Chapter 6: Honest Work

Summary: It ain't much.

The blunt end of a wooden pole poked me in the lower back, waking me up. I grunted and got out of the haystack on all fours, with the farmer looming over me. A frown was plastered on his lips, he was clearly pissed.

"Listen, kid, you can't keep doing this. One day I'll poke one of your eyes out."

"Sorry sir, I don't have anywhere else to go," I lied.

He helped me to my feet, and by his grunts, I figured he wasn't satisfied with my short explanation. He stuck the tips of the pitchfork into the ground and leaned on it expectantly, waiting as I dusted myself off.

"Refugee?" He asked, his voice low and grumbly.

"Yes, sir. I don't have anything in the capital yet."

He let out a long, annoyed sigh.

"I need a farm boy to help around here. Twenty bronze a day, and you can sleep in the barn's attic," he said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder at the building in question.

It was old and battered, planks missing from the walls and roof, but it was better than nothing. Plus it would be some extra money, I'd get paid for a place to sleep instead of the other way around.

"What would you need me to do, sir?" I asked.

"Gather the hay, feed the animals, help till the lands. Whatever it takes," the man answered. "I'll wake you up first thing in the morning and let you know the day's tasks."

"What about meals?"

"I'll give you scraps if i'll have any, but you'll have to buy your own most days," the man answered. "The economy's tough."

I weighed my options. On one hand, I'd get shelter and enough money for food out of the deal. On the other hand, I could earn much more by going out and fighting monsters. Still, having a backup plan to fall back on in case things went south wasn't a bad idea. Twice I'd gone out in the meadows to fight, and I nearly died just as many times. I was noticing a trend, and I didn't like it.

"Okay, sir. But I don't know any of this stuff, you'll have to teach me," I gave the farmer my verdict.

He slapped me hard on the lower back and gave me a hearty laugh.

"If your spine's holding, that's all you'll really need," he said. "It's not complicated, just hard labor."

"My name's Kenji, sir," I introduced myself.

"Ezbel," the farmer answered as we shook hands. "And stop calling me sir, it'll piss people off. I'm just a peasant like you, kid."

Right, titles like that actually meant something in this world. They weren't just mindless honorifics and platitudes you could use all willy nilly.

"Got it, Ezbel."

"Great." He pulled the pitchfork out of the ground and shoved it into my hands. "First task is to gather all this hay."

I looked at the sprawling fields in front of me, measuring up my task. There were a few hectares of fenced in land at the very least, most of it tall grass. A small patch out of that sea was mowed, but most of it was still standing.

Ezbel was getting ready to leave, but I stopped him.

"After I'm done, am I free to do whatever I want?" I asked.

"When you're done with this, you'll have to mow and gather the rest," he answered. "I'll feed the animals and clean the pens for now, but that will also be your job most days."

Man, he wasn't kidding when he said it was hard labor. It would leave me with no time for anything else.

"After you feed the animals in the morning, you get an hour off to go and eat too. Then you work until noon, and you get a few hours off until the heat dies down. And you get the evening off after you're done with work."

"Okay, I can't be wasting any time then," I said, going off to get started.

The schedule wasn't ideal, but if I moved fast, I could sneak in a few hours of fighting monsters daily. It all depended on how fast I got my tasks done. For today I'd skip breakfast since I wasn't feeling particularly hungry.

I went around for a few hours, gathering the hay, and soon enough I felt comfortable with the pitchfork. The movement became natural, even though I hadn't done manual labor like this once in my life. I finished one pile, and I sped up, surprised by how fast I could move.

'Another side effect of being a hero?' I wondered. 'Does the weapon core already make me stronger?'

More than likely, since I doubted commoners could pop the orange balloons between their hands like that. I didn't feel any different, but I knew the limits of my own body well enough to spot when I was going beyond them.

Noon came, and with the sun bearing down on me, I decided to take my lunch break. The work made me hungry, and although I hadn't felt hot in the previous days, I was feeling it now after exerting myself. Ezbel was in the house on the far side of the property, so I ran over to let him know.

"How many stacks did you make?" He asked.

"Two, and there's about two more by the looks of it," I answered.

He raised an eyebrow.

"You're moving fast, kid. At this rate you'll be done by tomorrow."

I chuckled and rubbed the back of my head.

"Guess I'm a natural."

"Head off then, but be back by four."

I thanked him and rushed off, with no time to waste. Back by four meant four hours of free time, so if I included traveling between locations, I could get a couple of hours of fighting at most. Maybe more if I ran like a mad man, but that would leave me tired.

'Fuck it, I'll manage.'

