Chapter 10 Chapter 7 Anya

The overseer was floating on the edge of the field, his eyes watching the dozen or so serf mages who flew past the crops like dim butterflies.They shuttled back and forth among the rows of pea bushes, their unpretentious brown robes contrasted sharply with the green pea bushes.They stoop and reach out to wilt weeds in fields, empower stunted crops to regrow, or gently remove pests before sending them away. The supervisor nodded in satisfaction, and turned his gaze to another field.Another group of mages was shambling across the freshly turned fields.The field had just been harvested last week, and the mages were picking up the ears of wheat left in the field after harvesting.The mages will use magic to tidy up the soil after the fields fall fallow, and the soil will form rows of mounds with the gestures of the mages, ready for the next season of cultivation.

Everything went very well.In fact, the supervisor would be very surprised if anything unexpected happened.Warren was a small pioneer farm, which, like most farms elsewhere, was part of the Nordshire barony.Compared with other pioneer farms, Valen is a relatively new farm with a history of only about a hundred years.At that time, the two factions of the Sihana tribe summoned a violent storm to the legislators. The flames caused by the storm quickly burned the entire land, leaving enough open space and dead wood for the construction of new homes.The baron seized the opportunity and immediately assigned a hundred serf mages to move here from the border to prepare the land and start farming.Valen is remote, far from the city, and far from other pioneer farms. Most of the serf mages working here were born here, and there is no doubt that they will die here.Unlike what the Overseer had heard elsewhere, no one in Valen complained about the status quo or talked about rebellion.

The supervisor noticed a movement in the distance, a serf mage was struggling to walk through the pea field, the supervisor immediately put on a serious expression. In the Pioneer Farm, the workload of the catalyst saints was no easier than that of the serf mages.Since mages have the ability to store life force in the body for emergencies, in order to avoid this, catalyst saints can only transfer the life force that serf mages can efficiently complete their work.Serf mages are always dissatisfied with the status quo and restless, and it is generally believed that the best way to control them is to keep serf mages in a weak and lifeless state.Therefore, the saints in the village are forced to follow the work pace of the serf mages and replenish the life force they need from time to time. Low, or other Catalyst Saints who violated the sect's rules.

While the Catalyst saint was walking in the field wearing muddy shoes representing the Word of Life, a serf mage landed on the ground, no longer floating in the air and rising.Seeing her raising her hand to the sky, the Catalyst saint immediately gave the overseer a thumbs up at the exhausted mage, and the overseer noticed. "Tell everyone to rest." The catalyst saint muttered, and suddenly sat down on the floor.He took off his muddy shoes and massaged his feet, and from time to time looked at the overseer's bare feet with envy and resentment.The overseer's feet were sun-tanned but smooth and delicate, and his toes, like those of other wind-walking mages, were neatly spaced and straight.

"Rest!" shouted the overseer.Hearing the words, the serf mages descended from the sky like dying moths, and lay down in the shadows among the pea bushes. Some of them floated in the air on the air current, with their backs facing the dazzling sun and their eyes closed. "That's great, what's going on now?" the supervisor whispered, his attention was attracted by a figure walking towards the farm from a forest path in the distance.Disappointed to find himself with a blister, the Catalyst saint raised his head wearily, following the overseer's gaze into the distance.

The figure walking over gradually became clear, it was a woman.Clearly a nobleman from her attire, yet she walks on the ground, indicating that she has exhausted almost all of her life force.The woman was carrying something, perhaps some clothes, the overseer concluded after careful observation.Since mages seldom carry anything in their own strength, the woman's behavior shows the frailty of her life force. The color of the women's clothes was not the drab beige of the peasants, but a strange emerald green.Otherwise, the overseer might have thought the woman was just a serf mage. "It turned out to be a noble lady." The catalyst saint muttered to himself, and he quickly put his shoes back on.

