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Job 348
9-11 minutes 22.05.2023
As I watched the happy kids, I heard footsteps coming from behind.
I turned around and saw Alfred and Urki approaching with their hands full of freshly picked strawberries. They both looked really happy, probably because the harvest was successful.
“Are you guys done with the strawberry harvest?”
Alfred nodded and said, “Yeah, we finished here today. We’ll do the rest of the field tomorrow.”
“I thought you were going to finish today, but it looks like it’s going to take longer than expected,”
“Yeah, the yield was higher than we thought,”
“You guys worked hard picking strawberries. Do you want me to carry some baskets too?” I offered.
“No, it’s not that heavy,” Urki said.
“I’m good too,” Alfred added.
“What do you mean
”
I snatched a strawberry basket from Urki and Alfred, who said it was okay. The basket was overflowing with red and ripe strawberries.
“You’re taking these to the farm, right?”
“Yeah, we gotta share them with the other farm members while they’re still fresh,” Alfred replied.
“Senior Sihyeon, I swear the strawberries I picked this time taste even better,” Urki chimed in. He was practically drooling over them.
I couldn’t help but wonder if the new Fairy World had something to do with how delicious they looked.
As I looked at the strawberries in the basket, I was lost in thought when suddenly

– Swoosh!
“Is this strawberry?”
“Ah!?”
“Ugh!”
“
!”
Out of nowhere, Terzan appeared from the shadows. I was so startled that I almost dropped the basket.
Alfred and Urki jumped back in surprise, while Terzan just calmly inspected the strawberries in the basket.
“Hey, Terzan, it’s cool that you can just pop out of nowhere like that, but could you give us a heads up next time? You’re gonna give me a heart attack,” I said.
“Why would I give you a heart attack?” Terzan asked innocently.
“Because it’s freakin’ scary when you come out of nowhere like that,” I replied.
“Speranza likes it when I do that though,”
As she said, Speranza enjoyed Terzan’s unique way of appearing, especially when she popped out from a tiny shadow.
It made Speranza feel over-the-moon excited. Out of everyone on the farm, Speranza was the person Terzan was closest to.
It seemed like an unlikely pairing, but they actually got along super well. They were so tight that they could watch each other play for hours without getting bored.
“I’m not Speranza, so please give a warning.”
“Got it
 Can I have some strawberries?”
Terzan pointed at my basket of strawberries. I wanted to tell her to wait, but she looked so desperate that I had to say yes.
“Sure, go ahead. You should only have a little, though. We’re gonna share the rest with the other farm members later.”
“Yes.”
She quickly reached into the basket and pulled out a ripe strawberry. She took a big bite out of it and although her face didn’t show it, her body was trembling with enjoyment.
“Is it good?”
“Mm-hmm. It’s so delicious. I’ve never tasted such a sweet and sour fruit before.”
Terzan’s reaction made Alfred and Urki smile too. It felt great to have our carefully grown strawberries praised.
With Terzan urging us to get back to the farm quickly and eat more strawberries, we all headed towards the farm building with our baskets in hand.
As we approached the farm building in the distance, Terzan started looking around anxiously.
Seeing her weird behavior I asked, “What’s the matter?”
“I feel a strange presence coming from the direction of the farm. And there’s a bunch of them
”
“What do you mean?”
Although they were a bit late compared to her, Alfred and Urki also sensed something off and looked concerned.
“So, what’s happening?”
Without realizing it, I started walking faster towards the farm.
There was a group of strangers in front of the farm building.
They were soldiers and knights armed to the teeth.
You could feel their strength and training even from far away.
Most of all, I could tell they belonged to a noble family from the emblem on the flag and the fancy insignia on their clothes.
There weren’t many of them, so it didn’t seem like they were here to fight. But we couldn’t be sure until we knew their intentions.
“Sihyeon, you finally made it.”
Lia came out to meet me at the entrance to the building. I glared at the unknown visitors and asked her, “Lia, who are these guys, and why are they here all of a sudden?”
“Well
”
“Are you the lord of Cardis Territory?”
Before Lia could answer, someone else’s voice cut in. I turned to see who it was.
It was a tall demon man.
He was probably the leader of the soldiers and knights, and he gave off a pretty intimidating vibe.
‘Wait a second
 His face looks awfully familiar. Have I seen him before?’
Despite feeling a weird sense of familiarity, I decided to answer his question.
“Yeah, I’m the lord of Cardis Territory. And you are
?”
“I’m Claudion Leon Verdi. It’s an honor to meet you, Lord Cardis.”
“Oh
nice to meet you too.”
‘Leon Verdi
? It was definitely
’
Suddenly, it hit me. Someone with the last name Leon Verdi

