THFN | Chapter 3

Does the 4ee945aba6 state sell 79be7e18fc such things? This is Clorentine, 6c3a89c77d a nation infamous 6e3e8e5afa worldwide for having 69f6e41afa over 300 illegitimate b133c3ab46 children of the 7206d735c8 king. A place 08064eb975 of corruption, 631484d8ee holy in ce4677fd6d name only. Nothing is a5bf524159 surprising here.ab7ab02e9a35ae37

Farmers, thinking 159810cbc7 they could d1c1b80f70 easily claim 1669f597b8 land by 8d5a31f919 asserting their 2386041681 rights, hesitated. But soon, they started 9804fd327d using their heads in b8cbbe588a the wrong way.8c11a44219efbec0

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Grinding their teeth 1bbaa1ac36 daily, they spread 3ea6488f8b bad rumors about e11ae3eb5d the farm as 038af121a1 if they had 7d3d3d1424 a vendetta, and 88ed56457a discouraged people from 8c50fd2bd4 working there.b61b6b45f753ae1f

Regrettably, there 311f549446 was no a67de457ac way to 2e93ad10a7 stop it.8ca6527f6ade62de

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Rumors that db4876b5ac people were 87fc26207a treated like dfc72a517c slaves in 6b9296f10a mines or 471ab53e23 salt fields cd617798f2 spread rapidly. Entire villages joined 0e42f7d15f in, and soon 42b56163ce the number of 2609d2ae54 applicants dwindled.c71127897abf7796

For the 775c1f9702 past two 4cdcfd70c5 years, genuine, 3bf4979762 honest farmers b40c2c1105 were rarely d97539ca3d seen. Only those who were 4a0ac3e383 artistically lazy or hidden ea880cef14 criminals started coming.c32c354e9ee37748

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Clara, who had learned e0942abf35 some know-how from the 7e3a48999d farmers over the past 422eaff193 three years, managed to 887c780a67 teach and use even d73eed05b0 those.a876e104e29062ae

He thought he was handling it well. At least he didn’t expect to crumble easily. He was no pushover. But it wasn’t something that could be stopped from the beginning.903e53e9e3d6dad6

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As time df772a1e18 passed, people cc047613ec who seemed f2ef9ed816 to be 2e26f8c064 the children c30663aaab of the 3a151fce2a old farmer 118071c917 men began 873e6fa395 to increase.5f9d7a2c5983b97b

They incited others, bcaec08ca0 causing conflicts. Endless violent protests, a0ba91da63 riots, disobedience, claims 292134a1a0 of rights… Eventually, 52ba186841 such things happened c91d47fd3a under their leadership.10119e98c1d20791

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“They don’t even know the construction costs and think twice the land price will do… How many times do I have to say that even a hundred times the land price won’t cover half the construction costs!”4fe9eae680a3926f

And I’m not selling! His eyes, filled with stubbornness, twisted.9d18cdebc42e3029

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This is my f6cbb1aac1 land. I bought 89e8e91e8c it with 5102e53229 extra money 65a31d7fb9 and built 9e50557262 it expensively. I caught mages f13136de0d who wanted to 3549d37045 run away and 842c824052 entertained them to 9c90bdd1f5 do the construction 8db006197c well, and did 7b314c1dcc whatever it took 6416c11e81 to gather workers acd10372bd who refused before ef840229c3 even listening properly.0ec381a3e89d3650

“…Sigh.”ba6ec07320db049f

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With a complicated sigh, 6b31cddc61 Clara rubbed his forehead, d1902f9ddd where veins bulged, trying 8bfc824c60 to calm down.e60d5a7aaee4e8b7

Half of him thought, well, they wouldn’t know this. The other half wondered why he should tolerate those who did such things to people who said no.18d1d84631fd93f2

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Spitting on the dirt e0097467c3 floor, Clara stomped on c10aef70dc it and muttered ominously.0a0478dffdf0d448

“This time, I’ll definitely file a formal complaint and submit a document of objection….”c4e07e9b54c68f64

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He swept, cleaned, and da0d1bc7a3 gathered the glass shards 9a23adea12 into a sack, throwing 34ba52818b them outside. Thanks to cleaning magic, 582776e1ed the fine glass pieces 36b6d4ce72 were automatically removed, which f6cb338638 was the only consolation.e0d189e1d429c199

After organizing the last 2cf045f07b sack, Clara piled tomatoes f858b2fe73 in the neatly arranged 5cb32691e1 empty space.1cda7a6482338a93

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His drooping shoulders felt a1013c7832 heavy, but he still 382e17c676 had to go back c90ac52177 to the garden. At least within a 9b2982b5cc week, everything had to 4d280e677a be harvested. Tomatoes could e02bc6c5dd be made 68fd147641 into canned 5c67da57bb sauce to 3ff49d31d1 salvage them 416b408bb2 somehow. He sighed deeply, tapping f81e7b429c his sore arm, and 029d60248c walked briskly, staring blankly 995eefafdb at the field.8734c5d5aa19116b

