"What do you mean?"
"Kinemon, how's the gold mining?"
Then, old man Kemon immediately faced Froilan with a smile. "Yes, Froi. We're almost done mining as you instructed us to do. Three carts are already full; we only need to process them and make them into gold bars."
"Very well, if we have more than enough gold, we can start making them into bars and sell them to the City since the Dragon problem has already been resolved."
"Just like what I heard," Kinemon left us with a smile.
The both of us were shrouded in silence as we watched him join the other man in manipulating a cart on its track full of unprocessed gold.
"Is there something I don't know?"
I faced Froilan and found him staring at me with a puzzling smile.
"Well, Kinemon used to tell me about a hero when I was a kid. He said, "A hero will appear out of nowhere, and then the hero will save us from our misery. Do you remember the rumors that I told you, Boss?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"That was it. I had long stopped believing that a hero would come to save us, but that changed when you arrived, Boss. Even though you didn't seem like a human, I believe you're the hero we were waiting for."
"Your blatant honesty really amazes me that it left me with no words to say, Froilan."
"Heh, not all humans are heroes, boss," he replied, winking at me.
After touring the cave, Froilan led us to what they call farmland.
There were grasses above human height, but I could clearly see the fruit-bearing trees there. I could see more beastskins and demi-humans working on plowing the grasses.
But when did they come here? When did they start cleaning the land? What happened in my three days of sleep?
He walked towards the location of the farmland and shifted back to me while walking back.
"Father has very strict rules in our mine systems; that's why we couldn't get the chance to touch anything in there, Boss, but the rules in farmland were different, although we were still working on clearing the area."
"Uhm, does this farmland always bear fruit even if no one has tended it for years?"
"Yes," Froilan replied. "The fairies blessed this farm before they went extinct. Do you want to try the Apis?"
"Sure. Let me try it."
He walked towards the nearest apple tree and picked one before giving it to me. The apple was so red, and it looked tasty.
"So this is Apis?"
Froilan nodded.
I took a bite and took my time chewing it. The texture and the taste were the same as the apples but sweeter.
"Wow, this is sweet," I commented.
"Right? The fairy who blessed this farmland made sure every tree would produce high-quality fruits. Although the farm was neglected since the invasion due to the risk of the dragon, it didn't stop bearing fruit."
I see.
"How many years since the invasion?"
"About twenty years ago."
"And those in power didn't touch this farm?"
"No. They couldn't."
"How come?"
"The farmland has its own way of defending itself."
"Really?!"
My eyes widened. Don't tell me these trees were alive.
"The trees you were seeing were all alive. They sustain their long life by absorbing the blessed soil."
I wanted to see one tree move and geek at it, but I think that won't happen soon, right? I cleared my throat.
"Uhm, since when did you start farming again?"
"Since the workers stopped sensing the presence of the dragon."
"What workers?"
"I'll call their leader, Boss," Froilan smiled and stepped away.
"Earrina!"
Suddenly, a woman who looked exactly like Raiden but dressed differently appeared before him.
Wow! Is she a fairy, too!?
"The boss wanted to meet the workers in our farmland," Froilan said.
She walked toward me and then smiled at me.
"Welcome to the farmland, Mister Troy. Thank you for slaying the dragon and giving us the opportunity to work again."
Her big, bluish eyes stared at me, and I felt like she was staring directly into my soul. She's not like Raiden at all.
"Are you a fairy?"
"I'm a Farming Fae, Mister Troy."
Oh, a Fae. Aren't they the same?
"Would you like to come in and pick fruits that you like? We're also about to harvest some of our vegetables and fruits."
How nice! I could finally see what a fae/fairy looks like while harvesting some vegetables. What can life offer that is better than this?
I joined the crowd of farmers, and they said their greetings upon seeing me. I smiled at them in response and approached the Fae leader.
She's elegantly sitting in front of the small tomato tree, picking the fruits one by one and putting them in the basket she's holding, which she took.
I squatted a meter away from her, easily picked the entire tree, and put them in my basket.
"Just be careful, your hand might get hurt, Mister Troy," she commented with a smile on her face.
I smiled back and continued to harvest.
This is the very first time doing this shit!
City boy, I know. But harvesting isn't bad.
Picking some vegetables while directly under the sun, with the occasional laughter to the jokes of the farmers with me.
And to my surprise, Fenrir didn't mind the casual teasing of the farmers; occasionally, I would see him smiling with them.
The farmers were comfortable with his presence, which I honestly didn't expect due to his high and sarcastic personality, which I kind of regret summoning him.
I enjoyed every moment of it that I lost track of time.
After a few hours, the farmers finally decided to take a lunch break.
I stared at Erina, who was still sitting on one of the tomato trees several meters away from me. I walked towards her to call her for lunch.
"You know? When you bragged about harvesting earlier, that's the exact opposite of what I expected you would do. Are you done talking with the tomatoes?"
I've harvested several tomato trees, and Erina didn't move from the same tree I saw her picking earlier.
She put some of her hair at the back of her ears and stared at me. A smile emerged on her face. "I can harvest all of these in one move of my finger, Mister Troy, but don't you think that doing it like this is more amusing?"
I handed my hand to her. "The most amusing thing I have seen in this place is you."
She grabbed my hand and used it to stand up.
Man! It should be illegal to have such a soft hand even if she claimed that she was a farmer.
"I hope it's a compliment, Mister Troy."
I chuckled.
"It surely is."
But she responded by narrowing her eyes. "You are smiling like a big pervert."
I released her hand and scratched the back of my head. "Oh, my bad."
The farmers called for us to join them in their lunch. They lay the food on a pot over the grassland under the shelter of a huge tree at the edge of the farmland.
The farmers were scattered throughout the area; some were stationed at the far part of the farmland, so most of them couldn't join us. The only ones with us were the farmers stationed in the nearby tomato farm; about 30 of them were there.
"Sir Froilan, Boss Troy, try the food I brought, my wife cooked it, this is the best food you would taste in this town, maybe only second to the famous chef's cooking."
"The only food that tastes good for you is your wife's cooking, Kinemon. Although I agree, your wife's cooking is quite good." Erina responded as she sat on the grass.
The farmers with us laughed out while laying down their pots at the center.
Kinemon chuckled. "Minda would be very grateful when she heard that praise coming from you, Lady Erina."
"Here, serve yourself, Mister Troy."
"Thanks."
While eating, the farmers were quite chatty with us about the official farm opening after it was shut down for years, while I just listened to their stories and laughed at their funny jokes.
After eating lunch with them, we decided to leave and go to our next destination for the day.
"What do you think about it, Boss?" Froilan stared at me.
"It's impressive."
He smiled and nodded.
"Those people, they like doing their job, don't they?"
"That's fairly expected, BossBoss. It has been a while."
"And they become like this after the dragon's death?"
"Yes."
Suddenly, an odd feeling of being watched made me stop talking to Froilan. I looked around and saw Faes were staring at me. I swear, I think they had the same face as Raiden, or was I imagining things? I'm not sure, either.
Or maybe they knew about my kind, just like Bruno the dragon?
I don't really know, but their kind of stares were unsettling.