Aimless Ascension

Days went by as Stormhold shaped into its ideal frame. Small wheat started to grow on the field, still far from brimming with greenery.

Gale finished with the fences, which stopped most animals from trespassing and ruining the field. Weirdly, a few of the wild beasts tried to trespass into the field in the middle of the night, which led him to consider the number would only rise as the crops grew more.

This was another reason why the farmers didn't try to grow silver-rank crops, as it would call even larger or possibly stronger wild beasts into the farm.

Well, he planned to introduce some illusion formation on the fences, which should be enough to keep them away even when he tries to cultivate silver-rank grains.

Anyway, for the last few days, Gale's work had been only scribing strengthening and augmentation scripts in the ironwoods as the other workers built the house with them. Although Ironwood was tough enough to last a hundred years in normal condition, Gale still scripted it to make them ten times more durable. It didn't cost much from his end.

Thankfully, his mastery over the art would let him be a bit quicker than what the builders could build at that time.

Throughout all this construction, Gale had already spent about twenty thousand gold coins already, and he would need to spend another large sum like that one till the completion. Well, it was large to most people, but not to him.

Gale was mostly done with scribing for today and for the following couple of days. After weeding out the field and irrigating the field another time, he would have time to visit his disciple again and give her some advice.

He hadn't taught her anything yet, other than throwing some stuff at her. If he kept it at that, she would probably wonder he was a sorry excuse for a master.

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The workers had left early today, finishing their job. Vale was on the mountain again, probably enjoying his hunting. He'll definitely bring in some meat for him to cook. Let's just hope it wouldn't be anything ridiculous like a five hundred kilograms boar like the last time.

Gale whistled his way back to the house, carrying random stuff like farming tools, empty plates and bowls where he left food and water for birds.

He was just cleaning them, whistling in some familiar rhythm, when he felt a presence approaching from behind.

"I didn't know you can sing too," a famine voice told him, "Mysterious Farmer Expert."

Gale turned his head to find a familiar maiden who he had only seen in terrible blood-tattered clothes with terrible wounds. However, currently, the girl didn't bore any signs of all those wounds, though they were serious enough to not heal within a couple of weeks without a miraculous healing potion.

Anyway, Sumei wore a traditional white robe that highlighted her hourglass figure perfectly. She was tall and somewhat plump for her age, with an oval exterior that seemed to lack ornaments terribly. Although it hadn't taken away any beauty from her face.

She had braided her hair like a common town girl, though a few strands were sticking out after whatever she went through.

"You don't recognise me?" Sumei, the mysterious wounded girl who came to his house once in the middle of the night, said.

"I recognised you fine," Gale said. "Just didn't imagine I'd be seeing you so soon. Have your wounds healed enough to move around?"

"They weren't perfectly fine," she admitted, blushing a little. "It was, after all, taken care of by the mysterious expert. I can move around fine. Even I'm surprised at the potency of the treatment."

She had a beauty mark below her lips and a dimple that lit up every now and then to steal the hearts of teenagers.

"Alas! I was too devastated to see how this mysterious expert treated me," Sumei said, "that I could imitate it to heal faster."

"The mysterious expert had to bear some air of mystery, after all," Gale said with a laugh.

Gale narrowed his eyes slightly. This girl was clearly flirting with him, and he was in the mind to do the same, though he didn't know how much would be appropriate for a conservative culture like theirs.

He couldn't just say they could revisit the treatment anytime she wanted, though it would be much preferable in the south.

"So you already know my name," Sumei said. "Why don't we still introduce ourselves again?"

"Nah," Gale said, returning to his cleaning. "I'd rather prefer Mysterious Farmer Expert."

"So you admit to being a mysterious expert?"

"Who knows," Gale said, projecting an exaggerated air of mysticism. "Perhaps it was someone else who treated you, and I'm just his doppelgänger, who takes care of common things like cleaning the dishes, farming and cooking."

"Did anybody ever tell you, your sense of humour is weird?"

"Well, you aren't the first," Gale agreed. "Anyway, what brings you to this humble farmer's cottage?"

"Humble?" Sumei raised an eyebrow and gestured towards the infrastructure where his mansion was taking form. "That doesn't seem humble to my eyes."

"It is humble in my heart," Gale chuckled. "Anyway, you aren't from around here, are you?"

Sumei shook her head in agreement.

"Were you training in the mountains when you got those wounds?"

"Somewhat like that."

"You were alone?"

"Isn't everyone?" Sumei laughed with that killer dimple. "But true, it seemed like a bad idea to train alone in the mountains."

"As long as you understand, though, you look like that kind of girl who will still jump into troubled water even after knowing the danger."

"What gave the wrong impression?"

"You fled from the bed bearing all those serious wounds. No normal patient would have the willpower or find the necessity to do something so crazy in the middle of the night."

"I deemed it necessary."

"You don't trust people very much, do you?" Gale narrowed his eyes.

"I trust as much as a stranger can be trusted," Sumei answered.

That's a bit cynical for a girl of her age, though he couldn't say it was a bad thing. Gale couldn't help but wonder what she had gone through to become this cynical.