Writing Hardship farm diaries

[Terdin]

Day 12
Woke up with a sense of urgency, or eagerness might be a better word for it. Clint should have finished upgrading my pickaxe. Now I could go to the mine again. But first, taking care of Belle. The rain took care of the watering today.

The weather forecast was unusual, predicting fair weather for tomorrow's egg festival. I'd completely forgot about that, and hadn't expected the weather report to mention it. I had better run around my fishing chests so I could sell some of the fish. One could often buy something unique at festivals and without money I'd have to wait until next year. I was almost to the door when I turned around. I hadn't checked today's luck. Spirits were very happy, which made me breathe easier. It should make it easier to get to the next elevator floor.

Out to check the crops, finding that nothing was ready to harvest. I made sure to bring my sword, and all the spring onions and green algae I had. With the forest bundle and its need for tree seeds in mind, I didn't want to make field snacks. Maybe I could sell off the gold quality parsnip I had. Put it in the bin. Didn't want to sell the others. They were better eaten, or processed into something more profitable. I knew it was possible, had seen it happening. Just had to figure out how to make it possible.

Before going to see Clint, I made a detour to the fishing chest and picked up most of the fish, apart from the eels. Then glanced towards the nearby forest. It was Friday. The traveling merchant should be there, unless the rain kept her away. Few people went out in the rain unless they had to. I had to. There was no way I could spend an entire day indoors in my tiny cottage without going crazy. Nothing to read apart from my diary, nothing on the TV that could help me while away the hours. No computer or videogame console.

I hurried over to Clint and got my pickaxe, and listened to his complaints, then went to the beach to check the tidal pools. Two sea urchins and two pieces of coral. There was also the waving of where I could find seeds, 3 more carrot seeds, and the junimo arms beckoning me to another spot where I got three pieces of clay. Two clams and an oyster completed my haul.

When I sold stuff to Willy to afford a rare seed if there was one, I made sure to sell the cheaper fish first, and stopping when I had just over 1000 G. Willy lectured me to have respect for the waters before he let me go.

I hurried to the wagon. It was there. For whatever reason, the wagon was pulled by a pig, which I hadn't noticed the previous time.

The merchant lit up when she saw me. "Good to see you're one of the few to brave the weather. Here's what I've got this time."

The shop inventory was completely different from last time, most of it. And most of it overpriced. 900 G for a droplet of Sap? It made me wary of buying things from her. What was the same was that she only had either one or five of each, and a rare seed. I grabbed it and paid for it as fast as I could, then ran home.

Tried out my upgraded pickaxe on the boulders on the farm, but it was still too lightweight to do anything. The sea urchins and the corals went into the bin, along with the rest of the fish. Rare seed in the chest, and planted the carrot seeds so they'd get one day's watering for free.

Then a dash through the backwoods, stopping only for a leek.

Linus stood under a large tree, and I went to hear how he fared. This weather couldn't be easy to handle, living in a tent. I told him as much.

"Hello. No, I'm used to it. A warm rain is a pleasant way to get clean."

It was a poignant reminder of something I was missing from my former life. "It's the only kind of shower I've had since coming here," I admitted.

He smiled and nodded sagely, as if realizing we were more alike than he'd first thought. I hoped not. I didn't want to live on the edge of society. I wanted a place in it. I almost went north to the mine when I recalled the need for money tomorrow, and went to the fishing chest. Collected my fish and the green algae, leaving only the trash and the roe.

Despite my original intent to get a lot of mining done, it was late afternoon when I entered the mine.

Floor 11
Was surprised to find the ladder close by. I still went a bit further, to see if I could get copper ore or that remaining slime. Two bugs and one ore node. Two bug meats, a white algae, three pieces of copper ore. The node required just two strikes now, which was an improvement. No blockage this time, but the larger chamber beyond was almost all sandy.
Didn't want to risk facing one of those digging monsters, so I took the ladder down.

Floor 12
Three copper nodes, a couple of bugs. No slimes. A fly buzzed in from somewhere, and it took me a good while to kill it. Three bug meat, and seven pieces of copper ore. One piece of quartz just sitting there.
Then I could resume the search for the stairs. Found that the rocks that had needed two strikes to break before needed just one now, making them as easy as the rest of the rocks. One seemingly ordinary rock gave me both copper ore and a piece of coal. The next rock was the one covering the ladder. Went down just as the atmosphere turned ominous, hoping it wouldn't follow me.

Floor 13
The ominous atmosphere didn't follow me, and I didn't need to search for the ladder down. It was in sight behind a few rocks as soon as I set foot in there. Ate some of the better spring onions before taking on the floor.
Killed four bugs and found another three copper nodes. Four bug meat, another white algae for the wild medicine bundle, and nine pieces of copper ore. An earth crystal required me to break a few rocks to get it, but I did that. Again no slimes despite them having been plentiful the time I went from floor 5 to 10. Also no grubs. What had been up with the floors from 1 to 5? Had I been extremely lucky or unlucky that day? Shaking my head I went to the ladder.

Floor 14
Three bugs, two flies that buzzed in from somewhere, two rock crabs, and five copper ore nodes. Just three pieces of bug meat, but two pieces of white algae. Didn't I have one since earlier, or had I eaten it?
As I searched for the ladder, the lack of slimes was starting to bother me, even if it was nice to get a nice supply of bait material, and bugs were a lot easier to kill without getting injured. Grubs didn't fight back, just tried to get away so they could get into an impermeable coccoon and turn into flies. Flies were as difficult to kill as the slimes, and required more careful timing.
Three pieces of coal and a couple of geodes appeared during my search for the ladder. Noticed I had 5 of those on me now. Where had I found the others? I didn't pay much attention to what the rocks looked like, and was surprised when one rock dropped an amethyst. It hadn't looked that special, just been a bit darker.
Finally I spotted the ladder in a corner behind some other rocks, a piece of quartz sitting next to it, as if that ladder - or something else - wanted to reward me for finding it.

Floor 15
At first I thought to take the elevator back up immediately, but the bug and a couple of copper ore nodes distracted me. Then I figured I might as well see if this floor held a slime for me. No such luck, and it was too late to attempt to go any deeper. I returned to the surface, annoyed that I hadn't been able to complete the trial for joining the Adventurer's Guild, but taking solace in knowing I could start from floor 15 now.

I did have some white algae in the chest. Took it with me, left the remaining spring onions and the green algae. Also made sure to take the minerals that Gunther might find interesting. Quartz, Earth Crystal, Topaz, Amethyst. Geodes might give me a few more. Wouldn't be able to hand them in either today or tomorrow, but if I had them in the farm chest, I wouldn't have to make a long detour to the mine before doing anything about it.

It was just 11 pm. Maybe I'd have time to hand the white algae to the Junimo. Ran towards town and entered the community center without thinking. The tension surrounding the fish tank hit me, making me want to flee. Pushing past it I made it to the first scroll and handed in 5 white algae, sensing a slight increase in tension, but nowhere near as bad as the fish tank scroll that I had to pass again on my way out.

It was midnight before I was able to leave the building. More than enough time to pick a couple of daffodils on my way through the park, and a dandelion at the bus stop. I'd spotted Emily going home from work, but I didn't approach her, not wanting to delay both of our bed times, and not wanting to be seen as a creep.

The fish went into the shipping bin, most of the other stuff in the chest. Took out the watering can in preparation for tomorrow. Went inside and lit the fire before sitting down to write about the day, hoping to dry a bit before going to bed.

 

[Terdin]

Day 13 Egg Festival
Woke up feeling great, and checking the cards in my backpack revealed the cause. Mining had increased to level 2 and given me an idea for making a kind of portable staircase that would dig down and force a ladder down to the next floor to appear. Though it did require too many stones to be used recklessly.

Weather forecast rain. Nice. Luck... bad.

Outside, I relized I hadn't checked the mailbox yesterday. One letter from Lewis, reminding me of today's Egg Festival, and that I had time to complete my chores. I picked up the money from the shipping bin. Just over 2000 G, which was a welcome addition. If there wasn't anything I wanted that was cheap enough, I could always use it to upgrade my axe, which reminded me that I had to smelt the ore into bars if I wanted them to do me any good.

I went down to water my crops, noting that the potatoes, kale, and the first batch of carrots, were ready for harvesting. The grown forageables were also ready for picking. As I watered the other crops, a faint music from afar reminded me that the Egg Festival had begun. It made me want to speed up the harvest, but I reminded myself that I didn't need to hurry that much. I had a few more hours before I risked missing it. Ended up with 12 stacks of different quality forage crops, and of the potatoes, one was silver quality, two were base. One of the two plants had grown a second potato.

To save some space in the chest, I used the qualities with the smallest stacks to make new wild seeds, but planting them would have to wait. Maybe I could sell the seeds instead. I could feel them being viable. Brought the scythe to harvest the kale and quite predictable got just the two. Now I could bring the spring crop bundle to one-from-completion, and see what happened when the last part was handed over a few days later.

I glanced towards the exit to the bus stop. Maybe I'd better cash in on the rewards I'd got for the sunfish and the axe. No, not now. If the 2137 I had on hand wasn't enough, I had to wait and see if that item was still sold next year.

The Egg Festival lifted my spirits even before I reached the square. The whimsical decorations featured not just eggs but also the flowers of spring, tulips and blue jazz, in baskets and vases decorated with ribbons in pastel tones. It reminded me that I hadn't bought seeds for either of the spring flowers. No. Right now I'd rather grow stuff that would fill my belly. The flowers might be edible, but probably not tasty, and had so little substance that I would soon feel hungry again.

Pierre sold stuff from a table that I had to pass by. I looked at his wares. Mostly decorations, which could look nice, but would only make my cottage look cluttered. My eyes fell on the small seed section of the table. Not his usual seeds. Strawberry seeds. I looked at the back of one packet. Grows in 8 days, and keeps growing. That meant I should be able to get two harvests from them, maybe even three... No. That would probably require some form of nutrient that sped up its growth time, and I didn't know how to make that. Better to count on just two harvests, and maybe use fertilizer to improve their quality.

"That's a nice choice," Pierre said. "At that price, it's a steal."

I looked at the price tag. 100 G per bag. A steal for whom? I didn't voice my concern. Strawberries would be tastier raw than the vegetables were, even if they wouldn't keep my stomach feeling full. I could really do with something tasty. And with my preservation inscriptions working, I could keep them until I found a way to turn them into seeds. Then I could plant them the first day of Spring next year and get more harvests, and not have to buy more seeds mid-season next year.

"I'll take 21 of the strawberry seeds," I said out loud.

"Just 21?" Pierre looked crestfallen. From the emotions playing across my face he'd obviously counted on making a big sale.

I shrugged. "Can't afford more than that unless you lower the price tag. Won't ask you to do that though." I paid for the seeds and put them away, hoping that the other people who sold things around the valley didn't have anything better to offer.

Shane was nearby, for once happy, proud over how many eggs Marnie's chickens had provided for the festival, and mentioning giving them a nice reward for it.

"That's great! They do deserve it," was all I could bring myself to say. I didn't want to bring down his mood by mentioning the difference to his usual attitude towards me. I gave him a cheery wave as I left.

Clint was busy taking food from a buffet table laden with egg-based foods. His comment didn't fool me. He wanted different food, not just more food.
Gus pointed out the different egg dishes. They smelled so good that I didn't dare eat any. If I started, I might not be able to stop myself, and it would give Haley something to tease me about. Better to wait until more people had eaten their fill.

The other table held a large punch bowl. I was about to ladle up some in a glass when Pam leaned closer and told me she'd added something to the punch. I sniffed at it. She must've added a fruit wine, mead, or some clear, almost odorless spirit, considering how well hidden the alcoholic note was. Was that why Shane was so happy? A positive mindset to begin with, and the alcoholic punch to increase it... That made me glad I hadn't said anything that could've made his mood take an abrupt turn to misery and anger.

Marlon stood nearby. His presence at the festival surprised me. I wanted to bemoan that I hadn't been able to find a 10th slime, but somehow I doubted I'd find much sympathy. Linus stood a bit further away, and expressed his surprise that I came to talk to him as if he belonged. Apparently, no-one else had done so.

It renewed my intention to speak to everyone, seeing what they had to say about the event. Sam had obviously forgotten to take his anti-allergy medicines. Leah appreciating the taste of the punch. I almost told her about Pam adding to it, but didn't. Haley looking forward to the Flower Dance later in Spring, a comment that somehow made me not look forward to it. Abigail looking forward to the egg hunt. The mention gave me faint recollections of participating as a child. Mom usually gave me some reward for trying after the official prize had been handed out.

It made me go over to the two children. Vincent seeming even more excited about it than Abigail, and Jas hoping she'd get at least one egg.

The older generations seemed more happy to have a day off from their normal routines and works and see everyone, even if George grumbled about the festival theme being what it was.

"What should it have been instead?" I asked.

"Leeks, of course!"

"Leek is one of his absolute favorites," Evelyn chimed in.

Didn't I have one still in my backpack? I checked. No. Maybe I should bring him a few and see if it made him less grumpy. I checked the card for the townspeople. The order had changed since last time. Showing them in order of how close I were to them? Robin and Caroline were at the top of the list. Both at 1 heart, but so were Sam, Penny, Shane, and Jodi. Some of those just beneath them might be close to showing visible proof of having got to know them. The Wizard was near the bottom of the list. The bottom "person" surprised me. The Dwarf I'd met briefly and couldn't understand was on the list. I looked for Marlon, but he wasn't on the list at all.

I almost thought of Harvey as one of the older generation, since he had a job, then reminded myself that most of the other people that might look for someone to settle down with also had jobs. Haley and Alex were the only ones that truly seemed unemployed, and I didn't know enough about Sebastian to tell either way. Leah and Elliot could be said to be either un-employed or self-employed, depending a bit on whether their endeavors brought them an income. The difference with Harvey was that he also had an employee, Maru. He also sounded more mature than the others around my age.

Lewis had taken a central spot in the square and kept eyeing people talking and eating. Every time I looked in his direction it seemed like he was looking at me. As if my late arrival had delayed whatever announcement he was about to make and he was just waiting for me to get done with the mingling. Because of that I approached him last, at which point he was having a soft-voiced conversation with Marnie who stood next to him.

"...a nice kid, but she often seems a bit too restless," Marnie said, then broke off as she noticed me.

Had she been talking about Jas, or me? If I asked, she'd probably say it was Jas.

"Enjoying yourself, Erica?" Lewis asked.

"Yes. It's nice to be able to talk to everyone without having to run around the entire valley. And it makes me want to keep chickens of my own, even if it will be some time before I can afford a coop."

"That's nice," Marnie said. "A farmstead just isn't complete without animals. Your farm though... If it was me, I wouldn't know where to put a coop."

"I know where to put it," I said. "I remember where my grandfather had his coop and hopefully Robin will be able to fit one there too."

Lewis stroked his mustache, probably remembering Grandpa's farm layout better than I was. "Well, Erica. Are you ready to start the egg hunt?"

I thought about it for a little while before nodding.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Participants in the egg hunt to gather at the center of the square!" Lewis announced.

Already being there, I just stayed put. Other participants joined me, while other townspeople spread out to hide the eggs. Once they'd gathered around the northern end and the sides of the square, Lewis pulled a short speech before giving us permission to start.

I spotted one egg by the fence around Jodi's house. From that point I spotted one in her back yard. Running down to the river to avoid having to find my way around the gathered townspeople, I spotted another egg. Not long after that I lost count on how many I'd found.

Lewis blew a whistle to indicate the end of the contest. I swore at not having time to pick the latest egg I'd spotted, but as I walked back to the square I counted the ones I had found. Nine eggs. Probably not enough to win, but at least I had fun. We handed our baskets to Marnie to let her count the eggs. She whispered the result to Lewis.

"And the winner of the egg hunt is... Erica!" Lewis announced. He took the straw hat from the picture stand. "Here's your prize."

I put on the hat. My size. I'd wanted to buy a hat to keep out excessive sunlight and to keep some of the rain off of me, and it turned out I didn't have to buy one.

"Now, let's make sure all of the buffet food gets eaten, and to get all the decorations down," Lewis said.

I made a beeline for the buffet. As did Linus. He went for the deviled eggs, while I started with the scrambled eggs. So tasty. Jas and Vincent scuffled a bit over who had got the most chocolate eggs. I got to eat one of the easy-over fried eggs, rinsed down with a glass of the punch, before it was all gone. Some of the decorations had aready been taken down.

"Could you two fold up the tables and put them in the storage room in the Saloon," Gus asked me and Abigail.

Abigail glared at me before accepting the task. "Don't think you're all that just because you won the egg hunt. That hat should've been mine. Just you wait until next year."

Her vehemence took me by surprise.

Gus took notice and spoke up. "Abigail's won the egg hunt just about every year since she was old enough to join. She's not used to have a rival."

