"So, you played hide and seek, and your friend hid in a fireplace, and when you found her, you played around and got your clothes dirty. is that it?" Barbara's voice and face may be calm, but her eyes are filled with rage.
'This is the kind of thing she does when she's left with her friends?! Do they not know how dangerous. and seriously hard to clean that is?! They're seriously lucky the restaurant owner didn't have them clean the place!'
"Mommy, we tried our best to scrub our clothes clean... I'm sorry! I won't play around with messy things ever again! Please!" Farah seriously begs her mother for mercy, to even go as far as to make a promise that lasts for an indefinite amount of time, she truly is desperate.
"Please? Please what? Speak clearly!!"
"Please don't punish me!!" Farah shouts with tears in her eyes, her mother seems very sinister to her at this very moment! Her hair even seemed to be getting more serpentine and floating in the air like the snake devil of legends... Her gaze even more petrifying than the one described in the texts. Farah is very scared, but she knows that she really made a big mistake this time, so she can do nothing but apologize and beg for mercy. It is because she knows how hard clothes are to get, and that she has experienced first-hand how stubborn soot is, that she cannot do anything else, lest she be cursed to forever wear dirty clothes! And get punished harshly!
"Farah..." How can Barbara maintain her anger when faced with her daughter's tears? However, she still has to punish her daughter accordingly, so that she would not dare do anything improper such as this. But how?
While maintaining her calm demeanor, Barbara thought of how to punish her daughter in her head. Meanwhile, Farah was also thinking of how her mother would punish you in her head. The image of the girl and her mother who were so loud earlier suddenly going silent and still, with one slightly shaking in fear, greatly entertains David. However, they were still his family members! If he were to enjoy it from the sidelines without trying to mediate the problem, what kind of man would he be? That is why he also began to go deep into thought, adding one more statue to the picture.
Eventually, Barbara spoke, "Farah." She calls her daughter's name to wake her up from her imaginative thoughts.
"Eep! I won't do it again so please don't make me clean the well!" Farah was too lost in her own thoughts that she thought her mother really said what she had in mind at the time. She hates tight places! She also hates damp places! This is probably the worst punishment anyone could give a girl like Farah.
"...I won't, I'm not evil." Barbara secretly makes a mental note to punish her husband thoroughly tonight when he sent her an inquisitive glace. "...Farah, your punishment will be to make breakfast by yourself until I say it's delicious. Naturally, you'd clean up the kitchen when you're done as well. This is because you really didn't know a thing about soot and that this is the first offense, do you accept this?" Barbara stares down at Farah while saying her piece. Of course, she won't take no for an answer. It's obvious to everyone that the answer could only be a yes even if it were to clean the well. It'd be terribly rude and ineffective, wouldn't it?
"Break... fast? I- Thank you! I'll do my best! I love mommy so much! Oh, and daddy too!" Realizing the punishment was not as harsh as she thought it'd be, Farah lights up with joy and jumps into her mother's embrace. Later, her father joined in too.
"Ehehehe, let me tell you about the rest of the day! That part was only about why I came back dirty, there's so much more things to be said! I had a lot of fun today with my friends!" enveloped by her parents' warmth, Farah starts recalling the day to her parents in its entirety.
"...And then I got home!" Barbara has finally recounted the entire day's events. However, being so engrossed in her storytelling, she didn't notice her mother going to prepare dinner, and her father starting to nod off. Now that she's done, she immediately notices these abnormalities, especially her father's. However, she forgives them. How can she get mad at her parents for such trivial matter when her mother has forgiven her for getting her clothes this dirty? Besides, Farah is starting to get hungry. "Daddy, wake up!"
"Ah! I'm listening, I'm listening!" David suddenly jolted up and shouted when he heard his daughter's shout. This little prankster did it again, he nearly fainted from fright! David completely thought it was his wife shouting at him because of the tone of the voice.
"Hehehe!"
"...It's you! Take this!" seeing this mischievous child enjoying herself very much after making him startled, David decides to take revenge by tickling her until she gets a stomachache! "I'm going to get you!"
"Hahaha, I'm sorry! Hahaha!" Farah laughs while apologizing to her vengeful father. However, her tone was full of joy because she has not been caught! She's laughing out of enjoyment and pure delight from seeing her dad make such a funny expression on his face.
Being provoked like this, David runs even faster! He is now running even faster than Jane was earlier during the day, so he caught up. "Got you! Tak-"
"Dinner's ready!"
Hearing a voice from the kitchen, the father and daughter duo immediately had an innate understanding, nodded to each other, quickly arranged everything to how it was, and sat down in their seats. Moments later, Barbara emerges from the kitchen. "Here's your portion. And here's yours. And this is mine. Enjoy your meals!"
"Thank you for the food."
"Thank you for the food."
