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chapter 12: First Village

  Having said his goodbyes to the family of merchants that had given him a ride through the forest Tithe exited the carriage at a crossing that sent them in another direction. It was refreshing to see an exit out of the forest as there were less opportunities to be taken by surprise in a large and open field.

  Standing by the signpost that directed him towards Orin while the carriage headed east towards Lowe. He would miss the family despite their brief interaction for about a day and a half but that was one of the cruel inevitabilities of his travels. Goodbyes would come as often as Hello’s.

  Taking the path towards Orin he would eventually notice that there were quite large fields of crops laid out but there were only about six workers tending to the crops, hardly enough to tend to such large fields alone, struggling to even toil the sand like dirt.

  Waiving to them from the path he called out “Is this the way to Orin?” In hopes of striking up some friendly conversation.

  The workers didn’t seem too pleased to be addressed but a spindly human woman approached him from the field. “What business do you have there?” She asked. She looked quite ill this close up, her face pale and relatively thin.

  The crops themselves were also in disarray but that he knew as he had been sent out here to fix such a problem. Majoring in botanical alchemy he was the first choice when it came to reviving dead crops for villages suffering from the war.

  “I do, actually.” He assured her with a kind smile and soft spoken words “I have been sent out by the kingdom to help revive the decaying crops.”

  What he expected to be some form of appreciation for help was met with a scowl and a vitriolic “We don’t need no help from the kingdom. They already turned their backs on us once.”

  “Are you sure?” Tithe responded, looking over the state of the fields and the wilted plants “because if you ask me, this looks like it is past the point of no return. If you don’t let me work on them soon there will be no crops left to harvest.”

  It was a tad harsh to bring up the conditions but he couldn’t just let stubbornness lead to the failure of a perfectly good yield. It resonated enough with the woman who swallowed her pride and said “Keep goin’ down that path and you’ll see it shortly.”

  Tithe still had one more question to ask before leaving. “How come there are so few of you out here at the moment?”

  She wasn’t as hostile to such a question and freely responded “It’s a time of rest for the others. See, we take in a lot of folk suffering from Coreblight. Can’t get much work in the city when yer considered a liability.”

  Tithe was taken aback but he had heard of the disease before. It was a very unfortunate condition where one's mana core was either damaged, too small, or completely non-functional so the retention of magic was nearly impossible, only able to absorb and use the bare amount of mana needed to survive.

  It led to many being considered inefficient and useless by employers given the need for rest every eight hours, three or more meals a day, and the need to sleep often, compared to the average human or elves ability to work for days at a time with then a multi day break at the end. Other races made up for their need to eat and rest often by having their mana cores oversized and capable of outputting ridiculous quantities of mana, or evolved in such a way there were magics that they had specialised.

  “I am very sorry to hear. If only we could find a cure for such a state,” Tithe finally responded with a hand to his chest and a slight bow of his head.

  “You learn to live with it,” she assured. Pointing ahead and shooing him off she returned to working the fields in a vain attempt to salvage this mess.

  Tithe returned a short wave, his mind already full of ideas for how he could potentially fix this problem with the ingredients he had on hand. Even better if the town had any form of alchemy supplies but he doubted that given what he had seen.

  Following the woman's directions he approached the gates to the village which had two guards stationed outside of it. Both pulled their spears up when he approached and commanded “State your business, traveller.”

  “I have been sent by the new king of Rosemary to revive the dying crops.” Tithe stated, this time attempting to apply authority with a confident tone.

  The guards shared the same look the woman in the fields did and they both seemed to consider how to turn him away. It wasn’t a pleasant plan but Tithe knew how to get their attention and make sure they let him in. Removing the sigil he was given and showing it to the guards he stated “I am here on order of the king to fix your crops. You wouldn’t want me to have to return and tell him that I was turned away at the gate, would you?”

  The threat worked, both guards nodding and stepping aside to let him in without much more hassle. The people of the village were about as accepting of outsiders as anyone else, especially ones that came bearing the crest of the new king.

  On a brief glance the town was rather small with mostly homes lining the streets and the occasional store or area to eat. The rooftops lay barren atop the houses so it was most likely that the corvid weren’t welcome here.

