The next day, I woke up knowing that it was not only going to get colder but that it also was going to rain and be generally disgusting. Enough that I had to go check my radishes and strengthen them, but not so much that I was really afraid that the new plants would be killed. I switched my outfit and hung the old ones where they'd get "washed". Rainwater probably didn't count as actual washing, but it was better than nothing.
With my money situation, it had become clear that I wouldn't be buying things like soap or extra clothes anytime in the near future. As it was, I'd be living completely off the land until I knew I could buy the seeds I needed for each month and do the necessary repairs to the shack.
That reminded me, Cora was supposed to send me some emails.
Turned out that our Town Gatherer had also sent me an email as well. The day before he'd sent me a note that I'd get 230 gold a month for Philip's rent each month. Which was apparently not enough to even get a coffee, but I didn't pay any rent except for the plants I grew. I should be jumping for joy that I got a percentage of the money. Cora emailed a breakdown of prices she'd take off for certain trees and then how much I'd get off them if I cut them a certain way. I got some of what she was talking about, but not the tree types. Probably, she assumed I just knew as a nymph.
I did not.
But I did understand what she needed me to do to the trees in order to send them to her for the best profit. She also sent the amount for the other necessary fixes to me, along with the damage that could be caused if I simply left it the way it was, and I could look up how to tell certain types of trees.
I put the pad in what was hopefully a safe place and headed out to feel the drizzle on my skin. I gave a small shiver, already getting chills to my core without the sun there to warm me. Unfortunately, I didn't think we'd be getting any sun that day. So, I was cold, sure to get colder, and I needed to work in order to get my house to livable conditions and keep my last resort.
I understood that Ray was angry and being thrown out of his home was unfair, but did he have to screw me over? Yes, the government screwed him, but if it hadn't been me, it would have been someone else in this shack. Plus, if it had just been that they just needed the space for me, they would have had him moved somewhere else in the holy space.
Since they hadn't, then he was probably destined to be thrown out of the space for whatever reason from the beginning. I couldn't help but wonder who he'd pissed off. Cora would have told me. She might be quick to anger, but I felt she also felt a certain amount of responsibility. Well, perhaps she wouldn't have told me if she really thought that it wouldn't matter. But still, the Town Gatherer had liked the goblin, so maybe angered Charge enough that the government had to throw him out of his home?
Who else would have that sort of power to just kick someone out?
I sat down. I wouldn't need to water the radishes today, just reinforce them.
The process took about an hour, and then I was heading back toward my pathetic shack.
After staring into space for an hour, I took the ax in hand and leaned against the nearest tree. It felt firm and healthy under my fingers. It seemed to offer little resistance to the thought that I was exploring it to find the best way to cut it down, and encouraging that area to give way under my force. Then again, these trees could grow as tall as a building within just a month, and without any interference, they could also live as long as the holy space did.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped away from the tree, hefting the weight of the axe in my hand. The rain fell faster and faster, making the hilt of the ax slippery in my grip after every swing. With each swing, I felt as if the ax might fly out of my grip, and I had to readjust my grip. It took an hour just to make it fall, and then another five to cut it how Cora wanted it. Then another two hours to take out the base and roots, and then another two hours to cut them. I placed what I thought was the good half of the wood to go to Cora, and the rest I put to go to the government.
If I had any woodworking skills, I might have tried to use some of it to fix the cottage, but I had no innate ability or lessons in that area. A dwarf, though they traditionally were supposed to have power with rock and ore, would still have more background and innate knowledge of how to fix a house, even a wooden house. Still, I wished the people at rehab had taught me a little about home maintenance if they had known how bad things were.
After I was done, I didn't even wonder what time it might be. I took the clothes off the rails and laid them on the porch where I thought the sun might dry them in the morning, though I put my underwear right next to the bed. Even away from people, it seemed like neighbors could show up at any moment. It would probably still be damp when I woke up, but some species were weird about wearing clothes, and I didn't think the locals would appreciate me walking around naked, even if it was on my own land. Plus, nymphs could be weird about clothes as well, but unless they were part of some weird sect, it was more about who could wear what, and not wearing things meant for other species.
I fell asleep holding the pad to my chest, intending to do some poking around on apps they'd pre-installed, but mostly just turning on some ambient music and drifting into dreams.
The next day, the sun came out, and I was relieved to know it would stay out the entire day. While there was that touch of cold air, everything was still damp and disgusting. Hopefully, it would dry out, and it wouldn't rain as badly for the next couple of days.
