe, and nodded slowly. “Aye. One I’ll take to my grave.”

He paused as he stood up, his body moving slowly with fatigue. “...farm for six years, eh? Teach my granddaughter that Skill, and you can use a hundred acres as you want.”

Paige thought about that for a second before she nodded her head and set her own terms. “I get to pick a location. And I get to use the land however I see fit.” A Farmer teaching an Apprentice Farmer? That wasn’t a terrible deal. And she hadn’t even needed to use any of her gold either!

“Now, about the rent…”

----

“This is great! I got us a farm and everything. And it’s pretty close to the city to boot!” Paige said happily.

“What happened to ‘run it by everyone else before we agree to anything’?” Nick asked sarcastically.

Even Nick’s attitude couldn’t put a dent in her happy behavior. “Meh, I’d still need a place to farm, and this is the only one that had reasonable terms. Teach an Apprentice Farmer and pay a few thousand gold? Done.”

“So that was a real Skill, huh? I really thought you just made up that Skill,” Nick said.

Paige slowed to walk next to Nick. She smiled. “It’s a real Skill; it’s just not that many Farmers live to earn it. You get it from fighting off large amounts of enemies on your farm. That right there is hard enough for most.”

“And you think you can just teach that Skill?”

“Meh, sure I can. I mean, I cheated and modified [Earthquake] before I finally figured out how to do it for real. The hardest part about learning the Skill is surviving an enemy attack. The kids can help me with this too.” Paige took a second before nodding to herself. “Besides, it’ll be a good exercise for the kids. Escort missions aren't exactly a rare occurrence.”

Nothing could bring Paige’s mood down. Not Nick’s sullen attitude, not Zenith was waiting by the door, no-. Paige slowed down as she realized Zenith was waiting by the door, but her face was apprehensive and nervous. Had something happened to the kids?

Zenith saw them and walked forward, though her eyes had never left Nick. “Nick, I wanted to talk to you before you went inside. It’s about Claire...”

Paige frowned as she stood off to the side.. Claire. That name sounded familiar, but why?

“My daughter? What about her?” Nick said gravely.

Zenith took a deep breath. “I… may have found her. Just take a deep breath while I explain.”

Alarm bells started ringing in Paige’s head. Zenith should have been working these last few days, which meant she had found her while working. Her eyes widened. The Apprentice Archer she had made fun of. ‘No, it couldn’t be… ugh, why now?’

Paige winced; her good mood fully gone. If what she was thinking was true, then this was a disaster in the making.

Farmer Charles Line stared out at his field as the rest of his family came back home. He took pride in his work as he watched the dumbfounded faces of his descendents as they came home.

“Father? What happened here?”

Charles snorted in annoyance as his oldest living son walked over to him. Sometimes his memory failed him, but he knew that he doted on this boy. After all, the only good feature the boy had was his descendants, and even that was more because of his wife’s teachings than his own. His heart clenched painfully. His wife. It hurt him to know just how old he really was.

“I got tired of seeing my field in disrepair, so I got the job done myself, Brian.”

He settled back in his chair as his son rolled his eyes.

“You know we have money troubles, father. Why would you hire someone to till the land? Gary or Timothy still owe us-”

“Bah, don’t bring them up! The only real Farmer among all my descendents is Heidi, and she’s busy working with the livestock. Peh!”

Charles and Brian glared at each other. They both knew how this talk would end.

“... Bonnie wanted Heidi to learn another trade, just in case we lost the farm. You can’t fault her for that. And she’s trying to make amends with you.”

Charles fell silent at that. Bonnie was a lot of help these days. Even if he was grouchy most of the time, it was nice having someone around, even if they were busy doing their own things.

“You said if I could find a Teacher for Heidi, you and Maxy would talk with your daughter about letting Heidi learn the family trade. I take it that’s still true?”

“That’s… true; yes. Why?” His son looked at him suspiciously, though Charles smirked internally. Bonnie had been right next to him when he completed the deal, which meant Heidi had a good chance of following in his footsteps.

“I made a deal with a fellow Farmer. Three hundred acres from Post Seven, across the Whispering Woods, down to Boulder Rock and next to Sleepy River.”

“Father! That’s prime land! We pla-”

“I know what we plant there! I’m old, not senile.” Charles huffed. “A Farming Teacher came by and made a deal. Already accepted the deposit and signed the contract. Bonnie helped me look over the details before I signed,” Charles said.

Calling for Bonnie to bring the contract, they both waited until she walked up.

“Miss Paige paid double the harvest cost for the next four years, and will pay a monthly rent on top of that, father. It was as good a deal as any,” Bonnie said quickly. “Even fairer than the school, at the very least..”

“Yes, but we all know Teachers can’t be trusted. Haven’t we learned that lesson by now?”

Brian sighed into his hands. Reaching his hands down for his pipe, Charles grimaced as he remembered Bonnie hadn’t given it back to him. Something about Healers and living longer, though he lived quite enough already. He couldn’t live forever, after all.

“She smelled like the sun. That’s enough for me.” Charles said quietly to his son. “Just like that man from long ago.”

“...that man stole everything we ever had, great grandfather.”

“But not our lives. Nor our livelihood. And if Heidi can safely learn… I would trade my entire farm for the chance.”

He looked back east, his eyes travelling far into the distance.

“Hmph, one day we will return back to reclaim our ancestral lands. We haven’t had an Imperial Farmer for far too long.

“Far too long.”