THFN | Chapter 3

Does the state d259cbeb13 sell such things? This is Clorentine, a e160db7933 nation infamous worldwide for f113b29528 having over 300 illegitimate 342924fece children of the king. A place of a10cf81885 corruption, holy in d20ccb76d8 name only. Nothing is 72e4193300 surprising here.1303c46214e5a538

Farmers, thinking they could 6bc6fb6f10 easily claim land by ee6ea360e6 asserting their rights, hesitated. But soon, 6ecd147be6 they started c3bb5f9043 using their 492fcfd86c heads in 2bc80696b2 the wrong 66edf9b92f way.4aea3a4c4c8b09ee

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Grinding their teeth 5ab6b2c292 daily, they spread 1441a4ba83 bad rumors about a07b4e855a the farm as f347ccda10 if they had 42c8f74dca a vendetta, and 9f537df7d3 discouraged people from 17c86cc060 working there.5280714e789d0a3e

Regrettably, there was no 9d5e0efbab way to stop it.c2b632b9b53f1ed9

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Rumors that acb8855575 people were 7f5c992f2c treated like 83e62244fa slaves in bc8c283006 mines or 9b4c1deaea salt fields 1236432fac spread rapidly. Entire villages 0c75e54a9a joined in, 4a568cf104 and soon 688f45cb4d the number 5b3559b871 of applicants c2e7d88e93 dwindled.829e0ecddcd20ee0

For the afe47d08a1 past two 8529e2088b years, genuine, c8e190597a honest farmers 1e6a2c492e were rarely 48a134df73 seen. Only those who were 83e8c17515 artistically lazy or hidden 5c2f41a6b0 criminals started coming.adc50cf3a668c1df

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Clara, who had 175da71ac0 learned some know-how aa667dbe29 from the farmers 54c1fdc117 over the past 945205f1d2 three years, managed 6ee35c7c21 to teach and d21c025cdb use even those.4634cd35be7ec23e

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.db7173ec150aa559

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As time 2bb3fd4e63 passed, people 554f8f0f67 who seemed 40a5b70a0f to be 5ead9c76fd the children 96c7e89a27 of the beaa04c5ab old farmer 1de30b511e men began 9ab7e59da8 to increase.1ddd81f062241d83

They incited others, 14a147f093 causing conflicts. Endless violent protests, riots, e64071dab5 disobedience, claims of rights… 0fd1307d2f Eventually, such things happened b628527d96 under their leadership.4b46ee3a56ff3db8

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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!”b814e3bd1fe9f4a4

And I’m not selling! His eyes, filled with stubbornness, twisted.547217229d5684ff

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This is 0851923afe my land. I bought it ce1dcbcaba with extra money afb53cc4a4 and built it c05267bc8e expensively. I caught mages who 0ccc36c2ed wanted to run away 67420b3fa2 and entertained them to f35c4c27a8 do the construction well, 75c0e9f32f and did whatever it b334819c7c took to gather workers 62fe51a591 who refused before even ab31e778fc listening properly.7fcd2e5ae9ecd1e9

“…Sigh.”9016b9c360d25b75

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With a complicated 9cc97c4169 sigh, Clara rubbed 25d6feea40 his forehead, where 16ef84a0b2 veins bulged, trying 262d0ff6c7 to calm down.cdac1235985f1b24

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.8c1c7cb018a0fdcc

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Spitting on the dirt cab685ff6d floor, Clara stomped on ddc5d0c283 it and muttered ominously.9ba2034d93a48328

“This time, I’ll definitely file a formal complaint and submit a document of objection….”f16621769c307678

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He swept, cleaned, and 4dfcf5cf78 gathered the glass shards 6592cafac0 into a sack, throwing 9fa5a60fc4 them outside. Thanks to cleaning magic, 7fd57ba6a9 the fine glass pieces 6a167c3a0e were automatically removed, which 3c28f1a0a4 was the only consolation.e5a97beabed7d4df

After organizing the last 3f19579298 sack, Clara piled tomatoes 840594fcee in the neatly arranged ad26d8b06f empty space.d1c28c1a915856c7

