Chương 52: Talk with Emily

Day 89 Dydd Llun Arturos 7th (Monday July 7th) The next dawn indeed came early. I was still groggy and even had a minor twinge in my back before I did some stretching. Apparently, even level 20 didn't stop me from getting sore after sitting on horseback for nine hours. Luckily, after some quick stretching, I was back to as good as new as far as muscle tightness went. Unfortunately, I didn't have any coffee. The cost was exorbitant.

Even if I ended up farmer wealthy, I was not going to be able to afford a regular cup of coffee. Usually, I didn't need any caffeine. I was in bed by ten at the latest, but on occasion it would have been nice. I had talked with Emily about tea, and it was far less expensive than coffee, but even when she was a child, and had been what passed for middle class in this world, her family only drank it when it was cold. The three of us did our normal morning chores.

I helped Colin find the duck and goose eggs, while Emily collected the chicken eggs. Then Colin and I went out and checked on the crops. The corn was six feet tall at this point, and was well past needing weeding. It had choked everything else out once it got big enough to dominate its plot. We had been very diligent about weeding the wheat when it was short, and the field looked great, if you overlooked the sickly color of the stalks. The wheat was just beginning to acquire the earliest hints of a golden hue.

The potatoes were past their blooming stage, and the field was completely covered in a low carpet of green. The potatoes were growing well underground. This was the time of year when back on Earth, we would have made a quick trip up to our mountain cabin to get a short summer vacation before harvest truly began. I decided the potatoes didn't need any watering, and we were done watering the wheat for the year.

After checking the bottom of the cornfield to make sure that water had gone down each row fully, I moved the water from the first half of the field to the second half. My water boxes had worked great, and once I got the rows split up properly so all the rows were getting an equal amount of water, it didn't take too long to put boards in to stop water on the first half and then pull boards on the second to let water out.

Thanks to the last trip into town, we had more bacon, so we had corn grits, eggs, and bacon for breakfast. I asked Emily when she wanted to have our talk, and she said she had planned for a picnic dinner at the river. I would have preferred earlier, since I was prone to brooding over important topics, but I didn't want to be pushy. Colin was going to head east to look for beaver dams on a stream a few miles from the homestead. He took his rifle in case he saw one, but they were nocturnal, so that was unlikely.

He also brought a few store-bought traps that the Newtons had bought him for his Class Day present. Emily wanted to do some more pickling today. She still had some carrots that hadn't been pickled, and there were some early green beans and bell peppers ready as well. It sounded like the bell peppers were the closest things to what I would recognize as sweet pickles. I asked her to do a jar with the peppers cut up super small. Maybe it would work as a relish.

I was still a little shocked at how few sauces people used in this world. Mustard was a thing, and we would have some this fall, but ketchup wasn't a thing despite tomatoes being widely used. Tomato sauces were also common with pastas, yet people didn't widely use straight-up condiments. When she and Colin had been in town, she'd bought some peppercorns, and we had plenty of garlic ready to throw in.

During the last big supply run I'd bought a bunch of stoneware crocks that were pre-filled with a white wine vinegar solution that already had the correct amount of salt in it for pickling. This was big business for the Albion Trade Guild. They would buy the crocks back at a steep discount, or an alchemist, that being me, could fill them with water and purify any moisture in them to get rid of the vinegar smell. The guild would buy them back for a gold and a silver if they were purified.

I had helped my grandmother make sauerkraut a couple of times as a kid, and that had just involved chopping up heads of cabbage and throwing in some salt, a little vinegar, and then packing the cabbage as tight as you could into a stoneware crock. It only took a little while for it to ferment and be ready to eat. We never boiled anything. Emily's method involved boiling the vinegar before submerging the veggies in the mixture and packing them in tight.

At home, during this time period, they had used animal bladders, or even leather, and then pounded the lid on tight to ensure an airtight seal. Here, there was a cool little bit of magic involved. The Albion Trade Guild put a one time use sealing enchantment on the lids of the crock pots. The enchanting process was pretty amazing to me. They used two runes, one that was the actual sealing enchantment, and the other that activated it. The activation rune was on the jar, and the sealing rune on the lid.

To ensure that they weren't accidentally activated before you meant to, the guild artisans had put two grooves in the crock pot and had protrusions on the lid. For shipping, the lids were rotated 180 degrees from how they needed to sit to activate. That wasn't one hundred percent foolproof, but as long as you didn't have a child playing with the crocks, you were usually fine.

