Chapter 63: Getting Too Good

"I've been making a list of the things they don't teach you at school. They don't teach you how to love somebody. They don't teach you how to be famous. They don't teach you how to be rich or how to be poor. They don't teach you how to walk away from someone you don't love any longer. They don't teach you how to know what's going on in someone else's mind. They don't teach you what to say to someone who's dying. They don't teach you anything worth knowing." —Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones

"The Seven Social Sins are:

Wealth without work.

Pleasure without conscience.

Knowledge without character.

Commerce without morality.

Science without humanity.

Worship without sacrifice.

Politics without principle." —From a sermon given by Frederick Lewis Donaldson in Westminster Abbey, London, on March 20, 1925.

"Keep your best wishes, close to your heart and watch what happens." —Tony DeLiso, Legacy: The Power Within

***

"Come on, Xenia! You gotta pull it harder to pluck the plant's roots!"

Outside in the daring sun of the windy spring, Xenia, Crowley, and Lui were pulling overgrown grasses in the field where they will be planting their wheat. After cultivating the land, they will proceed to grow their seeds which will become wheat they will harvest when the time comes.

Trickling sweats washed their faces and their bodies as they continued working under the searing and chill weather. If only it would become cloudy so that they do not need to deal with the hot weather of the day.

"Well, well, you're doing good now that you've got the hang of it, Xenia!" Praised Lui, wiping off her bullet sweats dripping on her face with her dress's sleeve.

"By twisting the grass and wrapping it around my fingers, it's much easier to pull it out of its roots."

Having more hands to work on the field was great, it made their job easier but the field was too wide and spacious, stretching as far as around 100 square meters. However, not only the three of them were working on the field, but the villagers share the field with themselves. What they will be doing after cultivating the land would be naming their areas to avoid confusion, which will result in an argument.

"It is great that your parents own 20 percent of the land. That means your family gets to use 20 meters square of land. You can plant whatever you want since the land is so rich."

The reason for Mr. Lagman's absence in the field was that he needed to fish for their meals today. All of them work in order for everybody to have food on their table and have something to eat.

"We've always told Dad that but he would always tell us that we should not waste our time on growing vegetables on a rich land when such sufficient vegetables are easy to grow."

"Indeed. You can grow eggplants, tomatoes, and other vegetables in your backyard. And they are not seasonal vegetables, which means they bear harvest each time of the year!"

"Were you a farmer before you arrived here, Xenia?" Crowley curiously asked. "You seem to know a lot about things."

Even Lui was eager to know that she stopped pulling grasses out of their roots, glancing in Xenia's direction with curiosity.

Upon shaking his head, Xenia answered: "Nope, but we have a little garden where we grew different plants. Dad was a fisherman just like Mr. Lagman."

"Oh, then we really don't have that much difference from each other!"

As soon as Xenia was reminded that he does not deserve to smile or be happy, the joyous expression on his face would instantly disappear. Then, his next approach would be changing the subject so as to divert their mind from thinking that his feelings had gone sour or anything.

***

After a day of focusing on removing the overgrown grass by first cutting it in the middle and then pulling the root out of the soil, Xenia and the siblings finished their jobs.

"Next is plowing the soil for it to cultivate wheat, which we will gather in the next harvest!"

A horse and a plowing tool being pulled by the animal helped them easily do the job. If they were to do it the hard way, it would take them quite a lot of time.

"We should get moving, then if we want to finish early."

And so they did. They worked together while their parents worked another job. Mr. Lagman is a fisherman whilst Mrs. Lagman is a tailor, crafting wool, linen, and silk-made clothes and other tailoring-related work.

"Puwah! Huhu! We are finally done! Our only remaining job is to plant the wheat seeds and let them grow to the golden field of swaying wheat!"

It was a long and tiring day but at the end of their exhausting work, the three of them finally could rest a bit. They were done with everything. They first started by clearing the field of overgrown grasses to sow the land with wheat.

Several days passed by... Since Xenia and the siblings only had to do minimal work in the field. And when they do not have that much else to do, Mr. Lagman began bringing them along with him to fish for their food. While Lui would be practicing her tailoring skills to inherit her mother's exquisite and skillful handiwork.

His days in the village were serene and peaceful. He gets to eat three times a day while also saving little money for himself. Mr. and Mrs. Lagman was both generous and kind enough to adopt Xenia and give them what he needed in life. Although Xenia could not receive the schooling that he wanted, he would read books and learn about the world nevertheless.

What is there to wish for anymore? He thought. This village, which is a distant part of Quesaint in the Northeastern Region of Mahor, is far from the chaotic events that are about to spring from the depths of hell.

"But what is your purpose now? For what reason are you living?"

For his own consciousness to be asking him his purpose in life... Xenia got lost in his train of thought. He halted and stared blankly at the sky while thinking of an answer to the question.

"Look at Xenia, spacing out again."

"Leave him be, Crowley. He must be thinking about his family or something related. Sometimes, we need to have time for ourselves."

"I guess he really is reminiscing about his family. He is crying."

They silently gazed in Xenia's direction. Crowley and Lui did not bother Xenia's time to relish going back to the recollection of his bittersweet memories.

"I'm living for myself. Being alive is my purpose for surviving through everything. I may not have a grandeur or solid plan for the future or any reason for living, but waking up in the morning and enjoying this peaceful life is what I'm seeking right now. This life I am having right now is serving a purpose."

Once he was done explaining his reason for living right now to himself, Xenia immediately tried to hide his tears and sneakily wiped it off but the siblings saw everything.

"Oh, damn... Were you two watching? Some golden memories just flashed before my mind..."

"It's fine. We tend to miss the people we love. What do they call it again? Sick home?"

"I think it is homesick."

"That! Don't worry, Xenia! Crowley, Mom, Dad, and I will always be there for you! You can count on us because you're a part of our family now! And family members need to look out for each other!"

Xenia nodded and thanked Lui for her welcoming and kind demeanor. He was starting to like it in the village. Sooner or later, Xenia will get attached to the people he spends most of his time with, creating recollections of bonds.

~