"Yeah." The supervisor frowned and muttered.This is so counterintuitive.The overseer hates anything that goes against common sense, because all abnormal things almost represent trouble. The woman was getting closer and closer to them, so close that she could already hear their conversation.She raised her head to look directly at the supervisor and the catalyst saints, and stopped suddenly.The overseer saw the woman's tanned face mixed with arrogance and pride, and then after exhausting all her strength, she slowly rose from the ground and floated slowly towards them in a very civilized manner.The overseer at the side caught a glimpse of the Catalyst Saint's eyebrows raised as the woman lifted into the air, floating unsteadily across the fields, and stopped in front of the two of them.Then the woman landed softly on the ground, watching them proudly, casually pretending that she wasn't too weak to do so, but she chose to.

"Ma'am," said the overseer.He nodded and bowed, but did not take off his hat according to the courtesy.The woman stood in front of the overseer, and he looked closely at the dress on her body. Although the clothes made of fine fabrics looked expensive, they were in tatters; One piece was broken, and her bare feet were covered in cuts and blood. "Excuse me, are you lost, or do you need any help..." the catalyst saint stammered.He was puzzled by the woman's scruffy appearance and the rough and rebellious expression on her dirty face. "Neither." The woman replied in a low and stern voice, her eyes wandering between the two, she raised her chin. "I'm here looking for a job."

The catalyst saint opened his mouth to refuse, but the supervisor interrupted him with a cough.He gestured slightly, pointing to the bundle on the woman's back.The Catalyst saint followed the overseer's fingers and swallowed what he wanted to say.As soon as the burden moved, a pair of brown-black eyes appeared on the woman's shoulders, staring directly at the catalyst saint. a baby. The Catalyst Saint exchanged glances with the Overseer for a moment. "Ma'am, where are you from?" the supervisor asked as the matter was under his authority. The catalyst saint on the side suddenly interjected: "Also, where is the baby's father?" The catalyst saint asked in a stern tone befitting his clergyman status.

Women don't seem to be intimidated by having these two problems.She pursed her lips and sneered, deliberately ignoring the catalyst saint's question, and answered the supervisor: "I come from afar." She pointed her chin at Merilon. "As for the baby's father, my husband—" the woman said emphatically. "He has passed away, he was exiled to the realm of the afterlife because of his rebellion against the emperor." The two exchanged glances again.They all knew that the woman was lying, and no one had been banished to the realm of the afterlife this year, but the strange and wild eyes of the woman made them dare not question it.