With caution thrown to the wind, I gunned it down the capital's streets. Past shops and carriages and people pissed at me for tripping them up. By the time I reached the Inn some ten minutes later, I was panting my lungs out.

"Hey, everything okay?" Cloris asked when she noticed me all out of breath and leaning on the counter.

"Found…work…" I stammered. "Tired…as hell…"

She chuckled, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

"That's great news, just hang in there. You'll get used to it."

I gave her a thumbs up, and ordered a cheap meal. I was tempted to make it to-go and eat it on the way to the meadows, but I couldn't run and wolf down a full meal at the same time.

She got my food fast, seeing as the place was mostly empty. I found a table and sat down to eat, but didn't get two bites in before someone stopped by my table and slammed their hands on it. It was a burly man, looking pissed to high hell and back, with a few pals lingering close-by.

"What do you want? Can't you see I'm trying to eat?" I said in a dry tone, not caving in to his obvious attempt at intimidation.

"You're friends with the Shield, aren't you?" He asked. "I saw the two of you together last night."

"And what if I am? What's it to you?" I asked.

Without warning, he grabbed my collar and pulled me to my feet. The table got knocked away and my food spilled on the ground, which really pissed me off. Holding onto me with one hand, he raised the other to punch me, but I reached for his collar as well.

"Stop!" Cloris yelled from behind the counter.

"Punch me and it'll be the last thing you'll do," I warned him.

We both tensed up, but he wouldn't go for it. I scared him. When that became apparent, I slapped his hand away and freed myself.

"The hell is this about?" I asked, turning the table back up.

"Don't play dumb, you probably helped him!" The man screamed at me. "You shouldn't be walking around freely, you should be locked up in a dungeon for the rest of your miserable life!"

Now this was getting interesting. Just what the hell did Naofumi do?

"Look, me and the Shield Hero aren't friends. Just acquaintances. He asked to eat at my table last night cause there weren't any others."

"Wait, you really don't know?" The man asked, his anger deflating.

"No, I left the inn last night. Only came back now for lunch. Which you spilled, by the way," I said, pointing to the food. "You'll pay for that."

The man apologised profusely for the misunderstanding. He ordered me another meal, more expensive than the one I had, then sat down with me to gossip.

"The Shield, he…he was arrested this morning. He tried to assault his party member," he explained.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Myne?"

"Don't know her name, the redhead."

"Yeah, Myne," I confirmed. "But why would he attack her?"

The man's face puckered, clearly disturbed by what he was about to say.

"Not attack her, he…he tried to force himself onto her. To…to rape her."

"Bullshit," I called out. "They were getting along just fine."

"I don't know, man," the guy said. "People said he got very drunk, so he probably mistook her admiration for sexual advances or something. We don't really know the details yet."

"He didn't drink, I was there with him. We were both sober," I pressed. "But fuck, I don't know the guy all that well, maybe he is capable of something like that."

"If he was sober through all of it, that just makes it worse," the man said. "At least if he was blackout drunk, he could say he didn't know what he was doing."

Cloris came with my second round of food, so I shooed the man away and stopped her instead. Rumors were unreliable, but she was here where it all happened so I could get a firsthand account from her.

"What happened with the Shield Hero? What did he do?" I asked her.

With a heavy sigh, she sat on the chair opposite of mine. It was clear I'd waste more time here than I planned to.

"The royal guards came and arrested the Shield Hero for trying to sexually assault his party member, the redhead," she said.

"I already know that," I said. "What I want are the details."

"Okay, so I don't know the full story, but here's what I've seen and heard myself," she began explaining. "You three ate together at the same table. He left first, you left second. The other heroes came in shortly after, and the woman spent some time with the Spear Hero."

I spun my hand around to get her to hurry up.

"Okay, okay," she said. "The woman screamed for help in the middle of the night, and the Spear Hero came to her rescue. They left together, and the royal guards came in the morning to arrest the Shield Hero. That's all I know."

"Nothing else?" I pressed.

Cloris cupped her own chin and thought it over for a moment.

"Not really, that's all I know so far. But…" she started, adding a pause that I was sure was there only to annoy me. "The Shield Hero did scream something about getting robbed in his sleep while he was escorted out. Serves him right, though."

I frowned. Something wasn't adding up. Cloris noticed, so she tore into me.

"Don't tell me you feel sorry for him!" She said, a tinge of anger in her words.

"That's not it," I answered. "It's just very strange."

"The Shield is always like that," she complained. "Never up to any good. Word of advice, steer clear of him from now on. If people see the two of you together again, you'll only stand to suffer."

"Thanks."

