TBE Chapter 89

TBE Chapter 89

The journey that afternoon was the usual relaxed atmosphere that the family had been lucky enough to be subjected to the last few days. The wind was warm and had a smell that rejuvenated everyone who breathed it since it passed through the forest filled with life and brought with it the vitality that the world enjoyed only in the seasons of Spring and Summer.

Ezekiel’s favorite season was Autumn, but he couldn’t deny that Summer, which made the foliage glow with all the hues of emerald, was so beautiful that for a moment, he grieved that he hadn’t taken the time to enjoy such sceneries back on Earth.

The cacophony of sounds coming from the forest was also so lively that he understood why Simon always returned carrying a lot of game. The man told him that hunters usually would not hunt so much game even if the forest were full of animals since there was a huge tendency for the meat to spoil, especially during the hot season of summer. With Ezekiel’s magic, there’s no reason to fear that the hunted game would spoil, so Simon just hunted everything that he could kill without any regard for how to store them.

The only reason why Simon was bringing home a limited number of game was because of the few hours that he was allowed to hunt, which was only during the mornings.

During the afternoon, Robert and Luke took a nap without any urging from Ezekiel, and he could understand why since he was also a little sleepy due to the atmosphere so he joined them. The three of them slept for a couple of hours and Simon just kept on driving the cart. The three woke up soon after, and the sun was still high when they did, so the boys just continued playing.

Since the cart was moving slowly enough, the boys sometimes jumped from the cart to run on the road, and of course, Ezekiel didn’t stop them since every boy needed to vent their excess energy. He even joined them so that he would have the exercise that his body needed.

Ezekiel started a conversation with Simon, continuing his teachings on how to behave as a proper guardian. He did think that he had shared all he could with Simon already and the only thing that the man needed was actual experience. The good thing was, Simon told him that they would reach a village in a couple of days, even considering the speed at which they traveled. Ezekiel had to admit that their journey was now extremely slow compared to when they first started, but that was because they were leaving only during the afternoons due to Simon hunting animals in the forest.

To be honest, Ezekiel was tempted at first to join the hunt for game since that would allow him to earn experience points, but then again, him coming would probably result in him doing all the killing, and because of that, Simon would probably feel useless. Besides, Ezekiel already thought that the amount of experience coming from regular animals would probably be miniscule and that the activity wouldn’t be worth it, so he just spent the time learning woodworking.

Soon, Ezekiel told Simon to look for a place where they could stay, and he was amused that the man had just entered the forest and stopped at the nearest clearing. It was understandable since they actually didn’t have to consider the location too much, just to make sure that a clearing was wide enough for him to conjure the towers.

When everything was set up, Robert and Luke ran inside to play, and Ezekiel helped Simon do the very few chores they had to do, which were to bring the cart inside the stable and to clean and feed the donkey. Once it was done, Ezekiel and Simon began the process of cleaning the fowls that Simon had hunted earlier that morning, but Ezekiel told Simon not to cut the meat since he was still in the process of selecting which recipe he would use for them.

After the game animals were all cleaned, Simon went outside to play as well, meaning setting up his target practice so he could practice his crossbow and play with the sword that Ezekiel had given him. Ezekiel saw that Simon was just waving the sword around. He didn’t fault the man since he did the same thing as his “sword practice”. Their pretend guardian did tell him that he would need more bolts since some of the bolts that he was using were ruined during the hunt.

Ezekiel borrowed one of the bolts and studied it. Looking at the bolt, he thought that he should be able to create it using the Fabricate spell, but when he cast the spell intending to create the bolts, the resulting bolts were faulty beyond belief and could only be used once.

The original bolt was made from some sort of metal, possibly aluminum or some other alloy but he intended to create it using wood and he thought that his imagination would be enough for him to copy the bolts but since item created was extremely bad, Ezekiel didn’t want to spend anymore brain power to learn the reason why it failed and just spent a silver coin purchasing 20 pieces of bolts. It was costly, but then they were sturdy enough and could be reused. He did tell Simon to take care of the bolts since they were expensive, costing 5 copper coins each.

Ezekiel reviewed the remaining food in his 4th tab space and with the rate they were eating them, it could still last for a couple of weeks.

That late afternoon, Ezekiel still busied himself mastering the elaborate and aesthetically pleasing chair for children, but he stopped when the sun set. He called Simon from outside and told the man to take a bath. After a few minutes of clearing everything in the workshop to turn it back into the dining room, Ezekiel went to the third floor to take a bath. Simon and the two boys were on the second floor playing, and the three of them were already clean.

He didn’t wonder about Robert and Luke since they loved playing in the washroom with their toy ship. Soon, the four of them went to the first floor to begin their nightly lessons. As a test, Ezekiel didn’t buy anything that could motivate the boys, but thankfully, the three boys were still enthusiastic about learning their letters. He expected it a little since he knew that once everyone got used to learning, they would be able to continue without Ezekiel needing to motivate them with delicious food all the time.

Besides, his lesson was just an hour a day and he didn’t even ask them to do any homework. After the lessons, they ate their dinner, but this time, Ezekiel didn’t clean their dishes using magic and asked the boys to clean them. Of course, he had to teach them how to use the dishwashing liquid and sponge that he had purchased from the system store. He spent a total of 5 copper coins for those. After the dishes were done, he asked Simon to store the dishwashing liquid and sponge in the cart. The boys went upstairs to play, waiting for Simon to join them while Ezekiel continued tinkering with his woodworking tools, trying to master the chair that he was currently making.

Before starting, Ezekiel reviewed the contents of his inventory and his gold coins. Currently, the total amount of what he considered the general fund was 50 Gold, 37 Silver, and 7 Copper Coins. His woodcraft funds, which were the total funds he earned from buying wooden art pieces and knickknacks from the system store and selling them to villagers, were 3 Gold and 50 Silver coins, and he still had 20 silver coins worth of wooden knickknacks in the cart that could earn him a gold coin.

With Simon’s presence, Ezekiel had a lot more options on how to earn gold coins, so he planned to create a list of possible sources of income that he could do using their guardian. After reviewing his funds, Ezekiel continued crafting the chair that he had been making. He was so engrossed in his project that Robert went downstairs to tell him that they were sleepy. He apologized and went upstairs with him but he didn’t forget to cast the spells that would protect their family from any unexpected danger.

Ezekiel started telling them a simple bedtime story which was The Princess and The Pea but not even five minutes, Robert, Luke, and Simon were all asleep.

Looking at the sleeping faces of his brothers and Simon, Ezekiel was a little proud that his brothers and their pretend guardian were comfortable and happy enough to have smiles on their faces while sleeping. He hoped that he could continue providing that happiness to them since, to be honest, he felt like his brothers had already experienced enough difficulty in their lives that they truly deserved to be happy from then on.

For a brief moment, he felt a little pity that the original owner of this body named “Boy” didn’t experience what his brothers were experiencing currently and he only hoped that the boy was somewhere he could truly be happy.