"She's not my rival. She just had a stroke of luck," Abigail told him.

It brought my mind back to what that TV fortune teller had said. "I was supposed to have bad luck today," I said without thinking. "So, either winning is a bad thing, or you had worse luck." I didn't add that she had the advantage of knowing where the eggs were usually hidden. "How old are you anyway?"

"I'm nineteen. You think I'm too old to participate, don't you? Mom's been telling me that the last two years."

"Being twenty-four, an upper age limit of nineteen, or whatever-teen, would definitely disqualify me."

She kept looking at me as we carried the table over to the Saloon. "I thought you were my age, taking over your grandfather's farm as soon as you were legally an adult," she said when it had been put in a large chest that turned out to hold a lot of decoration for various seasons.

"What did you do before coming here?" Abigail asked when we left the Saloon.

"Worked for Joja. Desk job. Handling customer complaints. Don't want to talk about it," I said, trying to keep from revealing how bad my depression had been.

"Oh... I'm sorry," she said, animosity over my win temporarily suspended. "Is that why you've been so nice towards Shane? Talking to him as if you had a special bond."

"Depression isn't a good thing to have in common," I reminded her. "Just saying 'hello' when meeting him helps." I was about to elaborate on it when Shane walked past, carrying a large basket full of colorful eggs.

"Sebastian does try to dull his emotions by smoking," Abigail said, as if that was whom we'd talked about. "He's doing some online work, and his clients can be demanding. We're much the same though. Both of us wanting to move out, but neither of us being able to afford it. Let's get that other table before Gus thinks we had a fight and ditched work to go sulk," she said with feigned cheerfulness.

Night had fallen before everything was tidied up. Gus and Emily even prepared some sandwiches and snacks to tide us all over, which I found welcome.

And yet my day wasn't done. I went for my chest, getting the sap, and used that to craft some fertilizer for my strawberry seeds. Put more ore in the furnace before going to plant. It was difficult to see where I'd planted seeds or fertilized. The grid I'd laid out was my rescue and had me finished before midnight. There was enough time for me to put more ore in the furnace, and ten of the wild seeds in the shipping bin to see how much I got for them, before going in to another late-night session with my diary.

 

[Terdin]

Day 14
Woke up with a slight headache. The rain beat against the roof and my window, adding to it, as did the fireplace. I still made sure the fire kept going. Belle seemed to appreciate it, and I definitely would if, or when, I returned without a dry thread on my body.

Weather forecast windy. Luck... bad. The image presented on the screen was the most ominous I'd seen so far, even worse than yesterday. Queen of Sauce taught me to make my own coleslaw. The finished result made me wish I had a kitchen, and the ingredients for making it. It looked so much better than the store-bought 'slaw.

If the daily luck carried any weight, it was maybe best to avoid the mine today. The quarry on the other hand held no monsters, didn't have a ceiling that could fall on me, no need to find a ladder down, and it could use some attention. Then there was the matter of things to take to the museum.

No mail today. 350 G from the wild seeds. Not bad. Put ore in the furnace. The tool upgrades weren't the only thing needing copper and right now it seemed I'd never have too much of it..

The green beans hadn't matured, but they reminded me of the community center. No. That could wait, since I didn't intend to sell the crops. But I should buy some more seeds.

I went to the quarry, a lot more pleasurable to clear now, and taking about half the time it had taken before. Five spots to dig, three producing coal, one giving me some stones, and one giving me some weird chicken statue. Two more geodes, and five copper ore nodes giving me 14 pieces of copper ore.

Cut a couple of trees on my way back to the farm chest to store the resources away and put more ore in the furnace. Then went to take down a few more trees before needing to tend to the furnace again. It sure worked fast.

I was just about to head into town when I realized it was Sunday. A day when the traveling merchant should make an appearance, hopefully with another rare seed in her inventory. Maybe I should ask her how much the fruit from the seeds sold for before buying any more of the rare seeds. I brought my wild seeds along to help finance my purchases, and the geodes, the chicken statue, and the minerals and gems I'd found in the cave.

"You can buy more seeds so soon?" Pierre asked.

"If I sell some too," I said. "Got wild seeds. Proven viable."

30 of them gave me just over 1000 G. Kept the last 10 to plant even if I could've just made more seeds.

"So, what seeds do you want?"

"Two blue jazz, two tulip, and five potatoes. Need to pay Clint for opening the geodes I've found," I added to forestall any questions about why I didn't spend all that I'd gained from my sale. Didn't want him to know I was willing to buy seeds that cost 1000 G.

Abigail emerged from the back. "I'm not in a good mood right now," she said in response to my greeting.

I went to check the altar room, but no-one was there. Was the rain keeping them at home? I met Caroline coming out of the kitchen.

"My garden's happy today," she told me in response to my greeting. "One of these days I'll have to show it to you, but today's not a good day for it."

"You're making me curious," I said. "I hope a good day for it won't be far away."

Looked in to talk to the Mullners on my way past. Alex was spending time with his grandparents.

"Hey, Erica! That's right. I remembered your name," he said before I could get even a word out.

"That's nice. Good to see someone who's not brought down by the rain."

"That reminds me. I need to go do my daily training." He went off to his room without another word.

Evelyn, and even more so, George, were complaining about the weather, with about the same words they'd used on my previous visit on a rainy day. I made my escape, checking the trash cans along the way. Nothing, until I reached Clint's where I found four pieces of copper ore. He must've thrown away part of his merchandise by mistake.

"I've got nine geodes this time," I said.

"Nice. Business has been slow lately, before you arrived at least."

We got to the business of opening the geodes. Limestone, alamite, two pieces of clay, celestine, a piece of iron ore, mudstone, five pieces of iron ore, and the last one containing three pieces of copper ore. I hurried over to donate what I could of it to the museum, finding Penny under the small roof outside. Like before, she wanted to be left alone. I didn't ask if she'd fought with her mom. Didn't want to pry into her private life without her having shown some signs of starting to trust me first.

The limestone and the celestine weren't in the collection, but the alamite and mudstone were. The chicken statue was also well received, as was the quartz, the amethyst and the topaz.

"I've got a few more rewards waiting for you. Another summer seed, so you may want to wait a week or two to get it, a painting, a large ornamental geode, and a chicken statue. Anything of it that you want now?" Gunther asked.

I shook my head. "I don't have much room in my cottage. Just adding one of them would make it feel cluttered. It's kinda crowded with just me and my cat. They're of as much use to me in a chest here as they'd be in a chest at home. I do plan on having Robin build me a kitchen, and maybe some more rooms. Then I'll have space for them."

"Alright. I'll keep them here."

This time I recalled the book I'd found, and checked the shelves of the library. I'd found a book about animal care, written by Marnie. I hadn't thought she had any writerly ambitions, but this book proved me wrong.

I returned to Clint. "The museum already had these in the collection. What can you give me for them?" I placed the alamite and mudstone on the counter.

"A total of 175 G."

It left me a bit short of having enough for one rare seed, but I could go see if there was anything on the beach I could sell to Willy, or fish it up.

"You know," Clint said when I was about to leave. "Today would be a good day to explore the mines. Who know, you might find some rare minerals."

"I'll think about it," I said, not wanting to admit to having started taking the fortune teller's predictions more seriously. If my luck was really down-the-sewers bad, it was unlikely I'd find anything rare.

There was one coral by the tidal pools, and a clam just south of Elliot's cabin, both of them base value. Not much, but the clam was enough to give me the money I needed. Willy gave me some other piece or fishing "wisdom" that felt like he just stated the obvious. The coral went into the fishing chest on my way to the forest, as did the broken CD I'd found in the trash can by Emily's house. An impulse struck me and I took a can of Joja cola from the chest to give to Sam. But first Emily and Haley.

I found Emily in the living room. "Why do you work at the Saloon?" I asked.

She shrugged. "It pays the bills."

"That's a good enough reason in my book."

Haley emerged from the kitchen. "Are you really going to go to work today, in this rain?"

"Of course I am. You could do with a walk for some fresh air, even if you only went around the house," Emily told her.

"But the rain would mess up my hair. I spent all morning getting it just right too," Haley complained.

"You knew it was raining and you still spent hours on your hair?" I asked before I could stop myself.

Haley looked me up and down. "I wouldn't expect a farm girl to understand. You obviously don't care about your appearance," she said with disdain.

I shook my head and sighed. It wasn't worth arguing with someone who never looked beyond her own wants and needs. Instead I went to see how Jodi and her family was doing. Jodi sat on the small couch, watching Vincent play in the living room. Because of that I made sure to wipe my feet on the door mat. Vincent wanted to go out and catch bugs.

"No. I don't want you to track mud all over my floors," Jodi said. "I won't let you go bug hunting in the rain until you can learn to wipe your feet like Erica just did."

"I remembered what you said last time," I said.

A faint music came from the kitchen. I went there. "Hello, Sam."

"Wait a sec... I gotta beat this level."

Having a gift for him, I waited until he looked up from the screen. "Here."

"Oh. Thanks." He glanced towards the living room before slipping it into a pocket on his jacket. "I really appreciate it." It was clear he knew his mom wouldn't like me giving him soda.

"Gotta go fishing," I said, loud enough that Jodi would hear me too, then left before Jodi might get curious about what my gift had been.

The traveling merchant's cart was there. Looking through her wares made me happy I'd bought tulip bulbs from Pierre. They cost ten times as much here. Many of her other wares were likely equally overpriced. This time too she had one rare seed for sale.

"How much do the crop from these rare seeds sell for?" I asked.

"The berries they grow sell for at least 3000 G, so the seed's very competititvely prized," she said.

"I'll take it." I paid up, silently vowing to make sure to bring more money subsequent times, in case she again had 5 seeds for sale. She seemed fond of having either one or five items of each kind on display for the customers.

Three seeds, 3000 G spent, and I'd get at least 6000 G out of it. More seeds would increase the profit margin. Giving away an item worth 3000 G to the Junimo would hurt, but I had to hope their reward for it was worth it. It was the only clue I had to how to complete the rare crop bundle. The other might be cheaper, but that didn't matter if I couldn't get my hands on it. How many more would I be able to get before Fall? The planting instructions said they took all month to grow.

I decided to take a detour to Marnie's ranch and see if Shane was in. He wasn't. Jas hid from my greeting, claiming she didn't know me.

"Hi, Erica. You look like you're soaked... you poor thing. Like a stray cat caught out in the rain. Makes me happy that Belle has a home now."

"I'd be even more soaked without this hat." I touched the damp straw hat. "It at least keeps the rain out of my eyes. Where's Shane?"

"He got called in to cover the shift of someone who couldn't come to work because the road flooded. Seems to happen every time it rains on a weekend. You can probably catch him at the saloon tonight. Just like most nights." Marnie sighed deeply. "I've tried to talk to him about it."

I nodded, able to imagine it. Her talking-tos turning into loud arguments between the two of them, making Jas hide to wait it out. One hedgehog to get to unroll, and one mouse or bunny to coax out of their hole. And Marnie in the middle of it, trying to pretend everything was fine to protect them until someone was willing to look behind the nice front. I was surprised she'd let that front slip even just a little for me. I left, using my intent to go fishing as an excuse.

Hurrying up through the farm, I tended to the furnace. I had enough iron ore to make a bar, but then it would take up two sections of the chest instead of one, and I needed more than one iron bar to make a crab pot. I did craft some fertilizer to use on the seeds I'd bought. Making sure I had little with me apart from my hoe, my rod and the bug meat, I went up to the lake to fish.

Apart from the carps, the lake fish seemed to have decent value even if I didn't know the exact numbers. The catfish downtown probably brought nice money too, but they weren't worth the hassle it was to catch them. I fell into a nice rhythm. Bait, cast, catch, repeat. Occasionally taking a break to craft more bait. I got better at catching big, top quality fish, but also better at bringing up treasure chests when the fish tried to use them to make themselves more difficult to catch. Got some carp roe. Also got a nautilus fossil and an anchor. The latter made me look in surprise at my line. It had to be stronger than it looked. Fifteen pieces of bait, and three omni geodes were also found in the treasure chests.

When it was time to give up for the night I had five iridium quality bullhead, six iridium quality chub and three gold, and six iridium quality carp to one gold. A better haul than I'd have thought possible when I saw the fortune teller show. Got home in time to be able to throw them all in the shipping bin. Maybe they'd bring me enough to upgrade my axe. Felt good to come home to a warm room, fire crackling in the fireplace and Belle curled up in front of it. I put down the trimmings from when I'd made bait for her to eat in the morning.

 

[Terdin]

Salmonberry season
Day 15
I woke up feeling great. My clothes had dried, and my bed was only slightly damp. My head once again filled with more recipes. How to make contraptions to tap more useful types of sap from trees. Mushroom logs. Bait makers, and various bobbers that I couldn't use.

Belle had already gone out, and she'd eaten the treat I'd left her. Still smiling I checked the TV.

Weather forecast rain, and happy spirits. That meant a good day for mining. Then I checked Living off the Land. Salmonberry season. The host mentioning that it was a good way of earning some extra money. Change of plans.

No need to refill Belle's bowl, since it would rain tomorrow. I did give her some attention, noting that the scar from spaying had faded completely. Placed a piece of quartz in the furnace just to see what happened, then noticed the amount of mail I'd got.

One letter from Evelyn, warning me about most crops not growing more than one season. One from Willy announcing he had new rods in his shop. One from Pierre announcing he had fertilizer to sell. As if I didn't have more than enough sap to craft my own.

There were 2750 G in the shipping bin from the fish. More than enough to upgrade the axe. One of the bushes behind the shipping bin was sprouting red berries. I picked them, getting two intact berries. Resisting an urge to immediately run around to look for more bushes, I went to water my crops instead, and planted the wild seeds I'd somehow forgotten the day before while planting most of those I'd bought. The first three carrots were ready to harvest.

Watering and harvest done, I ate one of the berries to at least regain some of the energy I'd used. The flavorful sweetness was a lot better than the spring onions, and gave me more energy. It wouldn't be something to feed me long term, but when it came to boosting my energy down the mine, I definitely preferred the berries to any of my other current options. A second reason to gather as many of them as I could.

The carrots went into the chest. Then I brought most of my tools with me, leaving only rod, watering can, and scythe. The sword could double as a scythe, but the sword also gave me the option of visiting the mine if I had time for that. On my last visit to the forest it had been littered with branches, rocks, and thorny weeds that sometimes required long detours if I didn't have the tools for removing them. This time I wouldn't let myself be that impeded. I also brought a potato and a kale for the community center, and five copper bars. If I could scour the forest and still get to see Clint before he closed for the day I didn't want to regret not bringing the materials needed.

Not wanting further delays, I went to Cindersap Forest, shaking down a couple of bushes on my way there.

Searched all around the pond, saying hello to Jas along the way. She was too busy with her jumprope to be shy, which made me smile. My search led me past the Wizard's tower, but I ignored it, despite sensing him watching me. Down to the hat mouse, over the bridges to the spring onion fields. Of course I picked up any forage I came across, including the seven spring onions. I rounded the open area near Marnie, checked the bushes around Leah's cottage, then headed into town.

The spring onions were placed in the fishing chest. All the salmonberries were of the same quality, without need to separate them. Spring onions were messy in comparison. A glance at the time proved I was too late to upgrade the axe today. Even too late to visit Pierre and see what he offered for the salmonberries.

There were fewer berry bushes in the town, and I couldn't remember seeing any on the beach or on the other side of the river, so I ignored that. Found two broken CDs in the trash cans I checked. Darkness fell as I ran around to check which bushes had ripe berries for me.

Passing by the community center, I paused. This time I braced myself for the spiritual pressure from the Junimo, the impatience. The pantry scroll increased considerably in pressure from the two additions. Was it because it was almost done? Urging me to complete it?

"The green beans should ripen tomorrow," I told the seemingly empty room. "I'll complete the bundle then. I am adding to the bundles as I can get hold of the items, and I'm afraid some of the fishes for the fish tank bundles might not be available in Spring."

The tension didn't diminish, but some of the impatience eased off. They still wanted me to get it done ASAP, but knew I wasn't able to give them what I didn't have. Coming out of there, there was a commotion down the stairs. A rummaging noise, then a door opening and George's voice yelling at whatever had rummaged in his trash can. I hurried downstairs, and made sure to round his house so he wouldn't think it was me.

"Ah, Erica. Those pesky raccoons are at my trash can again. Could you go scare them off for me?"

"Sure."

He went inside and I rounded the corner to find... Linus.

"Eh, that was me. Sorry. I just look to see if anyone's thrown away food. I'm not harming anyone. Just taking what would've gone to waste otherwise. Not everyone is cut out for the modern way of life. Do you think what I do is wrong?"

I gave him a wry smile. "No. It's a shame to let food go to waste. Can't very well condemn you when I do it myself from time to time," I admitted.