Kids were taught from an early age not to mess with them; in this world that was usually done with a switch or a belt so it didn't take too many lessons to teach most kids. The actual enchantment on the lid was only a one-time use, but if the crock was still in good shape it could be re-used because the activation rune was still good. The guild bought them back for a small amount. I had fun learning how to properly pack the crocks with the veggies, garlic, and peppercorn.

We had some that were mixed with several different veggies, and some that were on their own. Since I really loved sauerkraut, I helped Emily make several crocks with it. We didn't use the vinegar; we tried the traditional method I'd used with my grandmother. We made comfortable small talk, and Emily seemed totally at ease with me, but I couldn't help but over-analyze all our interactions. The only serious conversation we had all morning was about Colin and his future prospects as a Woodsman.

Emily was still spooked about him going across the river. Everyone in Weston had assured me it was safe, but I just told her that I'd tell him to stick to this side for now. He needed to get a bunch of beaver pelts collected, and there were plenty of places to trap them inside the borders. Spot and Buck had only brought him a couple of coyote pelts in the last few weeks, so he would need to start setting up traps on unclaimed homestead plots for his repeatable quests.

The legality of that method was a bit grey, but there wasn't anyone out here to police it. Big game hunting was really the only thing he theoretically needed to go across the river for. Well, that and the delicious blackberries we'd be preserving this week! But they were within sight of the homestead, so that didn't really count. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

I would also need to dig out and build a storeroom in the next bit to provide a good place to keep everything cool. We had extra lumber, and now that Colin also had a class, he wouldn't get tired too quickly. We should be able to dig out a root cellar in just a couple of days. We would need a much larger one for the potatoes we'd keep behind to eat and use for seed next year.

When dinnertime finally rolled around, Emily left a plate of food for Colin when he returned from trapping, and I packed a blanket and basket of food down to the river. It was sunny, and frankly a little hot at ninety-two degrees, but not all of my sweat was from the sun. I felt some serious butterflies in my stomach, and my heart felt like it was beating a thousand times per minute as we took the short walk from the cabin.

The grass down here was still mostly green, and the bees were still out buzzing about, but the smells had gone from fresh springtime to summer over the last week. You could smell the dust in the air as the ground dried out. Our hard-packed trail that we'd walked into the grass was getting dusty, and my boots weren't quite so shiny as the dust settled onto them. There were still some wildflowers around, but the landscape wasn't quite such a vibrant green anymore.

When we got to the large sandbank, I set out the blanket and put down the basket. I was grateful that it was close to ten degrees cooler down here, thanks to the cold meltwater that fed this river. As Emily brought out a loaf of bread, along with some sliced ham and a small brick of what Emily called store cheese, which tasted just like cheddar to me, I waited patiently. I really looked at her closely for the first time.

I'd obviously looked at her in the past; we saw each other daily, but since I didn't want to be a creep, I had never truly stared for any period of time. As she noticed me staring at her, her cheeks went red, but she didn't say anything. She really was a pretty woman. Her features were beginning to soften as she put some weight back on. She had let her long hair down tonight, so she didn't look as severe as she sometimes did when she had her hair back in a tight bun. Her dark blue eyes were my favorite feature.

The bridge of her nose was freckled, and her cheeks were slightly windburned from a life spent outdoors, but that just added to her prettiness in my eyes. She wasn't stunning, but she was pretty in a way that felt earned, not manufactured. Once everything was set out, she said, "So." I smiled and said, "So indeed. First, I want you to know I am one hundred percent serious about buying you and Colin your own homestead if you'd prefer that. I should have a ton of gold after harvest.

I could buy you one, and everything you need, and still buy myself a couple more plots. We haven't known each other for very long, and I know you're a widow. Hell, this is just ridiculous in a lot of ways. I just happened to get portaled in here for some damned reason. It could have been anywhere." She put her hand up and, with a small laugh, said, "John, stop." When she saw I wasn't going to continue on, she said, "I believe you. I really do.

I know you are not from this world, and things are done very differently in your home. But, I could never ask for a better match. I have spent far more time with you than I spent with my late husband before we were married." She shook her head.

"Far more time. I believe I told you I only met him a couple of times before we were married. You have shown yourself to be a man of integrity, and you have welcomed Colin and I onto this homestead as partners." She looked down and tore off a chunk of bread, but didn't take a bite. Then she looked up at me again.

"I certainly did not intend to remain a spinster for my entire life. Once Colin had his classes, I intended to inquire about potential husbands. I loved my husband, he was a good man. But he would not have expected me to stay unmarried, and if I had been the one to die, I would have expected him to remarry quickly." She laughed a little bitterly and shook her head.

"He was a good farmer, but he was definitely not offering to help in the kitchen. I don't know how they would have survived if he failed to remarry quickly."

