The school day had ended, and Sancaka and Gatot were about to head home. But just as they stepped out of the field, they were suddenly blocked by a group of farmers.
The men stood before them with angry expressions, wearing conical straw hats. Some of them carried hoes over their shoulders.
"That's the boy who stepped all over our crops!" one farmer shouted, pointing at Sancaka and Gatot.
"Yes, those two boys ruined our harvest. I saw them trampling through the field this morning!" another added.
Sancaka and Gatot froze in confusion and panic. They stood silently, forced to listen to the farmers' angry accusations.
Fortunately, the sword instructor happened to pass by. He stepped in quickly, pleading with the farmers not to escalate the matter and asking them to forgive his students' mistake. Because of the incident, the boys' return home was delayed.
In Sancaka's family, he was the eldest of two siblings. Sancaka was the older brother, and Nana was the youngest. Both of them were still in school. Their father and mother lived together harmoniously.
That afternoon, Sancaka's mother returned home carrying harvest produce along with other villagers. Inside her sacks were chilies, turmeric, and ginger—ingredients that would later become cooking spices.
The fields of Wanasura Village produced a wide variety of spices. These harvests were sold to nearby towns to support the village's economy. Sancaka's mother's field yielded chilies, ginger, turmeric, and galangal. She often set aside some of the produce to bring home.
In front of the house stood a young girl waiting outside. Nana stood absentmindedly, waiting for her mother and brother to return. When she saw her mother approaching, she ran forward.
"Finally, you're home, Mother!" Nana said, hugging her tightly.
"Why are you standing outside?" asked Sari, gently stroking her daughter's head.
"Nana was scared the house would be empty, so I waited outside."
Her mother looked around for Sancaka. "Where is your brother? Why isn't anyone inside?"
"He hasn't come home from school yet," Nana replied.
Not far from where they stood, two figures were walking toward them. Nana ran to greet her brother. Gatot was still beside him after school. Nana looked at Gatot suspiciously, assuming he was the reason her brother was late.
"It's because of Brother Gatot that my brother came home late," Nana said while hugging Sancaka.
Sancaka noticed Gatot's eyebrows rise. As usual, Gatot took teasing far too seriously.
"Why am I the one being blamed? It was your brother's idea to run through the rice fields!" Gatot protested.
The two began arguing, with Sancaka stuck in the middle. Their mother simply smiled at the children's playful quarrel before heading inside to prepare lunch.
Right then, two other friends arrived—Abas and a girl named Tara. They were also close friends of Sancaka, though they attended a different school.
"You should have told us you were going home first," Tara said. "We were waiting for you at your school."
"Sorry, friends. We left early because the farmers scolded us," Sancaka said with a grin, as if he had done nothing wrong. "They even dragged us back to the field."
"The farmers were angry? What did you do to make them mad?" Abas asked.
"It was because of Sancaka. He stepped all over the rice field," Gatot said. "He challenged me to a race…"
"Brother Sancaka is kind!" Nana interrupted. "If anyone's wrong, it must be Brother Gatot."
Nana and Gatot started arguing again.
"Gatot still takes jokes too seriously," Tara said with a laugh.
Sancaka tried to mediate the quarrel, while Abas and Tara simply stood there, laughing at the antics of the three of them.