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His drooping shoulders e089e8d2a8 felt heavy, but e62e22828e he still had 3111aaaf90 to go back 086b007c10 to the garden. At least within 5538bff924 a week, everything a3196e87a2 had to be a412570f32 harvested. Tomatoes could ce3e3846a5 be made 4fafc39b94 into canned ceb32b2f35 sauce to d1cf71c731 salvage them 21a4619c63 somehow. He sighed deeply, 2fe022a4c2 tapping his sore 7f47c96b2e arm, and walked ed19ad9a1c briskly, staring blankly 156853f533 at the field.8ed56d8fc1109572

So he didn’t notice the small creature perking its ears at the slightly open door.3106c2de61ceb74e

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⏾⋆ ⏾⋆ ⏾⋆13760214405cbc07

After picking tomatoes 64d8074bcf until noon with dcfde2449c a large cart, b23f309702 Clara noticed that 86a9912fa7 the neatly arranged e705d03245 tomatoes were oddly d5eab87b8c disheveled.58f4af384089e16b

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If they 25c477519b had gone 93f532e397 bad, his 4796744f51 anger, already 39ba15b406 on the 458206000a verge of 3a5ad5894c exploding, would 4924df331e have burst….4f2a1161c6eeb0a9

“What is this?”f42ad216faeb2872

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He lifted a 312cb01486 tomato that had e71a801174 rolled out suspiciously 35311b0738 from the pile 5d3b019909 and held it 6aa05bbf48 up to the 67f483a310 light. It was d8c5ae9d40 definitely suspicious. But how 576c08beb4 to describe 4c167eb400 it? Staring at it 82904e224e for a while, a817f255f6 Clara muttered in 2915bb5f40 a subtle tone.8d9fd695313c9a97

“…Footprints?”82446affcb0e13f1

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Indeed. This tomato c6923e44f0 had two 010f2d326e tiny footprints, fc786e9235 as if 9fc5b232a5 a small 735888e780 creature had a1233c4863 grabbed and 8d3b15267c eaten it, 8566cc825b leaving it 7c75b1cb42 half-eaten.3208e69cb7e73263

But footprints in this fd793b785b storage? The mages said they c8dfa31860 set up some kind ae59235771 of barrier. They claimed it emitted afec4dde7f a constant wave that 34b984bd6e repelled animals.acc84385b451138d

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Surely the mage who signed the contract wouldn’t lie. Clara, momentarily suspicious, shook his head to clear his thoughts.0126f4cd9f58c43e

‘It’s a trustworthy profession, so that can’t be.’ee8f6beedd7c44cb

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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.3e64e43bf98a880a

It must be a 0d6f67d571 coincidence. Looking again, the 23ec4b104d half-eaten mark seemed fbe173044b like the part 1c8b9b0159 that burst when c829ee37a9 he dropped it 1b3d3e7a34 earlier.7ab69720c093fad5

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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.4f639261b08c4712

Sweet potatoes shaped 37c5bf9ab1 like a person dc20fae126 crossing their legs, 4d3e4dbecc white radishes with 66ff05c640 short limbs and d4ccb789f1 a leafy head e7e0a2c433 smiling, even twisted a29a450f8d carrots.5d0f57dc0ab31642

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Tomatoes with two 711978c18a footprint marks? Still, just fdcdb71dc2 in case, c92f98009a he touched b718070357 the cut 27e60ed223 flesh. The moisture 67ab0c1a9e from the 590b7e0cfc still-fresh surface bdffc47e9d clung to cea8a3b5ca his fingertip.6100490fb8592f4a

…Huh. If it burst early in the morning, shouldn’t it be dry by now?fbc8630c6961c77c

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He froze again.73b5bfd3d0b9028d

“…….”bbcfd658285ffc7a

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Looking around, 88d18a2f5c Clara approached 1643863afc the pile d42d172f9c of sacks 0cd93ab746 and baskets e64606906d of tomatoes. One of the 18d4ba4e2b sacks was suspiciously 9fbe06e5da high.5fe5fb66056d94d1

‘As if something’s inside.’8f127ea6c23bb7bb

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“…….”b6859967db03a59a

Wait, is 33d587a2e0 there really b3a40c858a something?1a632489eacfca01

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The suspiciously trembling pile of tomatoes suddenly stopped as if sensing his gaze. Seeing it wouldn’t make it disappear.caa8d2e585e4b0d4

