"Ahem, Can you tell what you do for my farm?"
"Alright, very well," he said while dropping his ax on the ground then wiped his entire face with his towel, "I am very good at doing some hard labor, carrying heavy things and stuff, so I volunteered to handle the construction work of our farm. I left the managing affairs to Wulfric as that is his forte."
"I will be overseeing every construction project that we will be adding to the farm, by your orders of course," he continues, "we might need some extra pair of hands so I also hire workers from the farmer's guild and it is my job to guide and supervise them.
"Is woodcutting also your job?" Zeke asked looking at the that firewood he had cut.
"Ah no, this is merely a hobby and also for us if we ever need some firewood when it's cold," he replied, "I think that's the gist of what I'll be contributing to your farm"
Zeke nodded. "Thank you Magnus."
"Anytime boss, do you need anything else?"
"Why don't we get ourselves acquainted, tell me about yourself."
"Well, as I've already told you yesterday, I am the former and the youngest prince back in my home world of Meteré, and I was trained my whole life in order to serve under your command. I know that you are a farmer and I am only your farmhand but we were taught to serve the farmer of legend as if they were our liege, my liege," he elaborated.
"Isn't it a bad thing to give all these responsibilities to you? A responsibility of a lifetime?," Zeke asked him, worried.
"No boss, it is not. The fact that I renounced my royal name along with all the title of being prince to bear yours proves that I am no longer of a royal lineage, and I can never take that path ever again. This is my home now, and no one forced me to be here. I accepted my responsibility and I am happy to be here, with everyone."
Zeke looked at the guy appreciating his determination and will, "thank you, Magnus, as someone who has never experienced any of this, all I can say is I appreciate you."
Remembering what Wulfric said, Magnus must've given up his name as well when he left his royal duties. "Wulfric just informed me earlier about a classified information, is it true that all four of you had to forsake each your names and take up mine?"
He looked at Zeke then nodded. "Yes, I used to go by the moniker Magnus Erwick Gaurus but that was back when I was still a prince, now I proudly bear your name."
"Oh, I see," Zeke replied still unsure how to feel about this whole taking up his last name thing.
"Anyways, I think that's about everything important that you need to know about me, so do you require anything else boss?"
"No, I think that would be everything. Thank you Magnus."
Zeke left the barn and let Magnus continue doing his woodcutting.
Zeke missed the cheerful atmosphere that always comes along with his assistant so he goes to look for him next. Wulfric is still standing just behind the fence overlooking the fields of the farm so Zeke went over to him and asked about whereabouts of Dirk.
Wulfric pointed a little house, a shack situated just beside Zeke's house. It is built by the same wood and materials that the main house has, he walked towards it then proceeds to knock on the small wooden door.
"Who is it? Just a sec!" Zeke heard Dirk's voice behind the door, then it opened and he saw his golden-furred assistant peeking behind it, "hey boss come in!"
"I know it's tiny and cramped but this is really all the space I need to have for an office dedicated to assist you and to communicate with the Mayor," he explained as Zeke sat down on a stool, "Wulfric and I essentially share this office, but he prefers to do most of his work in his room."
Zeke looked around the shack and there isn't really anything inside except for a desk and a drawer beside it with a bunch of stacked papers on top. Dirk took a sit on the chair that was behind him.
"I was hoping you'd come to see me boss," he smiled warmly at him, "so, what can your assistant do for ya?"
"I was just going to repeat what I asked from your teammates and ask you to elaborate on what your job entails?"
"I was actually waiting for you to ask just that! Okay," he stretched both of his arms while cracking his fingers with each other.
"Being your assistant twenty-four hours a day is extremely tiring, but in my case I love this job," he said chirpily, "my profession might seem similar to that of Wulfric, but while he manage the day-to-day activities for the farm including that of Magnus' and Hawke's, I make sure that we obtain exact payment from the farmer's guild whenever we do requests and to keep a constant communication between us and that of the Mayor. Wherever if it's about the farm or the dungeon"
"I also maintain our relation with the public so you could say that I am the head of communications, a specialist keeping everyone up to date with everything aside from taking care of your everyday needs," he said while looking around the place then grins widely.
That is a lot of pressure to be doing alone but it seems Dirk is really enjoying the job that was given to him so Zeke smiled back at him.
"Okay, that's about the it, anything else boss?"
"Could you tell me more about yourself, just to get ourselves familiarized."
