In a way, treating crops teetering on failing when they were most needed was quite therapeutic for Cter.

It was like healing.

But simpler.

There was quite a lot of it though. The strain it put on Cter's soul to simply heal the crops was palpable, as the fields were big enough to feed an entire village as well as Clinic Hill. The tired yellow stretched out for shorter than she had anticipated, which hinted at some magical techniques being used to keep yields more bountiful compared to purely human methods of farming. Coupled with the fact that Xoff could utilize more of the year for harvest and that the dried plots were almost half what would have been needed in Hjearta, even with magic-enhanced farming.

It was good news for Cter since she didn't have to strain her soul too much to save the entire yield. She wasn't sure if she would be able to get it all done during the afternoon, but she was confident in at least giving it all enough life and energy to survive the night so that she could continue come morn.

First she surveyed as she exited the edge of the village, passing by some tool sheds closed poorly and weakly, to find if there were any paths that the villagers used to tend to the crops. It was not as easy as it should have been, as the deeply hanging wheat made it difficult to peek through and see where the soil was different in the fields. She pondered for a bit whilst sitting on a stump to help her think.

Cter's sleeved fingers drummed on her chin one after the other, her eyes narrowing as the setting Xoff sun peeked curiously through the trees behind her, casting rays of light as if pointing to each withering wheat and asking when she was gonna get to work and not just sit and think.

"I'm getting to it."

The Xoff sun was quite impatient compared to the one in Hjearta where it enjoyed to languish and linger as it was setting when it wasn't just gone for almost the entirety of the winter half of the year. Despite having lived in Monster Country enough to have gotten used to the sun setting quicker than in Hjearta, Cter wasn't at all prepared for just how quick the Xoff sun was setting. Sure, she'd seen it set quickly multiple times during her carriage journeys through the country, but that always brought with it a sense of distance to it since she was both traveling and looking at it through the carriage window.

She wasn't used to it.

So she had to ask someone who was.

Not as another message up to Clinic Hill though.

Dear God, not at all!

Sund and her were already risking enough with sending one up the barricaded Clinic Hill to Dr. Sallus informing him that the two Monster Mages had arrived. The message itself didn't warrant any risk since it was only informing Dr. Sallus, but if it was intercepted by any of the Xoff military then there was sure to come a dispatch of soldiers with very curious questions about why two high-ranking foreign military officers were making the conscious choice to bypass the authority still present during the emergency present in Xoff. The emergence of emergencies would infer commutative communications, no?

And it was the fact that Sund and Cter had chosen to that had Cter fidgeting a bit on her stump. She knew that she had given the scroll as little magic as possible for it to successfully reach the three-storied house, as she had used both Dr. Sallus and her own memories of the path that the scroll with crystal wings had to travel. On top of that Cter had added an inverse Cooperative Connection of sorts onto the scroll, giving it only half of what was needed to form one.

What was needed was Dr. Sallus' magic. Only with that could the scroll be opened. A similar, yet not, technique that Professor Leraull used on the scrolls during the final exam at Soul's School to only allow him to open them. Even if the Xoff military would intercept the magical message flying with crystal wings they still wouldn't be able to open the scroll without altering what was magically written inside to nothing. The plan did bank on it being either Manny or Dr. Sallus opening the scroll, since those were the two that had Bonny's magic from what Cter and Sund could glean from Ziki's documents and telling of the situation.

The news that Manny hadn't at all returned to the village after having been called up by Dr. Sallus to help with healing magic was worrying to read, but not at all surprising. Still, Cter and Sund had some hope before that Manny would perhaps come down to the village for one reason or another periodically which would give the Monster Mages a safe and guaranteed line of communication up to Dr. Sallus about their arrival and what he wanted them to do.

Sitting idly rolling their thumbs though was never really on the table even if there was any space left on it considering all of Ziki's spread-out documents. Sund would take care of inventory and consolidating the situation of Clinic Village while Ziki would be free enough to fully care for the children. He'd kept them alive, but would finally have enough time to make them healthier.

Cter had never seen such gratefulness and deeper kneel before when Ziki threw himself onto the wooden floor with his tail completely limp and his dark armor crushing down at the floorboards thanking the Monster Mages with his claws scratching deep, wooden wounds with tears filling the cracks between. Him thrusting himself down startled Cter, Sund, and the stacks of papers and scrolls on the round table, especially as it was followed by a long, silent moment of him staring unblinkingly and his mouth half-opened in disbelief after Sund had informed him of what his new duties were. The spike of happiness in his aura Cter still felt in her sleeved fingertips as she rubbed them together.

She could use that.

Because as luck would have it, finally, the trace of magic present in the wheat fields she figured was that of Ziki's. He must have tried to heal the field himself, but to no real considerable change. After things had gone astray too, Cter reckoned, since otherwise his trace magic would have been present inside the weak wheat rather than in the sorrow soil. Damn, he really did try everything his soul could muster to try and help in any way he could. Cter made a mental note about ordering him to sleep for as long as he needed to that night. The Royal Guard sure as hell hadn't done so for months on end, it seemed.

