Thorin's first night in this place was not placid at all, but exhaustion and stress were enough for him to ignore this, he didn't even hear the beasts that were active at night.
"uh, so all this was not a dream... I ended up reincarnating as an 11-year-old boy named Thorin, and to make matters worse I find myself in extreme poverty, or rather the natural state of peasant civilians in this world. " Thorin got up confused looking at his small hands.
Shaking his head he went to wash, the sun was already out by what must have been past 7 in the morning, he didn't even find a toothbrush, so he could only use salt and herbs that smelled similar to eucalyptus.
wiping his face and changing into the other set of clothes he had in the shack, he refused to think more about his poverty, the clothes were more patchwork than the original fabric and his body was skinny and his ribs could be clearly seen, the only thing he could be thankful for was that his body did not suffer from malnutrition that would affect his bone development, he was at least 5'4" tall.
"hehe, my height is not bad for an 11-year-old boy, but as long as I don't eat better I won't go any further, besides I'm skinny, if I get a cold or the flu, I'll have half a foot in the grave." Thorin smiled bitterly and without forgetting what he had arranged with his 3 acquaintances from the village, he left his hut.
Grrr
Just as he left the hut, he felt his stomach complaining about the lack of food, so was forced to go back and use another hour of his time to prepare wheat and rye porridge, he could not complain about being skinny while leaving the house with an empty stomach.
"It's a nuisance not having a cell phone, whoever sent me here, at least they should have let me bring one, an alarm would be great at this time, the closest thing to an alarm I can have here would be a rooster, and I don't even have more than a large copper coin." Thorin finished eating between grumbling and went out to Farine's house.
....
"Wow, it's good that you deign to come! I thought about it last night and it seems to me that the best thing would be for you to help me split the logs in the morning, and sort out the coal in the afternoon, what do you say? I would pay you 4 large copper coins a week for those 2 tasks" Farine was already waiting for him with her arms crossed leaning on the hut and with a big ax at the side of her leg in a chick position.
"..." Thorin was at a loss for words.
"Sounds perfect to me, Big sis Farine, you know, I also help Michonne to gather wild vegetables in the forest, 4 large copper coins will do me wonders!"
"Well, let's not say more, this pile of logs will be your job for today, when you finish leave the ax with the other tools, you know where it is" Farine pointed to a pile of more than 400 lb of logs to be cut.
From the sweat on her forehead, Thorin could tell that Farine had gotten up earlier and started work before him, leaving him somewhat sorry for his lateness and remembering that he still had a bowl of porridge for Farine as an apology.
"If you don't mind I brought a bowl of porridge for you Sis Farine, I almost forgot to eat in the morning and I didn't forget to bring you a bowl" Thorin offered the bowl to her with meanwhile the porridge was still hot.
Farine approached him, raising her eyebrow in a sign of a little surprise, she took the bowl from his hand, taking it to her nose, she inhaled the hot steam that emanated and a smile was drawn on her face.
"Hey, yesterday it was chicken and now you're making wheat, you're going to run out of money if you continue to eat so luxuriously, I won't turn you down because you've whetted my appetite" Farine didn't reject his gesture and began to eat, to which Thorin took the ax and began to split the logs with some difficulty.
"hehe, let me remind you how to do it..." Farine proceeded to tell him how to stand, how to distribute his weight, and exert force.
Thorin soon mastered the ax thanks to memories of working under Toms doing this same job, but without pay and the sight of a fit young woman.
in little more than 3 hours Thorin had finished splitting the firewood, he could only feel his exhausted body and the trembling of his hands that did not stop after hitting the logs so many times.
"don't forget to stop by in the afternoon, you could help me collect the iron from the vein but I couldn't pay you enough like what you would earn with Gerd, even if he's a bum the damn Gerd has his contacts, don't forget to bring a bunch of firewood and charcoal for the old man!" Farine waved him off as she slung Maccy on her back, and went to collect the iron-embedded stones further into the woods.
Thorin forced a smile when he saw her back disappear, carrying several sacks and a thick cane, in addition to little Maccy who opened and closed her little hand, he was a little worried about the safety of both of them but he was even more vulnerable than Farine, he could only ask for a blessing and that the beasts would not approach the village.
.....