  His first order of business would of course be to visit the mayor but it seemed that would be quite difficult. Navigating the streets of the village he found that a large group had gathered outside the town hall in protest. Many were screaming but it was hard to make anything out as they spoke over each other.

  Approaching, he intended to gain an understanding by asking one of the locals what had gone wrong, however a guard intercepted him and said “You the one the king sent?”

  “That would be correct,” Tithe responded.

  “This way ‘den. Mayor’ll see ya tomorrow,” the guard stated, using his spear to point towards the local inn that wasn’t too far away from the town hall.

  Tithe felt it best not to resist or get involved in any form of public dismay so he followed and asked the guard “Why are people protesting?”

  The guard, though, remained silent for the short duration of the walk. Opening the door he said “Get a room for dis one. Free of charge” motioning again for him to enter.

  “Well… Thank you?” Tithe said, stepping inside to be quickly ushered upstairs into a small but quaint room on the far end of the second floor. Only about four rooms in total and he was all but shoved into the room and the door closed behind him.

  “That was strange…” Tithe mumbled to himself. It was hardly midday and they already got him into a room for the night. Let alone his mana gland was perfectly functional. He had no need to rest overnight for at least a few days given the supply of fresh water he currently had and the rest that he had gotten on the carriage.

  Instead of resting he took the time to take out his sword and bow so he could make sure they were in good shape from the previous battle. Sharpening the blade and re-stringing his bow.

  With evening rolling around he felt he should explore the town some more and get some statements from the locals about the state of the crops so he could begin to formulate a cure for whatever is ailing the soil in the area.

  Opening the door he found two guards were stationed outside of his room. The one to the left of his door said “Sorry sir, but we must ask you to stay inside at night for your own safety.”

  Tithe was left absolutely baffled at such an odd sight, asking “May I ask why?”

  The guard to the right of his door nodded and explained “A lot has happened within the village since the war. With all of our crops failing some folk have naturally been very unhappy with the state of things. An outsider like yourself might be in danger at night.”

  As annoying as it was to be denied the freedom to explore he couldn’t exactly argue with them and replied “Alright. Thank you.”

  The guards closed the door again and presumably returned to the steadfast position in front of the door, leaving Tithe to walk back inside and gently spread the blinds so he could look out into the town at night.

  The protests had ended for now. Even angry locals had to eat and rest at some point, Tithe guessed. There were very few people even out at night given the town was primarily full of those lacking a functioning mana core so they needed to be asleep this time of night.

  What he did see in the distance was a small group past the mayor's home closer to the fields talking with each other, whispering and glancing about before they all ran off to the field.

  It was a long wait until morning that allowed Tithe to catch up on a book he had brought with him recapping the uses and categories of wild mushrooms. The sound of the rain coming in helped ease his mind during his studies as it reminded him of his dorm room. A knock on the door pulled him from the pages and he opened the door to find the guard that took him to the Inn.

  “The mayor’ll see ya now,” he said.

  “Perfect. Let’s go right away then,” Tithe responded. Placing the book back into his bag he slung it over his shoulders and followed the quiet guard to the mayor's home nearby that once again had a crowd outside yelling various chants such as “You promised us!” and “This is your fault you greedy-!” adding various slurs.

  “Out’a the way you lot!,” the guard shouted as he pushed his way through the crowd and opened the door for Tithe.

  Tithe wasn’t immune to the slander either as various shouts were thrown his way when the people locked on to his presence. One that stuck with Tithe amid the various screams was “We have nothin’ left to take!”

  The doors closed behind him and the guard ushered him into the home. “This way, sir.”

  For a man that was being called a greedy slur and liar with multiple protests the inside of the manor was very barren. Ascending the stairs there were several square shaped spots upon the walls that were cleaner than the rest of the wall.

  There was no squalor. The entrance hall and upper balcony were almost empty, bar a few small pots containing dehydrated plants along the way. “One moment,” tithe mentioned as he felt the need to stop and give some of his water to the plants along the way. Just a drop would be enough to keep them going.

