"Who is it? The door's unlocked. Come in!"
After a long day of work, the young master was sprawled on the bed and really didn't want to move. He couldn't be blamed for letting his guard down; there were only a few commoners on this farm...
"Lord Aige, it's me, Shate! I've brought you dinner!"
The door creaked open, and Shate entered carrying a tray. "Mother said you might be tired, my lord, so she told me to bring your meal straight in. Farm life is rather modest, so please don't mind." He set several dishes on the table... but didn't immediately turn to leave!
Aige took a look. The meal he'd been given was clearly a good one: a meat dish, a vegetable dish, rice, and a small bowl of soup. It wasn't as though he'd done nothing to earn it, so he sat down without ceremony and began eating at his leisure...
The young man didn't withdraw immediately, but stood to the side watching. Presumably, he had something to say...
If he doesn't speak, I won't ask. Let's see who has more patience. The great man paid him no mind, taking his time picking up vegetables and eating meat, perfectly at ease.
"My lord, have you been to Beech Farm to the east?"
"I have. I learned what happened to the necklace your mother lost from a child on the farm. Why?"
Aige picked up a slice of pork, examined it for a moment, and popped it into his mouth...
"That must have been Kate. Did you meet his older sister, Sally?" the young man asked eagerly.
"I did. A very pretty girl, and quite charming!" He smiled teasingly.
"Thank you!" The young man blushed and spoke in a low voice.
"I praised a young lady. What are you thanking me for?" Feeling mischievous, Young Master Ai asked a question he already knew the answer to.
"You've seen and learned a lot, my lord, so you've probably guessed. Sally and I fell in love at first sight. We're lovers. It's just..." The shy young man trailed off.
"What is it?"
"It's just that our families aren't on good terms. Back then, Sally's father backed out at the last moment and refused to fight on the front lines. He reported my father to take his place, saying it was because he had no children to carry on his family line. Otherwise, my father wouldn't have been forced to go to the front and die in battle... Oh, Kate hadn't been born yet."
"Our families used to get along quite well. Though we lived some distance apart, we were in the same line of work, and we both had large farms. After that happened, the two families became enemies."
"Sally and I met by chance last year and fell in love at first sight. We both like each other. But because of the pressure from our families, we don't dare make our relationship public, so we're very unhappy."
"You came from Beech Farm, Lord Aige. How is she doing now?"
Huh? A secret romance?
"I only met her briefly, but she seemed like a very nice girl. She'll certainly make a good wife someday. She should be doing pretty well, I think. At least, that's how it looked!"
"When will you be going to Beech Farm again, my lord? If it's convenient, could you deliver a letter to Sally for me?"
"A love letter?"
The young man's face turned bright red...
"Haha! All right! I'll take your quest! I happen to be taking that little brat Kate some pork pies tomorrow, so I'll take care of this for you at the same time." Aige laughed and agreed.
"Thank you so much!" Shate thanked him profusely, then pulled a letter sealed in parchment from inside his shirt and handed it to Aige, still warm from his body...
"If possible, help me prepare a dozen fresh pork pies tomorrow morning, especially to bribe your future brother-in-law..."
The young man nodded shyly in agreement...
Notification: You have accepted the quest to deliver a love letter. You are required to hand the letter to Sally in person. You will receive some experience upon completing the quest.
In fact, something was on Aige's mind. In World of Warcraft, adventurers could unlock the Talent Tree at level 9. There was no doubt how powerful talents were, but... he was level 9 now, and his Talent Tree still hadn't unlocked. It worried him terribly. Could the system have been downgraded?
He didn't dare think further. Honestly, even without the Talent Tree's help, he was still far stronger than the other mages on the continent. Neither his extremely high attribute points gained from leveling nor his number of skills, which was clearly on a different scale, could be matched by the continent's mages. But who would be afraid of becoming even stronger?
But he was already level 9... Where was the Talent Tree?
The morning air was fresh, and the sunlight wasn't too harsh. Such a lovely scene finally eased some of Aige's frustration over the missing Talent Tree. This was the road from Hall Farm to Beech Farm... There hadn't been a road to begin with, but with fewer people traveling it, there was even less of one!
In fact, there was hardly any road at all. It was just mountainous countryside where wild beasts often appeared. As a combat class, he naturally had no fear, but for an ordinary commoner, it was full of danger. No wonder Shate had asked Aige to be his messenger. It wasn't that he was lazy; he simply couldn't make it safely across this stretch of wilderness...