Thorin entered the village and went tiredly to old Chuyi's house, he had been dragging a bundle of firewood with a bag of coal on top, he had tried to carry it on his back, but he got tired halfway, it was less than 200 meters but his body did not give for more.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time Thorin! I already thought you wouldn't come" Michonne reproached him with a cold look and a slight frown of dissatisfaction.
"I'm sorry, I was helping Big sis Farine with the firewood and it took me a little longer, did I cause you any trouble? If so, I apologize for it" Thorin scratched his head and smiled slightly
"forget it, I was still busy helping mom with my brothers, only that we will have to go a little deeper to look for wild vegetables, where we had gone before was already empty, dad cleaned a new sector, so We'll probably find something good... although if someone hadn't taken so long we probably wouldn't have any competition with the rest of the village" Michonne tried to sound calmer but she kept berating Thorin for his delay, somewhat embarrassed she packed a big basket on her back.
"Let me finish carrying this firewood to Granpa Chuyi so I can go to the forest with you" Thorin nodded as if nothing had happened and continued to the village leader's house.
Michonne said no more and with a wave of her hand told him to go, Thorin just smiled, to which she turned her face away with indifference.
Thorin soon arrived in front of old Chuyi's house and knocked on the door, to which a raspy voice told him to come in.
"I came to leave the wood Granpa Chuyi, I can't be of much help to Big Sis Farine, my strength is far from being compared to hers," Thorin sadly admitted his weakness, but clenched his fist as this increased his insecurity in this world.
"umm, I see, it's normal, you're still young, besides... she received some professional training, after all, her roots are strong... sigh, it can be a blessing as well as a calamity, grow up calmly Thorin... since my children passed away, you are the closest thing to a son in this family..." Old Chuyi was depressed and looked out the window while caressing the book he had been reading the day before.
For a few seconds they both remained silent, old Chuyi shook his head and forced a smile.
"haha, what things do I tell a boy like you, you'll grow up, you'll see, come after you finish working to talk a little, an old man like me the only thing left to give is knowledge, you may avoid stumbling blocks in your life listening to this old man's blunders" old Chuyi said as he got up from the chair holding his back, Thorin hurried to help him and then leave the firewood and charcoal near the fireplace.
He had things he wanted to hear from old Chuyi like the geography, history, and social order of this world, because his memories about it were scarce, he could only remember how Thorin walked through the village thinking about what to take to his stomach the next day, but Michonne was waiting and they had already wasted enough time.
"Then I'll come back later, I still have to go to collect wild vegetables with Michonne and help Big Sis Farine raffle the charcoal in the afternoon, after that I'll come and talk." Thorin said goodbye and quickly left to meet Michonne.
"Sigh, what a disgrace it is that my family ends up without a boy, I'm already too old to see those 2 little girls grow up, it seems that I can only entrust it to someone of good nature like this boy..." Old Man Chuyi shook his head Returning to his seat, he opened the book in front of him and looked at the drawings of warriors fighting one another.
.....
"Didn't I tell you to forget about the Carbocara mushrooms? Last time you narrowly missed out on it, if it wasn't for my father patrolling the forest, I wouldn't have been able to take you back to the village by myself, also why are you cutting down even the bark?" Michonne looked at him reproachfully.
"I really don't understand you Thorin, I'm thankful I didn't bring my brothers, counting you, I wouldn't be able to keep an eye on everyone" Michonne scolded Thorin who was climbing a tree and ripping a piece of bark from a dead tree still standing.
Carbocara mushrooms had the particularity of preferring places above the ground on the trunks of dead trees, when the trees fell and rotted, a good number of mushrooms used to come out, but many times they were devoured by beasts, it was a delicacy for them in addition to giving them superior strength with the effects it had.
"We hadn't come here, besides, it's barely 2 meters high, even if I fall from here it won't go beyond a bump, I can't waste this opportunity, if I don't cut them down, when the other villagers find out that this area is been cleaned by your father, they will come to take everything they find" Thorin answered while holding the sixth Carbocara mushroom that he had found in the forest.
"Do what you want then, I won't cry a tear when you break your head" Michonne stepped on the ground expressing her anger, and began to pick wild vegetables with her back to Thorin.
"Besides, drunk Gerd just came yesterday, didn't he? He won't be here for at least another 2 weeks, those mushrooms you pulled won't last that long, you're doing a useless job" Michonne added, trying to make him see reason and start picking wild vegetables honestly.