With a squatted hunker at the edge of the failing field Cter hovered her sleeved hand just above the dry grooves where Ziki's magic was the strongest. Unfortunately it was too weak for her to make any comparison with his brother Zeke's magic back at Jarasevo. Faint traces, plural, added together didn't do Cter any favors. Faint trace from Ziki's magic in the soil and faint trace of Zeke's magic from Cter's memory. Would have been something nice to have brought back to Ziki to further strengthen his moral, but what could Cter do?

What she were able to was to use the fading sprinkles of monster magic left in the soil to make an easier connection with the wheat in order to have an even simpler time healing them. For that to apply to the entirety of the wheat field and not just the small patch that Ziki tried but failed with Cter had to again be a bit creative with a Cooperative Connection that only was a Cooperative Connection on a technicality.

Her bread and butter.

While butter she knew was a bit too much of a luxury at the time in Xoff, at least she could make sure that there was bread, and with that in mind she filled the sliver of Ziki's joyful aura tingling on the top of her fingers with more magic enough that it was equivalent to what Ziki himself could muster up.

Working similarly to how she conjured up the images of Huvett and Huvtvao as well as Terri Fyed, but with a more-abstract image that was more the idea of Ziki rather than his form and voice, Cter connected with the faint trace of Ziki's magic inside the soil while magically disguised as him so that it would prompt without any fuss or need for a proper Cooperative Connection. It was just a fellow Royal Guard monster connection with the trace of his fellow Royal Guard magic in the soil as far as anyone else was concerned.

It meant however that the memories of how Ziki felt when he tried to heal the wheat field came back to Cter. They were weak and distant to her, but still she could sense the immense anguish and misery that permeated Ziki back then. "You did good," Cter repeated to Ziki's magic on her fingers in the shape of tiny lines almost like scratches.

The idea of Ziki easily spread itself throughout the field, latching onto the many, many withering wheats with just Cter giving it more energy to do what it was supposed to do. Encouraging cheers so that he can continue on his own, so to speak. Cter giving Ziki's magic enough oomph to fulfill its purpose was all that she needed, which meant less strain on her soul.

A bit of luck that was very welcomed.

Once Ziki's magic had reached out to all the wheat it could reach with Cter's added encouragement and large influx of magic, she then changed the magic in the joyful aura on her fingertips to the simple healing that was needed to keep the wheat alive for the night. At first it felt incongruous and jarring with the desperation present in the magical idea of Ziki that had spread itself throughout the wheat field, but with another influx of magic that the feeling of desperation in Ziki's magic was overruled with Cter's healing magic. It was necessary for her to do so since she had to continue come morn and didn't trust that Ziki's trace magic would still be there with its purpose fulfilled. Monster magic did have a habit of lingering like hot coals after a fire, but that was really where the comparison did stop.

Since she was still very much finding new angles to her changing magic each time she applied it she figured it was best to be safe rather than experimental when it came to wheat necessary for Clinic Village and Clinic Hill's survival. Changing Ziki's magic to be more her magic meant that it would still be left there come next morning without the slightest doubt in Cter's mind or soul. All she had to do was to refill the many-magical rivers inside the soil with simpler healing magic.

Depending on how much the wheat would recover during the night perhaps she could also have begun to figure out how to irrigate the fields as easily as possible. With the magic at her disposal she could easily just lift out water from the nearby river feeding from Mt. Ymmet in the far distance and throw it like a handful of confetti over the fields of rejuvenated wheat. That would just be showboating though which was a waste of magic if there were no one around to float their boat at her show.

Cter stood up again and headed towards the river alight with the orange glow of the Xoff sun glittering against each small wave and dent from the snaking route it had carved through the dry landscape. In the far distance where the river broke off differently into other smaller ones like the one Cter was stood next to there were the faint silhouettes of other villages just like Clinic Village. Just as quiet as well.

"Hrm," Cter muttered as she uncorked her water pouch fastened at her side to drink the last from it before refilling from the cold water passing her by at a leisurely pace. Not rushing, but not still enough to have her worry about it. Refilling her pouch from a quarter into the river, just as her parents had taught her. Far enough from the edge of the banks that no sediment would get into the drink, but also refilling from water that was moving fast and fresh.

The water wasn't as refreshing as the rivers in Hjearta, but it had a bit more taste to it. Slightly warmer too, which perhaps was the explanation as to why.

"Hrm?" she again muttered while still drinking from her pouch. Her brow lowered in quiet surprise seeing the river bend away from Clinic Hill rather than flowing next to it. Quite the urgent bend too, as the river then curved back into where it could be seen from the large window in Dr. Sallus' office.

Almost as if the river was actively avoiding Clinic Hill? If that was so, then where did the runoff from Clinic Hill lead down? Into Clinic Village?

Nah, that would have put the entirety of Clinic Village amid miasma which can't have been the case. That would have been noticed far, far earlier by the inhabitants of Clinic Village. Like thick fog the miasma would have descended upon Clinic Village from Clinic Hill had that been the case, and that it wasn't. Besides, that one monster nurse did explain to Cter about the precautions that had been made by Dr. Sallus.