An email had me sitting up and checking my bank statement. There was 601gold transferred to my account from the government. Or The Commerce of the People, as the bank statement said. Would that mean when I was less pathetic and could cut down multiple trees in a day, that I could get more than twice that just for trees? I let out a sigh of relief when I checked the cost Cora had given me for all the repairs I needed. I had sent enough wood to fix the electricity. I agreed with Cora to put the extra trade of wood toward fixing the roof, which would cost with the half wood price, 2500 gold.
Still, with 831 gold in my bank, I had enough to fix my electricity.
230 gold couldn't get coffee, but thankfully, repairs weren't going to break the bank as much as I feared. At least, not while Cora felt bad for me. Still, even with her charity, I was going to be scavenging for a while.
So, I sent the gold to Cora and then made a loose plan to check and water my garden before going to find some mud berries before I cut down another tree. This time, dump the whole thing into the government so I could start saving up to fix my leaky roof.
With my pad, watering can, and trowel, I headed into the woods to my garden. On my walk, I realized that Cora had sent me another email that told me that she had looked over my equipment, and that once I had my house fixed to working order, I should see the local smith about fixing or replacing my current tools before they fell apart.
The local smith was a dwarf named Anthony, who didn't like mining. He especially didn't want to go to the Four Season's mines, which were infested with chaos monsters. He'd trade more for any ores and rocks that I might find on land or while scavenging on the mountains. Geodes were great for trading as well.
I sighed.
It wasn't that I hadn't noticed that my tools were old and falling apart, but it still irritated me to be reminded that at any moment they could fall apart, and I'd be in limbo. So, I was a little rough when I uprooted the weeds that dared to start growing in my garden. I didn't need any grass. I was about to throw the stuff to the side when I looked up the list of things that wouldn't earn me money.
Grass wasn't on the list.
Either this was a serious oversight, or I would actually get at least a little gold if I put the offending plants in the box. I stared at it, and then the seeds of grass and wildflower that I had removed, took off my shirt, and bundled it up to take back to my new home with me. The watering can leaked, but I was still able to water the radishes, so they'd have enough water for the next day.
I then walked home and threw the grass and seeds in the box. I couldn't help but glare at my dirt-stained shirt, wishing I had the funds to buy more clothing or even some soap. I briefly thought about changing or even just walking around shirtless, but in the end, I decided against it. If I was careful, it looked like I should be able to skirt the edge of the village. A lot of places Cora marked as good places to scavenge were closer to the village. If I were lucky, I would stay on the edge and not meet anyone.
I was never lucky.
I'd only made it past the bank and was going to give a bit of a sprint to get behind what was called an apartment building on the map, when someone touched my hip. Jumping in surprise and alarm, I turned to the person. A little nymph looked back up at me, eyes wide and clothes that of someone who would identify as male. Though. maybe fashion was different here, especially considering this was a space almost completely cut off from the outside world, except for new members coming infrequently and abused Charge workers who never interacted outside their farm.
"Are you ok?" he asked, his head tilting.
"Um, yes," I said slowly, backing away. This holy space was mostly for recovering creatures. While a farmer for Sunshine might be hired to offset the harm Charge caused to the environment of a holy space, my appearance easily gave me away as someone also going through some sort of recovery.
This child was probably from a family that fell on hard times. I wondered what their parents would think of me.
"But your hair," they said, pointing to the dry sticks that stuck from my head. I touched my twigs of hair self-consciously, noticing that the child's might not have flowered yet, but they had bright green spring leaves and the buds hanging from supple, twisting branches.
"Ah, well, I lived in the city and didn't get enough sun or clear water," I said, pulling from memory what I'd been told would cause this much harm that wouldn't scar this child, or bring up bad memories.
"That's why she's here," said a sharp voice. I turned to see a nymph at least five years my senior, but probably saw herself as a century more. "To get better."
"I thought she was here to make the land better," said the child. The mother turned on me, raising an eyebrow as if asking what I would say. I pushed my glasses further up my nose and pulled at my pathetic-looking rehab clothes.
"Helping the land get better will help me get better," I said, which was both a fairytale that we told children, but also held a grain of truth. "Being in the sun and feeling the fresh dirt under my feet is already doing me a world of good."
"You won't get sick and die, will you?" asked the boy, sounding more interested than concerned. His mother whacked him gently on the head, mostly ruffling his leaves, and he looked at her in confusion. "But if she's sick, then there's nothing even the sun or doctors can do."
"I'm not that sort of sick," I said, not sure what the mother would say. She sent me a grateful sort of smile. "As I said, I just need a little sun and time."
