“It’s not a portal,” I said. “Hmm. I thought I could have a train running from the main house to your farms.”
“But I don’t want to make my own farm!” said Lari.
Kharli and Mo nodded vigorously.
I waved a hand to dismiss their concerns. “Yes, yes, you guys were very clear that you want to live with me in the main house and stay in one big farm, but…”
Grinning mischievously, I paused.
The three of them exchanged looks. They weren’t worried at all. Instead, they were rolling their eyes in exasperation at my childishness.
Finally, Kharli sighed and asked, “But what, Teacher?”
I gestured at them to go into a huddle with me. With our heads bent down close together for fake privacy since I knew both Prince Baiyu and Scholar Wu could hear even the softest whisper from this distance, I said, “If we make three farms adjacent to the main one, we can make three more [Greenhouses].”
Mo threw her hands over her mouth to stifle a delighted scream. “We’ll get so much exp!”
We all straightened up, and I laughed.
“You said it, girl! The clan has given approval for three more farms to be established at Ancient Hill Forest,” I said. “That’s why we’ll need the railroad. It will make it faster to travel to all three extension farms.”
Regarding our living situation, it did make more sense to have only one house with multiple courtyards because we all worked together. Also, it saved on staff costs. However, establishing three more new workplaces had its advantages since it gave us more land and resources to work with.
Prince Baiyu joined us and took out a map from his interspatial storage space to show us where Lari, Kharli, and Mo’s farms were. They knew about it, of course, since they had to affix their personal seals to the contracts that granted them land, but we needed it since I wanted to show them where my proposed railroad was going to run.
“My dear, this does sound like a good idea, but we need approval from the clan to build a railroad,” said Prince Baiyu.
“What? Even though it’s only going to run through the lands we own?”
“Yes, of course.”
A horrifying thought occurred to me. “Wait a minute… this won’t mean extra taxes, will it?”
He just laughed.
***
I used the [Combine] for the rest of the planting season, which gave me plenty of free time to build more roads on the farm. While I was a farmer who wasn’t scared of muddy paths, I figured it was time to beautify my land since I knew my parents were going to join me here soon.
On the last day of sowing seeds, I rocked myself on my heels as I looked over the last paddy. “I’m so excited this will all be high quality [Rice]!”
Lari, Kharli, and Mo, who were exhausted from using up almost all of their energy, were sitting on folding chairs under a tent I had set up.
“Teacher, have some green tea, it’s incredibly good with the [Fairy Honey].” Kharli poured a cup for me.
The bees had produced a batch of [Fairy Honey] this morning, and everyone was wild over it.
[Fairy Honey:
A rare honey. Its delicate, floral flavor is the result of the bees feeding on special ancient blossom varieties known among master beekeepers as Fairy Flowers, so called because they are said to attract fairies.]
I sat down and I took a sip. The fresh, herbal taste combined with the floral sweetness of the [Fairy Honey] made my taste buds sing.
Lari took a piece of toast and dribbled honey over it. “Try some honey toast, everyone.”
We followed his lead, but I took out some [Butter] and tried to spread it on the toast first. Unfortunately, this resulted in [Burnt Toast], which I threw in the System trashcan. Lari silently gave me a piece of honey toast, which I ate with great relish. It was too sweet for me, but the kids seemed to like it.
“Teacher, when will you get the permission for the railroad?” asked Mo.
I shrugged. “No idea! Why is life so complicated? A girl just wants to build a railroad, but bureaucracy always gets in the way.”
“Cheer up, Teacher, they’ll definitely grant permission very soon because stress is bad for the baby,” said Kharli. “And I heard the Lady will go into confinement soon.”
“Yeah, my husband told me all about it. He’s already left to be with her. I offered to go with him, but the older ladies of the clan said I should stay put.” I nodded my acknowledgement at Kharli. “They don’t want me to get upset or freaked out.”
Mo shuddered. “Child birth…”
“No, stop it,” whispered Lari. He darted worried looks at me. “Teacher, you won’t go through a physical pregnancy, right?”
“Correct. There’s nothing to worry about as far as I know.”
We chatted about this and that as we ate and rested to regain our energy. Kharli proved to be correct. That afternoon, a messenger arrived with the permit we had all been waiting for. I was a bit sorry to build the railroad without my husband beside me, but neither did I want to wait a few days to build the [Greenhouses]. I wanted that exp!
***
“People, shall we have fun today?”
Everyone cheered. Scholar Wu had her pen and notebook out, ready to record everything she saw today.
I’d told Fengying to gather the household at the front gate. I led them to the northern part of the farm nearest the portal, and used the System’s [Build] tab and the Cash Shop to place the railroad. The sky above the farm lit up with an orange and red glow. Starting from a spot directly in front of me, two lines of golden light flew west and then south before disappearing into the distance. Moments later, the lines returned and merged at the starting point. The lights flashed twice and slowly dissolved, leaving behind train tracks made of steel, with wooden railroad ties perpendicular to them.