Linus brightened. "I knew you'd see things my way. I'll avoid this trash can in the future. You can tell George you scared away the raccoons for good."

We parted ways. As I was halfway up the stairs I heard him rummage in the saloon's trash can, get caught by Gus, then offered a meal. Gus' words about not wanting to let any villager go hungry hurt, considering how many days it had been since I last had a cooked meal. Maybe it was that I dressed too nicely. I didn't exactly look like I couldn't afford a meal. Linus did look unkempt enough to be a beggar, even if he preferred to forage for food rather than beg, considering his reluctance to accept the offered food.

I went up to continue my berry hunt up into the mountain lake area, and it proved too late to talk to anyone in Robin's family. Even Sebastian had gone home to sleep. Once I'd got all I could reach, apart from the one across the dried-up riverbed I started the trek back to the farm. I didn't try the door to the Adventurer's Guild. Didn't want the disappointance if it didn't open. Didn't want to get distracted, risk losing track of time and falling asleep outside if it did.

There were two bushes in the backwoods, but where it led over the mouth of the tunnel to the desert, I spotted some berry bushes with ripe berries beside the road. Could I reach them from the bus stop? I went to the farm, stopping to pick from a bush I hadn't noticed before. I almost went to the bus stop when a look at the clock stopped me. Past 1 am. Better to go to bed. Four to ten berries probably wasn't worth risking to fall asleep outside. Picked up a refined quartz from the furnace, and put the other quartz in there before running inside. Maybe I should gather more quartz if they were raw material to something that could be a useful material for crafting. That was my last thought before falling asleep.

Day 16
Woke up feeling slightly worn out, and the rain coming from a slightly different angle today. No skills leveling up from my day of berry picking, which wasn't surprising. Too bad there wasn't a skill for running. If there had been, I'd probably be close to maxing out on it by now. I tended to Belle, who once again seemed happy to be able to spend the day in a dry and warm place.

Weather forecast rainy. Luck bad.

No mail today. Placed the second refined quartz in my chest, then went to pick the green beans. Planted the three seeds I'd found cutting weeds in the forest yesterday. To avoid the disappointment of last night I went to the bus stop first, then went to the stretch of road near the tunnel, gathering the berries that were ripe there. In the other direction there weren't any bushes, only a sign to not go any further on foot. Then went back to scour the farm of berries before going south to the forest.

I followed much the same route as the day before, moving faster today as I'd already removed the obstacles. Just one spring onion today. It allowed me to reach town in time to run over to Clint and hand in the axe for upgrading. While I was on that side of the river I figured I might as well check all the trash cans and look for berry bushes. Like I'd figured yesterday, nothing. Nothing good in the trash cans either, until I reached the one by the Mullners, where I found some cookies. I half expected George to come out and yell at me, but he didn't. A maple seed in the mayor's trash can reminded me of the forest bundle. I should gather up the tree seeds and deliver them, even if I hadn't found a way to gather moss.

Visited the general store in time to ask Pierre what he'd give for a salmonberry. Just 5 G. That meant they were worth more to me as food, allowing me to sell all the chubs I caught instead of eating the base and silver quality fish. Went to see Caroline too, and found her and Abigail in the kitchen, preparing dinner. After saying hello to them I excused myself and left.

There was an expectancy in the air when I entered the community center. They wanted to see if I'd keep yesterday's promise. I completed the bundle, receiving a return gift of 20 Speed-Gro. Could've used them a few days ago when I planted the strawberry seeds. But what was done was done. Then I noticed the tension from this scroll had released. Gone neutral. And another scroll had appeared.

I found the new scroll in the boiler room. Its three bundles asked for copper, iron, and gold bars, five of the six listed gemstones, and iridium ore, battery, and five refined quartz. I definitely had to find more quartz.

While I had the time to go look for the last slime, I didn't. It was getting late and I didn't want to lose track of time. Instead I went to see Linus, who seemed a bit more at ease with me, even if his words remained guarded.

I returned to the farm with enough time to go clear out the quarry, including digging up some coal from a Junimo-indicated spot. Barely got out of my wet clothes before going to bed.

Day 17
Woke up sore from the work in the quarry. Tended to Belle who was curled up in front of the fire. Ate a berry for breakfast.

Weather forecast sunny. Luck somewhat good.

No mail today. With the new scroll in mind I placed iron ore in the furnace. I harvested the carrots I had probably forgotten the day before. Strawberries were growing fine, and the first nine cauliflowers would be ready for harvest in a few days. Had to make a few more batches of wild seeds to keep the forage from taking too much space in my chest. Brought the few spring onions with me. The iron bar was not ready. So, the time it took to process ore depended on what it was.

Kept much the same route as yesterday, Bus stop and tunnel road first, then down to the forest, only altered a bit by what bushes had ripe berries for me. Down by the waterfalls near the hat mouse, a beam of sunlight broke through the clouds and caused a small rainbow to appear. I blinked at seeing a pot of gold appear at the end closest to me. I went for it, finding 200 G and a hat. The straw hat was better at keeping the rain from my face though. Seven spring onions were added to my stash, and a couple of horse radishes. The spring onions and the hat went into the fishing chest, as did the trash I picked up from Jodi's trash can. Emily's trash can held a pine cone, which I took with me.

I talked to Sebastian coming up from the beach who seemed to like the weather. Shane, on his way to the saloon after work, was miserable and wanted a drink to warm up. Linus protested that I didn't need to come talk to him, but he didn't seem like I was ruining his day by doing it.

Again I had almost enough time to go into the mine and decided against it. Walking through the backwood I wanted to cut down the trees to see the bushes better, but with the axe being upgraded it had to wait. Picked up the iron bar from the furnace but forgot to start it up again. Instead I scoured my farm for any rocks or berry bushes I'd missed, before remembering my diary and going in to write in it for the first time in days.

 

[Terdin]

The end of salmonberry season
Day 18
Belle had gone out when I woke up. No new recipes for things to craft. Ate a berry for breakfast and remembered that I should be able to retrieve my axe from Clint.

Weather forecast sunny. Luck bad, so no mining even if I had time for it with the watering and berry harvest. Living off the Land talked about the benefits of rain, as if I hadn't noticed them already.

No mail. Put copper ore in the furnace. Then recalled the iron bar, and the piles of various trash I'd fished up. Didn't I have a recipe for a recycling machine? Despite my previous intention to give it to the Junimo, I ended up using the iron bar to make the recycling machine. Now I just had to bring home some of the trash from the fishing chests.

Harvested the first batch of cauliflowers when I watered my crops. One gold quality, three silver, and five base. Nice. The chest was getting a bit full, so I made a second chest. Painted the one intended for materials black, and the other got painted spring green since it seemed likely I'd need one chest for each season. This time I went into town after rustling down the berry bushes at the bus stop and tunnel road. Chased around the lower half of town before going to retrieve my axe.

Clint handed over the axe. "No geodes this time?"

"No. Haven't got any from my quarry, and have been spending the last few days picking salmonberries."

"Not a bad thing to have in your backpack. Good for keeping your energy up in the mine... and for farmwork too, I guess. I prefer something more robust though."

I couldn't help but notice, not for the first time, that he had a bit of a paunch. "Can't afford anything better yet," I said to avoid that subject. "And salmonberries are a lot better than raw spring onions. Got to go see if I can find some more." I fled.

After a quick decision, I went to complete the later half of the earlier routes. The park, mountain lake area, and backwoods, picking up the trash from the fishing chest. The sun set as I crossed my farm and I paused only long enough to test my upgraded axe on a tree stump. It did manage to bite into it rather than just notch the surface, allowing me to create a shortcut, and giving me two pieces of hardwood.

It took me all evening to run around Cindersap Forest to check all the berry bushes, and picking five spring onions. I caught Shane on his way home from the Saloon.

"What? What do you want? Go away," he slurred.

"Just wanted to say that I hope you have a good night's sleep."

He swung out an arm at me, more of an exaggerated shooing motion than an attack, and I easily avoided it. It did make him stagger sideways to keep from falling, and I quietly left.

I removed three more tree stumps on my way back through the farm. Two of them dropped mahogany seeds in addition to hardwood. So, that was why they'd been so difficult to remove. I detoured to another plateau and planted them some distance from each other, figuring I'd need more hardwood at some point in the future. There were more stumps to clear, but not enough time left in the day to do it in. Put a piece of driftwood in the recycling machine.

Belle was already curled up and asleep on my bed, but I managed to get in without waking her up.

Day 19
Belle was gone when I woke up. My body felt great, but my stomach protested that I had barely eaten anything yesterday. I ate a spring onion to give my stomach something to work with. New recipes. The mayonnaise maker wouldn't be useful until I had a coop. The new fence type was something I wouldn't use, and the sprinkler... needed iron.

Weather forecast rain. Luck somewhat good. Good enough for mining, depending on whether there were still berries to pick.

Outside, I found I'd got mail. Jodi wanted a cauliflower. Good thing I hadn't sold any of them yet. The extra would be ready soon, but it wasn't like I could plant a seed now and expect to get a harvest before Spring ended. The recycling machine had given me a few pieces of wood from the driftwood. Put in a broken CD to see what happened.

I checked the berry bushes around the house. No berries. Then the bus stop. No berries. So, the salmonberry season had ended. I checked my haul. Just short of 300 berries. That should last me a good while, and it would be a relief to not have to spend a couple of hours to run down and see if there were any spring onions to harvest. I went back to my farm to water my crops. The strawberries were beginning to show, but would take a few more days for any of the berries on each plant to be ripe enough to harvest.

I took down a tree that had grown to maturity after the start of the salmonberry season. Took fewer strikes. Cutting down five trees in about the same time as it had taken to cut four trees wasn't a lot faster, but it was a definite improvement. Satisfied with my testing, I went to put aside the axe and noticed the recycling machine had finished, giving me a refined quartz. I blinked, realizing the new possibilities, then put another broken CD in.

Left for the mines, happy to get a somewhat early start.

Floor 15
A bug and a grub. Dropping one piece of bug meat between them. I avoided the sandy areas to not have to deal with the diggers. Found a geode and a piece of copper ore while searching for the staircase. Went down as soon as I found it.

Floor 16
Almost a cheerful floor with lots of weeds growing on the ground. One bug, and six grubs. A total of six pieces of bug meat, and to my surprise, two rice shoots. I found two copper ore nodes, and two stones hiding amethysts, and a quartz. Then there were some stones surprising me by giving me coal or copper ore while I looked for the stairs.

Floor 17
The floor was eerily quiet and empty of enemies. There wasn't even water dripping from time to time. Not wanting to know what might be hiding deeper in the pathways and chambers here, I hacked away at the rocks and found the stairs under the fourth. Went down as soon as I could.

Floor 18
To my relief this seemed to be a normal floor. Bugs, grubs, some vegetation among the rocks. A rock crab hid near the entrance, revealing itself only when I tried to break its rock. A railway for mine carts was still on the ground, even if the cart's exit had been barred. Another rock crab attacked me from its hiding place as I tried to follow the tracks. At the other end of the tracks, a mine cart with six coal in them. I managed to kill all the grubs before they turned into flies. And there it was. In the final small chamber on this floor. Finally I got my tenth slime. I went for the two copper ore nodes and picked up the quartz before starting to clear up rocks in a more organized fashion to look for the way down. Ate a handful of salmonberries while I did so, finding that my wounds healed too as I ate them.

Floor 19
Just one narrow passage. I followed it, breaking the stones as I went, hoping to find the exit. Another slime. Of course. Now that I no longer needed them, they'd probably stop hiding from me. A trio of grubs, of which I managed to kill two, but the third transformed into a fly. The path took one right turn, then another. On the third right turn I realized the path spiraled. Four turns more, several monsters fought, and I reached the center where there were a lot of barrels and boxes. One held an amethyst, then there were a few holding wood, coal, and copper ore. About a third of them didn't seem to have anything in them.
The stairway down was beyond the barrels.

Floor 20
The floor was empty, apart from a treasure chest. At the far end was a body of water. Was this where the echoes of water dripping into a puddle had come from?

I took the elevator up to sort things out and put stuff away in the mine chest to avoid having to throw anything away when opening the treasure chest. Even having a larger backpack didn't keep me from running out of space. It just made it happen less often. Went down to check the treasure chest. A steel smallsword. Not much better than the rusty sword, but it had a sharper edge. The rusty sword went into the mining chest when I returned up.

My own yawn surprised me. Then I looked at the time. Midnight. Floor 18 and 19 had taken a lot more time than I had thought. No time to check out the Adventurer's Guild today. I fled the mine and ran home as fast as my legs could carry me. Got home early enough that I could put copper ore in the furnace and the last broken CD I had on hand into the recycling machine, before going inside to get ready for bed.

 

[Terdin]

Day 20
Woke up feeling a bit stiff. Too much mining. Only eating enough to avoid getting completely exhausted. The sound of rain was louder than last time. I looked around for Belle, and found her trying to catch the rivulets of rain going down the window. Petted her and made sure she'd be alright for the day, and ate a salmonberry to feel a bit better myself.

Then realization hit. It was Saturday. I'd forgot that the traveling merchant should've stopped by yesterday.

Weather forecast rain. Luck very good. Seemed like a good day for mining. But I should get Jodi's request out of the way first, and see if there was a "help wanted" request that I could do. Maybe make some more seeds to sell. Needed money if she had more than just 1 seed. And give the Junimo a copper bar and an amethyst, and anything else that I had enough of.

No mail today. Tended the furnace and put some regular trash in the recycling machine. Then looked in the materials chest. I had five refined quartz now, another of the items for the boiler room scroll. And ten maple seeds for the first scroll. Dug a base quality cauliflower from my Spring chest. Crafted four more batches of wild seeds that I placed in the shipping bin.

Belatedly I checked my crops. The two later cauliflowers still needed some time, and the strawberries looked almost ripe. Planted the three mixed seeds I'd found hacking away at weeds in the mine. One looked like a cauliflower seed, which probably meant I wouldn't get to harvest it. Then went to the river's edge and planted the two rice shoots where they wouldn't need to be watered.

A fair amount of forage around the bus stop made me stop to pick them. Two dandelions, two daffodils, and a leek. One daffodil was gold quality. I went to check the help wanted board. Caroline wanted dandelion to put under her pillow and would pay 120 G for one. I went inside to give it to her. She gave me an envelope and to my surprise also a red ticket of some kind. Recalling how dandelion sap turned brown when it dried I also gave her the gold quality daffodil to hopefully keep her from blaming me for the stains on her pillowcase and sheet.

"What's this?" I turned the ticket over, thinking it was a coupon for something in Pierre's store. No text on either side. "How do I use it?"

"Why don't you ask Lewis about how to use it. It's something he came up with."

"I'll go do that."

I hurried out and almost collided with Abigail as she emerged from her room. Frowning, she looked back where I came from.

"What were you doing in our house?" she asked.

"Just bringing your mom the flower she asked for on the 'help wanted' board. How have you been?"

"I've still not forgiven you for winning the egg hunt and don't want to see you here."

"Sorry about that. Gotta go." I hurried out, but rather than go to Lewis' house, I went to see Jodi, and gave her the cauliflower. Vincent groaned as he saw it, but Jodi praised how fresh it was and gave me another envelope. I had a fair few of them now.

The squawking of a seagull made me take another detour on my way to Lewis' house. The beach had forage with decent value and I hadn't been there all week. Three clams, of course of three different qualities, two base quality mussels, and to my joy a cockle. The final piece for the crab pot bundle. So what that it was gold quality. The tidal pool area held two sea urchins, gold and silver, and five pieces of coral, three base, one gold, one silver. I went to see if Willy's shop was open. It was, and I was stunned that the results from about an hour of foraging brought me 1206 G. Then I checked his inventory to see what the new rod cost that he'd mailed me about earlier. An iridium rod, costing 7500 G. Far beyond what I could afford right now. I sighed wistfully before leaving.

Now I had more than enough money for two rare seeds. A third and a bit from the wild seeds, and the envelopes should at least give me enough to buy a fourth. My steps were lighter as I ran to see if Lewis was home or if he too had braved the rain and gone somewhere.

Lewis was home, tending to a piece of machinery in the corner.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He closed and locked the hatch to it before responding.

"I was just adding some more items to the prize ticket machine. It's a new incentive to get people to help each other. I'm just worried that people will do it for the prizes, not to help the community." He gave me a searching look, no doubt trying to determine which category I fell into.

"I'm doing it to make friends with people. I admit I'm not good at remembering to check to see if there's a request I can do something about. I came here to ask what this thing Caroline gave me was, but I think I just got my answer. Mind if I have a go?"

He moved aside from the machine. I inserted my ticket and it spit out twelve bags of carrot seeds.

"Good thing I came here before it's no longer possible to plant the carrot seeds," I said.

