Chapter 70 Who planted the Oats?
The thing Adler was showing her was a long big grain, the color of gold. She sent a picture to the underworld forum and it was identified as oats.
"Oats!!" she gasped and took the grain from his hand. This was food, and it was mature for harvesting. This would relieve the worry she was carrying around about running out of corn and wheat porridge before the newly planted crops could mature for harvesting.
Even though she was excited, reality quickly put a damper on that excitement because one, she did not know what quantity was available and two, even if she did she had never harvested or processed oats before.
She put the buddha statue down on the table gently and laid down some incense sticks which were not lit next to it.
"Brother, I want you to take me where you found this grain right now. Tell me everything that you know like? how much it is in quantity and are the grains all big like this also, who planted them or which part of the blue forest they are growing in" First she would see the quantity then she would think about the next steps.
Adler led the way and he told her, "If anybody asks, tell them your teacher planted it."
"My teacher." she replied in a confused voice.
That was impossible because she had made up the story of the teacher, unless....
"Are you talking about the mysterious old powerful man that died. The one you and father told me to acknowledge as my teacher if anybody asks?"
Adler nodded. "We found about four large fields of this stuff behind his house. We wanted to tell you but other things kept coming up and we forgot all about it." He stopped walking and held her shoulder suddenly.
She looked at him in confusion, "What is it?" she asked. "Why did you stop walking."
He had a pained look in his eyes when he answered her. "Last night," he said and he stopped talking, looking down at this feet and then he looked at her again.
"Last night what?" she asked him.? Did this have to do with Esong? she wondered.
"Something happened to you last night , you screamed and we found you in bed with blood on your mouth. You were pale Scarlet, your temperature was high and you were completely unconscious. I had no idea that you had gone hunting for that mutated beast which almost killed someone on your own. Why did you do such a thing on your own? You can't be making careless mistakes with your life Scarlet, you have to think about Justin.
About our parents, they feel guilty as it is for not knowing that you used to be ill. Heck, feel sorry for me, I raised you fifty percent of the time when our parents were busy or away.? In a way I am like a second father to you and I worry about you a lot.
I do not need you to hunt for beasts to feed the family, I can do that.? Beord, Carolyn our father and even our mother when she is not pregnant. She is the best hunter in the family.? I know that you used to go into the forest alone with your teacher but your teacher is no longer here."
While he was explaining, Scarlet just reached her arms out and she hugged him.
The hug quickly shut Adler up and his shoulders which had been clenched tightly loosened up.
"Thank you for worrying about me." she said.
"I can't help it." Adler replied in an emotional voice.
The last time she hugged him like this she was only seven years old, before she started changing and becoming someone else completely. Adler tightened the hug as his mind pictured her as that little girl.
"I am not weak brother, my mental strength has recovered all the way to E level. I have to keep training for it to grow further, that's what my teacher said."
In shock about her revelation, he placed his hand on her head and tried to scan her mind the way Esong had done in the kitchen back then.
"This is amazing." he said, "You are not going to listen to me, are you?" he asked her when he was finished scanning.
"No," she replied instantly.
"Can you at least tell me so that I can go along with you and protect you?" he asked.
"No." she answered. "I will hire a personal guard from the former mecha warriors that are arriving tomorrow. In fact I will hire two guards if that will make you comfortable. I need you helping me to run this planet not following me around."
Adler sighed and he ruffled her hair.
"Don't disorganize my hair." she complained childishly.
Scarlet had forgotten that was the same way she treated Fey each time she saw her.
Adler let her go and they walked hand in hand to the fields where the oats had been planted. As they were leaving, neither one of them noticed Esong that was standing under a thorn tree with Markay a distance away.
He had been looking at the hugging siblings with an unreadable look on his face. The black pupils of his eyes had become even darker than usual.
"Your eyes do that when you are about to head into a battle." Markay that had been observing Esong commented and when he got no answer, he said, "Isn't it nice when siblings get along? The Su's are so carefree and loving, there is no competition or secret plotting over power or wealth. I wonder what it would be like to grow up in such a family."
Esong snorted and said, "It's inappropriate for a woman from a noble family to be caught expressing enthusiastic affection in public."
"They are siblings, who cares?" Markey answered with the dismissive wave of a hand.
In his opinion Esong was being unnecessarily uptight. What was wrong with a brother hugging a sister?
Esong snorted and stormed off like a man heading into battle to confront an unknown enemy.
"What is wrong with him?" Markay asked himself. "He has been grumpy since morning." His eyes followed Esong all the way to the punching bags tied on the branches of the thorn trees where a line of soldiers under training were waiting for their turns to show off their skills.
"Oh those poor untrained and unsuspecting soldiers." Markay sighed. In that mood, whoever Esong picked to train was dead meat.