She got up and left, so I finished my meal in silence as I mulled over what I found out. Why would Naofumi do something like that? Why would Motoyasu wait until morning to report it instead of doing it right away? And what was up with the random robbery? Was that a coincidence, or someone taking advantage of the chaos?

'Why do I even care? It's not my problem.'

I finished eating and rushed out, running towards the meadows. There was a single clock tower in the entire capital, but it was tall enough to be visible from anywhere, including Ezbel's farm. If I was late, he'd know.

Once there, I took to fighting the balloons. The time flew by, and I couldn't focus on the task at hand, my attention taken up by Naofumi's deeds. The whole deal just bothered me. I killed maybe fifty balloons by the time I decided I'd had enough and called the farming session off.

'That's 52 bronze,' I counted up my haul of skins. 'Not too shabby.'

A few of them still bit me, but I mostly learned to deal with them. At this rate, I'd have enough money for a weapon by the end of the week.

It was maybe twenty minutes to four, so I ran back towards the farm. If I was fast enough, I'd get to rest for ten minutes before I'd have to start working again. The skins I'd sell in the morning when I'd go out for breakfast, since I planned to get another round of fighting balloons after dinner.

The sight of Motoyasu and his team going towards the gates made me stop, however. Seeing him leave wasn't strange, of course he'd look for better places to farm and level up. What was strange though was Myne, hands around his arm, following him around.

'Just ignore them,' I told myself. 'Get back on the move, you'll be late. It's not your problem.'

I sighed. Naofumi wasn't my problem, sure, but the sheer curiosity would keep me up at night. So despite my better judgement, I waved at Motoyasu and approached him.

"Hey, leaving already?" I asked.

He seemed apprehensive, which was fair enough considering how our last interaction went. But he gave me a smile anyway and stopped to chat.

"Yeah. Ren and Itsuki already left, I can't let them surpass me," he answered with a chuckle.

"That so? You guys are moving fast."

"Well the next Wave of Calamity is only a month away, we don't have time to waste."

I nodded my head, pretending I already knew all of that. The urge to ask what exactly the waves were was strong, but I subdued it. I didn't stop for that.

No, I stopped because of Myne, who was glaring daggers at me from behind Motoyasu.

"Yeah, you better hurry up if you want to keep the world safe," I said. "Everyone's counting on you guys."

"Yup, we can't disappoint," he said with a goofy smile.

"Oh, by the way," I pretended to remember something. "I…I heard what Naofumi did. Myne, I just wanted to say I'm very sorry you had to go through that."

She didn't say anything, instead pretending to begin sobbing. I never understood the saying crocodile tears until that point, but all of a sudden, it was crystal clear. Her actions only fueled my curiosity further.

"It's horrible," Motoyasu agreed. "I didn't think he'd be such a scumbag."

"Me neither, I thought he was a good guy."

"A bit goofy maybe, but I had higher expectations from him," Motoyasu lamented. "You should've seen how he acted during the trial."

"So he was tried already?" I asked, surprised by the swiftness of it all. "What happened to him?"

"Tried and found guilty," Motoyasu confirmed. "The King said that normally he should get the death penalty for this, but he was pardoned since he's a Holy Hero."

"So life in prison? Or a dungeon?"

Motoyasu scowled.

"I wish. An asshole like him wouldn't deserve anything less," he answered. "But no, the King decided to let him free. He's still a Holy Hero, so he still needs to help with the waves. But his life in this kingdom will be a living hell."

"Hmm…"

"Yeah, I don't like it either," Motoyasu said. "But it is what it is."

"And how are you feeling, Myne?" I asked, turning my attention to her. "Are you sure you're good to travel and fight? Shouldn't you take some time off after something like that?"

Motoyasu and the rest of his party turned to face her when I said that. Everyone waited for her answer with bated breath, so when she wouldn't give me one, Motoyasu spoke.

"Maybe Kenji is right, I didn't even think about that," he said. "I'm so sorry, Myne, I was selfish. If you need your time…"

"No, I'll be fine," she assured everyone. "I…I can't stay here, where it happened. Where he is. I wouldn't feel safe."

Oh man, what bullshit. And these guys bought it, hook line and sinker.

"I'm sure you'd be safer in the capital, with people and royal guards around. The world out there is dangerous," I pressed, faking a worried tone.

She reached for Motoyasu's arm again and buried her face in his shoulder.

"I'm safest by sir Motoyasu's side, the Hero that saved me," she said.

"Well, when you put it like that," Motoyasu mumbled, turning red in the face. "Of course you'd be safer with me, I won't let anything happen to you."

"See?" She said with a sly smile. "Thank you for your worries, Kenji, but I'm in good hands with sir Motoyasu. Now we should really leave, we have to reach the next town before nightfall."