  “This way, sir,” the guard repeated with increasing agitation each time he stopped to water the individual plants. After the brief pauses they reached the set of double doors that led into the main office once the guard opened them. “Pardon the delay, ma’am, our guest felt it necessary to water the plants along the way.”

  Inside was just as barren as the rest of the manor. Shelves that Tithe assumed were once filled with books stood empty and containers held pillows that relics no doubt once lay atop. At the desk across the room sat an elderly woman who clearly had been having a hard time.

  “Welcome esteemed guest of the castle. It is a pleasure to welcome you to our small town,” she said, struggling to sit upright. The only thing of substance in her office were the stacks of paperwork either side of the desk.

  A small fold out chair existed across from the table that he was invited to use. Tithe bowed his head and took a seat when invited, stating “I am here to help fix the crops that I have been told were dying out.”

  “This is true,” Lucy stated, if the plaque on her desk was anything to go by. Once Tithe attempted to reach into his satchel a hand was held up and the mayor continued “I think it will be harder than one would anticipate to be able to help the people of this town.”

  No doubt puzzled by such a response, Tithe asked “whatever do you mean?”

  The older human stood from her desk and walked to the window, gazing sorrowfully out at the fields in the distance. “I failed my people,” she finally explained. She didn’t allow him to ask more questions and continued her explanation once turned to him. “The former king came to us and demanded a large quantity of our food production be delivered to the army station that used to exist nearby. That after the war we would be rewarded handsomely for our assistance in the war.”

  “And given the former king is now dead…” Tithe added.

  “Now we have a new king on our back. We paid our taxes and due rations towards the war and how we have a new king bearing down on our shoulders ready to take whatever else he can for the capital,” the mayor said. Clenching her fist rested on the windowsill she looked back at Tithe with a hateful glare “What are your true intentions here?”

  Tithe was taken aback at the accusatory remark and tried his best to simply state “I am here to fix the fields. I don’t know why any of you think I am here for some other purpose. Doesn’t it seem weird for the barbarian king of Rosemary to send a recently graduated student out to try and extort you for money?”

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  “There are many reasons a tyrant would do what he does,” she explained. Returning to her seat so she could face him, eye to eye and ask “What is in it for you?”

  Tithe needed very little time for such a question and truthfully answered “I was going to be here without the king's sponsorship or not. It seems like accepting his kindness was nothing more than a hindrance. It had been a life long dream of mine to travel the world and help those in need with my talents”

  It seemed she was judging his answer and the minor annoyance in his tone was resonating with the mayor. She leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table, thinking deeply about the situation.

  Tithe took this as a moment to solidify his point “Most people here are suffering from Coreblight. If those fields are not back up to top tier conditions soon no matter how many of your mansion's items you sell there will be nowhere near enough food for winter. No matter what trade deals you made from those sales will cover everyone if they are all suffering!”

  “Then allow me one more question,” the mayor asked, staring into the desk before her. “Do you think I made the right decision for my people?”

  “It’s always a question with these people.” TIthe thought. Needing a moment to form a response he said “It’s not my job to judge the actions or reasoning of others. My job is simply to help the crops back to health but if you absolutely need an answer, I think you did what you could with the information you had. The future is very unclear.”

  She stood from the table once more, the sound of the chair sliding against decaying wooden flooring reverberating throughout the room. “I may not be able to get you to the fields. People no longer trust me as a mayor. At best I might be able to get you a sample of the field's soil.”

  “That would be enough for now. Provided I am allowed to wander during the day.”

  “Of course. The people may be apprehensive but I do not think they are truly violent,” the mayor tried to assure.

  Given what he had seen, Tithe wasn’t sold on the idea but he rose from his seating and closed his satchel. “I am going to study what local flora you have and see what I can make from them.”

  “Just be careful outside of the village limits. Bandits have taken to the area lately with recent events.”

  It was just as Tithe had thought. Examining the sample of the dirt and dying crop that was taken to him he found there was an abundance of mana in the air that was changing the composition of the soil, making them far too mana dense to be nutritious for the plants even with fresh clean water.