“Oh!”
Alfred Leon Verdi!
‘Isn’t that Elaine’s family?!’
⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩ ⏩
As soon as we exchanged greetings, I rushed to take Claudion, the eldest son of the Verdi family, inside the building. It was a surprise visit, but we couldn’t neglect the hospitality of Alfred’s family.
Lia quickly prepared to serve our guests, while Alfred and I guided Claudion inside.
I asked the rest of the members to keep an eye on the kids playing outside.
Honestly, I wish Andras was here with me during these formal events. I’m familiar with noble etiquette, but it still feels heavy to meet new nobles.
Usually, Andras supports me in these situations, but today he was out on a date with Amy. So, I had two trusted companions by my side – Alfred, of course, and the other was

“Ugh! I was in deep sleep, why did these guests have to show up and ruin my rest? I should destroy that guy’s teleportation magic
”
Kaneff, who was dozing off, appeared with a wobbly walk.
“Boss, that’s not a good thing to say in front of the guest
”
“What did I say?”
“If you keep it up, I’ll give all of Boss’s honey beer to Terzan. Are you okay with that?”
I kinda threatened Kaneff with the new liquor ghost on the farm.
“Tsk
”
Thankfully, it worked and Kaneff shut up and sat down. I wish he would just leave, but it didn’t seem like he was planning on it.
After dealing with Kaneff, I looked over at Claudion. He seemed pretty chill and unfazed by Kaneff’s rude behavior.
Feeling a bit awkward, I turned to Alfred, hoping he could chat with his brother more naturally. But when I saw Alfred’s face, I realized I was wrong.
He looked down with a really dark expression. He met his brother, but the response was very bad. At first glance, he seemed really nervous.
Before I could process what was going on, Kaneff jumped in.
“Hey, are you from the Verdi family?”
“Yes, sir. Kaneff.”
Claudion turned to face Kaneff like he already knew who he was.
“When you visit someone else’s turf, don’t you need to ask for permission first? Or does Verdi not care about proper etiquette?”
Despite Kaneff’s snarky tone, Claudion stayed cool and collected.
“The location is indeed the Cardis territory, but technically the farm belongs to the Demon Lord. I came here after informing the Castle about my visit to this place.”
Kaneff didn’t seem too happy with Claudion’s explanation.
Feeling the tension in the air, I tried to lighten the mood.
“Haha, if we knew you were coming, we would have paid more attention to the hospitality. Too bad.”
“It’s fine.”
“But, why are you here? Did you come to check on your little brother?”
Claudion glanced over at Alfred, who was standing next to me.
He looked at his brother for a second, but then quickly looked away. Alfred didn’t seem too comfortable either.
“I don’t really care how he’s doing here.”
“

.”
“I’m here on my father’s orders to bring him back to the Verdi family.”
“What?! You’re taking Elaine away?”
I blurted out without thinking. This was a total shocker.
“He was sent here as punishment in the first place. He belongs with the Verdi family.”
“Well, yes, but it’s kinda sudden. You didn’t give us any warning.”
“I’ll pay off any debts my brother racked up while he’s been here.”
“That’s not the point
”
I trailed off and looked back over at Alfred, who still had his head down and showed no response.
“Excuse me, Mr. Claudion. Have you talked to Elaine? Maybe you should talk about it more
”
“Why? Are you speaking for him? Seems unnecessary. He’s just a waste of time.”
The “waste of time” comment caught me off guard. And then Claudion’s next words really ticked me off.
“Especially with a loser like that.”