"Don't worry. I would've traded them for a seed that grows in summer if it was too late for carrots," Lewis assured me. "Same for any other season-specific seed in there."

"Good to know. I'm off to see if I can catch any rats," I said, remembering to talk about what he thought was there.

"You're still working on trying to catch them... I guess it doesn't help that you've got your farm and fishing and foraging and whatever else to do. Allows them to breed between your attempts."

"Haven't caught any yet," I admitted. "Still trying to figure out where to set traps and what to use for bait."

"Good luck."

I hurried over to the community center. Nothing was in the trash cans along the way.

The by now familiar tension grew in expectation as I approached the fish tank. I completed the crab pot bundle, releasing a good portion of the tension. The scroll's guardian Junimo ran off with the shellfish, leaving behind three crab pots for me.

"Thanks," I said wryly at getting what I could've used for gathering the requested items. At least now the tension wouldn't be as much of an obstacle to get past. "Oh..." I added when I sensed a fifth scroll appearing nearby.

I went to drop off the maple seeds, increasing the tension in the first room, then ran over to new scroll by the dilapidated bulletin board. Too many varied items in the chef and dye bundles. The forager bundle made me blink as I realized I had the 50 salmonberries that was one of the accepted gifts. I added it. The helper bundle on the other hand made me groan. I'd had one of the items needed for it, and used it.

In the boiler room, I added one item to each of the three bundles there, with another tension increase there.

Next thing, the mines. No-one was outside as I hurried past. I was just about to enter when I recalled passing the initiation test. The door to the guild was locked. My heart sank until I noticed the note that it was only open 2 pm to 2 am. With it being almost 2 pm, I waited, and a few minutes later the door got unlocked.

"I'm glad you finally managed to pass the initiation test," Marlon said.

"Hmph. Took you long enough," said another voice. An old guy sat in a rocking chair, his eyes closed as if he couldn't be bothered to even look at me.

"I've already told you, Gil. She's got a farm to run. It's not like she can spend all her time prowling the monster infested areas like you did when you were her age," Marlon said. He turned to me. "Sorry about that. There's not much you need to know. I will sell you stuff I deem that you're able to handle, and will buy most things dropped by monsters. The board over here has the monster eradication goals. I make a separate list for every member, filling in the monster types as you encounter them. When you complete a goal, talk to Gil to get your reward."

I looked at the board. 16/1000 slimes? When I'd spent a couple of weeks to find just ten of them? 60/80 insects. That one was nearing completion already. 1/30 duggies. So that was what the diggers were called. So I'd have to use myself as bait another 29 times. 6/60 rock crabs. Not a monster that was easy to look for. Eight unknown monster types with more or less alarmingly high goals.

Floor 21
Surprisingly small floor. Two slimes, one of them dropping a stairwell. I still went for the ore and barrels before going down. The barrels dropped quartz, stones, and an amathyst. Four copper ore nodes. Some fibers and a couple of mixed seeds from the weeds.

Floor 22
Six copper ore nodes and a lone bug. The stairs hid under one of the nodes, but before I could get back to it from killing the bug, a fly flew in.

Floor 23
I avoided the large sandy area to get to a grub, and the quartz near it. In one of the other niches surrounding the pit I found the stairwell close to a copper node. Another fly attacked before I could go down, not dropping anything.

Floor 24
The passage split. Went right, found two grubs and some copper ore. Was starting my search for the stairwell when a fly flew in. My search wasn't all that thorough, since I wanted to see if I could find more insects. A slime, and a bug, and then I spotted the stairwell near some barrels and boxes. Breaking them netted me some quartz, a dagger, and a cave carrot. Of course, another fly flew in to attack me. Ate half a dozen salmonberries, mostly to regain energy but also to heal my wounds.

Floor 25
The elevator dinged to show its service had extended. Three grubs near it. A rock crab attacked when I tried to get to a bug further away. It was a small floor with no ore, so I started looking for the stairwell and had the luck to find it soon afterwards.

Floor 26
Some copper near the entrance. Of the three grubs I took down one but the other two transformed to flies, and got a third for company, but fortunately the last of them dropped a ladder down.

Floor 27
Immediately went for the three grubs I could see. When I went to chase a bug, I spotted the stairs out in the open and paused. In the pause a fly buzzed in. I got the bug, and three slimes before looking further afield. Unfortunately, I forgot to see where I stepped, and ended up having to fight a duggy. Going for the stairs there was a bug and a copper node near it, so I got them. If my tally was right, I had completed the goal for insects. I pushed away the urge to go see what reward I'd get. Better to wait until I reached floor 30, if I could get there before midnight.

Floor 28
I only took care of the nearest monsters. A grub, a couple of slimes, a fly that buzzed at me, before looking for the stairs down. Had to eat more salmonberries to regain energy before I found the stairs after almost twenty rocks broken.

Floor 29
I had barely taken a few steps before a skittering buzz was heard and the air thickened around me. I tried to find the way down, but when flies swarmed me it was difficult to find the time to break even one rock. I still managed a few, for the price of a few bites or stings. Then it was over. Ate a salmonberry to heal up. Desperately went around to look for the way down. Some barrels gave me even more carrot seeds, and a few cave carrots. Then I found the reason why I hadn't found the stairs under one of the rocks. It had sat out in the open all the time, just well out of sight from me. I dodged a blue slime, not wanting to find out if it was different from the regular green slimes, and went down.

Floor 30 was absolutely bare. Only the stairs down and the elevator. I checked the time. Past midnight. I went up the elevator, opened the chest to bring home all the green algae, having got some from some of the bugs without noticing it. I now had 17 carrot seeds, two more rice shoots, and enough bug meat for a few days of fishing. Also had enough copper ore to upgrade my remaining tools and even build the silo. Had enough rocks for it too, enough quartz to replace what I'd given to the Junimo, and nine geodes. I left behind the slime and the sap, then rushed home.

Didn't bother with the furnace or putting away my finds, I just went straight inside and got ready for bed.

 

[Terdin]

Day 21
Woke up feeling great, despite the dream I'd had. I'd had to make another choice, but not so anguishing this time. It had stood between cutting down my tree brethren and gathering stuff, which of them I preferred. Definitely gathering stuff off the ground. Didn't have nearly the same moral dilemma to it as having to cut down my tree brethren for the wood I needed. Belle came and buffed her head against my leg as I sat at the edge of the bed to gather my wits. It drew my attention to the rain beating on the roof.

I petted her. "You want some of that bug meat, don't you?" I turned a few of the bug meat into bait, and gave the scraps to Belle. "Have you alredy caught all the mice in the cabin? Good cat," I told her when she eagerly devoured the treat.

I checked the skill card. Foraging had risen to 5, but combat was now at 2. At some point I'd have to ask the Wizard about what these cards meant for me, but not anytime soon. Sure, they were handy, but also disconcerting. If the Junimo kept such a close watch on me, they had to have some kind of intent. For a moment I considered if it could be something else, but I didn't want to even imagine that. At least the Junimo were kind of cute and returned favors.

I checked the TV to stop thinking about that. Weather forecast windy. Luck was somewhat good. Good enough for me to go mining. But first... planting those carrot seeds and mixed seeds. Oh, and see what the traveling merchant had to sell.

I had mail. Dad saying it was lonely without me. Had he had a fallout with mom, or had she gone on a business trip? He didn't mention it. But he did mention having found an envelope with money Grandpa had left for me. Mom must've hidden it among her stuff and forgotten about it, maybe something from a few years before he died since the smaller envelope was yellowed with age. 500 G. That would come in handy, and reminded me to get the money from the shipping bin. Another 1400 G.

Tended the furnace, picked up 3 iron ore from the recycling plant and gave it more trash to handle. Planted the seeds I had, even the rice shoots even if I wasn't sure they'd have time to ripen. Harvested the strawberries. Then hurried over to the traveling merchant.

"I missed seeing you the day before yesterday," she said. "Here's my wares today."

She had five rare seeds. I could afford four of them, unless... I dug through and opened all my reward envelopes. 90 G for the sunfish, 250 G for the axe, 350 G for the cauliflower. 120 for the dandelion. Not enough. I paid for the four seeds I could afford and went back home.

Furnace needed more ore, recycling machine had a piece of coal waiting for me. I took to empty my backpack. The cave carrots to the Spring chest, most of the other stuff to materials chest. Looked at the time. The guild wasn't open yet. I had time to see if there was any help wanted quest I could do.

Demetrius wanted to dissect a Joja cola, paying 75G for it. I blinked in surprise. How would he even go about it? Wouldn't do him much good to cut into a full can with a scalpel. Maybe best not to ask. He'd probably just changed his mind mid-sentence. I went to my fishing chest and brought one. It would give me a reason to say hello to all of Robin's family... unless Maru and Sebastian were hiding in their respective rooms.

Maru stood near Robin's counter, happy that the rain gave her an excuse to stay indoors to work on her gadgets.

Demetrius was happy over the delivery. As he handed over the reward envelope he leaned closer to whisper: "Robin has a hot temper. It's better to stay on her good side, but don't tell her I said that." He glanced in her direction as if worried that she'd overheard.

Robin didn't seem to have heard Demetrius. "I heard from Lewis that you're still trying to solve the rat problem in the old community house. I hope you can fix it up."

"I hope so too," I said.

"You're still at it?" Maru asked. "Are you using the right kind of trap? You need to use rat traps, not mouse traps. Maybe I could design one that works better." She walked past me, mumbling about possibilities.

"Where's Sebastian?" I asked Robin.

"He went out. Probably down on the beach again, unless he went to the Saloon to play pool."

"Thanks. Good to know." I left, but not to hunt down Sebastian. The guild had just opened for the day.

I approached Gil. "I see you managed to take down 80 insects. At least a start, Kid." He didn't open his eyes, just handed me a weird thing that looked like the mandibles of an insect. The size was such that I didn't want to meet the insect they came from.

"What's this?" I asked Marlon.

Marlon shrugged. "You can use it as a sword, or just keep it as a trophy. If you lose it, I can sell you another."

I put away the steel smallsword. The insect jaws couldn't be much worse.

Floor 31
Something felt wrong with this floor. The light from the lanterns seemed dimmer and didn't reach far, as if there was coal dust suspended in the air. A copper node and a quartz were visible in the light from the nearest lantern, but when I went for them something arose from the ground. A shadow against the darkness. To my surprise I killed it with just a few swings. Three more copper nodes a bit further down the path. A shrill sound echoed through the dark as I found something on the floor, then the sound of wings flapping. A bat? I swung at it more out of instinct than ability to see it, then had time to fumble around on the floor to see what I'd found. The stairwell. I went down.

Floor 32
More lanterns here, but the air was still thick and kept them from illuminating more than their immediate area. I hacked away at rocks, looking for the stairwell, sometimes using my toes to locate the rocks. Found a bug and a bat near another lantern, and one of them dropped a stair down.

Floor 33
Still dark. Some copper ore, a bug and two bats. Started to hack at rocks to locate the stairs. Found it about ten rocks later.

Floor 34
More darkness. I went for a copper node but had to stop and fight off one of those dark creatures. Two more attacked while I was looking for the stairs, and the second creature dropped one.

Floor 35
The sight of the elevator made me want to get out of there. But then I'd only have to return. I was also close to the second point that Marlon had mentioned. Floor 5 had probably been what gave me the initiation test. What would happen on floor 40? I took a deep breath, ate a few salmonberries, and started hacking away at rocks to locate the stairs. Found it half a dozen rocks later. Fell down it more like, as it lay in complete darkness.

Floor 36
Only a screech and flapping wings announced which direction the bat came from. Started my search in the areas lit by the lanterns, and "only" had to destroy about twenty rocks, some of them dropping coal or copper ore, before finding the stairs.

Floor 37
A barrel containing some wood, and then one rock dropped something new. An omni geode. A few rocks and a common geode later I found the stairs. Went down without searching the rest of the floor, ignoring even the copper node a bit further away.

Floor 38
Had to feel my way around at first, fighting one dark creature I noticed only after it had struck me with bruising force. I ate a salmonberry, hoping to keep a bruise from forming, then continued. Mine cart tracks, and well lit in comparison. One area looked like the rail had broken off, leaving just the stone of the floor. Then that stone area got to its feet. Were these shadow monsters the stone golems Grandpa had mentioned? I pocketed the scroll bound in red that it dropped. Probably something for Gunther. A quartz and an earth crystal sat on the floor near the mine cart that held six pieces of coal. The coal miners had to have been forced to leave in a hurry. Because of the monsters? I started breaking rocks near the mine cart, and located the stairs soon afterwards.

Floor 39
It was dark enough that I feared moving out of the one lantern near the ladder. To my relief the first rock broken revealed the stairs down. I escaped downwards.

Floor 40
It was cold enough here to make my breath visible, but the frosted walls made it easy to see. This floor held a treasure chest. I checked my backpack. There was enough space, so I opened the treasure chest. A slingshot. I made a wry face. I'd need quite a bit of training to be anywhere near accurate with it, so it was not a weapon to rely on. I took the elevator up to make more space, then back down to see what the floors below 40 had to offer.

Floor 41
A room as small as the first. Rocks were harder. Frozen, but the stairs down were already visible. I went down despite how late it was.

Floor 42
A blue slime like I'd seen yesterday. It took several attacks with my new weapon before it went down. Probably a good thing I'd avoided the one from yesterday. I struck one of the ore nodes, getting iron ore after three strikes. Another iron node was nearby. A barrel gave me a jade. Another thing for Gunther to display in the mineral collection. Checked the time. Not even 10 pm. Maybe I could get down to floor 45. Another blue slime and an iron node later, I finally found the stairs.

Floor 43
Just made a path to see more of the floor. Then found the stairs near some barrels that proved to contain cave carrots and a piece of iron ore. Paused to eat some berries, then went down without exploring further.

Floor 44
Some kind of dusty mites bounced about, giving off odd noises. Killed three of them and the ambushing trio of blue slimes they led me to. A bat flying in from somewhere dropped a stairwell and I went down it.

Floor 45
Looked at the time. Just past midnight. Took the elevator up without exploring the floor.

Arranged things with the mine chest, leaving the bat wings, the slime and the sap, and bringing just about everything else I'd found, then ran home. Made it home in enough time to put iron ore in the furnace, put away the stuff belonging in the materials chest, then inside to get ready for bed. Found it difficult to believe I had managed 15 floors. Having a better weapon so I didn't have to spend twenty minutes for the more difficult monsters had clearly helped. But now I needed to upgrade the pickaxe again or accept the increased difficulties of mining the frozen floors.

 

[Terdin]

Day 22
Woke up feeling great. After rejoicing in the feeling, I remembered the cause. Beehive. Speed-Gro. Farmer's Lunch. The recipes filling my head told me the cause without needing to check my cards. Maybe I should buy some more seeds for a last harvest or something, and then go fish to earn some money unless it was a good luck day. Noting that Belle had gone out, I went to check the TV.

Weather forecast rain. Luck bad. Fishing it was. I had enough to make bait for several days of it.

I had mail. Caroline wanted to share her recipe for parsnip soup with me. Tears welled up in my eyes at that small gesture of friendship, that someone had gone beyond seeing me as a barely tolerated newcomer. Maybe now I could visit that sunroom she'd mentioned. Put copper ore in the furnace to be sure it finished while I was busy with the crops. The iron bar would go to the Junimo.

Went down to water my crops. Noticing ripe crops I harvested the flowers and potatoes I'd planted after the Egg Festival, the third harvest of green beans, and made the empty dilapidated squares neat, watered, and ready to receive seeds. Went up to pet Belle, and filled her bowl before remembering that she wouldn't visit it tomorrow and it would be filled by the rain. Stored away the crops. Put the last of my iron ore and got ready to go to town. My eyes fell on the geodes. 11 normal, 1 omni. And the stuff for the museum. Geodes and museum first. Seeds later.

I found a Junimo-indicated spot passing by the bus stop. Another book was briefly visible before it got whisked away to the library.

Clint brightened when I entered the smithy.

"Just some geodes today," I said to not bring his hopes up too much.

"Right. You know, my father was also a blacksmith. As was my grandfather. I bet you can't guess what my great-grandfather was," he said when we moved over to the anvil.

"A silly clown?" I asked, wanting to say something that wasn't the rather obvious answer.

Clint laughed. "That was a good one. I'll admit it. He was a blacksmith too."

We got to the business of cracking open the geodes. 6 stones, sandstone, orpiment, 6 coal, 9 copper ore, and two thunder eggs. No new minerals for the museum.

"And this." I held up the omni geode.

"Those are rather unusual. You never know what you find in those." Clint brought his hammer down on it.

Obsidian.

"I'd like to sell the sandstone, orpiment and the thunder eggs," I said.

He sighed and tallied it up. "340 G, take it or leave it."

Of course I took it. I held up the obsidian. "And I'll see if I can donate this to the museum."

