Chương 85: 84: New Routines

Chwefror 16th (February) Early the next morning, Emily and I spent some time in bed together talking before we got up for the morning, just as we did most mornings. It helped us plan the day.

"Well?" I asked.

"Well, indeed," she said with a smile.

"How're you feeling about things?" I asked. She looked up at me from where her head had been lying on my chest.

"I must admit I did not expect to be the mistress of a thriving multi-plot homestead this time last year." She smiled up at me, then continued on." And I very much did not expect to be involved in an empire wide conspiracy."

"That makes two of us," I said, looking down at her with a chagrined smile.

"But how do you feel about the situation right now, for this year? Do you have enough people? Are you going to be able to level up your Bookkeeper class?" She put her head back down into a more natural position for the way she was lying, and snuggled up against me to think. After a brief pause, she said, "I believe I have enough domestic help. I am going to assume you have all the people you need since you also have your tractor. Are you going to work on alchemy today?"

"Yeah, later. I'm supposed to meet with Rupert this morning. He has some skills and classes to give me. He said he'll run me through the Wizard class stuff. Apparently there's also a War Wizard military class to take. I've gotta admit, the way classes work sometimes just doesn't make sense. There should be more classes. I haven't seen anything in the secret parts of the almanac about that yet, but if they've messed with levels and quests, they probably restricted classes too." Emily looked troubled.

"Are you going to ask Rupert about it?" I nodded, "Of course." She smiled then said, "Alright, well I am going to work on the garden plan some more. Then we will plant some seeds and place them in your second potato cellar if you could get the windows open and the heat enchantments up and running." I gave her a kiss, then told her I'd get it done before I spoke with Rupert. When I got downstairs, I said hello to the ladies, who were throwing coal in the ovens to get them ready for breakfast.

We'd only be having potatoes twice a week now, once for breakfast and once for dinner. So I wouldn't be involved in the cooking every day. We didn't have enough people to justify me getting involved when none of the women wanted me crowding their space. Laeth was sitting at one of the benches, and when I came down, he stood up, almost at parade rest, while he waited for me to say hi to the ladies. Once I was done, I walked over and looked him over, giving him a smile and a nod.

He had dark brown hair and eyes, and he was about five feet eight inches tall. For a young man, he was already muscular. He had a Laborer's build for sure. His wispy moustache was terrible, maybe worse than Colin's. If he didn't either shave it, or begin to grow some more facial hair soon, I would have to say something. It would be unethical to just ignore it.

I thought about waiting to see if he'd say something to me first, but he looked like an earnest, and serious youngster, and I wasn't looking to pull any power play moves, so I said, "How are we this morning Mr Calloway?"

"I'm good, and ready to work Mr Jacobsen," he replied in an earnest tone. I nodded.

"Great. I'm going to want you to work with me most days. Unless you have a special talent or skill?"

"Like what sir?" he asked.

"Do you have any animal, or equipment skills? Anything like that? What are your classes by the way?" I replied. He nodded.

"Oh, I'm just a Laborer, sir. But Priest Lewys thought I'd do okay out here with you. My da is a soldier out of Riverton."

"Then why aren't you a soldier," I asked.

"Don't people usually follow in their parents' footsteps if they can?" He grimaced.

"My da and I don't get along so good. My ma died when I was young. I only stuck around cause I had to go somewhere. Da can be a bit…" He hesitated before saying, "Mean. Once I was old enough, I came out to Weston. I was working as a laborer for the Trade Guild, but I didn't have any classes to help with wagons or anything."

"Alright, good enough for me," I said.

"I don't know how long it might take to get you a Farmer type class, but you've signed the Farmhand contract. If you work hard, I'll make sure you get a supporting class. You do have the militia class right?" He nodded.

"Yes sir, I'm with Lieutenant Crooks."

"Good, I said.

"K, well, follow me. We're going to go check on Sean, then turn on the heat enchantments and open up the windows to my second potato cellar before breakfast. After that I'll give you a proper tour of the place, then figure out a plan for you for the next few days before we get ready to plant." When we got to the barn, Sean was happy. All four of the does had now given birth, and they'd all had twins. There were five females and three males.

We had four to six months before we'd find out if any of them were Herd Leaders. Now, Sean was watching the pigs to see if they were ready to go into labor. It should be any day now. He and Zack had made new cribs for the pigs that would fit in the barn. It was regularly hitting 45-50 degrees Fahrenheit out, but things were pretty muddy with the recent rains, so we left the pigs in the barn to farrow. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Pumba, our boar, spent most of his time outside already, but he didn't seem to care that his sows were away from him. The birds were still spending their nights in the barn, but they went outside every day. The horses were doing the same. It was still only February, or Chwefror, so there wasn't enough grass to keep them fed. Luckily, our grass hay supply was still going strong after our bumper grass "crops" last year.

Adding in eight draft horses to the three riding horses we now had, along with the cows, would probably mean we wouldn't have enough extra pasture to cut any hay this year. Oh well, hard to complain about success leading to other issues. Laeth and I went and checked on our new draft horses, who were actually in the stables, a place our riding horses rarely spent any time. The massive Highlands Draft horses were impressive creatures.