"We should," Motoyasu agreed. "See you around, Kenji. And steer clear of Naofumi, who knows what he'll be up to next."

With that, they got on the move, but there was one more thing that was bothering me.

"Nice chainmail, by the way," I told Motoyasu. "Where'd you get it?"

He froze, and his posture turned stiff all of a sudden. The rest of the party stopped in their tracks, watching with bated breath as he turned and gave me a sharp glare.

"What?" He asked, sounding irked.

"It's a nice chainmail, I was just curious where you got it from," I repeated.

"Oh, I see what's going on," Motoyasu said in an accusing tone. "I heard the rumors, I just didn't want to believe them. Are you on Naofumi's side? That what this is all about?!"

He got all kinds of tense and defensive, balling his fists and leaning forward. But I couldn't care less about his pathetic display.

"On his side?" I laughed. "No, I'm not on anyone's side except my own. I just happened to be there when he bought that, and I heard he got robbed."

Motoyasu jumped at me, grabbing me by the collar and lifting me off my feet.

"Watch your mouth! Myne bought this chainmail with her own money, and she gifted it to me!"

"Careful now, big bro Motoyasu," I warned with a grin. "Get your hands off of me, or I'll give you a colonoscopy with that magic stick of yours."

"Hmph," he let out an annoyed huff and pushed me away. "And here I thought we were friends."

He walked away, and I decided to let him. Not like fighting him would do me any good, he'd kick my ass. And even if I kicked his by some miracle, it wouldn't change what happened or make him admit the truth.

A truth I wasn't even sure about, to be fair. I had my doubts and theories, but they were just that. Doubts and theories, not concrete facts. Sure, maybe Motoyasu and Myne worked together to rob and frame Naofumi for whatever reason. Or maybe she played both of them. But it was possible that it was all a coincidence, that Naofumi gifted Myne the chainmail only to not admit it later. And maybe she really felt safe next to Motoyasu, if he was the one who saved her.

I had no way to know, and in the end it really wasn't my problem. So I dropped it and focused on my own responsibilities, mainly getting back to Ezbel's farm. I was already running late.

"Everything okay?" He asked me when I got back.

"Yeah."

"Finish gathering the straw, and if we'll have time, I'll teach you how to use the scythe to mow the rest."

Frustrated by my encounter with Motoyasu, I got to work. I used the emotions to fuel me as I worked, moving as fast as I could. It was probably unhealthy, but keeping busy always helped me work through my feelings in a productive way. I'd get stuff done this way, and clear my head by the end.

Before long, I had two more haystacks ready and I was out of straw. The evening was still young, so if Ezbel was feeling up to it, I was ready to learn how to use the scythe.

'If nothing else, this is a great workout,' I thought with amusement as I walked through the fields towards the farmhouse. 'Gotta keep in shape somehow.'

Ezbel agreed to teach me, and he gave me the keys to his tool shed so I could retrieve the scythe for him. I rushed over, opening the lock and prying the rickety doors apart. Inside was filthy and dusty, a collection of rusted tools covered in cobwebs. They looked like they hadn't been used in a long time. The only one among them that looked sharp was the scythe.

I went over to grab it, but I kept on the lookout for anything interesting. I'd never been on a farm before, so all of this was new and fascinating to me. I saw shovels, mattocks, rakes, a whole slew of tools. Anything and everything you could need to take care of a farm. But the main attraction was an old timey plow, the kind you'd have pulled by cattle or horses. Big and sturdy, still holding together even after years of neglect.

'Back home, this thing would be in a museum,' I thought, giving it a probing push. It didn't even budge, it was heavy. 'Whatever.'

I got the scythe, and met Ezbel in the field. He waited for me with a whetstone in hand. We spent a bit of time on him teaching me how to sharpen and wield the scythe properly.

"You have to hone the blade frequently," Ezbel explained. "It's very thin, so it has to stay sharp to work properly and avoid damage. When you swing it, keep it close to the ground. Let the scythe do the work. Guide it with your arms and shoulders, but the force has to come from the hips and legs."

He proceeded to show me, and it was kinda' fun actually. By the way he explained it to me, I could tell that he was passionate about this kind of work, which made me wonder why the farm was in such terrible shape. Ezbel was old, true, but why didn't he hire someone sooner to help him out?

Anyways, he watched me for a while as I fumbled my way around with the scythe. I wasn't good at it by any means, but I was good enough to get the job done. When he was satisfied, he turned to leave.

"I'll call you when dinner's ready," he told me. "I don't have money to pay you today, so the least I can do is give you a meal. But don't worry, we'll go to the market tomorrow morning to sell some of the livestock and I'll have your pay."

