Day 5, Ebrill 14th (Monday)

  I woke up the next morning with my head still buzzing from my almanac reading from the night before. I was not an expert on ancient British history, but I was more and more convinced that I was on some sort of alternative Earth. Arturos and Merlotus were clearly Arthur and Merlin from my own Earth’s myths.

  I thought that both Merlin and Arthur lived at the end of their legends. Arthur was wounded in battle and taken to Avalon. I didn’t remember the details well, but I remembered the “Once and Future King” myth. Merlin also disappeared, although I don’t remember why. I couldn’t even remember if the myth said he disappeared before, or after Arthur was taken to Avalon.

  Despite most of my family immigrating from the British Isles, I’d always been way more interested in Roman and early American history. For today, it didn’t really matter. I mean, it probably didn’t matter ?any day. But it was something I’d no doubt think about during my downtime.

  Today we needed to focus on our supplies and our plans to get the wheat planted. The notification said the trade guild would be here no later than midday.

  We spent the morning checking ?the fences we’d put up, making sure the fence posts we’d placed for the garden were sturdy, and just checking things out on the homestead.

  I took Colin with me to look at the potato field. It ?still looked good. The ground had a lot of moisture in it when I plowed so it didn’t need irrigated for a bit. I still wanted to dig my ditch in the next few days. The wheat would need to be watered only a few times total, but I’d want to water my corn and potatoes about once a week when it got hot.

  I would put the cornfield on the south side of my homestead. I still planned to build some wooden water boxes to go in the ditches. They were relatively simple to make, and shouldn’t take too much effort.

  I was surprised that I would always have to grow wheat over the summer. If I remember correctly, in the United States in the mid to late 1800s almost all wheat was winter wheat. That meant farmers planted it in the fall, it came up, and then it needed to freeze to put the grains on the stalks. It was harvested in early July. Many farmers would then plant a quick growing variety of corn to get a second harvest in.

  Spring wheat was harvested in the fall because it didn't need a freeze. Emily said there was no such thing as winter wheat here. Must have been one of those little changes between Earths, if my theory was correct.

  It didn’t really matter to me when I grew the wheat. I’d grown both winter and spring wheat at home. Getting a second crop in wasn’t something that was ever done here.

  Occasionally at home, we would grow winter wheat, followed by a fast corn variety, which we would then get green chopped and put in a silage pit for cows to eat.

  Right around noon, they showed up as they’d said they would. This team wasn’t moving at Mach 1, or whatever speed the bishop’s coach had been moving at. They were still moving at a pace that would have seemed fast on Earth for the time period, but it took a good long while for them to actually make it to the farm after we first saw them.

  There were two wagons, with two men on each wagon. Three of the four men were short, but burly, and I assumed either Laborers or some class similar to that. They wore practical woolen clothes with suspenders and sturdy-looking pull-on work boots.

  The fourth man was different. He was wearing red robes trimmed in gold-colored fur. He had a thinner build, but was taller than the laborers.

  The slippers he wore clearly weren't for proper work. He had shoulder-length straight blond hair, was clean-shaven, with a strong jawline.

  He stepped down first. As he smoothed his robes and looked around, I could see he was an inch or two taller than me, so maybe six-three.

  He nodded slightly and addressed us in a haughty, aristocratic voice. “Hello, I am Robert Johnstone. I am a Water Wizard, in His Majesty Emperor Harold the Second’s service. I am representing the Albion Trade Guild today. It is my pleasure to welcome you to this land, John Jacobson.”

  His first words were certainly more pleasant than the way they were spoken. I expected an insult, not a welcome based on the way he spoke.

  “Thank you, sir,” I said. “To what do I owe the great honor of your presence? Do all Homesteaders get the pleasure of your presence when their supplies are delivered?”

  He let out a haughty sounding laugh that appeared genuine. “They do not. The good bishop asked me to come and put eyes on this place. He was worried that you may not be up to the task assigned to you. Upon first glance, I cannot say that to be the case. May I ask, though, how you managed to prepare your land?”

  “The bishop did not mention any magical abilities you may have. I do not see any livestock, nor any equipment capable of plowing these fields.”

  A nervous knot had appeared in my stomach. I genuinely didn’t know how to answer this question. I hadn’t thought they’d send someone important out to me. Emily had said that there probably wasn’t anyone in town who would even ask the question.

  “I have something special that I’ve been working on,” I said stupidly. Why would I say that!?

  “Indeed? Would you care to show me?” Robert asked.

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  I hoped my face hadn’t gone as pale as I feared it had. I thought quickly.

  “Would you be terribly offended if I declined? It is a bit of a trade secret I’ve been working on, and it is the reason that I’ve been delayed these past three years.” I was panicking now. Hopefully, my voice sounded more confident than I felt.

  Robert looked at me with a piercing glance, followed by a sly smile. “Well then. The bishop did say that you were inexplicably level 20. Are you some sort of tinkerer, who has a machine they are trying to get patented? Do you have a backer that you’ve managed to hide? I am going to be honest with you here Mr Jacobson. The bishop believes you have a backer. He has no idea who it is, but he is absolutely going to send out feelers to find out.”

  He spread his arms out to encompass the empty grassland and said, “Personally, as long as I am not forced to make the trip out here to the ends of the territory again anytime soon, I do not care. My own backing isn’t dependent on the bishop.”