Our riding horses were large for what I was used to back on Earth, but these horses made them look small. They each stood between eighteen and nineteen hands tall. That meant that at the shoulders, each of these horses was taller than I was. They also each weighed right around a ton. They weren't a uniform color like our riding horses. They ranged from chestnut to midnight black. They all had white fetlocks covering their huge hooves, but their manes and tails had some variation though.

The two midnight-black horses had black manes and tails, while the other four had white manes and tails to match their fetlocks. Sean hadn't fed them yet, so Laeth and I gave them some grain and hay. Laeth asked if he could be in charge of taking care of the draft horses since he'd already done that when he worked for the trade guild. I didn't see why that would be an issue. I told him it could be his before breakfast chore. After breakfast he'd be with me on farm duty each day.

When we were just about done feeding, I heard the breakfast bell ring. I loved that bell. When I was a kid, my grandmother would ring her own bell, telling us it was time to come in for dinner. Honestly, the communal meal times might be my favorite part of this new/old lifestyle. We all took our boots off on the covered porch, so we didn't drag mud into the manor.

The weather was pretty warm for this time of year, but we'd had a rainier than average last couple of weeks so we were definitely dragging mud around on our boots. It felt a bit strange just walking in and grabbing my own plate, without helping dish out food for everyone else first, but I was happy with my eggs, bacon, biscuits, and croissant-style bread with blackberry preserves. There was milk and tea to drink. What I wouldn't give for a cup of coffee, though!

I doubted there was any chance that was more than a pipe dream any time in the near future. Maybe I could find some fruit trees and throw them in the greenhouse to have the occasional glass of orange juice. Future goals. I didn't always have to take things one day at a time in my mind. As I grabbed my plate, I saw the soldiers had claimed their spot at one of the tables.

The farmhands, including Laeth, were in another section, and the Blacksmith, Seamus O'Roarke, was sitting by himself on this first morning on the homestead. So, I decided to go sit next to him and get to know him better. As I approached the opposite side of the table from him, I asked, "Mind if I sit here?" He looked up at me with a smile, and smoothed his large handlebar moustache with one hand, while pointing to the seat in a gesture of ascent with his other hand."

"How are you this morning?" I asked.

"And how was the forge?"

"I'm fine," he said.

"And the forge'll do." He started telling me about some minor adjustments he'd like made. He wanted a larger coal storage area and some extra shelves in the workshop. He was happy with the new bellows, but wanted someone assigned to help him run them a few times a week. The entire time he was telling me what he wanted, he gestured with his hands as he described where he wanted things.

"I think I can make all of that happen," I said after he was done telling me everything he wanted.

"You can talk with Zack about the building stuff, he's going to be our official handyman. In fact, he's talked about wanting a Crafting class. If he'll sign a long-term contract I'll look into purchasing him one and getting him an apprenticeship once all this stuff with the goblins is done." Seamus raised his eyebrows in surprise at that.

"Tha's quite the investment, if I do say." I nodded.

"If people show they can be trusted, and that they're hard workers, I'm more than willing to support them. I got incredibly lucky with the way I was brought over here by the System. I don't know if you've spent much time looking at that big blue tractor sitting out there, but it's given me some incredible advantages. The emperor and bishop have decided I'm useful, so I'm going to help others out too." He rubbed his moustache and nodded as I was speaking. I already liked how emotive our new Blacksmith was.

When I was done talking, he said, "Would tha' include a Blacksmith, fresh off his apprenticeship?" I laughed.

"It sure could. Do you want to tell me about yourself? If not, then no worries, I don't need to know your backstory, just that you can do good work." He shrugged his broad shoulders and put his hands out to the side as he said, "I'm not too interestin'. I'm twenty-two. Me da was a labourer, but I'd wanted to be a blacksmith since I was a wee lad. Couldn't find anyone in the Home Isles willin' ta take me on, so I put me name in the lottery fer one o' the apprenticeship slots out in the Territory."

He pointed at his arms and carried on.

"Ya've no doubt noticed me darker skin. Me family was pushed out to the Isles durin' the wars with the other races. We'd lived alongside the gnomes before the wars, but we were driven out to the Isles after." I started to ask a question, but he put his hand up.

"One second sir, I'm getting to the point." I laughed and told him rambling was a specialty of mine. He could get to his point when he was ready. He smiled and continued speaking, "Those o' us who didn't come over with Arturos and Merlotus aren't exactly treated bad. It was hundreds o' years ago after all, but there aren't any nobles among us. They never gave us land or any real positions o' power. But the Emperor, he knew that'd make us good allies in this Grand Quest.

He gave me, and folk like me, a bunch o' his apprenticeship slots, and then brought us inta the Order o' Merlotus."

"That makes a lot of sense," I said.

"Give a chance to people who don't have extensive ties to the nobility or other rich people."

"Exactly," Seamus said.

"Me da died just before I came over. I dinnae have any other family. There's lots o' us out here like this."

"Well, welcome aboard the Jacobson homestead. I'm not gonna be corny and say you've found your new family, unless you want to of course." I smiled an exaggerated smile.

"But if you're hoping to repay Emperor Harold, you're probably in a good place to do so." Right then, Wizard Rupert finally made his way into the farm manor, looking slightly disheveled. He saw me, then waved excitedly. He grabbed a plate of food and sat down next to Seamus. He grinned at me with a slightly feral grin and said, "Jacobsen, you ready to become a Wizard?"