"Sounds good."

He left, so I worked through the evening mowing down the fields. Just like with the pitchfork, it got easier once I grew used to the movement. By the time Ezbel yelled that dinner was ready, I had cut down a patch the same size as the one he had.

I took the scythe back to the toolshed and locked it up, then I joined him at the table. He was all alone in the house, no spouse or kids or grandkids. The table was already set, so I took a seat and started eating. It was tasty, maybe more so than the food at the inn.

"You live here all alone?" I asked him, trying to make small talk.

"Have been for about a decade," he admitted. "The missus passed away, and our kids moved on to other towns with their families." Tears formed around his eyes, making me feel bad for bringing it up. "Haven't heard from them in years, and with these blasted Waves of Calamity, I don't even know if they're still alive."

"I'm…I'm sorry," I mumbled, my gaze falling onto my plate and the murky soup in it.

"Me too," Ezbel said with melancholy.

We talked some more after that, and he laid his sorrows bare. He had a lot of them, many more than he knew what to do with, and it was clear that he hadn't had anyone to talk to about them for a long time now.

He told me about his wife and kids, various misadventures as they were growing up and they struggled to make ends meet. He told me about the times his sons returned home with their soon to be wives, and how happy the weddings made him as a father. About the grandkids that followed soon after, and the heartbreak he felt when it was time for his kids to move out with their families. Ezbel had led a full life, yet now that he was nearing the end of it, he was all alone.

'Poor man,' I thought.

He tried to take care of the farm with his wife after that, but as they both grew old, they could do less and less each day. Before long they had to abandon tilling and planting the fields, they had to cut down on the livestock, their life's work reduced and atrophied until it could just barely sustain them.

These days, he only had some three dozen hens, a dozen pigs, and a handful of cattle. Four of which he wanted to sell to get some money, keeping only a pair for himself.

"If you sell some of the livestock, why not invest the money back into the farm?" I asked. "Hire a few more workers so we could plow and plant the fields, care for more animals, that kind of stuff. And once profits start rolling in, we could repair stuff around here as well."

Ezbel gave a deep sigh.

"This farm is my life's work, my legacy. I hate seeing it falling apart like this. So I'll think about it, but no promises," he answered.

"That's all I'm asking," I told him. "If you'll do it, I'll be here to help."

"Thank you."

We finished eating, and Ezbel went to bed early. I washed the dishes and took off, planning to get a couple more hours of fighting before it got too late. It was about eight or nine in the evening, but fuck it, I could spare some sleep.

Back out in the meadows, I took a moment to catch my breath after my frantic run that got me there. The light of the sun was gone by that point, so I had to be careful about fighting in the dark. I walked through the tall grass slowly, trying to find a few balloons, when I heard a familiar voice yelling out.

"Who's there? Why did my exp drop?!"

I focused my eyes, finding a man in a green cape surrounded by balloons.

"Naofumi?!"

A/N: This chapter should've gone up Friday evening, but alas I got plastered and couldn't update. Anyways, onto the next matter.

I want to talk a bit about timeframes. I did so already, but I wasn't very specific about it. Naofumi spent about a week or two in the LN moping around after Myne's betrayal, and only then started farming to earn money. He bought Raphtalia, then the two of them had about another week or two to train before the Wave hit. Meanwhile, the anime adaptation made it look like he got to it either during the same day or the next day. I think. I'm not going back to check either one.

So yeah, I'll make Naofumi start on that right away. No point in wasting time. Everyone getting strong enough to survive the Wave in only a couple of weeks feels...off to me somehow. Even a month feels like little time, to be honest.

Also added a new tag: slow build. Since I'll take my sweet time moving the plot and story along, delving into random details and detours and side stories as they come. But worry not, Kenji will slowly get stronger, and he'll more or less be ready for what the Wave will throw at him. Hopefully with a party member or two by his side by that point, though that depends on how well I'll manage to juggle all of the pieces into place.

Now to answer the reviews:

To Bearticguy7, thank you! And worry not, Kenji will get stronger. In-universe it's only been a few days up to this point, but he'll unlock the core soon. In chapter 8 to be more precise, that's how far ahead I've written it at this point. After that, he'll begin unlocking skills and stuff, though he'll have his own role in battle. No spoilers. And I'm afraid he won't steamroll the other heroes any time soon, though I do have some battles planned for them.

To LordofPride213, I haven't read/watched Arifureta, so I can't say. But here are some light spoilers: Kenji will be a brawler type, so a hand-to-hand fighter, though he'll get more options as he learns magic and gets other power-up methods from the other Heroes in time.

And to FordB, thank you and I'm glad to see you're still here :D