Chapter 14: Getting the Job

"You really want to do that?" Eveline looked at the sign before looking at Caelan.

"Why not?" he asked.

There was a certain uneasiness in her eyes that Caelan easily noticed. She seemed bothered by the fact that they were going to work.

"I don’t know how to do farm work..." The tone of her voice had gotten lower. She placed both of her hands behind her back and stood there awkwardly.

Caelan looked at her for a moment before letting out a small chuckle.

"Neither do I." His answer seemed to surprise her. ℴℴ𝘮

"But you’re the one who suggested it." She exclaimed, her voice returning to its usual high-pitched tone.

"I never said I knew how to do it. But we can always learn." Just as he said those words, Caelan took a step forward and entered the produce shop. Eveline followed behind him, though she still looked a little uneasy.

Caelan approached the person who looked like the owner, and when he did, the guy immediately became excited.

"Hello there! Are you here to work?" The guy spoke before Caelan could even.

"Yes."

"You too?" He turned to Eveline when he asked that.

Eveline shyly nodded her head as an answer.

After getting their answer, the old man behind the counter almost jumped from his seat.

"That’s great! I really need people right now!" He quickly started explaining the work before Caelan and Eveline could even introduce themselves.

They needed workers to gather vegetables and fruits from their farmland so they could transport them back to the shop and sell them.

The usual workers they had were already busy, and with the recent problems happening around the kingdom, finding people willing to work outside the town had become difficult.

"We’ve been waiting for someone to take this job for days." The owner looked relieved.

"I can pay you at the end of the day. If you work hard, I’ll make sure you get a fair amount. We also have our own carriage for your transportation."

That sounded good enough to Caelan.

"We’ll do it."

"Excellent!"

The owner immediately led them outside. And just like what he said, there was a small carriage waiting behind the shop.

It wasn’t anything fancy. It was just a simple wooden carriage with enough space for a few people and several baskets of produce.

"Get in. The farmland isn’t too far from here." The owner climbed onto the front and took hold of the reins. It seemed like he’d personally drive them there.

Caelan and Eveline sat at the back of the carriage.

As soon as the carriage started moving, Caelan felt the wheels shaking against the uneven road. He held onto the side of the seat while Eveline looked around.

It was his first time riding one, and he didn’t know what to feel. Honestly, he felt like puking with how uneven the terrain was.

"Is it always this bumpy?" Caelan asked as the carriage suddenly jumped over another uneven part of the road.

"You’ve never ridden a carriage before?" Eveline looked at him with a confused expression.

"No."

"Oh..." She blinked for a moment before looking forward again. "I thought you would have."

"Why?"

"I don’t know. I just assumed you had.

"This is worse than I expected." Caelan sighed as he held onto the side of the carriage even tighter.

"You’ll get used to it." Eveline couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. She was sitting comfortably as if the constant shaking didn’t bother her at all.

The town slowly disappeared behind them. Soon after, the buildings became fewer and fewer until all they could see were open fields and trees.

"This place is quite peaceful," Caelan muttered.

"It is." Eveline nodded beside him. But despite her calm answer, she didn’t seem completely comfortable.

She started glancing outside, seeing greenery all around. The sight caused her expression to change. Her lips became straight while her eyes looked outside. She looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn’t.

After around an hour, the carriage finally stopped.

"We’re here!" the owner loudly called out.

Caelan stepped down from the carriage and helped Eveline down as well. When she was safely on the ground, he finally looked around.

The farmland was much larger than he expected.

Rows of vegetables stretched across the open fields, with some areas filled with fruit trees. The place was far away from the town, with nothing but fields, trees, and a few dirt paths connecting everything together.

On one side of the farmland, there were several small wooden huts. Caelan looked at them for a moment.

The huts looked simple, with only enough space for a few people to rest inside. They were surrounded by trees, making the area feel even more isolated from the town.

Caelan looked around again. There wasn’t another building in sight.

"Wow. This place is really far from town."

"Yeah." Caelan scratched his head. He could understand why the owner was having trouble finding workers.

During the day, the farmland probably looked peaceful. But at night... the thought of being here after dark made him feel a little uneasy.

With all these trees and the small huts sitting in the middle of nowhere, the place would probably look pretty creepy at night.

"Maybe that’s why no one wants to take the job," Caelan muttered before he turned away from the trees and looked at the owner.

"Where do we start?"

The owner pointed toward the fields.

"You’ll start with the vegetables. Just gather what’s ready and put them into the baskets. Once they’re full, bring them to that hut where a huge basket is. Empty your own baskets and just do it all over again."

"Alright," Caelan nodded. "Got it."

He looked at Eveline to see if she got it too, but he saw that she was just staring at the fields. There was that same uneasy expression on her face again.

Caelan noticed it but decided not to say anything. Instead, he picked up one of the empty baskets and gave one to Eveline.

"Come on, Eveline." Eveline looked at him before giving a small nod.

"Okay..." she muttered, but her voice came out a little low.

When Caelan heard it, he lightly tapped her back and gave her a small smile.

"I know you can do it"

"..."

However, before they could start, the owner momentarily stopped them for a moment.

"Lemme introduce you to the others first."