'Pierre's General Store,' the sign read. Inside, was the usual scene one would expect to find in a small-town grocery store. There were a few rows stocked with the essentials such as flour, sugar, oil and rice. The frozen section had a decent variety of cuts and there was milk and eggs in abundance.

"Good morning!"

The source of the cheery voice that shook me out of my stupor was a tall, brown-haired man who was standing behind the corner. He had the sort of smile that all shopkeepers did; a wide grin that didn't extend to his calculating eyes. One look at this man was enough to tell me that he was business first and everything else second.

"Morning," I said, stepping up to the counter. "I'm the new farmer in town. You must be Pierre, right?"

Pierre stuck out his hand. "Mayor Lewis told me that you were coming. I've been looking forward to meeting you! I'll have you know that Pierres offers the highest quality seeds around!"

I accepted Pierre's aggressive handshake and did my best to keep a straight face. "Um, that's good to know. My name is Max, by the way. It's nice to meet you, Pierre."

"Ah! Well, let me formerly welcome you to the community, Farmer Max! Have you made your way around town yet?"

"No, not really. I've been busy on the farm all day. I just decided to pop over to see what you have in stock. Got to see what supplies I've got to work with, you know?"

"Like I said, I sell a wide variety of seeds each season. If you need any metal work done, then Clint's your man. He's the local blacksmith. His shop is on the other side of town near the library. Other than him, the only other real point of interest is the saloon. Gus opens at around noon every day and he's a fantastic cook. If you're ever in the mood for some food made with love or an ice-cold beer, then he's the one you've got to see."

"Don't forget the Joja Mart to the north of Clint's shop."

Pierre started. His wide grin momentarily slipped into an irritated scowl. The source of this interruption turned out to be a girl with deep purple hair that clashed beautifully with her strikingly pale skin. She had come out of a backroom that I hadn't seen and was reorganizing items on the shelf.

"Dad always forgets to tell people about the Joja Mart," She continued.

"Yes, well, I'm sure Farmer Max will have no need to go there. After all, he can get everything he needs, and more, right here at Pierres.""

"Er, yeah," I said. "Thanks though, Miss, um?"

"This lovely young lady is my daughter, Abigail," Pierre said.

The longer Pierre kept talking, the more I was convinced that my initial assumption about him was spot on. I was the only farmer in town. Sure, some of the other townsfolk would buy the occasional seed packet or two, but I would be buying them by the hundreds. To this man I was a source of sustainable revenue first and a member of the community second.

"It's nice to meet you, Abigail," I said with what I hoped was a gentle, friendly smile.

"It's nice to meet you too, Max."

"Anyway," Pierre said, directing my attention back towards him. "I've got a lot of seeds here that you may be interested in. And I have a list of the selling prices that the crops will fetch once fully grown."

The brown-haired shopkeeper then launched into a long explanation about the benefits and drawbacks of each type of crop. Parsnips, it turns out, were one of the worst types of crop to grow from a financial perspective. The spreadsheet itself was impressive, listing the projected yield of different types of crops next to their expected growth rate.

I left the general store about half an hour later. Cauliflower, as it turns out, was the most valuable crop to grow in spring, but with only 500G in my pocket I decided to walk out with ten packs of potato seeds and hope for the best. On my way out, I ran into Abigail again.

"Hey," She said. "Hope my dad didn't talk your ear off."

"Oh! No, actually Pierre is really helpful. That profit information he gave me was really valuable."

Abigail rolled her eyes. We set off in the same direction, towards my farm. "That's dad, alright. Business all day every day."

"That was mean, though. Bringing Joja Mart into the conversation," I said.

There was no doubt in my mind why Pierre hated them. The Joja Corp's tactics were well known. They would move into a small market, run their businesses at a steady loss and squeeze the life out of every single independently owned mom-and-pop store in the region. Then, when all of their competition had folded, and their monopoly was established, they would jack their prices right up and laugh all the way to the bank.

Abigail shrugged. "I know, but I like irritating him. Besides, it's a free country. You're free to shop wherever you want. Sometimes it's embarrassing to see how overzealous he can get."

"There's no need to worry about that. I used to work for the Joja Corp. Yoba himself wouldn't be able to get me to give those bloodsuckers any of my money."

Despite herself, Abigail laughed. We had reached a fork in the road and stopped. "I'm going to chill by the fountain for a little while, but it was nice meeting you, Max. I'm happy that someone's taking over that farm, but I have to say that I'll miss relaxing in the forest at night. When the place gets all dark and quiet, right around midnight, I used to love going for walks through that field."

"You can still do that," I said. "I'm not going to have the place cleaned up for a very long while. Feel free to come and go as you please. As long as you don't damage my crops, I don't see the harm."

"Why Farmer Max, are you telling me to come to your farm under the cover of darkness so that I can have a romp in your forest? Don't you know that it's improper to be so forward with a girl you barely know. Especially a daisy fresh young maiden such as myself."

My ears grew hot and I nearly dropped all my potato seeds. "Wait, I didn't—"

Abigail burst out laughing. "Look at your face! I'm just playing with you, Max. Don't worry." She winked at me. "I might just take you up on your offer. Besides, it's not like your farms fenced up."

By the time I got back to my farm, my face had gone back to normal. I pushed the earlier conversations with Pierre and Abigail out of my mind. I had potatoes to plant.