"I already have an idea of it, don't worry, remember that I told you that I will eat chicken when I please, this is part of the plan, I will invite you when it works, don't worry" Thorin smiled as he looked at a seventh mushroom not far from where he was.
Michonne rolled her eyes and sighed impatiently, Thorin climbed down from the tree, climbed another and cut off another piece of fungus bark, then gently placed it in the basket he had on the ground.
During the following hours, they filled Michonne's basket with wild vegetables and Thorin was the one who carried it because this basket weighed more and he was slightly stronger than her, with this they were encouraged to carry more wild vegetables, thanks to this Michonne's bad mood was considerably reduced.
"well here is your basket of mushrooms, remember to bring the basket before nightfall, I hope and what you say is true, otherwise, you are going to waste those 2 dozen mushrooms, humm, I won't tell you more because you don't listen to what I say" Michonne chided him once more and began to clean the vegetables.
"Okay, I'll try not to make you so angry in the future" Thorin said in a relaxed tone and went to the hut to leave the mushrooms, there were 25 of them as it was an area that hadn't been visited for a long time.
.....
in the afternoon Thorin went with Farine to help her with the charcoal, this was not a difficult task so they finished quickly, Farine even invited him to eat but when they were eating, Maccy began to cry from hunger, thus giving Thorin another embarrassing moment as yesterday.
"tch, go ahead, I don't know how something as natural as feeding a baby can be seen with lustful eyes when you're just a kid." Farine rebuked him but continued to nurse Maccy.
"Ugh, it's a natural thing Big Sis Farine, I better say no more, I'm leaving now..." Thorin gave no further explanation and took the bowl he had left in the morning.
Farine had a short circuit in the head when it came to dealing with people with whom she was familiar, she did not have a sense of personal space, making the age-dissociated Thorin even more nervous.
"He's only 11 years old and he's already acting like a dirty old man, hehe it's fun to tease him though" Farine laughed as she crossed her leg and sat Maccy on it.
....
"Ugh, Farine is teasing me, there's no way she's doing it unintentionally" Thorin was getting a bit depressed, but it was 1 point of depression, 6 points of joy, and 3 points of hypocritical regret.
Arriving at old Chuyi's house, he took a gulp of saliva because he was Farine's grandfather and he felt somewhat ashamed to see him face to face.
"Come in boy, what are you waiting for? Every minute that passes is another minute that I'm close to the grave" the scratchy old voice came from inside the house.
"Excuse me Granpa Chuyi, what did you want to talk to me about this morning?" Thorin opened the door and asked directly.
"That's how I like it! Things to the point, as it should be, shuffling with words, that leave it for old people like me" old Chuyi hit the table hard while he looked at him but he calmed pretty quickly.
"Well, what I have to say is just that, you are already a young man and soon you will be a man, as such you will have responsibilities, if I don't teach you what is necessary then nobody will" a complicated look was drawn on the aged face, his change of temperament was somewhat abrupt.
"I had 2 sons and 3 daughters, one of my sons died young from the plague along with my wife and 1 daughter, another daughter married in another village which was displaced to another region of the kingdom, while my eldest son died in the battlefield... my last daughter... let's not talk about her..." the old face was filled with sorrow hid on his eyes and in his tired eyelids.
"Well, I don't want to talk much about the past, all I have left is Farine, Maccy and you, in these last 2 years I have come to appreciate you boy, in my life I have not learned much, but I am willing to pass on my limited knowledge to you, before you didn't seem willing to accept our help, but I've seen you start to change, I just want you to avoid stumbling in the future, what do you say boy? will you sit down and listen to this old man from time to time? " Old Chuyi tried to straighten his back and recover the glory of the past, his cloudy eyes still had a shine when looking at Thorin.
"Of course Granpa Chuyi! I have no one else to ask something like that from" Thorin bowed, holding his right palm to his chest, out of respect.
"Well then let's start with the kingdom where we live and its history, it still surprises me how many villagers ignore or are not interested in this!" old Chuyi hit the table with his index finger signaling him to sit down and listen to him since it would be a long talk.
Thorin sat down and concentrated because it was the introduction to a world full of mysteries and stories never heard by a terrestrial, it was like removing a blindfold and seeing the horizons for the first time, he was not even a frog seeing the sky from a well.