  “If I were not the fifth son, I would not be in a colony. Riverton is not a bad place for a provincial city, so I do not mind it too much. The weather is certainly much better than on the home isles. Weston however..” He mimed a shudder.

  I nodded, my heart beginning to slow. “I am a sort of tinkerer. I assure you it will make me a wonderful farmer. As for backing, the bishop will find none. May I ask why you were this far out already? Or are you capable of making it all the way from the capital so quickly?”

  He laughed. “No, I have no high-level Coachman. I am a Wizard, but as I have said, I am a representative of the Albion Trade Guild. I was on my way out to make sure everything was in order at the outpost in Weston. I met the bishop on the road as he was heading back to the capital. I agreed to come speak with you in person when the wagons came to deliver your supplies.”

  “It seems to me that you have everything in order. Do not anger the bishop in the future. He is not an inherently bad man, but he is a traditionalist, and a consummate politician. As I have mentioned, his opinion matters very little for my own position. But it matters greatly for yours.”

  I definitely didn’t have an ally here, but it seemed that Robert just didn’t see me as important to any potential schemes he might be involved in. He warned me because he didn’t think it would have any consequences at all for him with the bishop. If I thrived, then it was a potential net positive for the trade guild.

  Once this exchange was done, he instructed the workers to unload the goods they’d brought. The seed was all in burlap sacks. Colin and I had laid out a bed of logs so the seed wouldn’t sit on the ground for now and accidentally pick up moisture.

  The coal was placed on the east side of the house. We’d build a roof to keep water off of it, but since the wind blew west to east, it would get less weather on the eastern side.

  Emily instructed the workers to go into the house to drop off the home goods. I couldn’t help but laugh about that. I still hadn’t seen the inside of the house yet!

  While this was going on, I made some small talk with Robert. His haughty voice was off-putting, but he was treating me well enough. Maybe it was because he wasn’t a jerk; maybe it was because I was level 20. I found out that he was in his late 20s and was level 18. As the fifth son of a baron, his family expected him to go into a trade. Inheritance could go as far as the third son in the empire, but no farther. His father had provided him with a top-notch education in the capital, Londinium.

  He’d shown a magical aptitude, so he had been enrolled in the Wizards College. He liked water magic and said he felt a pull towards it. The Trade Guild had hired him as a representative because of his connections and his class.

  Wizards were always in high demand. Unless a child showed exceptional ability and naturally manifested a talent, only the rich or nobility could afford to go to a wizard's college and be able to unlock the class.

  A Water Wizard could perform all kinds of useful duties in the territories. He regaled me with his many uses while the Laborers unpacked.

  “Through my magical link to water, I have been able to identify a majority of the best spots for wells in this territory. I have also been able to contour several stretches of the river to ensure they don’t regularly flood. If there is a flooding issue then I am available at a very reasonable rate to solve the issue. You’ll see my services listed in the quest tab if you look.”

  I wasn’t sure I said twenty words the entire time we spoke. That didn’t bother me one bit. I was getting useful information about the empire, and he wasn’t finding out anything about me that could cause me problems.

  After the party went back on its way, I asked Emily if she was satisfied with what we had so far. Her eyes had the faintest hint of tears in them as she said she was happy with what we had.

  Colin spoke up then. “Well John, looks like the pigs and goats are happily settling in for now. The water troughs should be big enough that we won’t need to get them water for a while. Of course, now we only have one bathtub. We need to get that barbed wire up quickly so the animals don’t get into the garden.”

  I smiled. “Indeed we do, Colin. But you need to change out of those boots before they fall off your feet.”

  He looked bewildered. “They’re the only boots I have sir,” he winced and then said, “I mean John.”

  I smiled and said, “Not anymore they aren’t. Emily, go check out the bundle of clothes I had delivered.”

  She looked confused but complied. They wrapped all the clothes in the cloth they had brought. The workers had set the cloth on top of the burlap sacks, not in the house, since most of the stuff was supposed to be mine.

  Colin and I watched as Emily unwrapped the bundle of cloth. Inside were a pair of boots that fit Colin, not me.

  “Check the clothes too, some are smaller,” I said.

  Emily looked at the clothes and then grabbed a pair of pants, socks, and a shirt. Plus the heavy coat that had come with my welcome package.

  I waved towards the clothes Emily was now holding up, and said, “There you are Colin. A new set of clothes, along with boots and a coat.”

  Colin looked like he was about to cry. Emily had more than just a hint of moisture in her eyes now.

  She’d known she was getting some cloth for herself. She’d asked for a bit extra so she could make Colin some new pants and a shirt. They had received hand-me-downs from the neighbors, but they were mostly just patches at this point.

  I was getting a little misty-eyed myself.

  “I was supposed to get three sets of clothing, a coat, and boots. As you can see, my boots are brand new. With the special soles on them, they’ll easily last me two years. My heavy coat is in my tractor, you’ve probably seen it. It’s way warmer than this coat. You also need a new set of clothes. Your mom can use the extra cloth we ordered to make herself an extra dress. I still have three sets of clothing, it’s not like I gave everything away to you.”

  Colin looked shocked. Then, without warning, he rushed to me and gave me a bear hug. He said no words, just hugged me and cried.

  Then I cried, and so did Emily. She didn’t join in the hug, but the smile she gave me said I’d just about convinced her that I meant “we” would make this farm work.

  Hopefully, I would see more smiles, and fewer pursed lips moving forward.