“Now, this is what I need your help with,” I said to my household. “Which of these designs do you like best?”
For every stop, there had to be a train station, and, of course, the train cars themselves should match the stations. There was another light show as I summoned the train and station of different designs from the Cash Shop: the default plain black one, [Space Age Travel], [Dragon Explorer], and even the [Santa Claus Special] that was very popular during the Christmas season in Adventure Incarnate. As an afterthought, I showed them the hilariously pink [Bambi’s Little Locomotive Love Adventure].
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
To my surprise, they loved the Bambi one most of all!
“Bambi? Really?”
“Because beautiful girls are the best,” said Kharli.
I turned to the others, who all nodded or raised their fists in agreement. Even Fengying approved!
My lips twitched as I looked at what I had bought from the Cash Shop. The other designs, except for the default one, were quite whimsical, but the Bambi version really took the cake. The station and train both had a clean, uncluttered look as though they were toy pieces that had been scaled up. The station was bright pink with white detailing, while the open observation cars were likewise pink, but with Bambi in various costumes and poses painted on the roof, sides, and seats.
“Okay, pretty girl train cars, it is.” I shrugged and gestured for Fengying to join me on the wooden steps to the cute little train station, which was really nothing more than a raised wooden platform with a domed glass roof.
The others followed behind us, chattering merrily about this new marvel. Qi-powered trains were ubiquitous in the Central continent, which seemed to be undergoing something of a mini industrial revolution at this time, but the Western continent hadn’t yet embraced it since it was focusing more on the rediscovered portal technology.
Up close, I could see that the wood and glass of the station actually had a few subtle abstract flower-like designs painted on them, but they were hard to see since they were pink on darker pink.
One would have expected a train for a farm to be more of an industrial cargo train, but nothing could be further from the truth. Players had an inventory they could use, so freight trains weren’t needed. Rather, these trains were merely for decoration and perhaps to occasionally take screenshots of the farm from another viewpoint. Thus, the train had two cars that were open on both sides like the ones on theme parks or the Singapore Night Safari’s tram. It also had one parlor car with glass walls for viewing the scenery and a wooden roof and floor. Obviously, the plush carpet, roof, and floor were all Bambi pink, and so were the swivel chairs and little side tables.
Fengying seated herself on a pink chair, turning it to face the glass walls, and Deming sat beside her. I made my way to the front, where I saw that the first train car had a control panel in the front seat. I sat down and checked the buttons. There was a big red Start/Stop button and a lever that controlled the speed. Based on the labels, the train had three speeds: Slow, Regular, and Fast.
I waved at the others milling at the station to let them know they could now explore the train itself.
“So this is a train!”
“I like the light red color.”
“The chairs are a bit small.”
“I bet this is better than anything Central has.”
“Portals should be faster, though?”
“Yes, but doesn’t this seem more relaxing and refined?”
Once they were done checking out the train, I asked everyone to go back to the station, where I took out a table from my inventory, and the maids helped me distribute glasses of either wine or soda we had looted from the System’s seaside hotels.
“I hereby christen this train the Emberstone Express!” I raised my glass of [Grimoire Grape] and then drank from it.
They all cheered this proclamation and emptied their glasses.
There was a slight delay as I collected all the glasses and vanished them into my inventory.
“Okay, let’s tour all of the new farms!”
We all got on the train. I invited Scholar Wu to sit beside me. Kharli and Mo were directly behind me while Lari opted to sit with a rowdy bunch of kitchen staff. Yinuo, who was quite visibly pregnant, went to the parlor car with her two husbands so she could sit in maximum comfort. A few of the maids joined her, but almost everyone opted to ride the open cars.
“All aboard!” I hit the button for the train whistle. From somewhere above us, the classic “toot” sound blared out loudly, probably from hidden speakers. I turned to Scholar Wu to ask, “Is this sound annoying?”
“Yes, but I understand it’s to let people know the train’s going to start moving. I suppose it's necessary.”
“Okay, good to know.” She had a point. The forest animals should be warned since this was the train’s maiden voyage. Therefore, I turned on the sound effects in the System’s settings. I hit the Start/Stop button and the train lurched forward, then got going with a loud but not deafening “choo-choo chugga-chugga” sound.
I sat back and said to my companion, “Do you mind if we don’t talk?”
“That would be lovely. I’d like to observe everything in silence.”
She got to scribbling in her notebook. Recently, she had bought a hugely expensive magical pen that never ran out of ink.
I smiled and relaxed. The train first passed through the rice paddies on the western side of the farm. The fields were a bright green, and the water was a shimmering, muddy silver, reflecting the overcast sky. A slight breeze rustled the tops of the rice, making the entire field appear to ripple. I took deep breaths of the cool air, somewhat wet from yesterday’s rain, and decided to put a sweater on.
