1708 Nightly Mission!

The heavy downpour never stopped, as the darkness grew stronger and stronger by the second.

It was the last week of November, and the darkness came much earlier than before.

It was only 5 PM but the darkness was almost absolute and the skies were completely clouded with no presence of stars wherever one looked.

The night crawlers still whistled, sang and croaked in the dark, though no one could hear their cricket and bird cries when the rains fell so heavily.

--Alabaster, Eastern Regions, Laboon Empire, Tenola--

The little town of Alabaster was soaked heavily by the rains.

Many on the streets ran up and down, left and right and in all directions to get out of the thundering weather.

What can they do? If they don't want to get sick and maybe die from the cold, they must work hard to finish whatever it was that kept them underneath the heavy rains.

One by one, the many groups of burly strong bodied men transported their cargo to the inns and many local establishments around.

They worked for Baron Thomas Yanjia, a ruthless man who was known for his unique taste of cruelty among his workers.

No one dared to dilly-dally, rushing forth to complete their tasks.

And soon, their many wagons were empty and the group rushed back to the farmlands for a meal and finally some sleep.

Baron Thomas liked for his workers to live within the confines of his grand Plantation estate.

They were to live there with their families, so they could work even more hours a day if need be.

Even if some had homes in the towns, they were still to love within working periods, allowing their wives, daughters or sons to stay with them here to keep them company.

Of course, their families could move about freely between their real homes and this one, but they couldn't.

"It's all done, boys! Time to head back!"

One of the old (41-year-old) burly leaders called out, ensuring everyone went home at the same time.

The wagons had the Baron's family Crest on them and didn't belong to the workers, so they must be returned before any other issues arise.

Like so, everyone headed back home, with the Baymardians among the group.

It was easy to spot them since people born in Tenola have the fairest skins in this world.

They were so fair that one would think they could star in live-action movies involving the ICE Queen and her people.

It also seemed that no matter how the sun got hot, they couldn't tan so much.

They were so fair that any little blemishes would look like brutal injuries in the eyes of many.

Of course, the fairest group of people were the noblest while the peasants and others were indeed fairer than the rest of the world, but only slightly fairer than those in Morgany, Pyno, and Veinitta.

To put it simply, they looked so fresh like 4~8-month-old babies whose bodies have just adjusted to the world.

All in all, they looked very distinct, making it easy for people to spot foreigners in Tenola.

Of course, the darker-toned Tenolians were those with mixed parents, like those whose mothers were from Tenola and fathers were from Veinitta and so on.

Even then, it was still easy to shoot foreigners like the Baymardians.

Reaching the estate sleeping quarters, Major General Beri and several others quickly headed to their rooms after smiling jovially with their working comrades.

All 11 of them lived in a cramped small room, which by the way was described by many other workers as being much larger than usual.

In the room, they also had 7 women staying here. In public, these women were their wives.

Many people had similar situations, crowding up with others in rooms whether they knew the people or not.

Of course, because many don't want the nakedness of women or men to be seen by others, it was a must to only use the bathing houses when one wanted to change their clothes.

The bathing bikes were connected to the sleeping quarters by long outdoor verandas with well-designed roofs to shield them from rain and snow.

If a man/woman wanted to change out of their wet or sweaty garments, it could only be done there.

After all, who wants their daughters, sons, wives and husbands looking at other people in their presence?

Just as the name suggests, this ace was a Sleeping quarter, only there for them to SLEEP in.

If you want to have adult activities and feel the need to get jiggy with it, please do that out of the estate.

Some also hide in the bushes and farmlands to have wild escapades when they felt no one was watching.

Bottom line, the rooms/sleeping dormitories were just for sleep and nothing more.

---

Seeing their 'men' open the door, the women did away with what they were doing and rushed over to welcome them home.

"Goodness! You're all soaked to the bone!"

"Are you tired? Come over and try this sweater I made for you, husband."

"Yes, husband. It's all hard work. I'm so happy to have you in my life, taking care of me."

"No! No! Husband, you must get out of these clothes immediately. What if you get a cold? What would I do then?"

"Yes, yes, yes! You just came back and haven't gotten a single thing to eat yet. So why not rush to change out of your clothes and come back for your meal? Look! We saved you quite a lot! Do rush up clean up and come back quickly."

The Baymardians women said loudly, allowing their words travel across the thin walls.

Those in the rooms next to them must've heard all they said. That was what they wanted.

Some men in those rooms who are single wished they could find partners right now while others who already had wives in their homes in town, wished they would have been here when they returned.

As for others whose wives were already here, they secretly thanked these Baymardian women who made their wives become more attached and carrying overnight.

You don't understand.

After being neighbors with these people for over 4 months now their wives who had competitive sports, suddenly became more considerate.

Likewise, they too changed, becoming more loving to their wives after seeing how these Baymardian men also treated their women.

Hey...

Once you've been forcefully given dog Food for so long, you also want a piece of it, wanting to see what it's like to live like that too.

Who can blame them?

(V^V)

They had to admit that this period was indeed one of the sweetest times in their marriages as they felt very close to their partners and families.

Hey...

It wasn't so bad to continue living like this.

Sure enough once they returned from a hectic day's work their wives burst out with excitement, hugging them warmly too.

The women also told them to rush out and change so they could eat their meals and spend a few hours together before turning in early for the day.

Today, they finished work at 5 P.M because the sun was out early and the rains were heavy. However, didn't mean they had more freedom in doing things.

As nice as it sounded they still had to wake up at 4~ 4:30 AM and get moving, having to go to the storage facilities to process their harvests in sacs until the sun finally rose at 7.

From there, they head to the fields again even if it was raining cats and dogs.

That will not be the Baron's problem when he sends his men for inspection by the end of the month.

No matter what season it is, some crops grow extremely well in rainy periods and winter.

Don't think just because the winter was coming, farming would suddenly stop.

It would indeed relax more, with them only tending to the fields once or twice a week in the heart of winter. But until then they must work according to schedule.

The Baron also dabbled in winemaking, so during the times they didn't go to the fields, they joined the ale-making team to produce as many barrels of rum as they could before shipping them out.

In short, no matter the season, they would be busy nonstop.

----

Very quickly, the men went out to change, returned and ate bland porridge which quite frankly tasted like water and raw vegetables.

But what could they do? It was times like these that they wished they had a chocolate bar or something with immense flavor to satisfy their mouths.

"Hey, let's sleep. We have an early rise tomorrow."

"Yeah."

"Yeah!"

"Goodnight everyone."

"Goodnight..."

--Silence--

1, 2, 3...

The group sat up straight, sweeping their gazes over each other with a stern nod.