Chapter 2: Sugarcane is a good piece of food, at least in the Grainhearts son's perspective. Its understandable is it?

The cows were mooing in the grasslands.

Chickens pecking some worms to eat, then screaming to the top of its chicken lungs once it fails.

Rice, tomato, sugarcane, and even sweat and tears can be bought with money.

These items are what most of the Grainheart noble's sell.

Sven in particular like the sugarcane. It was delicious and was part of desserts.

Not the processed sugar mind you, the sugarcane. Raw. It's edible don't worry.

Sven had a bad dream a few hours ago.

At least thats what he justified it as.

He interpreted it as the heirloom warning him to take good care of it. The voice and the pale palm now exaggerated in his imagination.

It was a few hours before noon arrived and Sven woke up.

The events of the locket this current day, from the past hours made his nap a lot more stupid.

"Father, does the locket give dreams to make the owner take care of it?"

Sven asked his father quizzically. His teeth chewing on the sugarcane.

They were at the second floor on the manor of the large dining room.

"You must have eaten too much this morning, or maybe the heat from helping the farmers made you feel sickly?"

Figtenhood, Sven's father spoke concerned of his son. He was sitting on the middle of the long table.

Sven was on the right side, chomping down the food. "Thats plausible."

"Sven, have you decided on what to study? You're eighteen now."

Sven's mother, Heartfeuten was seated on the left of her husbands side. She wanted her son to now have some field of expertise.

She was very protective of him since he was born.

This time that Sven is old enough to make decisions for himself, he should do something for his future.

"I don't know, I just want to eat all day."

Skib kept on munching on the delicious sugarcane. Occasionally biting down on the steak.

Heartfeuten stared at her husband, Figtenhood.

They both exchanged a long gaze as if communicating something.

Tilting her head, she raised an eyebrow and her husband nodded.

Figtenhood put down the fork and cutlery.

"Sven, we know an explorer who can introduce you choices, on what to pick for your future."

Figtenhood cleared his throat from the food and started talking.

"Since we understand a young man needs some time to deliberate. Today we brought someone to educate you, to make your process of choosing a career go more smoothly."

Sven's father smiled, gesturing to the maids as he put his hand halfway up.

The maids positioned along the wall, understood the instruction and nodded.

They moved in unison toward the door at the far end of the hall, the one that opened onto the corridor leading to the main hallway for guests to enter.

The door opened and what greeted them was the sight of an elegant looking man.

He looked to be close to the thirties but there were no sign of wrinkles.

He had a clean leather jacket that reached his knees.

The face of this man had a clean sideways combed black hair and wore glasses.

"Nice to meet you, Miss and Sir. You too young master Sven."

This man greeted himself curtly with a bow. He had an air of a scholar.

"So this guy is going to be my mentor?" Sven asked curiously as he observed the man.

"Close, he's your sensei." Sven's father responded.

He had been reading a lot books recently and wanted to brag about his knowledge, then remembered how his son couldn't even read.

Taking care of the farmland took a toll on his mind, managing the logistics of it all.

So having books as a break made it his favorite pastime.

"Dear, I believe sensei also means mentor." Sven's mother corrected her husband.

She was, at first, highly against the idea that a man was to become Sven's mentor.

She did all she can to make Skib not meet dangerous men and now she is not going to change her mind.

At least until her husband mentioned how the man was a eunuch.

"My name is Gianni Holternest. You may call me Gianni or Gin."

Gianni introduced himself, glancing at Sven to look at who he would be instructing. There was a bright expression on him as he smiled politely, standing there.

Sven felt in his gut that smile would bore him.

He didn't want to be a scholar or join about noble matters. All Sven knew was farming, eating, and sleeping all day.

"Alright, now that we're finished dining. Sven, go and have a walk with your mentor."

Figtenhood stood up the same time as his wife, they exchanged glances like it was planned.

Walking away from the table, Sven was left munching on sugarcane.

Facing the mentor as the maids took the plates to clean the table.

Sven put the sugarcane away and stepped close to the mentor. His gaze unimpressed, he raised a hand.

Gianni was confused why this young master raised a hand. "Yes?"

"My mother would never let me get close to any male without people protecting me."

Except for his father of course, he's chill. The farmers were ordered to not get too close to the young master and weren't allowed to talk to him.

Sven continued "Maids were given a shoot to kill order, once even the con man gets too close or handsy to me. What's going on here?"

Gianni was befuddled but had a light in his eyes when he realized.

"Ah, that. I mean, I am a eunuch and your father also threatened my families' lives to make sure I don't do anything."

Gin responded politely with a smile plastered on his face.

On the other side of the manor, far back where the fields couldn't see them.

Two farmer sisters were secretly cooking a small pig.

"Sis the monsters are scary!" The small child was bawling her eyes off. Tears were flowing like a snot waterfall.

"Come here wittle bwaby..." The taller child gave the smaller sister a hug.

"Sis, are ghosts and spirits real?" Asking her sister, the child somehow calmed down her tears.

"They are, what about grandfather? Grandma? And our other cousins? They are as real as any person." Her sis happily responded to her with a pat on her head.

Being pulled into her tall sisters embrace, she sniffled. "I don't mean that! I mean the scary ones..."

This small child didn't even know what she was asking, what she wanted was for her sister to explain to her how she's gonna be too cute that monsters would ignore her. Childish, really.

"In that case. The first thing our elders said to evil ghosts is to ignore them. Act as if they don't exist, since you'll ussually see them floating."

With a proud smile she talked about what she learned from the elders. For a rural town like this, she wanted to learn and get an education, so listening to the elders is what most she can get to be a good student.

"What...?" Little sis was confused, she wanted to get complimented, not to listen to lectures.

"But you're too cute that any ghosts would be too charmed by you!" The taller girl already knew her sister simply wanted a compliment. She pinched her little sisters cheek teasingly.

The little girl pouted and said she was hungry.

Their heads turned and observed the pig they were cooking.

The pig had a metal pole put in its mouth and it pierced out from its rear.

The sisters were rotating the pig with a makeshift wheel-like structure at the edges.

The taller one on the left, and the smaller one on the right. The coal was under the pig and the pig looked to be very delicious.

The two girls giggled between each other, talking about how they couldn't finish this dish all at once in one day.

They had a genuine heart to heart talk as the minute goes on. It was about the farm, the Grainheart family, and the handsome fat young master in passing.

Mostly they were discussing about their fate in this rural city.

Suddenly, the pig came to life and ate one of the girls just as they were about to decide if it was cooked and tender enough to eat.

Ate her whole in one go. The smaller sister was scared and was about to scream at the sight of her beloved sister being swallowed by this pig.

Her screams were cut flat as she too was swallowed by the pig. Then the pig dissapeared.

Back at Grainheart manor, they didn't know any of this was happening. The farmers did not too.

Slap!

A slap resounded on the empty grand dining room. Gin was slapped by the fat hands of the young master, Sven.

Gin was too stunned to speak and only put his own hand on the reddened cheek.

Sven was stunned too, he was sure he did not want to slap Gin at all.

He wasn't disgusted at the person or anything, nor held any hatred to the individual.

He wasn't sure why, but he knows it was someone else who did the slap and made his hand move that way.

"Hahaha! Look at the scholar's pathetic face!" A slightly deep feminine voice was heard only by Sven.

He tilted his head to the side and saw a woman giggling her ass off, and was slapping the air as if it was the ground.

She was enjoying it with tears on the side of her eyes.