7 Chapter 7

'Looks like Eins' farm wasn't doing too well...' Evan Young could roughly grab a hint from how forceful is Elise's smile. But it was still impressive for a young lass in her twelve to thirteen years old to maintain her composure.

For a moment here, Elise looks more mature than Elric, who likes to indulge in his own fun.

Of course, it was also wrong for him to judge them from appearance alone since looks can be deceiving. As someone who walked with Eins and Elric back to this Fang-Boar Village, Evan Young knew Elric's strengths prevailed elsewhere.

He would easily assume that this family of four was some third-rated noble household from their mannerism alone. But since he had stayed in their house for a night, Evan could see from where their character developed.

Eins' wife is likely the one contributing to the two children's character growth.

"Big brother Evan, shall we continue?" Elise turned around and gave him a big smile again. It seems that the unhappiness earlier was already wiped off from her mind.

"Of course, sweetheart." Evan Young smiled at her and allowed her to grab his hand again. He was pulled to three other places before they made their way back home.

It seems that Eins' wife was preparing dinner when they're finally returned to the wooden hut. The father and son are nowhere to be seen when he steps into the house.

"Our dinner will be ready soon. The two are at the back cutting firewoods, in case you're looking for the two troublemakers." Eins' wife greets Evan Young the moment he comes in with Elise.

The little lass seems to know her responsibility well. Without being ordered to do something, she went straight to her mother's side and helped her with the dough.

"Then, I'll take a look at the two behind the house." Evan nodded his head slightly and left the house through another door. Although he had no bad intention in mind, it was still improper to not stay inside the house with the wife of someone he knew.

*Creak...*

The squeaky sound from the wood informed his arrival to the father and son pair.

"Young brother Evan, how's your walk around the village today? Did you find anything fun and interesting?" Eins approached Evan with a handshake while leaving the fifteen-year-old boy to chop the firewood.

The crude iron axe in Elric's hand quickly caught Evan Young's attention.

"It was enjoyable. I had fun with Elise taking me around and showing me things." Evan Young shook the father's hand as both of them took a seat on a wooden log nearby.

"Won't the wood be easier to cut if you grind the edge a little more?" Evan Young pointed at the tool in Elric's hand and asked. He was curious as getting a whetstone around here shouldn't be a problem.

"This brat is too inexperience and impatience. If I gave this boy a sharp tool to play right now, he would be taking everything for granted in the future. Letting him have fun with a blunt axe is an excellent way to polish his character." Eins said.

Evan Young feels that what Eins said made sense. While conveniences indeed make things easier, they also help develop bad habits in a person's growth. This might not be that significant from where he came from, but this is necessary to Eins and his family.

"By the way, I heard that you're planting something called Golden Soil Fruit on your farm? How did it turn out?" Evan Young felt he had to do something to repay Eins goodwill. And since planting potato was nothing to him, he decided to give him a hand on what to do.

Well... Not as much since the potatoes here and those back in his world might be different, but it is still worth a bet, nevertheless.

"Not too good. I've tried many ways to make sure they thrive, but the Golden Soil Fruit are either died in between their growing phase or turned out to be rotten."

"Still, how come you know about it? Did Elise tell you that we're growing them on our farm?" Eins answered. He sounded like a senior pouring something out from his mind but calmed himself quickly after doing so.

There was a hint of a mature male unwilling to let others see the difficulty he was facing. As the leader of this household, Eins was anticipated to stand firm and become the pillar that holds everyone together.

"Well, we've gone to the Swindon's to take a look on the Fang-Boar, so we ended up seeing them digging the Golden Soil Fruit out from the soil." Evan Young explained. At the same time, he's making it clear that this wasn't young Elise's fault.

"Also, I wish to repay you for the kindness you've shown me for the last two days. If you don't mind, please let me have a look at your farm, and I might have a way to help you grow these Golden Soil Fruit," said Evan Young.

"Are... Are you sure, young brother?" Eins had a hint of disbelief on his face after hearing what Evan Young said. But for an unknown reason, he felt that it was worth a bet.

"Yes. I've managed to take a quick look at Swindon's Golden Soil Fruit, and I think I can help. Or else, I won't be suggesting something I am not confident." Evan Young continued.

"Alright. If in that case, let's go to the farm tomorrow, and we'll see what we can do." Eins nodded as he turned his attention to Elric. It seems that the youngster was also done with chopping the firewood.

"It's dinner, everyone." Eins' wife called after opening a small gap from the window overlooking the back of their house.

The pair of father and son swiftly returned to the house with their guest. All five of them then sat together around the table as they enjoyed the hearty meal. It was similar to the gruel they had during the morning. Still, for dinner, there were more ingredients added inside to make it more fulfilling.

"Young brother Evan, I hope you don't mind that we can only serve you simple food like this." Eins had a hint of embarrassment shown on his face while he spoke.

"It was great. But if you don't mind, may I propose to add something to make the gruel taste better?" Evan Young responded to Eins.

Turning himself around, he reached out to the Holdall belt and took a pouch of yellow granules out.