  Examining it under a manascope he had he checked for what form of mana could be so intrusive. Again, as expected, it was death mana. With the war on going the plants didn’t have time to adapt to the severe rise in mana production.

  Tithe had spent a lot of time studying such phenomena and discussing it with professors and his two friends. In his hypothesis if plants were allowed to be exposed to such density of mana for long enough they would simply adapt and begin to grow much larger as the animals and monsters of the world had. Sadly, however, upon testing his theory at the college they did find the crops would grow to monstrous sizes but the nutritional value all but vanished.

  The area was also suffering primarily from Coreblight so Tithe needed to be entirely sure that what he was doing was enough to fix it but not require them to magically maintain it. His goal being to give them self sufficiency without the need of hiring or relying on kindness from magically dense individuals.

  Earning the trust of the strangers was also going to be a problem so they didn’t mob him whenever he went near the crops just in case they assumed he was some form of tax auditor here to see how much the kingdom could strangle out of them.

  Over a cup of local tea that was so kindly given to him by the struggling kitchen below he finally felt that he had an idea for how to start his assistance. The first step meant visiting with the mayor once more come morning.

  “Come on, come all for a lesson you will never forget!” A young crier called from outside the door to the vacant store he was graciously allowed to use. “A new age technique of alchemy to blow your minds!”

  Tithe had put quite a lot of work into this lesson but he expected only one at best to show up. One was all he needed. The moment he could show someone in the town that he had a cure for their crops' woes he would be able to convince the rest of the town to listen through their voice alone.

  “Thank you for coming,” Tithe warmly greeted the only member of the public to show up. An older gentleman who was dressed in some standard tunics and sporting a very snazzy set of rings from across the border given their sigils.

  “My name is Tithe and I will be showing you how to recover decaying crops with the help of alchemy,” Tithe began to explain. He watched the man seem as uninterested as one could be but knew he had to push through the awkwardness and stated “I have heard the soil here has been quite difficult lately, correct?”

  A step in the right direction it seemed. The man grunted in affirmation. “Progress is progress…” Tithe thought.

  Approaching the centre of the room he had a box covered in a small blanket that he hovered his hand above for dramatic effect. His sense of showmanship lost on the disgruntled old man. “Alright old man, action it is” Tithe thought.

  With enough dramatic timing to cause the old man to stare at him, Tithe finally pulled away the blanket to reveal two small glass boxes. The one on Tithe’s left contained a perfectly healthy carrot crop and in the one to the right the decaying carrot he had taken to him for examination showed just how damaged the crops were.

  “As you can see, the case on the right here has a rather unpleasant looking carrot” Tithe began as he motioned to the one on his left. Looking up to his ‘audience’ he got another glum look from the old man. Tithe sighed and shook his head, doing his best not to be disturbed by such reactions. Moving to motion to the healthy carrot with his other hand, Tithe asked “and this carrot looks particularly healthy?”

  No doubt the man was feeling like he was being talked down to but Tithe needed to make sure he absolutely understood this process. Waiting for the same nod as before, Tithe continued “and what if I told you that both of these crops came from the fields of the village?”

  Finally the man spoke and said “Absolute faff. The village crops are all dyin’.”

  “Well this is no mere smoke and mirrors trick. Feel free to come up and examine them both for yourself.”

  Allowing the man to open both cases also let him feel that the soil in the dying crop was far closer to sand. The dirt was struggling to stay together and almost felt like it was attempting to isolate itself from the other granules around it.

  It was understandable that the elder did not want to believe that there was any hope for their crops from an outsider but his face did color him intrigued. “If you could take a seat again.”

  As asked, the elder sat down. This time he moved to sit at the front closer to the display rather than the back.

  “All you need to do is come back tomorrow where we will see the results,” Tithe explained as he removed the cork of a potion next to the boxes. Slowly distributing the contents over the decaying carrot which did cause some initial smoke to rise. “Now come tomorrow's lesson this will be ready. It takes some time for the concoction to take effect.”

