Chapter 4

Year 1, Spring 8, Tuesday

These last few days have been pretty busy. Each day has consisted of clearing the field, watering the two cabbage plots and one potato plot, shipping whatever the buyer will take, and I mean anything. Random berries, edible herbs, medicinal plants (Oh, and talking to Ann… every day), I've been scavenging a lot for stuff in Moon Mountain. I worked up about 800G, which is pretty fast, I guess. I thought it over and decided it would be best to get a brush for my horse; he'd have to be in great condition if I… we were going to win any races. I figured the best place to look for a brush would be the tool shop. So after I finished my chores for the day, I headed over to Rick's shop.

I was lucky, because today was the Sowing Festival, and shops are usually never open on festivals. Rick was behind the counter when I got there. He's kind of a weird guy. He's got red hair (I learned that he's Ann's cousin, too. The red hair was kind of a giveaway) that's rather long. I've also never seen him without his goggles on, and he always wears an apron. But he doesn't cook like Elli, he's an inventor. Though I haven't seen much, really. He's got two whole shelves of scattered tools and almost nothing to sell, save for the brush that I bought today and a rug. Before I could ask the price on the brush, Rick asked why I wanted it. I shrugged and told him that I was raising the horse from the Green Ranch

"Really? Well, Hall over there is my uncle, and Ann and Gray are my cousins. I'll give you a discount if you promise to race as hard as you can." The inventor chuckled. I grinned and agreed to the deal, which brought the price down to 800G, and that was all I had. Phew. I'm still grateful for the discount, and I've sort of befriended Rick; he's a good guy.

I didn't have time to bring the brush back to the farm, though. I threw it in my rucksack and Rick and I left his shop together (he wasn't even really open, but he let me in because he was inside at the time. He's pretty much never open, come to think of it.) for the Sowing Festival, which was right up the stairs to the Festival Square.

To be honest, I didn't really know what exactly the mayor had meant by a festival, so I didn't really know what to expect. When I got to the Festival Square, though, I cheered up a bit. It was like a big party, a social gathering. I saw some of the people from the Town that I'd already met, and some I hadn't. Everyone was holding balloons and I heard cheery, celebration-like music. A few people grinned when they saw me, but I really hadn't made many friends; Rick was one of them, along with Harris the mailman, oddly enough, and of course, most important, Ann. I've spent every day visiting the ranch, rain or shine, and sometimes going through pains to fit it into my schedule. I didn't see her father or her brother there, and I was slightly curious as to when I'd see her mother. What I noticed right away, though, was a brightly colored hot air balloon sitting in the middle of the square. I found out what it was for a little while later.

The diminutive mayor was glad to see me, and introduced me to his wife, which must have meant Maria was her daughter. Daughters, mothers, cousins, uncles, grandmothers, grandfathers… circles within circles. I mingled a bit with the people I knew and introduced myself to a few I hadn't met, but before long, it appeared it was time for the main event. The mayor cleared his throat and everyone went a little quieter as he spoke up.

"Now then, may the Harvest King step forward and begin the sowing ceremony?"

A man I didn't recognize stepped forward. He wore tattered red clothes and a red cap, and had a white mustache. He looked very old, and was probably one of the oldest, if not the oldest people I'd seen so far, save for Elli's grandmother.

"Tsk, tsk, making a man so old do a job so trying… What hard masters."

That got at least a small laugh out of everyone. I liked the guy, even though I didn't even know his name. The mayor spoke up.

"Well then, can you please choose your assistant?"

The old man had apparently planned that out beforehand. "My grandson, Stu, would like to come with me."

I knew Stu, I had met him a day or two ago. He was a nice kid, and his brother Kent was too. They both seemed to like me from the moment I met them, and I guessed they were around seven or eight years old. Kent seemed a little disappointed, but he let his brother go. And so the two, young and old, stepped into the balloon with a few bags of seed and they were off; everyone cheered a little bit.

I talked to Ann a bit after that. She smiled as I walked over.

"Hey, Jack." I wonder what kind of smile that is. Is it just polite, or am I slowly being considered some kind of friend? I smiled back, anyway.

"Oh, hey, Ann. You seem kind of by yourself back here." She did.

"Well, I hang out with Karen a lot, we're kind of best friends. And since Gray and Dad aren't here… Well, yeah, I guess I am a little lonely." I noticed she didn't mention any mother. A few realizations started to sprout in my mind, but I didn't speak of them. Instead, I continued the conversation.

"I think I met Karen a week ago, if you can call it that. Before I came to your ranch, I stopped by the vineyard, and it looked like she and her father were having a fight. I figured it wasn't my place, so I left and haven't been there or seen her since."

She gave me a sad smile. "Well, Karen's a great person, but she doesn't get along so well with her father… Karen's going through some troubles at the moment, and she's not exactly the most polite person in the village, but you should try to get to know her."

I nodded and muttered, "By the way, where can I get a balloon like you have? What do we do with them, anyway?"

She looked up at her balloon and explained it to me. "We all get balloons and fill them with seeds, then everyone lets them go and the seeds spread out over the land. At least, they're supposed to." She grinned. "It's kind of a girl thing, this festival." I noticed, since I saw that all the girls my age were there (save for Karen) and not so many guys. "Along with the flower seeds, I put in some grass seeds, too. I hope it reaches your farm." Ann gave a lopsided grin. "It's kind of a lame festival, but it helps break up the monotony."

"Eh, it's not so bad. Definitely a nice change from farming all day. Do you come to the festivals often?"

"Every one." What a coincidence, so will I!

I chuckled. "Heh, so where can I get a balloon?"

She gestured over to Lillia, behind her. I got a white balloon from the flower-lover, and when the signal was given, released the balloons.

Anyway, today was a good day, and I'm going to have a good sleep.