Raised in Dungeon



The tension in the air was palpable as Peter talked about his dead son. But after that, Rodion started to speak intimately about what caused the awkward situation, and both were able to find common ground to move forward. The atmosphere lightened considerably, and they could eat the food comfortably.

Susan was assigned to care for Iva, who was in the late stages of pregnancy. Iva's requests were small but necessary, and Susan promptly fulfilled them. She made sure Iva was comfortable and had everything she needed.

Meanwhile, Allen, Rodion, and Peter made their way to the fields to begin their work. They were in charge of preparing the soil for the new season, which required a lot of hard work and dedication.

"Allen, for now all you need to do is loosen the soil," Peter explained.

"Okay."

"Do you see the rope on the ground? You need to loosen the soil next to that rope. We'll plant seedlings there, so they must be neatly plowed next to the rope. Be careful not to cut the rope."

"Plant? Seedlings?" asked Allen.

"That's right. Why do you ask?"

"Aaah... this kid doesn't know anything at all. You can think of him as an adult baby," said Rodion.

"Is that so? He looks bigger than Pascoe. He must have also learned about this in the other world, right?"

"No... I... In my house back then, I only took the plants that were already growing from the beginning; I don't really remember myself in the other world either," Allen said.

"Hmm... memory loss huh? Then what can I do? I have to teach you from the beginning. For now let's start loosening the soil."

Rodion started plowing the land by himself while Peter taught Allen the basics, such as what to plant, what to plant for, the results, why the soil needed to be loosened, and how to hoe properly.

At the beginning of hoeing, Allen swung it vigorously, thinking that by hoeing vigorously, he could get the job done faster.

"Ah! You broke the hoe! Don't hoe that too hard; you'll just end up breaking the hoe. Just do it with enough force," Peter said, looking angry.

"How are you going to take responsibility for this? Allen?" asked Rodion.

Peter retorted, "What the heck are you talking about Rodion? What responsibility? He came here to help my family; there's no way I'm going to ask him for money."

"He's a kid; an old man should teach him how to be responsible," said Rodion.

Allen bowed his head slightly and said, "I am sorry; I will pay you back later."

"Sigh... I told you there was no need. For now you can use my metal hoe. Don't break it again."

"Allen, metal hoes are expensive, almost as much as swords. Don't break it again," Rodion said.

"Shut up, old man! Just get on with your work!" shouted Peter.

Allen tried to plough it lighter to the ground. This time with less force.

"Yup, that's right, keep plowing it like that. I know the feeling of wanting to finish your work quickly.

Although it may be tempting to rush through your work, remember that everything requires patience, Allen. Avoid hastiness and work at a steady pace to avoid mistakes. Like this broken wooden hoe, you break it because you swing too hard to work faster. Remember Allen, impatience only leads to bad consequences.

Well, this is also why our son asked us to buy this metal hoe, so we can get the job done faster without breaking the hoe."

There was a slight change of emotion when Peter said that, which made Allen stop hoeing and look at Peter's face.

"As the old man over there said, metal hoes are almost five times more expensive than wooden hoes. We didn't originally intend to buy this hoe, but our eldest son, Fenton, forced us to buy one. He hoped that with this hoe, we could save more money in the future. Of course I insisted, saying there was no need.

And now that we bought it, this hoe exists because that kid went to the dungeon that day. Because of that boy's sacrifice, we have enough money to buy this hoe. There is always a complicated feeling every time I use this hoe. As my son has come back to life and told me he was right all along."

Allen turned his face away from Peter and continued his work.

"Oh, I'm sorry for suddenly mentioning this unimportant thing again. Just continue your work."

Allen had a complicated feeling when he heard Peter's story because he told the story of his son whom he had killed.

This is caused Allen's intense desire to clench his hands tightly. But he holds it. He endeavored to desist from crushing the hoe's handle with his grasp.

In moments like these, when his emotions overflowed inside him. Allen often overexerted himself to vent it out, like clenching the sword tightly, wielding it with extra zeal, striking wood with increased force, and many other things. So he wanted to use the hoe with all his might to vent his emotions now. But he understood that it would just break the hoe again, and damaging it would only give Peter more trouble.

Hence, he learned to rein himself in.

If his emotions came out, he would destroy the hoe.

He had to learn to restrain his feelings without taking them out on something else.

He must be able to be patient.

He was committed to developing himself to be more patient, understanding that if he was impatient here, it would only lead to bad consequences.

...

The land managed by Peter is about 1 hectare. Approximately three-quarters of the land is used for planting. To loosen the soil, it would take five days to plough alone. Since they were working in threes this time, it could probably be done in 2 days. They ate together again at noon. And on late afternoon; Allen, Susan, and Rodion went home.

"How was it Allen, working at Peter's place?" asked Rodion.

"Tiring."

"Eh? You don't look that tired," said Susan.

"It's very hard to use enough strength to swing the hoe; besides, we must bend over all day. I wonder why a weakling like Peter still looks fit after doing this every day."

"A weakling, you say?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty confident in my stamina and strength. But still, bending over all day will make you sore."

"That's how gardening is; it has nothing to do with how strong your strength is. In farming and gardening, you have to have the ability to be patient and have a lot of stamina. Allen, the only thing you have now is stamina. I heard from Peter that there are many parts that you hoe too deep, and there are also parts that are not in line."

"Yes, I'm sorry," Allen said without showing any expression.

"It's not a big deal, so it doesn't matter. I just wanted to say that you still need a lot of knowledge and experience. Learn from your mistakes now, and don't repeat them in the future."

That word made Allen silent for a moment, and then he said,

"Alright."

Allen looked at his hands; the skin was blistered and smelled of dirt. At that moment, he thought,

'So this is the kind of hard work Peter does every day. And from the food and the house, it looks like he doesn't earn much.

When I lived at Isabelle and Felicia's house, I didn't know that money was so hard to come by. On the other hand, Felicia often gave her money to others without a care in the world.

Peter was a poor man, and I had just destroyed one of the hoes he used for his livelihood. No wonder Master was so angry with me then. How am I supposed to replace the hoe?'

As he thought that, Rodion then said:

"About the hoe that you destroyed, no worries. I've already given the money to Iva. You've been working at my place for nothing, so just think of it as me giving them your salary."

Susan looked at Rodion with some disgust and said:

"Uwaaah… even though the money you gave must have been only a fraction of Allen's work all this time. You should be paying Allen's salary every day!"

"Noisy, I've been giving him free food and shelter. He should be grateful for that."

"Allen, you should also say something about this! Otherwise, you will forever be used by this old man!"

"It's okay... I don't need money either. If I have, please just give it to Peter."

Allen's words surprised Susan and Rodion; they looked at Allen for quite a long time.

"What?" Allen asked.

"No, it's just that I didn't think you were the one who said something like that. I thought you were a more cold person," Susan said.

"Am I?"

"YEAH! Even I don't remember you talking too much! You just nod and shake your head more often."

"I see…nove(l)bi(n.)com

Maybe…

I might have changed a bit."