A very normal feature

Standing on the wall and looking at wide empty plains. This had been the norm for a week or so now. In his free time, he would wander around the streets, apparently, he couldn't leave the city without proper authentication.

Sigh.

But as a very normal guard, this was supposedly his job now.

Flying a circle around Jeffrey, a white crow landed on his shoulder.

It was a bit smaller than an adult Night Crow, but its feathers were still white. Eyeing Lily, Jeffrey started to doubt the heritage of this bird.

As the sun reached its peak, footsteps echoed on the parapets. It was time to change shifts. Turning around he saw a sullen summoner. Looks like she still hadn't got over her punishment from last time.

As Jeffrey attempted to walk past, he failed to stop her from initiating a conversation.

"Hey, hey, did 'ya hear. Apparently, the Capital got themselves a hero. They're parading him as a star smitten summon from another world. Though, he can't be as good as the last Moonshine Brave, Geoff,"

"Who's Geoff?" What a coincidence, this also happened to be his father's name. Though this was probably someone else, Geoff was a common name after all. Plus, his father didn't say anything about being a Brave, so it definitely, without a doubt, couldn't be him.

"Wait a moment! You don't know Geoff the Forlorn!?" It was a mistake to ask that question. Marriel was hyped, her previous glumness washed away and it seemed he might be stuck here for quite a while if he couldn't think of an escape.

"Alright, I have an announcement to make for Jeffrey and Hayley's teams, come over!" Someone called the attention of the two teams, as they looked over at the announcer. Surprisingly it was Karl Koreen who had made this announcement. Inadvertently saving Jeffrey, Marriel could only shut up and listen to what Karl had to say.

As the two teams assembled Karl filled them in.

"Okay, so tomorrow, both of your teams will be culling beasts near the eastern towns,

"My and Adalyn's teams will be accompanying you, so meet at the eastern gate at sunrise and we'll set off,

"Any questions?"

Marriel raised her hand,

"Yeah, I have one, can I ask what we'll be doing?"

Karl did not bother with this question,

"No questions? Alright, I'll see y'all tomorrow then,"

Marriel was left with a stiff smile on her face. She seemed quite hurt on the inside. It was quite rude of Karl to ignore her. But thinking deeper, she asked a rather stupid question.

It seemed that tomorrow would be quite a big day. This was the first time Jeffrey would get to leave the city since joining the guards.

…

"Are you sure we should be culling beasts at this time?"

"We have no choice, the beasts are growing especially rowdy and if we don't do nothin' then some villages may have new residents, not to mention what the cause might be,"

A guard spoke grimly, his three stars denoting him as a captain, one below guard commander at four stars, which was the highest rank a guard could achieve.

The reason for such hesitance was due to some surveyor teams going missing. They were all trained scouts and would've been able to flee had they had a run in with beasts. However, this was not a one off trend, it seemed as if the beasts in the area were all becoming highly aggressive, with more demonic beast sightings.

This made it all the more necessary to send out more forces to cull beasts, should anything untoward be happening. As well as to prevent an event whereby the beast population spirals beyond their control.

Some rangers in the area had reported monster movement as well. The lizard men seemed to be stocking up and arming themselves. The reports of elevated elven activity didn't make things any better.

"Anyway, tomorrow when you set off, as a subsidiary mission, try ta' investigate about the missing surveyors in the area, will ya'?"

"Well, you don't leave me with a choice do you,

"Reginald,"

…

Packing up his stuff, he tied his scythe and shovel onto the outside of his rucksack. It was very cumbersome and awkward,

"Why are you even bring that?" Bryoni definitely didn't see any practicality in doing that. "Just leave it here alright?"

"No,"

"So you're tellin' me, that you're gonna bring a gods damned scythe on a camping mission?"

"Why aren't you?"

This sudden jab took Bryoni by surprise. Who knew this guy could bite back?

"..."

"Jeff, I don't think you understand the practicality of gods damned farming tools," annoyance was dripping off all his words, "Just pick up a damn sword man! Plus, what're you gonna do when we gotta run through the forest, and you get stuck on some gods damned tree branch?"

"I won't get stuck on a tree branch,"

The two entered a round of bickering. Though it was mainly just Bryoni putting up arguments, and Jeffrey… well, he was trying to retort. But he was at least successful in annoying the hell out of Bryoni.

"If there really is a problem, aren't your tools foldable or somethin'" Butting in, Marius said something utterly preposterous. Tools being foldable? That was ridiculous. Why would they be foldable?

"I know that my tools, do not fold,"

"Then what are those?" Marius points to the middle of the scythe as well as one on the part where the blade attaches to the shaft.

What was he pointing to? Surprisingly, at those locations there hinges which were locked in place, keeping the scythe outstretched, if they were unlocked it would bend, allowing the scythe to fold…

Jeffrey was stunned to silence. Why didn't he know his scythe was foldable!? In fact, better question. Why was his scythe foldable!?

"Why is it foldable?!"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Didn't you just say you know your tools?!"

The three were all utterly confused.

It was only after a minute of disbelief that they calmed down.

"Okay, so the problem's solved, Jeffrey you can bring your tools along alright?"

"Wait wait, I still don't think it's practical or at all necessary to bring farming tools along with us."

"Well, its ultimately Jeffrey's choice,"

Marius looked to Jeffrey who was trying to figure out the folding mechanism on his tools.

He had always thought that he knew everything there was to know about his tools, yet, there was such a glaring feature that he somehow missed.

What else did he fail to notice?