  The man was curious but his pride seemed to stand in the way of asking anything so Tithe used his free hand to motion to the decaying carrot and explain “the soil in the fields have been contaminated which causes an environment that the crops can no longer thrive in. Struggling to absorb anything due to this.”

  The man finally spoke and stated “We haven’t done anything new to the crops. There’s no way they should be dyin’.”

  An easy enough comment to explain as tithe scooped up the dirt which caused it to crumble away like sand between his fingers “It is the war.” Knowing the man would be confused by such an explanation he continued “Many battles have been fought this close to the capital. When enough death and decay happens in a condensed area it leads to everything around us being affected.” Tithe felt that this was going to take a more detailed explanation so he decided it best he would lecture this old man and hope he tells everyone else.

  Grabbing a piece of chalk and pulling the blackboard standee from the side of the room Tithe drew a quick stickman with two arrows exiting it. One with trickles of raindrops and the other a ghost like orb. “When we die we release two things into the world” motioning first to the orb “the most well known is the soul. This makes its way back towards the spire. Then” Tithe motioned across the board to the rain “We also released what excess mana we had stored in our bodies. The mana naturally absorbs back into the world and disperses. Suffering from coreblight the people in town wouldn’t be able to notice the increase of mana in the soul.”

  Despite living in the countryside with coreblight it seemed the man was following along which allowed Tithe to finish his explanation “So when the war was passing through and large scale battles happened in the name of the kings there were suddenly a lot of people dying. People who have a lot of mana in their cores. When they die, they release it and when enough is released all at once in a small singular area it causes everything to begin to absorb too much mana and function differently. The soil is still functional but the vegetables are not prepared to grow in such a vastly different plot of dirt that one of the two needs to be readjusted.”

  The next day Tithe hoped that the man would return to see the results of his experiment but to his surprise he found that the usually vacant store was packed today. Mumbling and chatter echoed through the room that all fell to a hush when they noticed him.

  “Well, good morning,” Tithe said, straightening his back and taking a deep breath. “You are prepared for this” he thought, approaching the counter in the middle with the trolley he kept the two displays on.

  Setting up the display safely in the centre of the store he turned to face the crowd. “Thank you all for coming today.” The eyes all kept their gaze fixed upon him. The old man who now sat at the front may have seemed a tad friendlier today; the others were also watching him closely. He had to prove to them that this was worth it.

  “Then let us simply get to the point,” he said, grabbing the top of the cloth and pulling it off to reveal that there were not one, but now two perfectly healthy carrots resting within the boxes of dirt.

  As the scepticism started and muttering spread through the crowd Tithe began his lecture “As explained for my one guest who showed up yesterday, the soil in the area has been contaminated.” Taking some time to explain the same situation to the new crowd. It seemed he also needed the same diagrams even if they were quite basic but it helped keep people's attention where it belonged.

  He allowed various people to come up and feel the difference in the soil after a kind young man ran off to get more dirt from the field to show his point. “Now” Tithe stated once everyone had their fill in playing with the dirt.

  Before he could speak a hand in the crowd raised and once given the nod the older woman asked “The town suffers from coreblight. We have no way of altering the magic around us.”

  Tithe nodded and clicked his fingers, pointing at her “Exactly. So my solution has to be something that would allow you to care for yourselves without needing to rely on paying other towns for mages. Good thing I thought of that from the beginning.”

  Removing another set of potion bottles from his pack he lay them out around the containers “The area is naturally abundant in plant life and animals that can be used to create the concoction that I have used to restore this plant. It won’t work overnight like it did here but if you keep applying it then the dirt will return to normal and the crops will survive.”

  Again, his plan seemed to be met with scepticism which caused Tithe to sigh annoyed and aggressively state “I am here to help you all and you resist me at every single step of the way. If I were anyone else from the capital you would have been abandoned to your own troubles, left to starve once the food the mayor has traded for doesn’t make it in time for the winter. So, let me help you, please.”

  Silence returned to the room and Tithe reached into his pack to struggle for a few moments where he could finally pull out the large cauldron and set it up. “I am going to show you all how to make this concoction and I have written up a few guides for it since I got here.”

  No one was expecting a handout or what was essentially homework but Tithe finished setting up his cauldron and announced “All please come gather around while I show you how to make this.”