The food today is still meat from the beasts with some vegetables bought from the market thrown together and stir-fried in a wok, some stew made with the stock from four days ago, and a bowl of salad with a sour dressing. Of course, since Barbara made the meal, it's delicious as can be.
In the middle of the meal, Farah remembered something and calls her parents for inquiry "Ah, mommy, daddy."
"What is it, darling?" The parents are puzzled as to what she could've called them for. Perhaps it's something serious, like not wanting to learn magic anymore!
"How big is Uncle Uri's scythe? I made a bet with Jenny earlier that it's as tall as him! And that he can swing it around really fast!" Farah remembers the reward and starts thinking of what to ask her friend as if she's won already.
"Eh, I don't really remember... but probably? I know he can swing it fast though. What did you bet on anyways?" David was uncertain but gave a reaffirming answer. He was curious though, as to what the wager was. If it was large enough, maybe he'd sneak to Uriel's cabin to look for the answer tonight.
"It was a favor from each side!" Farah answers concisely and stares at Barbara waiting for an answer, with her spoon still digging into her food.
"Huh! Well, don't be too hard on the kid then. If you one day owe her a favor, she might return it tenfold!" David gives Farah a fair warning while Barbara continues trying to recall the length of the great scythe the giant pastor wields.
"Hm... I think it might just fall a little short, actually." Barbara finally comes out of her thought and gives her input on the matter. Well, since neither of them can remember the size too clearly, this question will have to wait another day for the answer.
"Let's leave it for Jane to find out. Wait, if she went to ask that old bas- pastor, won't he get her to train under him and groom her into another religion maniac?! This is urgent!" Having a sudden realization, Barbara almost spits out a word that she wouldn't normally say around kids. It must have seemed truly urgent to her, making her panic in this way.
"Hahaha, you are so cute sweetie Barb. Let her be! There's not much to lose, and a lot to gain from training under Uriah. Speaking of, I think I will talk to him tomorrow and bring him to the chief's office to organize a serious patrol team, in case something like this happens again. What do you think?" David brushes Barbara's concern aside, clearly having not learned the lesson from the morning. He then tells his wife and kid what he has been thinking about since most of his vegetable field burned down. He's been fairly free outside of replanting the seeds lately, so he had time to think. Besides, what kind of man would he be if he doesn't try to find a way to spar and train with a strong guy! The main objective really is about driving dangerous animals out, though.
"You're just hungry for blood, aren't you? Sigh, well, remember to ask for a salary. Explain it to Farah too, since her dad is no longer going to be home all the time." Barbara immediately sees through David's words to the truth that he's itching for a fight. She is too, but she'd never admit it, so she just replied shortly and left the explanation to her husband.
"...That's it? Nothing like "I want to join too!" or anything like that?" David is absolutely flabbergasted by his wife not telling him that she wants to go too. After all, he knows that she likes to battle as much as him, if not more.
"Don't be silly! I... of course I want to join, but I have a family to take care of. I can't just leave our little Farah alone, can I?" Barbara pats her daughter's fluffy head. 'I might have said a little too much, but it's the truth. I really want to go though... I could swap with him and go once every other day! Sigh, I should have thought more before I spoke. How can I suggest this to him now?'
"How about I go every other day and you go on the days I don't? The salary will be split even if I went alone anyways. Might as well get some rest days." David, seeing his wife's expression change from anger, to realization, then to dejection, suggested. His mind is filled with useless and dirty thoughts, though. 'This is probably what she had in mind. Saving a damsel in distress, I'm so cool! She'll definitely be nicer tonight~'
"Mommy? Daddy? What's a patrol team?" Farah asked her parents since she's never learned of the term before. Her expression confused, with both her eyebrows twisted upwards and a protruding mouth. The description may sound funny, but it's cute when a little girl like Farah is making it.
"Ah, I'll explain it to you later, dear. Let me talk to daddy first. Dave! If you do it like that, one of us will end up being with Farah on her days off more than the other since she goes to learn every other day too. Let's swap every ten days, so we can take our time to rest too. What do you say?" Barbara adjusts the offer for concerns over the time they will spend with their child.
"Deal! So, Farah, here's what patrolling is. You basically just walk around a place to look if there's anything dangerous." David explained to Farah in simple terms.
"Eh, why, daddy? Isn't that dangerous?" Farah asked with confusion. She's been taught to run away when she sees something dangerous. Yet her parents are looking for dangerous things, how weird!
"Farah sweetie, you see, we look for dangerous things to prevent them from hurting the people in our village. Basically, we're the shield. It's also not that dangerous because we're strong. We're also taking even stronger people and training together to become even stronger." Barbara calmly explains to her child. Though a little lengthy, Farah understands what her mother is saying very well. So they're walking around to solve problems!