He looked from me to the wall behind me. "You're the one who's donated all that stuff? When Gunther stopped complaining to me weekly about the lack of objects I went to see for myself." His tone said that he'd started to think I was opening geodes for profit, but was now re-evaluating it. "That place isn't really for someone like me, but it's good that there's something for visitors to see."

"And maybe especially for Jas and Vincent," I said. "Gives Penny a chance to show them the real thing rather than just a picture in a book."

"That too," he said as I left

Gunther was happy about the jade and obsidian. The scroll made him hesitate.

"This is a dwarf scroll. I can't read much of their language, but I do know how they write some of their numbers." He pointed to a symbol. "This means 'one'." He scribbled some more symbols. "Here's the numbers from two to eight. For whatever reason, they had a counting system based on the figure eight. Presumably because they had just four digits on each hand, rather than five like humans do."

Had... He was talking about them in past tense. "Why past tense?" I asked without thinking.

"Some sources say they went extinct at the end of the elemental war, and that it was why that war ended. Others say they just went into hiding from both humans and the creatures we call void spirits. They prefer much the same habitat, so maybe the war was inevitable. Humans only got involved because they made nightly raids on each other and attacked us. Maybe just a case of mistaken identity. We finally managed to drive them back underground, but it's said that they do come up at night to steal our stuff or attack us, and blame them when stuff goes missing." He lifted the scroll. "If you find more scrolls like this I might be able to decipher more of their language. If you go deep enough in the mine you might encounter one and need to understand them. That is, if they aren't extinct."

I nodded, not mentioning the dwarf near the mine entrance. Understanding their language would be useful, and sooner than Gunther thought.

I went to read the book I'd found. On Foraging talked about the stuff to be found in the wild, and about being able to make and grow their seeds. Making wild seeds was supposed to mean I was an expert forager? Since when did one day of doing something turn anyone into an expert?

I checked the garbage can when I left the museum. An acorn. Would be useful for the forest bundle, and the best find today since the other trash cans hadn't had anything in them. The bookseller was in town today, a poster announced with an arrow pointing in the direction of Joja mart. Not likely that I could afford anything they had for sale.

"Do you need any seeds?" Pierre asked when I entered the store. "Season's ending soon, so you'd better make the most of it."

I looked over my options. It was pretty much down to potatoes, kale, or parsnips. Didn't want to bother planting more flowers. Parsnips would make me spend too much time watering. Kale needed a scythe to harvest but would give me the least to water. Potatoes were in the middle and had a good chance of producing more than one.

"17 potato seeds, please. Even if it does lead to having just spare change left."

"You could sell your salmonberries," Pierre said. "From what I've heard you had quite the harvest of that."

I shook my head. "I'd rather eat them and be able to sell more of the fish I catch. One chub would sell for about ten times as much as a salmonberry, and they both give me as much energy. I will need to eat some of the fish to get some proteins, but not nearly as many."

Pierre considered that for a while. "That is a sound business strategy. Are you going to sell any of the crops you've grown, or are you just eating them? It seems like you've bought a lot of seeds, but nothing's come out of that farm, apart from fish and some seeds. You should've got your first crop of strawberries already, but... nothing. You should get a scarecrow to keep your seeds from being eaten by crows. I might be able to get just what you need, but you'll have to wait until the Flower Dance. Sell some of those crops you've got so you'll be able to buy it."

I merely nodded, not wanting to say that I already had a scarecrow.

I went inside, to see if Caroline wanted to show me her sunroom. Not finding her in the kitchen I tried the door. It opened to a small conservatory.

Plants grew in pots all around the walls. A water feature in one corner made a pleasant sound and kept the air humid. Caroline stood next to a bush in the center and had a table with a tea set in front of her.

"Come in. This is what I've wanted to show you. What do you think?" she asked.

"It's very relaxing. I think it's the water feature that makes it that way."

"Thank you. Would you like a cup of tea? I like to start my days with a cup of freshly made tea." She snipped a couple of leaves off the plant beside her and put them in the tea pot. At my nod she poured a second cup and pushed it gently towards me.

I took the offered cup and she explained why she liked tea. Maybe it was the tea on an empty stomach, but her words painted up an exotic scenery. Made me think that she had once wanted more out of her life than being the wife of a shop owner in a small rural town. I didn't ask about her discarded dreams. If she wasn't ready to confide in me, I might ruin our budding friendship.

"You're one of the few in town that hasn't tried to ask me to make Pierre give them a discount. Jodi and Lewis are the two others. If things were different I would be able to do that occasionally, but..."

I nodded, understanding the unsaid words. If Joja wasn't here... Not much I could do about Joja, apart from not giving them my business, and trying to help out around town.

Caroline went to check on some sound. "Close the door behind you when you leave."

Inspecting the bush that from a distance seemed so much like many of those that grew on my farm I noticed a leaf that seemed ready for picking. Glancing towards the door I pinched it off and put it in my backpack. I left, trying to look like I had just appreciated the sunroom a few minutes longer. On my way through the kitchen, a letter on a bench drew my attention. Had Caroline put it there for me to read? It was dated 8 years ago. Addressed to Pierre.

- It pains me to be the bearer of bad news, but I feel obligated to inform you of a recent development most threatening to your livelihood. Joja Co. has decided to expand into Pelican Town. It's too late for protest. Joja Builders have already broken ground for the new JojaMart.

It continued into gloating that made me feel nauseous for Pierre's sake.

- As manager of the new JojaMart, I feel, to some degree personally responsible for your predicament. As such, I'd like to offer you a position as Assistant Grocer. Wages start at 5g an hour. I look forward to seeing your resumé!

The words sounded worse than hollow. The only reason Morris looked forward to the resumé was that it signified that Pierre had gone out of business. That Morris' triumph was complete. Seeing the kind of wages offered out here in the countryside made me think I'd earned a fortune in comparison, but out here there were no-one really to complain to. Reporters were focusing more on the bigger locations, where more people were affected by Joja's injusticies and thus more likely to care. Someone making a report about injustices in Pelican Town, a place with about 30 inhabitants... it wouldn't even make a small article on page 8. The wages offered were like Clint's "take it or leave it" offers, but a lot cheaper. If I had sold the minerals to Joja, I might've gotten 34 G, not 340 G.

While I wanted to crumple up the letter on Pierre's behalf, I put it down as much in the same position as I could. While the letter was old, there had been no dust on it, nor any faint mark in the barely noticeable dust on the laquered yellow surface. Signs that it hadn't been there for long, and that the surface hadn't been wiped since before the weekend.

It made me glad I had given those cans of Joja Cola to Sam. If his wages were at that starting point as a part-time cleaner, it would take him 15 hours to earn enough for one can. He'd be able to buy one from the Saloon's vending machine about every other week. His allowance from Jodi was likely several times larger than his working wages. For that matter, him working there was probably because Jodi had pushed for him to take a job and learn to not take money for granted.

I walked out of there, deep in thought. It wouldn't be just the General Store that would fall if Pierre went out of business. I could sense that about half of those selling items or services would fail. Pierre wasn't the only one hoping my farm was their lifeline. Whether they thought about it or not, Willy, Marnie, Clint, and Robin were also placing their hopes with my farm.

Still thinking about it, I went to the community center. The tension remained at the level I had lowered it to. I added the iron bar to its boiler room bundle, knowing what to expect. I checked the treasure hunter bundle, and was relieved that jade wasn't an option. No need to feel guilty for donating it to the museum instead of the Junimo.

I returned to my farm and planted the potatoes, then trudged up the backwoods with rod, bug meat, salmonberries, and just a few tools. I thought of taking down one of the trees there, but changed my mind. I still had the axe in hand when I encountered Demetrius outside Robin's house.

He eyed the axe. "Feel free to take as much lumber and stone from this area as you want." He gestured to the few trees. "I know Lewis wouldn't want you to do that in town, but I think you could get away with it around the Mart and anywhere else. I saw you didn't have all that much space for trees on your farm the time I went there to see what it looked like."

"Thanks. I'll take you up on that some time, but right now I'm gonna fish." I spotted some Junimo arms beckoning at me. "Oh, that may be worms," I said to avoid saying what it really was. I hoed it up, only to find that it was a grimy old doll.

"Seems like Jas or some child before her lost their doll."

"I know I lost a few as a child. But this one looks older than that. Maybe the museum wants it," I said. "If not, I can see what Jas thinks of it."

I settled down by the lake to fish, avoiding the immediate area of where Sebastian liked to stand. I caught two largemouth bass before it got too late for them, as well as a couple of carp and a bullhead. Well, I did also catch a piece of driftwood and some green algae. Then Sebastian came to have a smoke by the water's edge. He mentioned not planning to do anything today, and I barely kept from reminding him that the day was almost over. If he was a night owl that slept late, his day might just be halfway through. At least the wind wasn't blowing his smoke in my direction today.

After talking to Sebastian, it seemed like it was a chub day. They were my most numerous catch, with bullhead and various trash sharing a close second place, and just a few carp. I tried to remember to eat salmonberries before I started to get exhausted, but didn't always succeed. I caught one river jelly when I was about to end the day. I'd caught a couple of them before, and put them aside. While they were supposed to be edible, I had to be desperate to want to eat them. Yuck! Willy didn't want to buy those jellies, so I didn't know what they were worth, and I didn't want to find out I needed one for some crafting or cooking recipe only to have to spend a day or more fishing to get my hands on one.

Despite the many fish caught there hadn't been a single chest. It seemed like the fortune teller had been right about me having bad luck today.

I left the jelly in the fishing chest and some of the lower quality fish, three chub, one bullhead, one largemouth bass, and five carp, when it was time to head back home. I brought along everything else I'd caught that evening, including the doll.

Got home in time to put the fish in the shipping bin, and put copper ore in the furnace, before going inside.

 

[Terdin]

Day 23
Woke up feeling like I should've eaten at least one of those carps rather than put them away in a chest. At least I didn't have to water the plants today.
I petted Belle and gave her the remains of when I had to make more bait yesterday before turning my attention to the TV.

Weather forecast announced sunny weather for the Flower Dance tomorrow. Why couldn't it have been cancelled because of rain? Luck good. At least I could spend my day without getting soaked.

I went out and looked at my options for food. Most of it wouldn't be all that good raw, or I had paid too much for the seeds to want to waste it. Carrots were probably my best option. I hadn't paid anything for the seeds, and they should taste okay raw. Ate one to give my stomach something to work with and felt like it gave me more energy than the salmonberries did.

I had mail. Lewis informing me of the Flower Dance. Now that I wasn't as hungry, I wasn't quite as negative to it, but I also was sure I'd only be a wallflower there. I wasn't close enough to anyone around my age that I could imagine them picking me over someone they'd known for years. Caroline was the only one in town I was somewhat close to, and she had more of an aunt feel to her.

Speak about the devil... The other letter in there was from Caroline, thanking me for the company and giving me a recipe for tea bush saplings.

Almost 2000 G in the shipping bin from the fish. It would be enough to upgrade either the hoe or the watering can, but I kinda needed both at hand. It also wouldn't be enough for upgrading the pickaxe.

I checked my new recipe. Wild seeds, fiber, wood. That could be useful for making a fence along the cliff edge. Wouldn't produce a harvest until the end of Summer though, but it was more than wooden or stone fences gave. I made some wild seeds, then five tea saplings. I paused on the verge of planting the first of them. Since Pierre bought the wild seeds, maybe I could ask him what he'd give for one of the saplings when the store opened.

My thoughts from yesterday returned. The various people subconsciously putting their hopes in my farm, only to find them dashed when they realized I had less money than they did. I had to start restore those hopes. Maybe by building a silo. It didn't cost much, but it would prove I was trying. The question was where. Maybe over near Grandpa's grave if I cleared the trees first... I then remembered that it was Tuesday, workout class day. But it was raining, so maybe she was working anyway.

I went to clear the space. Harvested the two later cauliflowers on my way there. The area there was a mess. Other than the immediate area for the silo-to-be I tried to only take down fully grown trees, so those around could grow up. By the time I was done it was well past 9 am. Remembering from one of my visits, I gathered up stone, clay and copper bars, and put away the cauliflowers and stuff from the trees.

On my way past the bus stop, I hoed up a dig spot. I think I may have hoped for a lost book for the library, but what I got was a few stones, and a book that stayed in my hands.

"Oh no."

Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Thick. I read the title several times, trying to breathe deep and get mentally prepared for what would happen when I opened it. Trying to delay that moment.

The same thing happened. The pages moved on their own, and the book flew into me. My lungs stopped working for longer than was comfortable while it dissolved, and I held on to the fence for support. Tears ran down my cheeks as I recovered. I opened my backpack to see what the book did. Had I become more dimwitted but more agile? I didn't feel more agile. The card made my vision blur, forcing me to wipe my eyes to be able to read. It had made my defense go up. Taking less damage from monsters was undeniably useful.

I made the mistake to count the remaining silhouettes. Two books down. Seventeen or eighteen to go. I sagged onto the wet grass by the path, crying. Hoping the benefits from each would be worth the experience. Again I wanted to go ask the Wizard to do something about it before deciding I didn't want to give him that satisfaction. I couldn't do anything if he wanted to watch me from afar and getting his jollies out of my discomfort, but I didn't have to go get proof that he did so.

I wiped my eyes before going into town.

There was no music from the back rooms. No workout class.

"What's happened?" Pierre asked "You look like you've been crying."

I took a slow breath before answering. "I just read a book," I said.

Pierre nodded sagely. "You should talk to Caroline. She loves a good tear-jerker book."

"How much would a tea sapling sell for?" I asked.

"I don't sell them, but I would buy one for 250 G. I think there's a merchant cart that stops by from time to time in Cindersap Forest. You could buy one from there but depending on season and availability, her price is anywhere from three to five times what I buy them for. You'd be better off planting them and selling the tea leaves. I doubt Caroline would be the only one who'd love to have a bigger supply of tea leaves. She told me she invited you for tea yesterday."

"I do plan to make a tea hedge," I admitted and left.

Went down to check the closest trash cans before going to see Robin. Wanted to let the signs of crying leave my face. George's and Lewis' trash cans gave me a pair of broken glasses and a CD, which was a lot more welcome now than it would've been a week ago, or however long it had been since I made that recycling machine. I met Sebastian heading into town, and he mentioned something about being able to see frogs in the rain, if one was lucky enough. It was one of the more positive comments I'd heard from him.

Robin was having her shop open. I looked over her options despite knowing what I wanted. Memorized what I needed for a coop. If not for the need to upgrade my pickaxe, I'd be able to afford it soon. Had enough materials for it too.

"I'd like to build a silo," I said.

"That's a good idea. Then you can gather fodder before you buy animals. Less stressful, I imagine. You've even got all the materials for it with you." She pulled out a rather detailed map of my farm. "Where would you like to build it?"

I pointed to the area I had cleared.

"I'll start on it the day after tomorrow. I always take festivals off from work." She paused. "You don't look all that enthusiastic about it."

"It's just that I don't know what's happening at it. It's one festival my parents didn't take me to when I was little. Since I don't know people all that well yet, it feels like I'd just be a wallflower, watching everyone else have fun."

"Festivals are a good time to get to know others better," she reminded me.

"I'll think about it."

I went to say hello to Maru and Demetrius too, then took a detour to greet Linus who was taking a rain "shower" fully dressed.

The entrance to the mines made me hesitate for a moment. Should I really brave those freezing cold floors with wet clothes? Then again, fighting and hacking away at rocks should keep me warm.

Floor 45
Those dust sprites were about again, five of them near the entrance, some of them dropping coal when they died. Some blue slimes too, managing to put some kind of glue-like secretion on my boots that made each step an effort until the glue either wore off or hardened. In my search for iron nodes, I found a bunch of barrels. One contained stones, one a few pieces of copper ore, and then one with iron ore. Found the way down after just two rocks.

Floor 46
Killed a dust sprite and a slime close to the ladder down, then found the stairs under the first iron node I encountered. Went down without further search.

Floor 47
Three slimes near the ladder, and an iron node. To my surprise one of the slimes dropped a winter root which sparked a memory. I quickly checked the cards for the community center bundles. Winter forage bundle... I took the northern path from the entrance chamber and spotted the stairs out in the open, near two iron nodes and a slime.

Floor 48
Lots of dust sprites, and shortly after I entered the floor, the air thickened. Then bats swarmed down from the ceiling. It was only after the bats left me alone that I realized the dust sprites had removed some rocks and shaken loose a frozen geode. Found an iron node in my search for the stairs, and had to break too many rocks for my liking before I found it. Too many that didn't even give me stones for building stuff. Ate several salmonberries to regain energy and heal before going down.

Floor 49
Eerily quiet. Not a single enemy that I could see. On the other hand there were five iron nodes and several barrels that gve me more stone, iron and copper ore, and a quartz. Took just a few rocks to find the stairs.