The train chugged on, and I sat forward a little when we reached the wooden trestle bridge. Behind me, I could hear the others exclaiming when they saw it. The river wasn’t wide at this point, so the bridge was pretty short, but it stood out because it was prettily painted in pink.
The sound of the river water was drowned out by the whoosh and clatter of the train. It was strangely soothing, actually.
I put a thin blanket over my legs to protect them from the wind as the train continued to the southern part of Emberstone Farm. Here, there were more trees and fewer open spaces. I saw the family of ducks we were raising playing in the small pond I had built for them. The [Fragrant Flower Sanctuary] that we had planted was particularly charming this time of the year, with its [Fairy Chrysanthemums], [Fairy Asters], [Fairy Violas], [Fairy Marigolds], and so forth all blooming splendidly this fall.
Soon enough, we passed the southern border of the farm and went into a deep, dense virgin forest. Tall trees with thick moss-covered trunks lined the tracks, their canopies forming a green ceiling overhead. This early in the autumn season, the leaves were just beginning to turn brown. The rhythmic click-clack of the train’s wheels continued steadily as we moved deeper into the forest. The air here was cooler and wetter, but not unpleasantly so. There wasn’t much to see apart from the trees and wild undergrowth. Now and then, we did get a glimpse of some of the wildlife. I saw a startled deer and a curious fox watching us pass by, as well as a rabbit.
I forgot to check the time; however, it wasn’t too long before we reached the first stop. A pink-painted train platform, identical to the one on Emberstone Farm, came into sight. Lari started cheering, and the others all clapped or cheered.
“This is mine! This is my farm!” Lari shouted in great excitement as he lunged from his seat, his feet thudding onto the platform the instant the train stopped.
Scholar Wu offered me her hand to help me off the train, which I, of course, gracefully accepted. I looked around. Lari’s farm, as expected, was simply a large stretch of forest.
Lari took out an [Apple Tree] sapling he had grown in the [Greenhouse] for this occasion and planted it in the ground a few paces from the train station. “From now on, this place will be called Lari’s Farm!”
“Awesome! Congratulations!” I said.
I gave him a hug, and everyone crowded close to offer their congratulations, too.
After the excitement died down, we returned to the station. This time, I decided to try out the parlor car.
“Guys, I’ll let you drive the train,” I said to my apprentices. “There are three more stops, so you all can take a turn at it. Just press the Start/Stop button once. I’ve tweaked the settings to make it automatically stop at each station.”
“I’m next!” said Kharli. “My farm is next.”
Lari and Mo smiled and nodded.
“Mo can go next for her farm,” said Lari. His face was still flushed red with the exhilaration of claiming his first piece of land. “I'll press the button on the way back to Emberstone Farm.”
“Okay,” I said.
Scholar Wu opted to stay in the front seat, which was good since she could supervise the kids in my absence.
I sank into one of the comfortable chairs in the parlor car and reclined it a bit, putting my feet up on the legrest. The warmth of the interior was a welcome respite from the cold air that had been buffeting my body throughout the ride. I guess I was always more of an indoorsy type.
The train passed through more of the forest, this time turning east after a while until we reached Kharli’s new farm.
Like Lari, she also planted a sapling, but hers was a [Peach Tree].
“Thank you for being here with me as I plant my first tree on what will be called Kharli’s Farm!” she said.
I hugged and congratulated her. “Wow, what a wonderful day! Congratulations!”
Everyone was in a cheerful mood as we returned to the station. To help everyone celebrate, I added a dining car which had a small bar and lots of little tables and chairs. The windows were smaller; however, the decor was more luxurious, with rose gold moulding on the walls and ceiling, as well as a rather cute pink carpet with a white flower pattern. The walls were paneled in a high-gloss, pale bubblegum pink lacquer, and I had to laugh when I saw that the bar’s countertop was made of shimmering pink quartz.
This time, I sat on a dining chair while the Demon Chef made cocktails at the bar and his assistant served small appetizers like vegetable croquettes and small slices of bread topped with thin slices of ham.
I sipped a small glass of lemonade and ate some plain toast while looking at the scenery until we reached Mo’s farm.
This time, Mo planted a [Cherry Tree] sapling. “Thank you to everyone for your support. My farm will be called Mo’s Farm.”
I hugged my apprentice and said, “Congratulations! You’ve worked hard. We all have!”
Then I pulled Lari and Kharli into a group hug.
“Thank you, Teacher! This is all because of you,” said Kharli.
Smiling, I drew away from the others. “And now for the big reveal.”
I handed them three sets of papers from my inventory.
Their eyes widened when they read what the papers said. Kharli let out a piercing, wordless scream, and Mo burst into tears.
Lari was flummoxed and could barely stutter out a sentence. “T-th-this can’t be real, can it?”
*****
Author's Note:
- Farms for everyone! Hooray! I hope you like this chapter. :)
- Advanced chapters on my Patreon!
- Thank you very much for reading.
- Please let me know if there are any errors.