  With the crowd around him it felt easier to show off his talents. Not only did it feel like one of his many lectures where he had to make a potion in front of the class, it also felt like being more among peers rather than everyone sitting down staring at him.

  It allowed him to articulate his points a lot smoother, despite a few stumbles here and there he informed the group of where to source clean water from nearby. “While you could pay mages to purify and fill the water with magic for you, I will leave a recommendation for a company in the capital. Once the crops are cleaned up and money is coming back to the town I would highly recommend investing into a distiller. They can be expensive but they purify rainwater into water perfectly functional for alchemy.”

  The ingredients were the easy part given most of them grew in the forest and clearings nearby along with being able to be grown within town once the soil was fixed. Mixtures and ratios were left in the papers he had handed out along with the cooking time.

  With the potion bubbling over the stove inside the large pot he approached the end of his lecture with “A pot of this size can make about ten bottles of the potion if you fill it to almost the brim. Worst case you can get non clean water but it would be nowhere near as effective.”

  By now it seemed the locals were actively listening to him as he worked. Twirling a phial between his fingers he eventually dunked it into the potion and filled it to the brim “Do be warned. Potions are hot at first. You sorta just build up a resistance to it.”

  Though the lecture ended, the locals wanted to try making the potion so Tithe spent the day gathering as many cauldrons as he could with the town folks help which let him hold an outdoor class in the town square where everyone willing to participate sat by a cauldron. Most in pairs of at least two upwards of four while others took the already made potion to the fields to be distributed.

  It was shocking to see so many attending his outdoor class, but as Tithe thought, everyone was trying to survive. They were afraid of losing what they already had so in showing them how to potentially fend for themselves was what was needed to win them over.

  It took a few days for any results to be seen and some thought that he may have been a swindler. That was until it was finally time for Tithe to depart. Gathering his belongings into the satchel he knocked on the door to let the guards know he was ready to leave. However, there was no response.

  After one more knock he opened the door only to find that there were no guards stationed outside of his room. “So that’s what that was all for,” Tithe thought, needing to stifle a laugh. Descending the stairway he found that the locals had returned to their regular lives.

  Surprisingly the mayor had left her office which he had not seen in the days he was here. A few locals also approached when Tithe stepped outside “gotta make sure I actually leave?” he jabbed.

  “You wound me,” the mayor responded.

  The same older gentleman who came to his first lesson approached while holding a sack that he offered “It isn’t much but hopefully these rations could serve as a form of payment for the lesson.”

  Tithe raised a hand in front of the bag and shook his head in denial “No thank you. You guys need the rations more than I do.”

  “Surely there must be some form of payment you want?” the mayor asked.

  Of course, Tithe didn’t plan to work for free wherever he went but he also didn’t need much to make it to the next town. “Well…,” he began, rummaging through his bag before pulling out a large water bottle. “Given my mana core is functional, all I would need to travel for a few weeks would be two litres of clean water but I know your supply is also limited at the moment.”

  “If not for you, we would have nothing left come winter. I am sure we can spare two litres for your aid,” the mayor explained, instructing one of the civilians to take the bottle and fetch him his water. “It was magnificent watching you teach. Perhaps you should consider that career path too,” she added.

  Tithe froze for a moment at the idea and asked “Why is that?”

  The mayor laughed and her aide stepped in to make sure she wasn’t in much pain when she started coughing. “Well…” she began, catching her breath “I think the second lecture you did let everyone realise that you could be at least trusted to a degree. The kingdom wouldn’t send out an awkward child who was so passionate about alchemy to survey for taxes.”

  Tithe was at a loss for words thinking how he must have come across in the lecture. “I…”

  “No need. We all thank you for your help” the mayor assured.

  When the villager came back with the two litres of water Tithe put it into his satchel and thought about it, finally asking “There may be one form of payment that would be quite nice.”

  “Of course, what is it?” the mayor asked again. A hint of concern in her voice that he may have tried to dupe them.

  However, Tithe looked around the village and asked “Could I have a souvenir to remember this place by?”

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