Floor 50
A treasure chest. I made sure I had enough space for its content before opening it. Fur-lined tundra boots. Just what I needed. I took the elevator up to put away my old boots in the chest before going down again to continue.

Floor 51
My eyes widened at the apparition that floated towards me. It looked like the ghosts described in children's books, but I'd been reassured they weren't real. Yet another case of Mom lying to me to keep me from being afraid of the dark. It wasn't even dark here. To my relief my current weapon was able to kill it, but the thing it dropped. What on earth was a solar essence? I picked up a quartz while considering what to do with it. Five slimes and three dust sprites on this floor, but no iron nodes. Began to search for the stairs and found it some ten rocks later, but not before finding an omni geode. Ate a couple of salmonberries before going down.

Floor 52
This floor was eerily quiet and looked like it had once had rails for a mine cart, but they had been removed. I still followed the path they'd taken, finding a sack of coal near the stairs sitting out in the open.

Floor 53
The stairs were out in the open just a few steps away. I still went to get the iron nodes and a couple of copper nodes nearby, as well as some barrels and boxes. Found two frozen geodes in one barrel. Avoided a fight with a slime and went down.

Floor 54
Disturbed a bat when I went to take down a barrel. A barrel proving to contain iron ore. Then went to a nearby iron node, and found the stairs down was out in the open a bit further along that path. Spotted an odd-looking rock a bit away, that almost looked like an iron node. No iron, but an aquamarine.

Floor 55
The ding of the elevator springing to function was a welcome sound. When I saw another ghost floating towards me, I decided I'd had enough of the mines for the day. Besides, it was getting late and it was unlikely I'd reach floor 60 before it got too late to return home on my own. I fled to the elevator, hoping the ghost wouldn't follow me.

I put away the bat wings, slime, and sap, and brought the rest home. Enough space to pick up a couple of horseradishes and a leek in the backwoods. More than enough time to put iron ore in the furnace, and a CD in the recycling machine. I went to the cliff overlooking the coming silo, and saw that Robin already had fenced off the build site, despite saying that she wouldn't do anything until the 25th. I returned to the backwoods to cut down the trees growing there. Despite the name, there were just three of them. Returned to find I could collect a still warm refined quartz from the recycling machine. Put in the broken glasses, then went inside to write in my diary and get ready for bed.

 

[Terdin]

Day 24 Flower Dance Ditch
Woke up feeling well. When I got awake enough to realize I felt that way despite having subsisted on only a carrot and a bunch of salmonberries, and that I had another recipe, I sighed and looked at the skill card. Mining 3. Got up to check the TV.

Weather forecast rain, luck very good. Somehow I doubted luck had anything to do with the Flower Dance, other than avoiding to look like a complete ass.

I went out to tend the furnace and recycling machine, water my crops, and harvest what was ripe. Then I stuffed everything I wouldn't need into a chest, and made sure I had hoe, pickaxe, weapon, and salmonberries. Kept the coal too, since I was likely to get some from dust sprites and rocks. To keep my stomach busy I ate a cave carrot to see what they were like. Didn't taste anything like a carrot, but not unpleasant either. It was kinda sweet and nutty, but difficult to chew raw.

Halfway to the northern exit of the farm I recalled the aquamarine and winter root, and my promise to the Junimo to give them the stuff soon after I encountered it. I'd better at least seem to be trying to keep that promise. I also had the 10 acorns I needed for the forest bundle.

Faint music coming from the south of my farm announced that the festival had opened. I ignored it and went to the community center instead. Going through town I encountered Harvey wearing a newly ironed suit. His moustache had to have been newly waxed.

"Where are you going, Erica? Aren't you going to the Flower Dance?"

"To be a wallflower, and probably hear Haley gloat about my inability to find a partner? I'd rather go look for ore in the mine and deal with the monsters."

"You can't be serious," Harvey said.

"At least the monsters don't try to put up a pleasant front before trying to kill me. Sure, I know Haley wouldn't try to literally stab me, but she might say stuff that would make me want to kill myself. Its not been overly long since I was almost at such a low. Finding that Grandpa left me the farm made me choose to live."

"I didn't know. You didn't seem to have such problems. You haven't been..." His voice trailed off.

Even though he didn't say it, he clearly thought of Shane, Pam, and George, maybe Sebastian too. Those that abused alcohol or other stuff to drown their sorrows, or lashed out at others because of emotional and physical pain.

"Though you going to the mines might be another way of showing it. Just don't go too deep, and be careful. Consider it doctor's orders."

"I will," I said and went up the stairs.

The first scroll's tension increased a fair amount from getting one bundle to one gift from completion. The boiler room scroll had just a minor increase. Something made me look at the bulletin board scroll's bundles when I was about to leave. There I noticed something I'd forgotten about. There was a use for bat wings. The Spirit's Eve bundle. Good thing I hadn't just discarded them as worthless, though it seemed like bats dropped them fairly frequently, like whenever I cut off one of their wings.

I paused with my finger near the elevator button. What would Harvey consider "too deep" in the mine? If I'd only had the first sword, I'd probably be too deep already. Second sword too. Maybe I should ask him at some point, and probably scare him witless if he demanded to know how deep I'd gone.

Floor 55
Started to explore when a ghost floated at me. Didn't get my insect jaws ready in time, and its attack felt much like reading one of those special power books, only more briefly. It dropped solar essence and a refined quartz. Didn't seem to be any other monsters around, nor any nodes, so I set about to look for the stairs.

Floor 56
Slimes, dust sprites, and bats, with no time to count them. One dust sprite dropped a crystal fruit. A topaz node, and some odd formation that looked like a frozen tear in addition to a handful of iron nodes. Two of the monsters had revealed stairs, so I didn't have to search.

Floor 57
The first monster, a slime, revealed a stair when it died, but I still stayed long enough to kill another ghost. It dropped a solar essence. I wouldn't have minded to ask the Wizard about what it was, but if I went near the Flower Dance, I'd probably get forced to participate and get nothing done. Even so, I could sense it could have some use. Ate some berries to keep my strength up.

Floor 58
A slime stopped me briefly from getting at a frozen tear and some iron nodes. The stairs were hiding under one of those nodes. I didn't go down immediately. It looked similar to a floor that'd had a mine cart, so I explored, and found a sack with six coal in it. Took down several monsters as well as a couple of iron nodes before returning to the stairs.

Floor 59
The narrow passage that stretched out to the left of me as I got down reminded me of an earlier floor. But this one had some iron and copper nodes nearby, which was better than just a bunch of rocks. A ghost that floated out of a wall scared me enough that a dust sprite managed to attack me, causing minor damage in comparison. The ghost dropped a staircase that burrowed down. Went a bit further and took down a couple more dust sprites, one of them dropping a coffee bean. Then spotted some more ore nodes and a quartz. Dropped the sap to be able to fit the quartz in the backpack.

Floor 60
I took the elevator up to make space for the content of the treasure chest. Went down, found a crystal dagger. The short reach made me dismiss it as a possible upgrade. Went up again and put it away, then realized I'd put the cookies I'd found in a garbage can there, and ate them. Had to eat some berries too, for the moisture as well as the energy.

Floor 61
One iron node, one barrel containing iron ore, and one slime. Found the stairs on the second rock I broke.

Floor 62
The air seemed thicker here and there were no rocks in sight. Something was wrong. A ghost drifted at me through a wall. I killed it and got a solar essence before sneaking further in. Two slimes. Still no rocks. No stairs out in the open either. A bat attacked. Then I reached the last room. Still no rocks to break and no stairs. Just two dust sprites and a slime. One of the dust sprites dropped a scroll bound with a green ribbon, the slime dropped a stair. I looked for the scroll's number using the note Gunther had given me. Dwarf scroll 2.

Floor 63
Two barrels nearby, but no monsters. It made me go on a search for more barrels and boxes, and ore nodes. Found a couple of frozen geodes in one of the barrels.
It turned out that the floor wasn't as monsterless as it had seemed at first. Two slimes, far apart. Took a good while to locate which rock hid the stairs. Maybe I should've started my search around where I'd come down rather than where I'd found the third barrel. When I finally found it, I was more than ready to go down. I stopped myself short. It wasn't just annoyance. I was verging on exhaustion. More berries. At least I was doing well time-wise.

Floor 64
Two dust sprites and a black slime with a yellow star on its antenna. Took out the dust sprites, then a ghost put my assessment of the slime on hold. Once the more immediate threats were dealt with, I carefully approached the slime. The black slime took far more effort to kill than if it had been a blue slime. I somehow managed to avoid getting attacked by it. It dropped a pair of thermal boots, which looked cool, but the tundra boots were better, and fit better with my clothes. A nearby dust sprite revealed stairs when it died, but I decided to go exploring. I had the time and the next floor should have an elevator if it kept the same pattern. It was fortunate that I did. At the far end was a room with a lot of barrels and boxes, close to a set of stairs that had been out in the open all along.
From the barrels I didn't care much about the mixed seeds, since it was unlikely I'd be able to harvest the crops they grew. The boots was another matter. I threw out the sap from the most recent slimes. Combat boots with better defense than the tundra boots. Not as warm though, so maybe I should wait with putting them on. Some cave carrots were also worth making space for, discarding the most recent pieces of slime. Ate two winter roots to pick up a house plant, then discarded that to pick up another aquamarine. Gunther needed one too.

Went down to floor 65, then went up with the elevator as soon as it returned to working order. Had gathered enough wings for the bundle this time too. Took my time deciding what to bring home. The wings, the crystal fruit, and the topaz for the Junimo. Aquamarine, frozen tear, and the dwarf scroll for Gunther. Geodes for Clint. Coffee bean, cave carrots, ores, refined quartz, and solar essences for myself. Put away the two pairs of boots.

Coffee grew in both Spring and Summer, which meant I could plant it and get harvests from it. I hurried home to plant and water it, and gave it some Speed-Gro. Fed iron ore to the furnace. Now I wouldn't need to visit the mines for some time. What I needed was to turn the ore into bars, and earn enough money to upgrade my pickaxe... and the axe. The copper axe wasn't enough to handle the old logs from mahogany trees that littered the southern end of my farm. I didn't want to wait for the tea bushes to grow, so I placed the saplings in the shipping bin, along with the tea leaf I'd nicked from Caroline.

I went indoors, and settled down to write with my head spinning with plans for tomorrow.

 

[Terdin]

Spring 25
Woke up in bed. Last memories I had of the day before was of sitting by the table, writing. The pen lay near the door and diary open in front of the TV with a small sooty footprint on an empty page, proof that Belle had been at play. Now she lay in front of the fire and tried to look innocent. At least she hadn't made it fly into the fireplace.

"I guess you get bored in here when it rains," I said as I petted her. "But I guess you're not bored enough to brave the rain."

More recipes in my head. A glowstone ring, which would be very useful if it did what I imagined. How to magically turn copper bars into iron, and how to cook cave carrots and winter roots into a strengthening meal. That last would only be useful if I had a kitchen. I wished it would stop happening, that I would stop getting proof that others had plans for me that probably didn't fit my plans. I just didn't know who to complain to, and even if I could, I'd probably be told that nothing would change and that the plan would proceed as intended. Much like how Joja treated their employees. Never being able to influence anything. At least here I had more say in how I spent my days.

Weather forecast: Rain. Luck somewhat bad.

I went out to tend the furnace. Soon I'd have enough iron bars melted. Went down to harvest what was ripe, and heard the sound of hammering. Robin was already busy. Picked the strawberries, the green beans, and some parsnips that had grown from the mixed seeds sown. Went to clear the quarry while waiting for the furnace to finish. To my surprise there was an iron node there. The first I'd seen there, and as difficult to crack as those in the mine. Two of the dig spots gave me coal, the third just some stones. Just one geode added to what I needed Clint to open for me. I belatedly remembered to place the crab pots in the river and bait them.

Checked on the mahogany seeds I'd planted. Still a long way to go. A seed spot near them gave me something unexpected, Summer Squash seeds. The seeds went into the Spring chest. Soon I'd need a Summer chest, but not yet. Fed more iron ore to the furnace before putting together what I needed to bring. Made three more batches of wild seeds, then turned them into tea saplings before I recalled having put five into the shipping bin last night. 1250 G. Only needed about 2000 more, so I planted five of the saplings along the cliff edge near the old greenhouse, before recalling the traveling merchant and the need for at least 1000 G if she had rare seeds. The fish would have to pay for that. I gave Robin a holler and a wave before leaving for my errands.

Fish... I needed the rod and the bug meat for bait if I was gonna fish.

Went to see Harvey first, thinking he might need reassurance.

"You can't believe how worried I was yesterday. And when people wondered where you were, they too worried after I told them. I'm glad you didn't go down too deep."

"At what floor would you think it was 'too deep' for me?" I asked.

"Anything below floor 10, I'd say."

"Oh... Then I went very much too deep for your conscience. I was going for iron ore, and you don't really find that until you reach floor 41." I refrained from revealing the exact floor I'd reached. "Just wanted to let you know nothing bad happened." I left.

Checked the Help Wanted board. Pam wanted a parsnip for a soup before the end of tomorrow. Maybe better to let it wait until tomorrow.

I placed the ten tea saplings before Pierre. "I'd like to sell these. I figured out how to make them. Oh, and I've planted some too."

Pierre didn't look happy as he handed over 2500 G. "I hope you'll buy plenty of seeds when Summer begins."

"I definitely will," I promised. "If you had next season's seeds up for sale now already, I'd probably buy now, so I wouldn't have to make a side trip here on the first before I could plant them." Despite having a little over 5800 G, I couldn't quite rejoice over it. Most of it would be gone within hours.

Abigail walked up to me. "I can't believe you ditched the Flower Dance yesterday. Harvey told all of us that you went to the mines instead. Marlon and Clint were the only ones that weren't concerned. Why do you have permission to go down there?"

"I don't know. You'd have to ask Marlon about that."

"I did. He said to ask you."

"I just went there when they removed the landslide, and he gave me a rusty old sword and told me to go down there and see how deep I could go. Then he sent me a letter with the specifics for an initiation test for the Adventurer's Guild. It could be because I've got a quarry on the farm, or because he knew my grandpa, Patrick, or because I was the first one who was adventurous enough to look into the mine entrance after the footbridge became passable."

"That's not fair." Abigail pouted.

"Now, now, Abigail," Pierre said. "You should know it's not a suitable pursuit for a young lady."

"But, Dad... What about Erica then?"

"Oh... Eh... I can't say I approve of Erica going down there either." He turned to me. "If you get too injured and can't run that farm of yours, it would be a big problem."

"Well, no mining for me either for a couple of days. Need to upgrade my pickaxe to make mining easier, and the boulders on my farm are so hard I barely scratch the surface of them with what I currently got."

I hurriedly left before the two of them could start arguing again. Looked in to see Evelyn and George, and Alex on my way, and reassure them. George thanked me for scaring away the raccoons, before telling me to stay away from the mine if I knew what was good for me. He then clammed up and didn't want to say any more about the subject. Evelyn said she was just happy to know I was alright, but I caught her worried glance towards George. Alex was as jealous as Abigail had been.

"At first I thought you would've been a better choice," I said. "Still do in some ways. It's hard work between breaking rocks and fighting monsters, but I do need the ores I get down there."

Alex glanced towards his grandfather. "I guess it's better you than me. I'd never hear the end of it if I tried to go down there."

"Will the two of you pipe down! I'm trying to watch TV!" George said, louder than usual.

"Sorry. I'll be leaving," I said.

Remembering that the geodes might give me a lot of different items, I went to the community center first. Crystal fruit, topaz, bat wings.

Backpack a bit lighter, I hurried over to Clint, picking up a Joja Cola from the saloon's trash can on the way.

"You've clearly spent some time in the frozen regions of the mine," he said. "I can tell by the marks on your pickaxe."

"Yeah, I need to upgrade it." I handed over what he needed for it. "I also need your help to open some geodes."

"The pickaxe will be ready in a couple of days. Now, let's see those geodes."

I handed over the ordinary geode first. Iron ore. The five frozen geodes came next. Lunarite, marble, another iron ore, pyrite, and a frozen tear. Last, the two omni geodes. Jagoite and neptunite.

"That's quite a few minerals for the museum," I said. "I'd better go donate them."

"You're doing quite well in the mines. Marlon wouldn't admit it, but I think he's rather proud that he decided to give you permission. He mentioned that you'd already completed one of the monster eradication goals, even if it's just the easiest one."

"Thanks for telling me. And I won't tell him what you said."

Penny brightened at seeing me well, and said as much. Knowing she liked her alone time rainy days, I went inside.

"It's been a few days," Gunther said in greeting.

"It has. And I've got a fair few items to donate."

He received the six minerals and the gem with enthusiasm. The doll was reluctantly accepted.