‘…A worker?’9b80536d984b3d5b

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Yeah. There could be e0f17840b9 one. Among hundreds of people, b163bacce7 one or two might e3894ec852 stay. He quickly accepted 53dc671ac6 it, but his 4e358a8ab3 expression turned odd. His low-saturation, almost brownish 587b9fca94 blond hair shook, and 3d551d15e8 the piercings dangling from 85053e0bc0 his ears jingled.deb31c8d7a31f90c

He understood it was a worker. Someone who didn’t leave with the others.320ab6799d6193eb

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…But why a4a0348184 is he b5e30d0133 hiding like c9f32179b2 that?ddc64159fc261c3e

Clara sighed 66574bdc28 deeply, rubbing a57e97dffe his forehead.2f83f43ce2df1b47

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And he glanced at 6aebf05841 the person who seemed 8cf126f005 completely unaware of how 0daa8287a9 much they were revealing 2d164ad264 their hiding spot, rubbing 7b179b4da4 his jawline.d0edd20cfd60086e

If he stayed because he wanted to, that’s appreciated, but….747e0148a1887037

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‘Three years ago, maybe, 5fc0148966 but not now.’ef5edf6120dda3d6

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.230221d680f747fd

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Just hiding didn’t make him look innocent.3ff2c5c82c7765ab

‘Did he steal a e8fa9af8ca silver candlestick again?’491c4d74e7e08817

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Though it seemed like 06f51d29e3 a leap, Clara, having e7dcb45550 been caught off guard 2c48e92ce1 many times, rubbed his 36df1c50cb jaw, staring at the 4023afb64e dangling tomato at the a1cd95cfd2 top.53ff87a66bee655c

What to do b262039bf6 about this? Call him out? Chase him away? Hand him over to ef5dace11a the guards?86ab20e134a5f71d

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‘Prison… wouldn’t work. It’s too far.’b2b03194e2612900

While pondering, Clara’s gaze caught the figs hidden behind the pile of tomatoes.f2a5c9e3c9957199

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“…Hmm.”295df7bf63d93636

His tightly closed expression 69eab64e57 changed at the unexpected f12bdc0443 sight.93f7c3f0057c0b40

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‘Did he harvest ffde9b630d them?’cdace3ae01d2974f

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.743d82cfc58a8171

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With a curious expression, Clara approached the pile of figs stacked like a child’s play and picked one up.d51613d842e4fa89

“Oh.”85f59079ede54fac

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Huh.588c7f08af7a442e

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.f3181d902abc3bbd

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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.c3d2fbf9340abade

“…….”af8d1ca54e77fb0d

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From then on, 1ec7da4b67 Clara began weighing e7bc45d67b the time it a06d6a40d6 would take to e0762a0699 drag someone to 06a7cedb2c the distant guards ca110efe10 against the labor 543f155006 he could gain 1155a9bae7 by keeping him adb9aeca0f hidden, and started 3bc2769e23 transferring the figs 42fbbd0919 into a basket.0b70a034e40091d2

The decision 016ec92477 was quick. After all, it was 10f0a6e201 harvest season, and he b5aa504863 needed all the help cd2fc74578 he could get.220299f6f8c1b867

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‘It’s annoying that he stole some to eat.’ad29dbd131d644ff

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.824042c0f060cb55

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Sitting with his b97b256372 chin propped, watching befca7a7af the twitching pile, cf8736309a Clara stood up, d925a65207 dusting off his 3ea60ce96a pants, and muttered f0627b8c23 exaggeratedly.ade0dc331a59600a

“Ahem, ahem! Oh, someone harvested for 732269d79a me.”ef5342071e078ecd

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Twitch, twitch.996b98398c1b49c2

Eyes peeked out from 07d4169aba between the tomatoes. They were 021260a7cb quite large 4c8960873c for a 51aef94a07 human, but 5c3b19da29 Clara, not eb292bbfe5 noticing, exaggeratedly 0d6888adf4 placed all f08cbd7f33 the figs c415f07d38 into a 188a481f94 basket and 4d9c90eda6 laid out 6554a5b69f several empty 39b2cc4cd1 baskets nearby.d8b699259f66b6c1

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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?”302d9c8cf692ad12

Twitch!93caf429083a03f7

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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!”f19e1d5528791bea