Meeting New People V

"Umm... Well... You see... I... Well..." Oath spoke nervously as he struggled to tell them what he wanted to.

Lily spoke with a kind smile, "Go on. Don't worry so much."

Seeing her gentle face Oath suddenly gained courage as he spoke softly, "Well... I guess I should start from the beginning. My name comes from a long line of generations with the same name. My father was named Otheman and his father was named the same. 

I was told that everyone who held this name should work on the goal of creating a grand empire like our ancestors did."

"Wait," Ambrose quickly stopped him there as he asked some questions, "If you are from a line of royalty then why are you farmers now?"

"Umm... Well I guess I should tell you that we aren't really farmers. From what I was told, Mom wanted a new land they could rule so she plans on becoming some type of nobility of this new land for now. My Dad said he just had to get more land even if it wasn't the best land."

"Wait," Lily was the one who interrupted him as she asked some questions, "Didn't you say that your goal was to create an empire? How are you planning on doing it on such Mana-poor land? And why specifically go through these official ways of obtaining land?"

"Well... Apparently, we have tried many times to take land and also go to more Mana-rich areas, but in the end, we ended up poorer than before. Now we are trying something new. Dad is using every cent he has to build a castle on his land. He says that the ten years without taxes the kingdom set up for him is the perfect time to build it. But that has led to the current predicament...

We have lots of land that isn't suitable for farming and many servants who are only focusing on building the castle. Without any way to get food inside the territory, we are likely to have to buy from outside forever. If this happens we might run out of money to buy food!

Which brings me to you now. You two were talking all about how you helped set up farms and how you made the plants more nutritious. Then, there is this," Putting his spoon into the soup he pulled out the puffball mushroom, "When my sister Brie talking about how filling the mushroom is I realized that you might have the best resource for us. 

So..." Taking a deep breath Oath spoke reaching his final point, "I will hire you two to set up puffball mushroom farms at our place. Please accept!" Oath bowed down as he gave his actual request.

The twins looked at each other in confusion as they wondered if everything Oath had told them was real or just some overactive imagination he had. Although they weren't children mentally, their knowledge was limited to books and what they had learned throughout the five years they spent walking around the forest.

They knew their sister Aroura often liked to imagine several situations like they were grand adventurers who were exploring the wilderness. So could this be similar? Was Oath someone who may or may not be a descendant of some great nobility who wanted to rebuild their empire? Were they really building a castle? What was truly happening?

Oath was someone who lived just across the mountains. From what they had heard from their father, they called their 'farm' the Rashit territory. They just like him choose a worse-looking place to farm to get more land from the officials. They had even gotten more land by choosing even more land by showing how worthless most of it was. 

Unsure about what to do Ambrose decided to eat first to listen to his growling stomach before thinking more about the strange situation, "Alright, how about we talk more about this when we have finished eating?"

Lily also didn't know what to do so she quickly voiced her support, "Yes, we can talk business after the food."

Oath looked at them for a while before letting out a sigh of defeat, "Alright, but why don't you tell me what exactly you both did to make your farm so prosperous?"

Both Ambrose and Lily looked excited as this was their passion. So in between bites, they would tell him all about the improvements while also badmouthing their father's ability to farm.

Only after the meal and they started to run out of things they did that didn't involve improving the farm, were the pair forced to consider what Oath had asked of them.

"I don't know that much about how we should talk about building a farm on your property, so why don't we go to your dad and talk with him?" Ambrose spoke first as he loved farms and would love to build more farms.

"We can also involve our dad to make sure it stays professional." Lily acted as the voice of reason as she knew that they hadn't met with Oath's father as he was one of the few who didn't come to talk to them while everyone was saying their hellos.

Their father was sitting with Jack as they were joined by another two men who were from nearby farms.

Lily quickly called out stopping their conversation, "Hey, dad!"

Despite being interrupted, Edmund looked at his children with a smile, "Huh? Oh Lily, Ambrose, and... Otheman was it? Or is that your father's name?"

Oath looked slightly embarrassed as he spoke, "That is both our names, but just call me Oath."

"That is fine. I will remember that in the future. So, what do you three need?"

"We need to talk business with Oath's dad. We just need you to keep things professional." Lily spoke with a calm tone as if what she was asking was normal and not a six year old asking for business with an adult.

Hearing this Edmund froze for a moment before nodding numbly, "Ok." He knew his children were more mature and slightly weirder. So he simply accepted what she said at face value. "I guess I haven't spoken with my neighbor an awful lot, this should be a good time."

Jack looked slightly intrigued as he stood up, "Business is my calling, do you mind if I join with my son?"

"Ugghh..." The twins looked at Oath for a moment before he nodded which told everyone it was okay.

"Sure! The more adults the more professional this will be!"