Farmhands

Infiltration into a small village was quite easy, the men past themselves off as tourists from the capital bribed some officials if necessary. What also helped was the fact that a majority of the men in the village left to fight in the war, leaving behind the elderly, children, pregnant women and slackers who didn't want to fight.

"Tomorrow we'll start an investigation on the mines." Gin said "Do y'all know your missions?"

"For me, it's learning the schedules of the guards." Ideo answered

"And I'm on standby." Dan followed

"Good, we'll start in the morning." Gin ordered "Get some rest."

The morning came slowly, bringing with it the daily work of the villagers.

"Morning, sir." Ideo greeted "Me and my brothers are new here and I was wondering if we can help with anything."

The group of older women started talking amongst themselves and after a few minutes one of them replied.

"We'd love some help in the fields, we're a little behind schedule." she explained "Follow me."

She walked towards the back of the village with Ideo and Dan in tow while Gin walked stayed with the group of women.

"We really needed the help, most of the stronger men left to fight in the war." She explained " Talk to that woman over there and she'll tell you what to do."

Throughout the field, the majority of the workers were woman and the age gap was equally as massive, around 50 years or so.

"Tika, I have some help for you." She shouted

The girl she shouted lifted her head out of the wheat and started running towards us, the most striking thing about her was her height.

"Aunty, thank you." Tika said gleefully "some of the others needed a break."

"That's alright, these boys can work hard, right?" The old woman asked giggling

They told her their names and shook her hand and there they changed their opinion on her.

"That's a strong grip for a little girl." Dan said

"I'm not a little girl, I'm 20 and I work just as hard as the other men." she said angrily

Her high-pitched voice didn't go well with her angry demeanor, causing Dan to almost laugh but Ideo didn't have that such reservations. Ideo's laughter drew the attention of every other person working in the field which caused her face to redden with embarrassment.

"I know what I want both of you to do." she said with a small smile on her face "follow me."

She started walking behind the rows of crops, pointing out how and what were placed in each bed.

"There are 6 plots with ten beds that are 25 meters each." She explained "The plots are lettered A to F with the first three designated for faster going fruits and vegetables and the rest for crops that take some time."

Her explanation of the system was quite telling of her skill but if she hadn't gotten so embarrassed earlier she would have gotten more respect.

"Umm, Tika, we're passing the plots." Ideo pointed out "Where are we going?

She said nothing and just kept walking and humming a cute little smile. As cute as it was they knew nothing good would come out of it.

"Here we are." She said "This is where I need you both."

She presented a fairly long stone building, the walls were cracked from age probably from years of use, the roof was made of straw and it smelled horrible.

"Go in and look around." she said cheerfully

The closer they got to the wooden door, the stronger the smell got and they started to realize what the building was used for.

"Is this for animals?" Dan asked holding his breath

"Yes." she replied

"And this is where we'll be working?"

"Yes, How'd you know?" she replied with the smuggest of smiles "I just need you to shovel the manure, feed the animals and wash them down if necessary."

She said her piece and left without letting them get a word out, probably satisfied with herself. At the same time, Gin was making his way towards the mines to start his investigation of its exterior and the surrounding area.