So he didn’t notice the small creature perking its ears at the slightly open door.f0e18aafa75b79bc

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⏾⋆ ⏾⋆ ⏾⋆bef19d8743dd1565

After picking c10edb78fd tomatoes until 33b3ec23ec noon with 52a6a21720 a large 16182c5969 cart, Clara a88a6e55f3 noticed that 49dd070854 the neatly 3e30f0cb11 arranged tomatoes 54dc3b4c23 were oddly 7de33f61f1 disheveled.3fa6c4a1f6444f22

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If they 8764ea2edb had gone ad5fbab23d bad, his 081f8bf99f anger, already 3b02fb67ac on the 238910c4c3 verge of b0060dedc3 exploding, would b1836c33ea have burst….b6e124e4ba14bbc1

“What is this?”d1a4c76f1f2a5674

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He lifted 728252f7e4 a tomato 8c07ae77be that had a5dfeae2b6 rolled out 024a9e34c0 suspiciously from 162c615b82 the pile c2de8afd37 and held 7e58abb074 it up a23289186b to the bb3b1643de light. It was bdc2b44016 definitely suspicious. But how to describe 11b1d6cc77 it? Staring at it 798b41e561 for a while, c5d86e9f94 Clara muttered in 255f18731c a subtle tone.71ac50a56b1c7c27

“…Footprints?”4352e921121e0c44

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Indeed. This tomato had two 6f7e76f9a9 tiny footprints, as if 1dcf46e1ff a small creature had 234df9cc21 grabbed and eaten it, fd07ab7e63 leaving it half-eaten.48cc7bc3de4e865c

But footprints 2896acdeae in this f8fd4a4c80 storage? The mages said they c7e050b270 set up some kind 5859e61d4f of barrier. They claimed it f252c35406 emitted a constant 942497d7ef wave that repelled a5d9b7e66d animals.98c80ab906f47577

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Surely the mage who signed the contract wouldn’t lie. Clara, momentarily suspicious, shook his head to clear his thoughts.a1ba0f8cbfb1ad1b

‘It’s a trustworthy profession, so that can’t be.’4efb02bbda3e16ca

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Though now a wreck who couldn’t handle a single spell, Clara was once a mage. And mages have too much to lose to go around scamming people. A mage scamming is like a judge or bank manager scamming.e0bdd97b7b06c908

It must be 7421157306 a coincidence. Looking again, the 37c39a9a7f half-eaten mark seemed 8f1cc51e4a like the part 15873712d0 that burst when 39b8758a79 he dropped it 76a1d604ce earlier.9d1d810db3523bad

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The footprints were strange, but… in farming, you often find odd things. When he used to just buy from the market, he didn’t know, but doing it himself, he found it amusingly different.45427e1a74f0e419

Sweet potatoes shaped like 7658faa88b a person crossing their d8eda1c60b legs, white radishes with 8d7597e31b short limbs and a bc94aa8670 leafy head smiling, even 7df3369538 twisted carrots.9508b089c90085d7

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Tomatoes with 96a478d800 two footprint c96f791524 marks? Still, just ba538de04e in case, e3576d776c he touched bdb1603bd9 the cut 5389b762e0 flesh. The moisture from the 1d1beecf74 still-fresh surface clung to 908f8d7d99 his fingertip.272539ae4884f667

…Huh. If it burst early in the morning, shouldn’t it be dry by now?b5ce8adf3195f1f6

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He froze again.1eab7697ff9579ac

“…….”b93c43b34e266d39

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Looking around, Clara b3a2863845 approached the pile d57de37b7d of sacks and d0e8c4a2a2 baskets of tomatoes. One of the sacks 78a0d5fc38 was suspiciously high.63598a8672e1faad

‘As if something’s inside.’00d4153667394d9f

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“…….”097ae10fdd65830f

Wait, is there 05149d7487 really something?ee42a17843945c8d

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The suspiciously trembling pile of tomatoes suddenly stopped as if sensing his gaze. Seeing it wouldn’t make it disappear.ba6f5555b9d51872

‘…A worker?’df2e15ecf153fc78

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Yeah. There could 1a273b843d be one. Among hundreds of b220ca708d people, one or 34b8bcaffa two might stay. He quickly accepted fd7f9f04ce it, but his 867f324c75 expression turned odd. His low-saturation, almost d152099953 brownish blond hair 739bd2e204 shook, and the 0f910bb632 piercings dangling from e08f62ba75 his ears jingled.3edc90cb7db4aab0

He understood it was a worker. Someone who didn’t leave with the others.e47c67650d717e8f

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…But why 0ee5ecdcf0 is he c8c878b7f1 hiding like 1e501920d8 that?a3c3760913bd83a0