"Colin has his class, and he can do his own thing now. From what I have seen, he will be able to remain here," she looked up at me to confirm her words.

"He will," I said.

"If he wants to, I plan to adopt him." She smiled and said, "You are certain? Inheritance laws say that if you adopt him, any children we have together would fall behind him in the inheritance. He would be considered the oldest child and get primary inheritance."

"Yeah, so about that," I said.

"I don't know if you are wanting more children or not. But, I can't father children. I know we haven't talked much about my ex-wife before, but a big reason we were no longer married was because both of us had issues that made having kids impossible." Seeing her look of confusion, I quickly added, "Everything works, I swear! I just have some other issues we don't need to go into detail about here." Seeing my expression, Emily laughed out loud.

Once she had settled herself, she said, "You should have seen the look on your face. I am sure you can explain that more later on." I rubbed the back of my neck and said, "Yeah. I'm not sure where science is here on how reproduction works exactly, but we can talk about it another time."

"Now," I continued.

"Even if we could have more children, I would be quite a bit older before they were old enough to inherit. Colin would still be the best choice, even if it was just as a caretaker if he wanted to go off and explore. I'd be in my mid fifties." She smiled and said, "Mid fifties are not as old as you think they are. Remember, even at level 20 you will live to be a hundred, maybe up to a hundred-twenty, and you will not feel like an old man until you are in your eighties. You should evolve next year.

That will get you to a hundred and fifty, even if you never level again. At level 40 you should live to be close to two hundred." She snapped her fingers, as if remembering something, and continued on, "Emperor Harold has been ruling for a hundred and four years now. He was fifty-five when he was crowned. They say he is level 50 or 60. He should live another hundred years, probably even longer."

"Wow," I said.

"So have there only been like ten kings or emperors ever, I swear I've read about a lot more?" Emily shook her head.

"No, most emperors are not crowned until they are well over a hundred. And he only made it past level 40 thanks to the grand quest. His father was unusually powerful, and Harold was a genius. He had five classes over level 20 when he ascended. Most people think that is why the Grand Quest triggered."

"Ah," I said.

"Sorry, I got us off topic. If we're getting married, I should just let you know now that's gonna be a common occurrence. Feel free to tell me to focus, or ignore my ramblings." Emily smiled. She nodded and said, "I have noticed that tendency. Now, back to our marriage. I feel like we get along well, and we have similar goals. I will manage the finances, and keep things running smoothly. You have to do the planting. That is necessary to get your bonuses.

As we grow you will want to hire farm hands to do the weeding, and help with other tasks, but no matter how large we grow, you have to plant. That is what usually limits the size of a farm."

"How do lords and whatnot do it?" I asked.

"Do they not need to actually plant?"

"No," Emily said.

"Their tasks are often much more like how mine will evolve to. Balance the ledgers, and whatnot. They often hire level 20 Farmers to do the planting. It works for them because of their titles." That made sense to me. I could also see how the leveling system actually limited how large farms could get, and why a lot of people were held back in their own leveling, even if there wasn't anything nefarious going on.

If your parents had you when they were eighteen, and you had to wait until they were eighty before they were ready to retire, that could seriously stunt your growth.

"Getting back on topic," Emily said firmly.

"We will want to form a prenup. I will speak to Colin about you adopting him. I am uncertain if he will have any negative reaction at all, but if he does, it will be minor. He loved his father, but not to the point that it should be seen as a betrayal if he chooses to be adopted."

"Alright," I said.

"But, what about the romance topic? I mean, I don't know, it just feels strange to me. We're not teenagers. I assume you're going to be okay with sharing a bed and all of that?" Emily snorted.

"I know I come across as very reserved, and I try to maintain proper dignity. But much of that is because that was what was expected of me from the time I was a girl. Ginny gets away with things because she's Ginny. But part of the reason that the Newtons are so far out is because Ginny offends many people with her personality." She sighed, looked at me, and continued speaking, "From the little we have spoken about your world, I know that differs from how things are.

I will endeavor to be less formal, but I assure you I will be happy to share a bed with you." It was my turn to blush at her final words. She quickly finished that last sentence with, "Once we are married of course." I laughed.

"Of course. We will be paid as soon as the potatoes are brought in, right?" Emily nodded.

"Yes, I believe we are supposed to meet with Wizard Johnstone this week to go over those details."

"Good," I said.

"Then hopefully I can get us our farmhouse right away. We won't have to be too cramped for too long."

"Oh," Emily replied with a mischievous grin.

"Colin will be sleeping in the small cabin the day we are married."