When the meal ended, everyone sat and chatted for a bit. Helene and Celine washed the dishes happily at the washing area.
Water.
Just water.
I was bothered by it. I wasn't used to dishes cleaned by water alone. It was unhygienic. But I couldn't even complain about it.
I stood up and walked over to Benneth, who was talking with Favio and Nalvik.
"Benneth. Mark the areas that need plowing. Where it starts and where it ends."
They looked up at me. Benneth stood and dusted himself off. Favio and Nalvik followed, all three of them now looking out at the vast fields.
"We'll handle it."
They didn't ask why. They just went, taking wooden poles with them and walking out to the farm fields, stabbing poles into the ground one after another to mark the corners of what they once cultivated.
I watched from where I stood. Used search magic, locked onto the poles as reference points, and raised both hands.
I imagined the ground turning itself over. Softening. The ash from last night's fire mixing down into the soil, becoming fertilizer instead of waste.
The earth churned and overturned in a clean, even sweep.
Everyone cheered.
"This is great. We can start planting again. The season's about to change and the timing is perfect. But..."
Benneth's expression shifted.
"What's wrong?"
They had the soil. Sturdy walls. Houses worth living in. Clean water. Everything necessary for right now.
"We don't have seeds. We were supposed to harvest first, then replant. But that happened..." Benneth paused, glancing at me briefly without finishing the sentence. "We don't have any backup seedlings either."
The way he avoided saying it made me furrow my brows.
"Just say it. I burned everything."
"You did. But what you've done for us since then matters more than what came before. I'll try looking for..."
He stopped. Turned around. And went still when he realized his old house was gone, replaced by the new one. Whatever he had stored in it was gone too, buried under where the old walls had stood.
"Why don't we just buy them?"
It was the most direct solution I could think of.
"Buy them?" Benneth looked at me. "This settlement doesn't have a single copper coin between us. And a pouch of seeds alone can run up to ten silvers, depending on the kind."
The celebration that had been in the air a moment ago went quiet. Their faces fell. And something hit me in the chest like a closed fist.
"Stop. Never mind where you usually get them. I'll go and buy them."
I was already about to teleport when Torra launched himself at my arm and clung to it.
"Brother Leigh, I'm coming." He was already giggling.
Then Benneth stepped forward with a look on his face that said he had already decided.
"Take me with you. I have the most stamina here. I can keep up."
I adjusted Torra in my arms. I was still more accustomed to carrying him by the collar, but he had already locked himself around my neck, afraid I would leave without him.
"Who said we were walking?"
I grabbed Benneth by the collar and teleported us straight to the capital of Amlada. Into a dark alley where no one could see us arrive.
I released Benneth. He immediately turned to the side and retched.
"I forgot to tell you to close your eyes. You'll get used to it."
I wrapped Elder Elka's scarf around the lower half of my face. She had handed it to me earlier to wipe off sweat. It served better as a cover.
I took a coin pouch from my item box and tied it to my belt. Torra was already squirming to be put down. I let him go and he ran straight toward the market, eyes wide at everything around him.
Benneth followed behind us, still pale. He would recover. Just takes time.
"Brother Leigh. What's that?"
Torra had stopped in front of a stall and was staring at a candied apple with his mouth slightly open. A thin line of drool at the corner.
I wiped it with the back of my hand and cleaned my hand on the back of his shirt without thinking about it.
"Want one?"
I didn't wait for him to answer and walked to the stall.
"Three."
I tossed a gold coin onto the counter. The owner's eyes went wide and he shook his head.
"I don't have change for this. Three candied apples are only fifteen copper coins."
"Then give me twenty. Keep the rest."
The owner packed them gratefully. I handed one each to Torra and Benneth and kept one for myself, storing the rest in my item box for the others back home.
"This is delicious. It's so sweet." Benneth took a large bite.
Torra went completely silent. Entirely focused on eating.
We sat on a nearby bench. I didn't rush either of them. Something in me wanted them to take their time. To actually taste it without being hurried along.
I took a bite of my own.
The sweetness of the sugar, the sharpness of the apple underneath it. Appetizing in a way I hadn't anticipated.
I hadn't thought I would ever eat something like this with anyone. Something this trivial, this small.
Since arriving at the settlement, I had collected more first times than in both lives combined.
I shook the thought off before it settled too deep and stood when I finished. Benneth followed. And Torra looked...
Sticky. Completely sticky.
I pulled out a cloth, dampened it with water using a quiet thread of magic, and wiped down his hands and mouth until he was clean enough to move again.
"Benneth. Do you know which seeds we need?"
I scooped Torra up by the back of his collar. He was still too sticky for anything else.
As always, he didn't mind. By now he had not only accepted being carried this way but seemed to actively enjoy the swinging.
Benneth looked at how I was holding him.
"Leigh, I can carry Torra. He looks uncomfortable."
Torra immediately flailed.
"No. I like it like this." He crossed his little arms, swinging gently as I walked, completely unbothered.
I led Benneth to the seed and sapling shop. For him, walking through the door was like stepping into a treasury. Rare seeds, saplings, tools they had never had access to, all of it laid out in organized rows.
"Dear customers. How may I help you?"
The owner approached, but his enthusiasm was clearly not genuine. Two dirt-stained adults, one with a covered face, and a child dangling from one's hand. The suspicion was written plainly across his face.
"Seeds. Where are they?"
I set Torra down. He immediately ran toward the first display that caught his eye.
"What kind of seeds are you looking for?" The owner asked flatly.
"Benneth. Check the seeds."
I walked to the far corner of the shop, leaned against the wall, crossed my arms, and closed my eyes.
Benneth moved through the displays, examining each one carefully, pulling out the pouches he wanted and stacking them on the counter. Then a group of new customers walked in, loud and taking up space, and the owner immediately abandoned Benneth and moved to greet them.
One of the escorts, broad-shouldered and walking like he owned the floor, knocked into Benneth without slowing down.
"Move. Dirtbag."
The owner even kicked Benneth to push him away from the counter, steering him aside to make room for the merchant's group.
I opened my eyes.
Benneth walked toward me with a limp. Torra, distracted and moving between displays, accidentally bumped into one of the escort's legs.
"Watch it, kid. You need some disciplining."
The scarred escort reached for Torra.
I moved swiftly and caught his wrist before his hand got there.
"What do you think you're doing?"
The escorts stepped back. Their hands moved toward their weapons.
"Let go of me, you imbecile!"
I tightened my grip and broke his wrist. He screamed and buckled. The other escorts lunged and I looked at them. Just looked. One glance and they froze where they stood, locked in place by a thread of magic I ran through them without a word or a gesture anyone else could see.
"You were about to hurt a child. You already hurt my companion. I don't just watch and do nothing."
The merchant and the shop owner were pale but still standing behind their money like it was a wall.
"I'll pay you. Just don't hurt me." The merchant's voice had gone thin.
"I'm not interested in your money. We came here for seeds."
I walked to the counter and picked up the pouches Benneth had selected.
"How much?"
"Six gold and fourteen silver coins." The owner could barely get the words out.
"Leigh." Benneth stepped beside me. "We don't have that kind of money."
"Doesn't matter."
"You look confident for someone who can't afford it." The merchant's voice had found some of its edge again, bolstered by the number he thought was too large for us. "What exactly am I afraid of you for?"
I looked at him.
People like this were always the same. Wealth as armor. Money as the final word in every room.
In my last life, no one could outbid me during project acquisitions.
And now, with everything I had accumulated across eight years of war, I didn't need an empire behind me anymore.
I untied the pouch on my waist.
And I was about to show him exactly what a man who had more of it than he did looked like when he went shopping.