Preparation for harvesting (1)

After Manya got the news that there would be a pay of three gold coins, she was agitated because she usually received one silver coin a week when she came to work in Whiten which was not enough to cover for her transport back to Polkok and her daily expenses thus, Manya didn't stand on ceremony, she quickly joined the queue and boarded the carriage.

The heck! Who would turn down a wage of three gold coins per week?

Meanwhile, in the carriage, the seats were totally occupied and there were also other people who were standing while holding onto a hanger. This carriage usually carried 40 people but on this day, it carried more than that.

Even though Manya was not hapful to get a seat for herself, she was complacent with just standing because a journey from Whiten to Brovon district usually took 30 minutes but for a public carriage like this one, it might take an hour because it was not as quick as those with small capacities, not to mention that they were going to the remote place in Brovon district which was far.

Unlike the carriages used by the Whiddiff palace, this public carriage had large ventilations that were fixed with iron bars which formed a railing. As the carriage moved, the passengers on board could peek at the environment outside that was illuminated by the moonlight.

Tolya Ivanoff was a 13 years old boy and he was in the same carriage as Manya. 

Actually, Tolya came from the kingdom of Litkesh and he was fortunate to get a seat in the carriage. He was a spy of the Litkesh kingdom and he had been in Azuhai for a long time as he awaited for any major movement but the king of Azuhai had only been engaging in the sale and production of the carriages, furnitures and the clothes and as for the ox-drawn ploughs, Virtya stopped its production a long time ago because of the limited iron ingots available. Moreover, the kingdom of Litkesh was making cheaper and more ox-drawn ploughs that the farmers of Azuhai wanted.

While in the carriage, Tolya could not help but be amazed by the workmanship behind the production of this carriage, even if Litkesh kingdom was also producing carriages, it couldn't compare with the one that he was in because the producers of the carriages in Litkesh kingdom were making the carriages in haste because of the huge demand from their customers both locally and from the neighbouring kingdoms, not to mention that Litkesh kingdom was also exporting its products to the markets in the Western continents and the Eastern continents, they only failed to enter into the Northern continent markets because of racial conflicts and the absurdity of localization in that continent. The haste in making the carriages by the Litkesh producers had brought about a fall in their quality and aesthetics.

It could be seen that Litkesh kingdom was far ahead from Azuhai kingdom because they usually integrated technologies from many places because they had eyes everywhere, nothing was to be left unturned. One should also know that Litkesh kingdom had already stole Azuhai's education system and content and they were also teaching that knowledge to their children after they researched more about it.

Anyway, going on this trip was not within Tolya's work circle but because he had not seen any developments in Azuhai resently, it forced him to want to get away with his boredom by joining the denizens of Whiddiff to go and harvest barley in Brovon district.

"Hey brat! What will you use the three gold coins for? Do you even have kids?" An old man who was seated beside Tolya asked him.

Tolya caressed his chin as if he was still pondering before he stared at the old man who was smiling and said,

"Well... I plan to buy for my baby a few dresses that are made in Litkesh... You know... Stuffs from Litkesh are much cheaper and desirable... I hope she will appreciate my gesture. I can't wait to see her reaction." Tolya answered with a bit of nostalgia appearing on his face. He truly missed home.

"Hahaha! That's my boy. You know even if I am a native of Azuhai, just like you, I also prefer the stuffs from Litkesh even if they don't last long, but they are cheaper just as you have said." The old man paused for a moment before he continued, "Errm... You see, brat, I am your father... Hey look at me." The old man pinched Tolya's cheek to get his attention and even if he saw a frown on Tolya's face, the old man didn't mind, after all, according to him, little boys like Tolya were usually rambunctious and disrespectful, the old man had several kids of the same age as Tolya, thus, he was used to it.