"How?" she said suddenly, straightening up and changing the position of the swaddled baby. "Is there any work for me?" "Madam, may I ask if you have sought assistance from the church?" the catalyst saint asked. "I am sure--" To the catalyst saint's astonishment, the woman spat at his feet. "My baby and I would rather—even—starve to death, and never accept any food from people like you." She gave the catalyst saint a stern look, then turned her head and said to the supervisor: " Do you still need manpower for your pioneer farm? I'm strong, and I will work hard." The woman asked in a low and hoarse voice. The overseer cleared his throat uneasily, and he saw the baby in the swaddle staring at him with those big black eyes.What should he do?An aristocratic lady has come to Pioneer Farm looking for work, which has never happened before! Although he did not expect any assistance from the Catalyst Saints, the overseer still glanced at him.According to regulations, the overseer, who is the master of many serf mages, is in charge of all the affairs of the farm, so the church may question whether his decision is appropriate or not, but will not question whether he has exceeded his authority, but the current situation really makes the overseer Dilemma.He didn't like this woman at all, and when the overseer looked at the woman and the baby, he immediately felt a sense of disgust.At its best, this was probably just a case of an illegal marriage, and the Overseer knew there were some shameless Catalyst Saints who would illegally fertilize anyone if they could afford it.But if viewed from the worst point of view, it may also be the result of passionate men and women who have violated morality and joined the body; or maybe the baby is a living dead. More willing to send a woman and her child away from Varen. But he also knew that doing so would undoubtedly send the mother and son to a dead end. Seeing that the supervisor was hesitating, the Catalyst Saints frowned, walked through the mud with difficulty, and came under the supervisor.He gestured petulantly to the overseer, asking him to drop off his head, to which the Catalyst Saint muttered, "I can't believe you're thinking of saying yes! She's clearly a...uh...you know It's..." He blushed, and found that the supervisor was looking at him sideways, and hurriedly continued: "Tell her to go away. Otherwise, a better way to deal with it is to immediately notify the law enforcement officer to come over—" The overseer scowled. "I don't need a law enforcement officer to remind me how to manage my farm. Also, what do you want me to do with this? Send them to the land of the dead? This is the only pioneer farm near the river, can it be you Want to wake up in the middle of the night and worry about what happened to them outside?" He turned his gaze back to the woman.She is very young, maybe less than twenty years old, maybe she was a very beautiful woman before, but anger and hatred have been deeply painted on her face, her figure is too thin, and the clothes on her body seem to be hanging Hangers are floating. The mean expression on the catalyst saint's face showed one thing, even if he could not sleep for a few days, he would try to drive this woman away.The overseer finally made a decision. "Okay, ma'am." The supervisor said reluctantly, pretending to ignore the expressions of extreme shock and disapproval on the faces of the catalyst saints. "Perhaps I can hire more men. We'll give you a lodging house at the baron's expense, a private land at your disposal, and a portion of the harvest; work begins in the fields at sunrise and ends after sunset. Go home from work, rest at noon, Mam will help take care of the baby—" "I will take care of my baby myself." The woman replied coldly, pulling up the cloth belt that bound the swaddle on her back. "I'll work behind his back so my hands are free to do things." The overseer shook his head. "I want you to work as much a day as anyone else—" "I will," interjected the woman, straightening up. "I start working now?" The supervisor looked at the woman's tired and pale face, and shied away uneasily. "No." He said stiffly. "Go and get yourself and the baby ready first. There's an empty hut next to the tree as far as the end goes. But at least go to Mam first. She'll get you some food—" "I don't accept charity." The woman walked away. "By the way, what's your name?" the supervisor asked. The woman stopped, turned her head and replied, "Anya." "What's the baby's name?" "Joran." "Has he passed the test ceremony and received blessings according to the church's regulations?" The catalyst saint asked solemnly. He was determined to use this to regain his lost dignity, but the move was in vain.The woman turned, finally facing the Catalyst Saint directly, her eyes twinkling strangely, mockingly, wildly.Under the gaze of the woman, the Catalyst Saint couldn't help taking a step back. "Oh, of course." Anya whispered. "I assure you, he passed the test ceremony and received the church's blessing!" Then she let out a bloodcurdlingly high-pitched laugh, and the Catalyst saint immediately smugly showed off his insight to the overseer.If it weren't for the expression of the catalyst saint, perhaps the supervisor would have canceled the decision he had just made, and immediately sent the mother and child on the road.He also sensed a hint of madness in Anya's laughter, but even so, he didn't want to retreat under such circumstances, especially in front of this cowardly-eyed, bald catalyst saint.The Catalyst Saint has been a nuisance since he arrived in Valencia last month. "What are you looking at?" The serf mages were watching the excitement, eager to find something to pass the boring daily life, and the supervisor yelled at them: "The rest time is over, go back to work. Father Torben, Give them the power of life." He said to the catalyst saint, who snorted disdainfully, and began to chant the spell with a complacent expression. Anya grinned triumphantly at the overseer, as if they had just shared a joke that only the two of them could understand, and she turned and staggered towards the dilapidated log cabin far from the farm, her green gown trailing in the dust and thorny vines catching The hem of the skirt, the bushes blocked Anya's way. In the days to come, the overseer will become more and more familiar with this gown.Six years later, Anya is still wearing the remnants of her robes.