Still though, it was quite curious to Cter how the river bent almost as if it was avoiding Clinic Hill. It reminded Cter of how some of the Temmie Royal Guards at Jarasevo castle would flee their faces and then their bodies away from her during her first days as a Monster Mage in fear of being allergic to humans. Not the most ridiculous comparison since Clinic Hill was dedicated to human medicine and Mt. Ymmet holding a lot of magical mysteries to it similar to Mt. Ebott.

Drinking water made Cter realize how thirsty she really was, which had her refilling her pouch two more times before she felt sated. Once that was taken care of she began to eye the distance between the river and the fields of tired wheat. It was close enough that carrying water was the most efficient choice considering that the river was sat lower than the wheat fields, and indeed Cter saw some ropes with hooks laid haphazardly along the river beach. Not enough for it too be as efficient as she theorized though, which most likely meant that there was some magic involved too with transferring water.

No faint traces of magic though which Cter could use as hints to figure out exactly how and which magic was used to transport water. Perhaps one of the kids knew about it? If not then she'd have to figure out an elegant, yet simple solution for them to be able to bring water to the crops.

It wasn't as if she would just set the kids out to work immediately, but Cter figured that giving it some thought would have the kids ready for when they eventually had to get to work on the wheat field with a drastically reduced work force.

It was a fact at that point, really.

Cter would also have to create Cooperative Connections for the children with some of the monsters working up on Clinic Hill so that they wouldn't have to rely on Cter lending them magic. Since they would be quite weak Cooperative Connections due to the children's untrained souls the simplest solutions were needed when it came to crop tending and perhaps even harvesting and replanting.

The standard method for planting crops via magical means was easy enough that a few monsters could do it efficiently, but the Clinic Village children would not have enough magical prowess to even reach that of an adult monster with their untrained souls and forced-upon Cooperative Connections with scarce connection to the monster's memories they were to wield.

Cter wasn't gonna risk the secret of the true Cooperative Connection for a single human village. That just wasn't...feasible.

She tried not to think about it.

And instead thought about ways to further simplify so that the children would be able to survive on their own means when that time came. Maybe Ziki was right and there were more adults alive than reality would have them believe, but then again maybe he was wrong. Most likely to be wrong, to boot.

A hefty sigh through loose lips had Cter blowing a tired raspberry over the rim of her water pouch as she drank some more whilst walking past the wooden sheds she had seen at the outskirt of Clinic Village. The Xoff sun had gone down much more than she had anticipated, and she ignited a small magical light over her right shoulder to help her see. Better over her right shoulder rather than her left, as with her loose hair in the way she wasn't blinded by it.

"The children," Cter exhaled quietly with her eyes moving around the eerily quiet human village casting long, interwoven shadows among the empty houses and lonely streets, giving it a sense of abandonment that was all too prominent for Cter to cast away by leaving magical lights among the streets to brighten the mood a bit.

That feeling of abandonment Cter might have not been able to push aside for the children.

"Monster Mage!"

Not consciously, that is.

"She's back! Cter's back!"

She seemed to be doing a pretty good job of it though with just her being there for them.

"Will the wheat be fine, Monster Mage?"

In truth though, it was the children that pushed it aside for themselves.

"Look at that light on her shoulder! So beautiful!"

Cter might have given them hope.

"Can we have some too?"

But it were the children that took that hope to heart and soul.

"You know you need to sleep though," Cter said as she kneeled down to the children stood together in front of Ziki. "So I'll make yours a bit dimmer for you, okay?" The many smiles were worn on cheeks that already looked a bit fuller with some color back after the soup on the dried jerky Sund and Cter brought with them as cargo for trade for spices with Clinic Village.

Some of the children had gotten some rosy color back on their cheeks immediately after slamming down the wooden bowls they greedily drank from hard enough that the wooden clonks echoed through the entirety of the human village while some took a bit longer to eat. Still, all but one had gotten some color back, while the last one was able to at least stand properly compared to their knees not being able to hold their weight earlier in the day.

They were still very much sickly and weak, but they were getting better. The soft light from Cter's magical light shining away their hollowed shadows helped too.

"Now, now, children," said Ziki as he saw the small humans getting excited. "You heard the Monster Mage about getting some sleep." He began to shepherd them towards the town hall which Sund had helped furnish along with Ziki so that all the children could be in the same building and room to ease Ziki keeping an eye on them.

Metaphorically, of course.

"You need sleep too," Cter informed Ziki after stopping him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes you do, Ziki!" one of the children agreed loudly with the others nodding. "You haven't slept at all for so long!"

"B-But–"

Cter hushed the Royal Guard by drawing lines on his armored forearm. "My lights are connected to the Cooperative Connection I've given the children. This one I'm giving you is in connection with the lights, so if anything happens, you'll know from it." He looked at it, admiring quietly the glow that breathed the same as the dimmed magical lights did above the children's shoulders. "So you go and make yourself good and sleep as well, Royal Guard."

Cter turned away, letting her purple mantle and loose hair flow dramatically as she did.

"And that's an order, Ziki."

Her lips tugged into a pleased smile.

Oh she was gonna sleep well too after that.