Combat classes also traveled faster. At full speed, they were at least four or five times faster than ordinary people, and that was without counting the mounts they could ride at higher levels. Aige spent only a morning reaching the familiar Beech Farm... and he had a full two dozen pork pies in his bag.
"My lord! Do you mean you wiped out all the Kobolds by the mine? And Aunt Hall's necklace has been returned to her too? Incredible! Is this the power of a mage? Praise the Holy Light!"
As Sally received Aige, her mouth fell open in astonishment. She had never imagined that the young mage before her, who didn't look particularly strong, possessed such astonishing power, power that ordinary commoners could never hope to attain... Notice that? In her eyes, Aige was now a young man who was "not particularly strong."
Back then, Aige had been inseparable from words like "frail" and "scrawny." This was the result of his stamina, strength, and agility points continually transforming his body after he had leveled up several times... The effects were clearly beginning to show, and surely, in time, he would gradually leave his scrawniness behind.
At Sally's praise, Aige merely chuckled and beckoned to the little brat, who had long been waiting. "Here you go! The pork pies you've been talking about for ages. I brought you a dozen this time. Go enjoy them over there, before your sister steals them from you!" He waved the young woman into silence when she tried to protest, while Kate warily took the cloth bag of pies and turned to leave, terrified that his sister would steal his food...
After watching her younger brother disappear around the corner with an indulgent look, Sally protested a little shyly, "My lord, how could I steal food from a child... Uh..."
The young woman stared in confusion at another bag of pies Aige held out to her...
"I only said that to send him away. I have something to tell you. Take this bag of pies and share them with your family. Someone asked me to deliver a letter to you. Read it first, then we'll talk!"
With that, he handed her a letter sealed in parchment, with red sealing wax to prove that he, the temporary messenger, definitely hadn't peeked at it beforehand... Although he already knew what it contained: nothing more than talk of affection, love, longing, and the like.
The young woman solemnly accepted the letter, then opened it and read... The stationery inside was actually pink, leaving a certain homebody who caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye somewhat speechless. He hadn't expected people on this continent to like that sort of thing when it came to romance too.
Before long, Sally, clearly moved beyond words, looked at Aige through tear-filled eyes. "My lord, did Shate give this to you himself?"
"That's right! After I found Mrs. Stonefield's gold necklace, I went back to her to turn in the quest. That evening, Shate came to see me especially and asked me to deliver it to you personally. Now my quest is complete."
"My lord, could you do us another favor? You're so powerful. Please be kind and help the two of us be together?"
Sally stepped forward excitedly and clasped Aige's hand tightly in both of hers... This young woman really took good care of herself; her hands were quite soft. Of course, he couldn't just say that aloud. In fact, the young master had no ill intentions. After all, the girl already had someone, and he shouldn't meddle as he pleased. That would be immoral!
"Tell me about it. I know both you and Shate, and I sincerely hope things go well for you. If it's something I can help with, I naturally won't refuse. But if it's beyond my ability, please don't put me in a difficult position."
Lord Aige believed that a man should not make promises lightly, but should carry them out once made and see them through to the end. He wouldn't casually fall for a woman's beauty trap. It was better to ask the details first. He would help if he could, and there was nothing wrong with saying so if he couldn't.
"My lord, I believe you know that the Beech and Hall families were on good terms for generations. But nearly ten years ago, my father didn't want to go to war, so he shifted his military service obligation onto Uncle Hall. Uncle never came back, and our families became enemies from then on. Aunt Hall suffered the most."
"My father has always regretted it, especially after Kate was born. His remorse only grew stronger. He usually doesn't want to stay at home, and devotes himself to working in the fields, hoping exhaustion will drive away his guilt. He doesn't even dare work in the fields to the west, for fear he might run into someone from the Hall family."
"I understand how my father felt. He was only a farmer who wanted to tend his little patch of land. He had no fighting ability and would surely have died if he'd gone to war. Besides, Kate hadn't been born yet..."
"I don't want our families to remain enemies over this forever. I want to make some kind of amends on my father's behalf. Besides, Shate is a good man. Like his father, he's someone who takes responsibility. I liked him very much from the first time we met..." At that, the young woman blushed once more...
"I understand what you mean, miss, but what exactly do you intend to do? And how can I help you?" Aige suddenly felt that there was something a little noble about the young woman before him, who seemed to blush at every turn.
"I want to go to Hall Farm myself and apologize to Aunt Hall face-to-face on my father's behalf. Perhaps that will resolve this debt of wrongdoing!"
The young woman clenched her fists...