"I hope it hasn't been used for some kind of mystic ritual," Gunther said. "Negative energy and spirits could cling to it if it has."

"I can't sense anything bad from it," I said. "Not like what I've sensed from the ghosts in the mine. More likely that some child lost or buried it back in the early days of Pelican Town."

Gunther paled. "You've... encountered ghosts in the mine?"

"A few. Not easy to fight." I decided to not elaborate on it. "And this." I handed over the second dwarf scroll.

He took it carefully, as if half expecting the parchment to crumble to dust. "This will require some careful study. Didn't expect you to find another one so soon. They're supposed to be rare. I thought maybe you'd find another next year. Even that would have been soon."

Again, I didn't mention having met a dwarf. If the dwarf wanted me to find the means to communicate with them, they might be the one hiding the scrolls on various floors, only for monsters to find the scrolls first.

"Could I see the rewards you think I've qualified for?" I asked. "I think it might be best if I took the summer seeds home now." There were three more items in the rewards chest. Another painting, a large stuffed bear, and a large crystal of some sort.

"That's a singing stone. You hit it and get a sound. With enough practice you might learn to play a melody."

"Sounds fun, but I'm not sure I have time for that right now, between farming, mining and fishing... Speaking of that, I should go catch some fish. Need to earn the money to upgrade my axe too."

"See you later. Good luck fishing."

I considered going for catfish, but then recalled the few pieces of roe I had in my lake fishing chest and trudged back up. Met Sebastian on the way, who seemed unconcerned about my absence yesterday. Maru and Demetrius weren't quite as nonchalant and chewed me out. I had to remind them that I had told someone where I was going, then went out the door. They didn't follow me.

Since Sebastian wasn't likely to come smoke by the lakeside, I stood at his usual spot. It was a nice rhythm. Fish biting, trying to catch them with the least possible fuss unless it seemed like there was a chest on the line, and a bunch of green algae and trash. Despite getting to the lake well before 6 pm, the largemouth bass avoided my line. The first treasure chest held something that made me uneasy. A thick black disc with red stones and odd runes. Not Junimo symbols. Something else. Dwarvish? It weighed heavily in my backpack as I cast the line again. Carp was the most common fish today, but also a bunch of bullheads. Not as many chubs as last time. Ate a couple of salmonberries, as well as one silver quality carp just to get a bit more substance inside me.

In my early calculations I counted on about three catches per hour, but like last time, I got at least twice that, with six or seven catches per hour, if counting the non-fish catches. Another chest gave me 10 rice shoots, despite it being much too late to plant them, as well as five deluxe bait. No roe. I cast out one last time after midnight, and caught my 12th carp for the day.

Left the gold carps, bringing the silver and iridium. Also brought all the bullheads and chubs. Despite wanting to leave the disc in the chest, I brought it along. It seemed like an object for the museum, even if it was one that might give Jas and Vincent nightmares if they touched it.

The fish went into the shipping bin. A broken CD went into the recycling machine, and I put more iron ore in the furnace before going in to write and let my clothes dry a bit before bedtime. Left Belle the head and skin from the carp, as well as the left-overs from making bait.

 

[Narwhal_7]

Your story is AMAZING!!
I hope you don't stop

 

[Terdin]

Spring 26
Despite the nightmares about creatures of darkness where I could only see their eyes and fanged mouths, I woke up feeling rested, and I had more recipes in my head. Preserves jar, some kind of retaining soil that could reduce the need for watering, how to turn iron bars into fences, and some new kinds of bobbers. I groaned, before recalling that one bundle asked for jelly. Maybe I should make one and get that bundle started.

Belle had eaten what I'd left out for her and purred contentedly when I pet her.

Weather forecast sunny, luck was... perfectly neutral.

I went out, and found Demetrius approaching my door, coming from the direction of northern entrance. It was the first time I'd seen him outdoors in the rain.

"That cave you have over there. I'd like to conduct an experiment in it. I could set it up to either attract fruit bats that might sometimes leave you fruit, or to grow mushrooms. Which one would you prefer?"

I thought it over. Not the backwood, at least not directly. He had to have investigated the cave near it. I did need fruit for the artisan bundle, and for the forager bundle, but I did intend to grow fruit trees when I could afford them, which then took an entire season or so before they started to bear fruit. I needed mushrooms for a couple of bundles too, but if I could set up some mushroom logs, that might not be needed, I "only" needed hardwood and moss for them which seemed hard to come by... right now.

"Bats," I finally said. "Seems like the more fun option. I don't particularly care for the vampire bats in the mine, but fruit bats don't have humans on their menu. I think I'll be able to grow mushrooms with a different method."

"Mushrooms can be grown on logs as well as a suitable substrate. The logs, however, need to be set near trees since the mushrooms are symbiotic with trees and need specific nutrients produced by the trees. The substrate I've got don't have that limitation," Demetrius said.

"I'll keep that in mind for when I'm ready to start. I need to find a good place for trees, and gather the materials I need. The bats will keep the soil on my farm from being depleted by adding their dung. I somehow doubt they'd only defecate in the cave."

Something in his form of speech drew it out in me too, making me use more difficult words than I normally might have, knowing I wouldn't have to go back and explain what I'd said. In a way it was freeing. Like regaining part of the vocabulary lost from having to dumb down my speech to talk to customers.

Demetrius nodded thoughtfully, reassessing me. "So, definitely bats then. That means boards for sleeping roosts, and some of their guano to make them think other bats have already stayed there." He wandered off towards the cave, muttering about what else he needed to do. At least he should be able to take help from Robin.

More iron ore in the furnace, soggy newspaper in the recycling machine. Then go check the crops. A couple of potatoes from mixed seeds ready. I went back up and fetched the money from the shipping bin. It was more than I expected, bringing my total to just over 3000 G. Then I brought out the wood and stone I needed for the preserves jar. Made just one despite being able to make several. Needed to save wood and stone for when I could afford a coop. Didn't want to have to rush around and scrape it together once the finances were right. I put the jar near the cliff edge and put a salmonberry in it. Now to see how long it took.

I was just about to go cut down some of the mature trees near the quarry to give the saplings room to grow, when I recalled Pam's request. One parsnip brought, as well as the disc for the museum. I didn't intend to return to put the gained resources after my efforts as a lumberjack. If I wanted to cut down some of the spruces in Cindersap Forest, it would stack with what I already had.

Just one rare seed, leaving me with a decent amount towards being able to upgrade the axe, depending on how many seeds she had for sale on Sunday.

I made a brief search, mainly for dandelions, since that was the spring forage I had the least of. Found one north of the lake. Then I tried to see what was in the area north of the Wizard's tower, only to find the road blocked by a hardwood log. If I could get rid of it, it seemed like I could go deeper into the woods. Another reason to upgrade my axe soon. I didn't want to get too close to the Wizard, so I returned and went east of the pond. Only two wild horseradishes. Or so it looked for a distance. When pulling them up, I had three of them.

Spotting the cow outside Marnie's farm reminded me that I hadn't talked to anyone in her household since before the Flower Dance.

"I thought you'd get eaten," Jas said when I got her attention away from her book.

"They tried to," I said gently, figuring she meant the monsters in the mine. "I didn't let them. I am a member of the Adventurer's Guild. Part of that is taking down monsters so they don't try to come out of the mines."

Jas' eyes grew wide. "You did it to keep everyone safe on the way home from the dance? We had to pass through the forest in the dark, and we weren't the last ones to get to leave."

I nodded, letting her have that slight misperception. It hadn't been my intent, but the monster eradication board had a line about helping to keep the valley safe.

She hugged me briefly, then ran off to her room. Book forgotten on the floor.

"A nice little story. I heard everything Dr. Harvey said about it," Marnie said quietly, frowning at me. "But thank you for reassuring her."

"It may not have been my original intent, but taking down monsters down there has that effect, and I am a guild member," I said. "Though with Marlon and Clint at the dance itself... that was probably a bigger reason everyone remained safe."

Marnie took a long look at me. "You look a bit different from when you first got here, even when taking monster-damaged clothes into account. Have you been to that strange tower west of my house? More than once I've heard strange, otherworldly noises coming from there. I'd avoid it if I were you."

"I am avoiding it," I assured her. "When I first arrived, I was also rather unfit from having had a desk job for years. I'd find it difficult to believe I'd stay the same after close to four weeks of hard work and spending most of my time outdoors."

She nodded, having heard my words, but clearly suspecting they were a neat little lie, with enough truth mixed in to sound plausible.

"That too. But you look like you haven't been eating nearly enough. Or not sleeping enough."

"I did have nightmares last night, but I try to remember eating enough. It will improve once I can get Robin to build me a kitchen. Though a chicken coop is higher on my list of priorities. Right now, money is tight enough that I don't want to waste it on buying meals at the Saloon. I'm sorry if my lack of funds have disappointed you," I added, having watched the emotions play across her weathered face.

"I wouldn't say disappointed," Marnie said. "Well, maybe at first, but I've seen how hard you've worked on taming that farm of yours, and Clint's mentioned you spending a lot to upgrade your tools. There's no need for you to apologize for prioritizing making your work easier," she added in a softer voice.

I nodded to her and left.

I checked in with Jodi and her family too, to reassure them that I was no worse for wear from having spent a day in the mines.

"I'd hoped to see you there," Sam said. "But I don't blame you. I get nervous for it every year. Having to dance in front of everyone..."

"You were fighting monsters like some kind of hero? That's cool! Almost as cool as my dad!" Vincent turned to his mother.

"No. You will have to wait until you're old enough. Mining and fighting monsters is a work for adults, not children," Jodi quickly said.

Vincent pouted, then looked to his older brother and dragged him towards his room. "Come play adventurer with me!"

Jodi looked after them, and as noises of playfighting began she turned to me again. "My husband, Kent, is a soldier. I usually go to pray to Yoba for his safe return every Sunday, but I..." For a moment she looked close to tears, then her resolve to stay strong returned.

"Before coming here, I prayed to Yoba to forget most details of my previous job, and it worked, despite me not being much of a believer," I said, figuring that admitting to having my prayer heard would be better than empty words of reassurance.

Jodi took a shuddering breath. "Thank you. I just hope he hasn't changed too much. Too many of those that do return will never be the same," she said in a small voice.

I nodded, having seen a few veterans with missing limbs or facial scars. Not to mention the mental trauma. Jodi needed him to be an equal, someone she could lean on at least sometimes. Having to become a private nurse in addition to being a mother might break her. Sam seemed too immature to step up and take on part of the chores to relieve her.

While I wanted to hug her, it seemed to me like that might make her break down and cry, worrying her sons. I touched her shoulder instead, hoping to convey that she could talk to me too, not just Caroline. She took a few more shuddering breaths and her composure returned.

"I'll be alright." She smiled weakly and motioned for me to leave.

I hesitated at the door to Emily's and Haley's house. Emily might've gone to the Saloon already, and I didn't want to meet Haley alone. I shook my head and went over to the museum instead.

Despite wearing gloves, Gunther paled when he touched the disc. "Where did you find this? I think this might be from the kind of monsters we call void spirits, maybe some kind of weapon from the elemental wars."

"I fished it up out of the lake in the mountains. I was hoping you could read the runes on it."

"What runes?" He inspected it thoroughly, even turning it over despite his hesitancy to touch it again. "I can't see any."

I could still see them, but didn't want to worry him further. "Maybe it was just debris on the surface from the mud and algae on the lake bottom that seemed to form symbols," I said.

Gunther nodded, clearly wanting to believe me. "Some insect larvae can leave odd-looking pathways as they feed. But I think it's one artifact I need to write a 'do not touch' sign for. Wouldn't want the children to have nightmares because they touched it out of curiosity. They should have some warning. Could you find a place for it while I make the sign?"

I took it over to a place at the back of the room, near a window. It was tempting to put it in the farthest corner, but then it would appear hidden, and that would attract at least Vincent's attention, make him want to touch it.

"I'd have thought..." Gunther began when he arrived with the card. He eyed the shelf by the fireplace.

"If you want to move it, go ahead," I offered.

He shook his head. "It's not a bad idea to have it where it can be exposed to daylight. It can stay there."

On the way back to his desk, I couldn't help but ask something that had been bothering me.

"Are there books that kinda fly inside you and disappear?"

Gunther stopped and turned towards me. "Books shouldn't do that." He frowned. "Normal books, that is. You may want to ask the Wizard if there are magic books that do that. Why do you ask?"

I decided it was best to avoid the truth. "I had nightmares last night from handling that... thing. It seemed so real that I felt I had to ask. Hope I don't have another night like last night."

He glanced back towards the disc. "I might have nightmares myself, and you touched it far longer than I did, with your bare hands too, so I wouldn't be surprised. What did surprise me was that you didn't just drop it off and ran away from it."

"I guess I felt kinda responsible for having brought it here. Besides, I had already handled it in packing my backpack earlier today, so any damage was already done."

There was a sound from behind a bookcase, and I went to investigate. Penny looked scared at having been caught eavesdropping.

"I didn't mean to..." She shrank back, looking at me, trying to determine how angry I was.

"It's not like we were talking about anything that needed to be kept secret. Just talking in library voices," I said. Claiming something was a secret only begged for curiosity. "Though you may want to keep the children from touching the black disc. It may be cursed, for lack of better words. Touch it at your own risk."

Her shoulders lowered, since I hadn't yelled at her. "I heard you. Flying, disappearing books. That would definitely be a nightmare. I wouldn't want any of my books to disappear like that. I want them to be there for me to read again when I feel like it. I used to think artifacts from ancient times were harmless. I-I once found a piece of broken pottery that Gunther said was over a thousand years old. It wasn't enough of the pot to put it on display though." She glanced towards the museum area. "You've found so much, in such a short time. I'm a bit jealous of that."

"Most of it is minerals from geodes in the mines," I reminded her.

"That's what makes me jealous. You were able to brave the mine. You were able to donate it. I might've sold them to have some savings. Though I'd have needed to hide it well, or Mom..."

She didn't need to finish the sentence. I'd seen Pam in the Saloon.

"I don't have all that much money myself," I reminded her. "I guess I'm donating it because it makes me feel like I'm contributing to the community. Like I matter. That if I disappeared next time I went down the mines there'd be something I might be remembered for. Though the first was because Gunther was so enthusiastic about having at least one item to display in the museum. I thought I'd spend most of the day fishing, not talking, so I'd better leave."

Gunther had returned to his usual place. Since Penny and I hadn't raised our voices, he'd probably figured we could settle things ourselves.

I stopped by the Saloon, to see if Pam was there, and see what Emily had to say.

"You may want to avoid Haley for a few days," Emily said. "She's been claiming you ruined her big moment by making it all about you, even though you weren't there so she could yell at you."

"I only told Dr. Harvey to have someone know where I was, in case I needed to be rescued or vanished without a trace," I protested.

"I know you did. And it's a good thing. Haley finds it difficult to see beyond her own wants and needs." Emily sighed. "She needs to grow up, but how to make her do that eludes me. I've tried. Maybe our parents could, but they've been gone for over a year. They send us money for the utility bills, but they expect me to pay for my own expenses."

The door opened with a bang, breaking off our conversation. Pam entered the Saloon.

"I could do with a drink, Gus," Pam announced.

I approached her before Gus could bring her a mug. "Here's the parsnip you wanted."

"Oh! It's a good size too. I'll enjoy it later." She flushed a bit as she put it into a pocket. "Er... I guess I need to pay you for it. Here." She handed over an envelope.

"I think that's the first crop I've seen from your farm," Leah said from a nearby table. I hadn't even noticed her presence.

"I haven't shipped more than one or two," I admitted. "I haven't grown all that many crops, so I've kept them as cooking ingredients. And, of course, for requests. I'd give some away if I knew what people liked."

"I'm always good for a nice parsnip," Pam said.

"Most people would like to be given a nice, fresh vegetable." Leah winked at me, indicating that she was no exception from that.

"I'll keep that in mind," I promised.

A clacking noise made me visit the side room with the pool table. Sam and Sebastian were playing.

"There. Try shoot yourself out of that situation," Sam said.

Sebastian did so with surprising ease. He then looked up at me as Sam went to the vending machine. "You think I should let Sam win for once? ...nah," he told me in a low voice, clearly looking forward to trouncing his friend. It was the first time I'd seen him enthusiastic about it.

"You wanna join in?" Sam asked. "You can take my place."

"Won't get much fishing done if I do." I left them to it.

I ran into Shane just outside the Saloon.

"You again. How many times do I need to tell you to leave me alone? Go vanish down the mines for all I care."

"Thank you for worrying at the Flower Dance," I said.

"The only thing I was worried about was that you might come back," he said, but some of the anger had left his voice. Trying to cover up having been caught out.

Rather than staying and letting him try to hurt me more, I went to look at the Help Wanted board.