"We're sure you'll do wonderful work at Sunshine," said the nymph, holding the little boy's hand and now starting to look like she was ready for the conversation to end. On one hand, I wondered what I had done wrong; on the other, I wanted the conversation over as soon as possible as well.
"Can I see you on Friday?" asked the little nymph.
"Oh, um," suddenly, the mother looked furious, so I bit my tongue. Obviously, something about the question set her off, and I didn't dare even begin to guess.
"He heard about the orphanage class meeting you on Friday," said the mother with an obviously fake smile. "But I already told them you wouldn't be able to make it, and they can't fit you in at the last minute."
Which made no sense. He could just go with the orphans to meet me. Then a memory of Cora and her irritation, the few times that she'd mentioned the nymphs of Four Seasons, came to mind. I had learned that nymphs were rather known for being particularly isolationist.
Mostly through comments heard to the side, like "more stuck on themselves than dwarves" or "prouder than elves," when I stayed anywhere not nymph-infested.
Still, I couldn't confront her about how she raised her child. I'd lived in a community where seeing any creature that wasn't a nymph was rare. Where taking even a bosom buddy that wasn't a nymph was unheard of and liable to get you gossiped about. So, perhaps the stereotype was deserved. I'd certainly been expected to take a nymph or even another Sylvan if one could be found to be my bosom buddy and life partner.
Of course, to give birth, one of us would have to present as female. Maybe… I'd never really understood the whole gender thing. I'd just gone with the flow, which had made sense in its own way back in my neighborhood but had made less sense the more I'd disappointed everyone in my life, been cast aside, and fallen into a drug haze.
"You could always choose a day to visit if Friday doesn't work for your schedule," I said suddenly, hoping I hadn't been staring into nothing for too long. The little nymph deserved a chance to learn to grow something. "I mean, I'm sure your schedule is busy, and perhaps you want to wait until I've made more of Sunshine, but you're always welcome to visit my farm when you have the time."
"Perhaps when you have really cultivated it. We wouldn't want to slow your healing or your work," said the nymph. She looked a bit like she was judging me, and I blushed and wished that I hadn't said anything. I tried to tell myself I preferred it that way to how the satyr had invited herself over. That just caused unneeded anxiety and felt way too soon. But at the same time, the way the nymph sounded and looked when she turned me down, it was clear that she was judging me and found me undesirable to associate with.
It was an assessment I was used to failing, but it still felt uncomfortable, especially in a place where we were all healing.
"I should get back to work," I said with a strained smile, backing up while giving a quick bow. I wasn't very hungry anymore anyway.
It was only when I could see the cabin that I realized I hadn't gotten either of their names. Now that I thought about it, no one but the Town Gather Louis had told me his name. Was it a thing here? Back home, everyone had introduced themselves to me. Wasn't that just common decency? Or maybe I was supposed to introduce myself first? Maybe I never went first before because they knew I was a sylvan, and now that I looked like a regular nymph. I was supposed to introduce myself when meeting new people.
I was never good at picking up on social cues.
The only time I remember picking up something was wrong was when my family and neighbors all started to ignore me.
Then, at Charge, everything was about doing the work and getting it done so that I could go to my apartment, and use my paycheck so I could get that high I really wanted instead of what they had me on at work. I could feel it. That shake I got after rejuvenating the produce for an entire day until I was rung out and exhausted, but I couldn't sleep because the drugs flowing through my veins had me jittery and unable to stop sitting still. I needed that second hit to help me relax, forget, and sleep.
I needed it. The syringe that sent the calming feeling through my veins until I could just stare into nothing and dream. I would never remember what happened in the dreams, but I knew they were sweet that they were everything that I'd been missing.
With a shake of my head, I forced those thoughts away. It was time to try chopping down another tree.
When I got back to Sunshine, I picked a smaller one, and by the time the sun was setting, I had my work sent away through the box. My skin sang with magic and power; it was like it beat with the land itself. The feeling transformed to a soothing beat as I sat in the last of the sun's rays and dug my toes into the dirt.
I leaned against a nearby tree, the feel of it against my back reassuring and somehow not inspiring guilt. The pad in my hands felt comforting, and I started to properly explore the apps installed on it. It had places for notes, and apparently even an app to keep track of the people I'd met. One app even had easy instructions for creating basic furniture and other farm tools. If I ever figured out how to make things like fences or boxes myself, or had the tools to do so, these might come in handy to reference.
Mostly, it told me things that I already knew. It had some basic gardening tips and even some ideas, like using the rocks to create a wall or path. Slowly, I found myself walking back into my shack and bed where I drifted off into my own thoughts and eventually fell asleep.