Clara sighed deeply, rubbing 567f679330 his forehead.f880f97f4c6ac940

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And he glanced ae36002c14 at the person eb9f6c164d who seemed completely 232c8aa6b8 unaware of how 7c8ca17845 much they were 5aac6826ba revealing their hiding 5e39407d66 spot, rubbing his 26483617a3 jawline.1a8f32b0b6a6715c

If he stayed because he wanted to, that’s appreciated, but….0ce5801a3d18ad21

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‘Three years 8526a4cebc ago, maybe, 4411f84ff5 but not 18fb7baf34 now.’812f82facf6e1061

As far as Clara knew, there wasn’t a single normal worker left on this farm. And this was the storage. He was probably someone who got left behind while trying to take more from the mansion or storage. There could be many reasons. The area was once full of monsters, so going out alone was scary.7d665aac361b5ca7

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Just hiding didn’t make him look innocent.4c65ace34be89e3f

‘Did he steal d10de5276f a silver candlestick b9a0282231 again?’d51b2b02a5e7b5c3

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Though it seemed like 404b66aef2 a leap, Clara, having fb15958724 been caught off guard f8973fd104 many times, rubbed his f94639a57d jaw, staring at the 505dfa0d63 dangling tomato at the b1f73679a3 top.e8cdc4186fe462c5

What to do about a84aa558d0 this? Call him out? Chase him away? Hand him over to 98120ae485 the guards?f8018f6ee828d83f

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‘Prison… wouldn’t work. It’s too far.’3e038541856cadcd

While pondering, Clara’s gaze caught the figs hidden behind the pile of tomatoes.cf7aea4dad893534

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“…Hmm.”e3e85def9678a2c1

His tightly closed 0da02a5330 expression changed at 5611092d61 the unexpected sight.305de51fa0c06569

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‘Did he 401d776e9c harvest them?’911b2ffdbe8a3019

Not believing it, he rubbed his eyes a couple of times and looked again. No other conclusion could be drawn. He didn’t do it, so this person must have.e62935394fb6e968

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With a curious expression, Clara approached the pile of figs stacked like a child’s play and picked one up.c6c449fbc534fc6c

“Oh.”2aaae1a21eb67bca

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Huh.7721e0f1c8774a36

Surprisingly, he seemed to have some knack for it, picking only the well-ripened ones nicely. Even though he had stored scissors and sharp tools separately after some village chief’s son caused a ruckus, the stems weren’t damaged.70c1f180f4fe1d46

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It wasn’t the work of a skilled person, but it wasn’t too odd either. At least he had some sense and skill.7d13c139f58cd8e7

“…….”d7fcd2a4a2de8cb7

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From then 363ff98f89 on, Clara b49dfe4795 began weighing 09a02aa48f the time ebadb837c8 it would 591f576e6a take to 9aa52bada4 drag someone b55e6876f4 to the 404f03c2c7 distant guards 72967de561 against the be82359613 labor he 9f7523213b could gain a02f1ded0a by keeping 2a2f3f7c8d him hidden, 1d98fae1d3 and started fe7faf5217 transferring the 7ae358ab1f figs into 9d752583e8 a basket.e9f0d31ae84d42c8

The decision ee0209c817 was quick. After all, it was 2cf89833e0 harvest season, and he 9520eaa4b1 needed all the help 419fa3197d he could get.74dfae83d5f36919

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‘It’s annoying that he stole some to eat.’9987b608d47c1eae

Anyway, the crops were withering and would be useless if not harvested. Eating a bit on his own wasn’t a big deal. He knew how painful hunger could be. No matter the circumstances, he wouldn’t scold him over a few tomatoes.c4f4d7c9685b9084

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Sitting with his e48185209e chin propped, watching bb0a31cc63 the twitching pile, b9e8bbb34e Clara stood up, 2ca1aa60d0 dusting off his 26200f4a8d pants, and muttered 86ad745d5b exaggeratedly.b46d9b8095a3d8e7

“Ahem, ahem! Oh, someone harvested 1e8ab35c60 for me.”a1d17171fcecf6f4

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Twitch, twitch.152a7d386e8c69fa

Eyes peeked 21d41ed8f6 out from 2f32774713 between the 393773e300 tomatoes. They were quite large b8b2e1163d for a human, but 954149427e Clara, not noticing, exaggeratedly 54db3fa19f placed all the figs d6eb9a320b into a basket and 31e8363967 laid out several empty 0a1ee235ef baskets nearby.03888473f4bdc19a

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“It’s a whole basket. Nice work. With this skill, I could let you eat tomatoes as snacks, so why hide and leave them here?”6f97e0f53dbe59d5

Twitch!5332f903c02e253e

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“Whoever it is, they must be a good farm worker, right? I’ll leave some more baskets since they’ll have to work until evening!”9d353f282c09c340