Something about killing two ghosts to restore the balance in the mine. Reward 700 G. I could do that even without a pickaxe. Then I saw the signature. "M. Rasmodius." If I wanted the reward, I'd have to go talk to him. But if he was somewhat indebted to me he might be more willing to answer a question or two. He wouldn't find me as easy to overwhelm as on our first meeting.

Having brought the insect jaws since they could cut weeds just as easily as the scythe could, I could do that instead. I walked up to the lake while I thought about my options. Then I was at the mine entrance. Even if I didn't go fetch the reward, it should indebt the Wizard to me.

Floor 55
I didn't have to wait long before a ghost floated out of a wall towards me. My strategy of waiting for it to come close paid off. Pocketed a solar essence and to my surprise also a small nugget of gold ore. Took the elevator down.

Floor 65
Another ghost. Rather than a solar essence, it dropped a sinister-looking book. Monster Compendium... I eyed my surroundings. A couple slimes that could get at me while I recovered. This was not a good place to read it, so I returned to the entrance.

I swallowed hard and took a deep breath before opening the book. This one hurt as it flew into me. As if the toothy grin on its front ate its way in. I picked myself off the floor where I'd fallen at some point while it dissolved inside me. Skin on my chest unbroken. It had left information. Monster information. Their strength and weaknesses. How to attack monsters to make them drop more loot, even if they wouldn't cooperate all that often.

Not wanting to cross the entire valley in the rain, and wanting to regain composure, I went to fish. I tried to focus my thoughts on fishing, on the movements of the float, but they still strayed to circle around what I'd ask the Wizard. Caught a few treasure chests. Copper and gold ore, bait, coal, and a broken trident that might work as a weapon. At midnight, I cast my line one last time. Green algae.

Thoughts still circling without settling, I went home, threw the fish in the shipping bin. Iron ore in the furnace, broken CD in the recycling machine. The torches from the soggy newspaper to the shipping bin, then in to try to sort out the events on paper and sleep.

 

[Terdin]

Your story is AMAZING!!
I hope you don't stop

Thanks! I intend to keep going. I "write by the seat of my pants" in a way that is close to the Save The Cat plotting method, allowing me to sense where I'm at in the story flow. There's still a good way to go for this novel.

 

[Terdin]

Spring 27
My dreams had been of a fairy and I and being chased by void spirits. They were trying to kill the fairy for blessing my fields and helping me. With the knowledge from that book, backed up by Gunther's words, I now knew the identities of those shadow creatures. I woke up drenched in sweat. Belle had already gone out. I went to the TV to take my mind from the nightmare. My body felt sluggish. Too little quality sleep and not enough food for the amount of work I'd done.

Weather forecast windy. Luck was in my hands.

While the pickaxe should be ready, it didn't seem like a good day to go down the mines. Fishing seemed like a better option. I needed money for the axe, and not least for seeds. Both the rare seeds, and the seeds for Summer. I sighed. Whenever I looked at the immediate future, it seemed like there was a long list of expenses ahead of me, and not nearly enough money for what I wanted to do. In some ways it was too much like how my life had been before. At least I didn't have to worry about keeping a roof over my head, and the expenses were mostly investments aimed at making my life easier. At some point it would be easier. Hopefully.

I went out to melt more ore and recycle more trash. Looking in my chest, I blinked. I had five pieces of gold ore. Enough to melt a bar that would complete a bundle. I had to think a bit before realizing how it had come to be. One of the ghosts, then four from fishing. I put it in the furnace. Needed to melt more iron too. Both for the axe, and for making a glowstone ring.

I'd received mail. The local newspaper wanted to write an article about me and my rapid progress. That was not what I had expected, but it reminded me that I'd shipped a fair amount of fish yesterday. A bit over 1400 G, which was a welcome addition.

I went down to check on the progress of the potatoes. They were ready to harvest, as was the cauliflower that had been days from ripening, and even some of the strawberries. I recalled the fairy in my dream and where she'd blessed my field. Had that dream actually happened? Then what about those void spirits? I shuddered. Maybe best to always keep a weapon on me, and look for a better weapon than the insect head sword. I harvested what I had, watered what still grew even if I wasn't certain anything would come of it with just one more day of the season, then considered my options for the day.

Should I go cash in on the quest from the Wizard? There were stuff I wanted to ask him, but wasn't sure I'd like the answer. The reward was the highest I'd seen so far and I could use the money. Then there was the pickaxe. Maybe best to pick it up first. Then I could take out my frustration in the quarry, and maybe on the boulders as well.

Determined, I set out towards town. I scoured the bus stop for forage, finding two dandelions, a leek, and three daffodils, even if two of them stood so close that they looked like just one from a distance. A couple more daffodils as I went across town. I'd never seen any other kind of forage there and it made me feel like I was picking from someone's flowerbed even if they grew haphazardly.

"There you go. This should be good enough for a while." Clint handed over the pickaxe.

"How long 'a while' would that be? Then again, I did manage with the copper upgrade until floor 65." I noted the cost for the next upgrade behind him. Gold, 10,000 G.

Clint took a long look at me. "Maybe not as long as I thought. Didn't think you'd get that deep in less than a month. I thought you'd paused for the upgrade soon after reaching the iron-bearing floors. You may want to pace yourself. It gets more dangerous the deeper you go, as you've probably noticed already."

I nodded. "I'll try to be careful," I promised.

Rather than hightail it to see the Wizard, I went to collect shellfish and stuff at the beach. Had to discard some of the cheaper shellfish, in particular the lower quality stuff, to be able to pick up the corals as well as the sea urchins. Since it was Willy's day off from work, I couldn't sell it to him. He was busy fishing from the pier. Exchanged a few words about the weather with both him and Elliot. As I left, I spotted Jas and Vincent standing with Penny near what I thought of as Penny's reading tree, and exchanged brief greetings with them as I passed them by. The two children were happy that it was a sunny Saturday for once, so they could visit the playground.

I stuffed the remaining base quality finds into the fishing chest on my way past it, and some of the silver quality shellfish. If I needed some shellfish for cooking later, I'd rather not waste a pristine specimen, not while still figuring out how to follow the recipe without messing them up.

Closing the chest, I found Shane passing me by and said hello to him.

"I'm busy. No time to chat with you." He made a dismissive gesture.

"And still you did take the time to respond. That's nice. I too have stuff to do." I waved goodbye and set off towards the forest with feigned eagerness.

"I'm not nice..." he grumbled behind me. "Why can't she get that into her head?"

My lighthearted gait lasted until I'd got a bit past Marnie's house. Then reality hit home. Just a few days ago I'd told Marnie I was avoiding the tower, and now I was going there. I'd promised myself to not go there again, but he'd waved a big enough reward in my face and there I went...

Again the door opened just before I touched it.

"I killed the two ghosts you wanted," I told him.

"Well done, young Erica." He gave me a searching look along with the envelope. "Have you been dealing with the dark arts?"

"Not intentionally. Been having nightmares for two nights due to some disc I fished up. Had some kind of runes or symbols on it that I couldn't read. Some void spirit artifact. Gunther at the museum couldn't even see the runes when I donated it, so I pretended I had been mistaken. Placed it myself to limit his exposure to it."

He considered it for a second. "Wait here. Don't touch anything."

Then he was gone. A faint trace of afterimages, like our first meeting. He was gone longer this time, but I waited without even moving. Then he returned through the front door.

"You were right to bring it to my attention. I traded the cursed item with one from my collection. It will still feel awful to touch, and can give nightmares if handled for too long, but it won't be nearly as harmful. If you find any other discs with runes on them, destroy them, but they should be rarer than their un-cursed counterparts."

He touched my arm, much like how I'd touched Jodi when I wanted to reassure her, and I felt some of the shadows lift from my mood. I figured I'd better ask the question I'd tried to condense my concerns to.

"Why are there books that fly into me and dissolve?"

He gave me another long look, his moustache indicating a satisfied smirk this time. "Because you want the easy way out. They wouldn't do that if you wanted to spend weeks or even years to study them and truly understand how to implement the content. With magical books, you either pay with your body or your time. It's good that you've accepted that your payment equals the benefits and not letting it keep you from reading them beyond the first."

My knees felt wobbly and I forced myself to remain standing. I wanted to protest that I hadn't accepted it, and tell him to make so the books could be actually read. But he was right too. I didn't want to spend all day for weeks on end to learn. I had my farm to tend to, mining, fishing, getting to know the townspeople. I did want my life to be easy, and reading the second and the third book could be seen as acceptance of the conditions.

I fled, not wanting him to see me cry from feeling defeated. Defeated by my own nature. By knowing I had to go through that thing many more times if the card was correct.

The door opened easily. He was letting me go.

It felt like he knew exactly which books I'd read, and when. As if he'd arranged for me to find them. I wouldn't put it past him.

Moving was the right thing to do. Tears still streamed down my cheeks, but I could resist the urge to curl up beside a spruce and have a complete mental breakdown.

On my farm I took out my upgraded pickaxe and attacked the nearest boulder. It now had enough weight to it to not just bounce back. The cracks spread gradually until the boulder broke into a multitude of stones of useful size. I went to clean up the quarry next. The copper nodes offered no resistance now, just like the ordinary rocks. The iron node needed two strokes, an improvement from the previous three. Just one Junimo-indicated digging spot, yielding some clay.

Boulder after boulder got destroyed, as well as any remaining rocks. The pile of stones weighing my backpack down afterwards made me consider using some of it. Maybe I could make the farm look a little less wild if I added some pathways. Cobblestones seemed like the best solution.

But first, take out the gold bar and place iron ore in the furnace.

One line south from my doorstep, down to the stairs, and then connecting the stairs facing each other. Some more mostly linked my farmhouse with the bus stop exit. I broke off that line, not knowing if I should move the recycling machine or make the path circle round it. The last couple of cobblestones went where Grandpa, and possibly Lewis too, had worn a path to the shipping bin. It still looked like a work in progress, but that I was at least making an attempt.

The sun was setting as I went to the community center with the gold bar. It would release some of the tension, even if the boiler room wouldn't be able to have nearly the same amount as the fish tank.

As usual, the Junimo guarding the scrolls went into hiding as I got near, scaring away the one by the fish tank, and by the bulletin board. I completed the blacksmith bundle, and got a furnace in return. A sixth scroll came into existence, north of me.

I ran to investigate. It was by the broken safe, or maybe vault, since it looked big enough to go into. I groaned at the sight of the various bundles, all of them requiring a specific sum of money. 42,500 G in total. How did that constitute "gifts of the valley" like had been indicated on the first scroll? There was no way of making partial payments. No way to cause a build-up of tension.

"I hope you're aware that these will have to wait until I feel I can afford it. I have other priorities for what to do with my money," I told the Junimo.

There was a sense of acceptance at that.

Emerging from the community center, I glanced towards the mountain. I had intended to fish there, but now I didn't feel like doing that. It was some time since I'd fished at the beach. On the way I went to see how Evelyn and George were doing, then talked to Alex who stood by the dog pen.

"Hey, Farm Girl, you've got new pants?" He paused long enough for me to shake my head. "You're doing something right. It's almost time for me to go in and do the last set of push-ups for the day. I try to add one more for each day. Cool, huh?"

"That sounds like a great strategy," I said. Now that he mentioned it, my trousers were a bit looser around the thighs, but there was no risk of them falling down.

I went to see the Help Wanted board. Nothing posted on it. Thinking back, I recalled the letter I'd received in the morning. There had been no reporters coming to talk to me, nor had there been a mention of making an appointment for an interview. I went to see Lewis.

"I got some letter from the SVT this morning," I said. "Do you have any idea when the reporter might stop by?"

"Oh, that." He looked a bit sheepish. "The reporter came to talk to me about it, so I told him what I knew, and he left seeming satisfied. I thought he'd already spoken to you before coming to me, so that I was only clarifying some minor details." The last was spoken more hastily, as if my frown made him nervous.

I sighed. "I guess it can't be helped. Good thing they didn't try to talk to me while I was taking out some frustration on the boulders I had on my farm. It's not been a good day for me. Second night of nightmares in a row to start with."

I turned to leave, pretending not to notice the soft breath of relief behind me. Was it the fault of the cursed disc that both Penny and Lewis had been worried about making me angry?

At the Saloon, Leah sat at her usual table.

"I seldom see you talking to anyone," I told her.

"I find it's easier to be friends with the trees. They're not demanding constant attention, but you're welcome to stop by my cabin if you ever need someone to talk to. You seem to understand the trees too."

I nodded. "I do, if maybe in a different way than you do."

Pam slammed down her empty glass, startling me, then she demanded a refill. She refused to respond to my hello, so it was rather apparent that she'd had a ****ty day too. Gus only asked if there was something I wanted to buy. Emily was busy listening to Shane ranting about how I never left him alone, making me avoid both of them. Marnie sat by a different table, watching Shane.

"My nephew, Shane, has been living with me for the last few months. He's helping out with the chickens and has a really good hand with them."

"I think I heard Jas calling you aunt too." I looked at Shane. There was too big an age difference between the two for them to be siblings. "Are they cousins?"

Marnie nodded. "And Shane's Jas' godfather. He was a good friend to my sister and her husband, so... It was a good thing they did." She sighed and wiped a tear from her eye before going to the counter to order a drink.

Her words fit several pieces into place in my mind. Jas' parents had died, making her lonely but worried that those she took a liking to might disappear from her life. Losing his aunt and uncle contributed to Shane's depression even if he probably wouldn't admit to it. I also hadn't heard about Shane's parents. There were probably problems there too, but now was not the time to ask.

As I passed him, Willy took a mouthful of beer from his glass. "Ahh... Nothing beats a cold one after a relaxing day of fishing."

Rather than responding to his unspoken suggestion that I could use a drink too, I left and headed down to the beach. I went off to the side to not have to deal with either Willy or Elliot, and cast my line.

It was mostly halibut, interspersed with occasional herrings and anchovy, and they proved a lot easier to fish than they had during that first week. Of course I caught seaweed and trash too. Driftwood seemed the most common. No treasure chests today, but as I was about to leave I spotted something beckoning to me. Another lost book, and I thanked the Junimo for bringing it to the library for me.

I stopped by the fishing chest on my way home, dropping off the seaweed, as well as the few silver quality fish I had in case someone wanted one. I drank the joja cola can I had caught, to get a taste of something other than salmonberries and fish, then ran home.

I put the fish down the shipping bin, then placed my new furnace next to the one I'd made, and put iron ore in both. Putting away the iron bar that had barely had time to cool, I noticed I had five of them. Enough to make a glowstone ring. I made it, sensing the magic help me bend the metal to my will and fuse it with the solar essences. On its own it didn't seem like much. Just an inelegant ring in two colors, iron gray and something that looked like an attempt to imitate gold by using clear yellow paint.

Putting it on my finger made me smile. It seemed to be what activated the ring's magic. So much easier to see where I was going. Now it would be more difficult for monsters to creep up on me in the mines, even if there were more floors like those of 31-39.

Belle briefly lifted her head to look at me when I came in to get ready for bed then curled up and returned to sleep.

 

[Gamer1234556]

Looks like Spring is finishing up, can't wait to see more.

I really like the direction you’re taking this — it feels like you’re aiming for a more grounded, emotional version of Stardew, which works really well. The tone is consistent, and your scenes are clear and easy to follow, which makes it very readable.

One thing I noticed is that the main character sometimes feels more reactive than active — she responds to events, but doesn’t always feel like she’s driving them. Giving her clearer goals or internal conflicts in each scene could help her feel more alive.

I think adding more of her internal thoughts would also make a big difference. Right now, we see what she does, but not always how she processes things, which can make her feel a bit distant.

Similarly, some of the supporting characters feel a bit underdeveloped — they tend to react rather than push back or bring their own energy into scenes. Letting them have stronger personalities or motivations could make interactions more dynamic.

Overall, though, the foundation is strong — it feels like you have a clear idea of what you want the story to be, and with a bit more focus on character depth, it could really stand out.

 

[Narwhal_7]

Looks like Spring is finishing up, can't wait to see more.

I really like the direction you’re taking this — it feels like you’re aiming for a more grounded, emotional version of Stardew, which works really well. The tone is consistent, and your scenes are clear and easy to follow, which makes it very readable.

One thing I noticed is that the main character sometimes feels more reactive than active — she responds to events, but doesn’t always feel like she’s driving them. Giving her clearer goals or internal conflicts in each scene could help her feel more alive.

I think adding more of her internal thoughts would also make a big difference. Right now, we see what she does, but not always how she processes things, which can make her feel a bit distant.

Similarly, some of the supporting characters feel a bit underdeveloped — they tend to react rather than push back or bring their own energy into scenes. Letting them have stronger personalities or motivations could make interactions more dynamic.

Overall, though, the foundation is strong — it feels like you have a clear idea of what you want the story to be, and with a bit more focus on character depth, it could really stand out.

This is definitely coming from a pro!