"Well, I think you already know too much about me boss!" he grins, "but okay just to make everything official."
"Let's start by introducing myself in my actual given name, and that is 'Vraudirken', I never actually tell anyone about my name but you're my boss so.. anyways, Dirk sounds way more cooler and easy with the tongue so let's stick with that," he chirpily says while subconsciously scratching the back of his ear.
Knowing that you already talked with Wulfric he must've told you about the name change already, heh, you see, the moment we pledge our loyalty to you boss is the moment we say bye bye to our former lives.." he said trailing off, sounding strangely impassive all of the sudden.
Zeke looked at him waiting to see if he's going to explain further but he quickly recovers. Zeke also noticed that the topic about the past gets him antsy. But, it is too early to interrogate him about this past, so he let it go.
"So yeah that's the reason boss!" he smiled seemingly unaffected by Zeke's scrutinizing gaze, "I can't believe I totally forgot."
Weird.
It feels as if there's something more to what he just said, some topic or information that he's really avoiding. But, Zeke decided to not say anything and even if Dirk was welcoming yesterday they are pretty much still strangers from one another.
"Alright that's about everything that's interesting about me, boss. It is a bit boring, I know sorry," he said trying to sound apologetic, "anything else work-related you need from me?"
"No, that would be everything Dirk, thank you."
Zeke once again sought Wulfric and found him still standing from where he last saw him.
Fortunately, he was still as accommodating as before so Zeke asked him where the last farmhand's location is.
He pointed towards a blue-roofed building with an enormous type of machine beside it. The 'machine' or rather a metallic tank, has an array of long metal channels that connects it to the inside of the building.
He knocked on the blue door.
After a few seconds of waiting the door opened, Zeke saw Hawke standing inside, arms folded and has his usual neutral expression.
"Oh.. hey boss, I really wasn't expecting you to come here, but nevertheless come on in," he said as he turned around.
The interior of the building is not that big, but still spacious. It doesn't have any furniture or appliances but Zeke saw a lot of machines, contraption, and mechanism that he doesn't necessarily know what the use of. The biggest one is situated in the farthest corner of the room, it must be the one that is connected from the huge machine outside.
"I already know what your came here for, but for the sake of formality, what can I help you with boss?" he said sounding as indifferent as ever.
"Alright if you say so, can you tell me about your job?"
He ruffled his feathers then yawned, "my job in your farm boss is to keep our crops from dying"
"I handle the cultivation of our harvest and the prevention of pests and anything that can harm the crops. I operate the irrigation system that will keep our harvest from dying because of excessive heat," he explained, "and I think that's everything that you should know."
"Do you have people as well to help you in operating the machines here?"
"No, I don't do teams or groups, our union is the single and only exception. I think I'm capable enough to handle these my own," he added with confidence, "but, if I really needed some help, Wulfric shall handle the paperwork for me."
He looked at the clock then tilted his head, "if there's nothing else, I need to go back to my work before we depart for the dungeon."
Zeke knew that he better ask him everything now while he's still in an accommodating mood.
"Um, I know we just met and all, but can you possibly tell me about yourself? Just you know, to acquaint ourselves better."
He looked at Zeke with an unreadable expression, "why do you want to know?"
"Oh It's alright. Don't say anything you're still uncomfortable with, I mean. Um," Zeke said hurriedly.
"No, I actually want to know why" he retorted, Zeke couldn't get a read of his face.
"Well, first of all we're a team, and I'm your boss, so it's only natural for me to ask these questions because I want us to have better coordination and understanding of each other, of course I would like to know more about you, and everyone for that matter. I want to know trivial things like for instance, the things you that like or your hobbies, those kinds of things."
"I see," he pondered a bit, "thanks for the explanation but I'm afraid I can't entertain your request, boss. I don't care for small talk. So, if your done with the questions related about the farm I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."
"Right sorry," Zeke said deflating slightly. He felt as if that all the hope of him and Hawke having a friendly relationship has just disappeared.
He noticed the look of hurt in Zeke's face then looked sideways, deep in thought.
"Ignore the harshness of my words boss, but we just met and you asking me these questions are entirely personal so it's only natural for me to take my time to trust you."
"I hope you understand that I am not a horrible person," he explained, "but, if that doesn't change your opinion of me then I can't really do anything about it."
Zeke just nodded at him not knowing how to respond to that sentiment.