It was a new day for the lives of Farmer's Den, a timid little village built and ran by nearby farmers, ranchers, and hunters living within Lay'Lay Valley. As soon as the morning sun arose from its slumber, the residents would get to work and the village would soon be filled with noise and pacing, early shipments and cargo would be greeted by shop owners, each one attempting to bribe the deliverers to get the first pick.
Once the first pack of soon-to-be customers would enter the village, the shops would stay open for business until the late night crickets would sing from the tall grass surrounding them. Here in Lay'Lay Valley, where green was the dominant color and agriculture was highly sought for its popularity, this was the place where families can find a fertile plot of land to settle, plot their trees, and live a comfortable life raising their families away from the stress of burglary, pillaging, warring kingdoms and invading races and species.
Or so it was that way, once upon a time.
That was the rising song of success this place once represented, but to Janette it had long changed into early memories her father would recall when profits started to drop. It would seem that her brief visit to KuliKuli would cost her a few precious minutes as she arrived with several shops attending a few new customers. She sighed and pulled her carriage behind her shop, petting her horses and feeding each of them a carrot before moving to the front of her store.
When compared to the neighboring stores in Farmer's Den, Janette's shop was rather modest in appearance. It was meant to look modest, a simple green tent perched up with a row of plants decorated around it was enough to bring in plenty of customers to meet her daily revenue. It wasn't just any normal tent either, it was a boxy design with the front curtains pulled open to expose the variety of produce offered inside. The aisles of fruit products were plentiful, neatly displayer and organized for anyone to walk in and inspect before walking out. Red and green apples were in the front, followed by a row of oranges and mangos, kiwi and avocados, and from the hangers were large baskets of grapes, cherries, cranberries, and much more.
She was fortunate to have such a wide variety of fruit available in her shop, but it came with a lot of responsibilities. Packing up and storing them with the proper care to maintain their vibrant healthy look was a pain as many of her produce didn't have the longest lifespan before they began to wrinkle and rot. Thankfully, she had a few workers to help lessen the stress of storing them alone, but today they wouldn't be showing up until noon. They would often work from noon to evenings due to personal matters they had to attend, not to mention neither of them lived locally. Janette was understanding and didn't mind working with their schedules, the mornings offered her some time to think to herself in somber moments when no customers were around, although it was scarce when that happened.
Life was always busy for her, it's why she chose to set up a shop in this village to begin with.
She had just finished setting up the fruit stands and officially opened her store, pulling the entrance curtains wide open and hanging up her sign: Janette's Fruits of Labor
"Morning!" She spun around and was met with the neighboring store owner waving at her from his own shop. "Saw your boys pulling up a mighty full wagon. New produce or just restocking?"
Janette smiled and waved back. "Coconuts. Managed to snag a few through a new contract."
The old man seemed intrigued as the wrinkle on his brow raised, his fingers drumming on the stand he was standing behind. "Hmph, not familiar with those. They look rather hairy."
"Just on the outside, they're a new produce brought from the coastline a few days east from here."
"Coastline! I hope it's not you making the trip yourself over there, I've heard stories about them pirates and how they be when they spot a woman. Unless." He chuckled and gave her a look. "Unless you're looking to bring one home to yourself? I mean you're not getting any younger, when I was your age my wife was carrying our daughter and I was hard at work saving up some coin for us. Besides, it would do some good to have someone to protect you."
Janette had opened her mouth to respond when someone approached her from the road, a seemingly human couple dressed modestly with the man asking, "You have any grapes in there?"
She smiled and looked back at the old man, waving goodbye before pulling the lovely couple into her shop. That was how every day at work would be for her. Life is a competition to survive, it did not matter where you lived, what class you were in, or whether you lived alone or with family. Even a hermit isolated in the mountains would be fighting for the same food that other animals crave, it's a fact of life.
Everyday functioned like clock work, every month a new merchant would come up with an idea to market, and every few months a new shop would open and another would close. But not hers, she learned from her father early on that the marketing life was a game amongst wolves. One needed to plan ahead, seek out new investments, alternate methods for profitability, save up enough coin in case of a slow year, things like that.
The early rush of travelers had just arrived, each consisting of different faces, races, colors and sizes. Be it a family of dark-skinned humans from the warm climates passing through, or a group of runaway elves searching for a new home, so long as they had coin in their pockets any and all customers were welcomed. Janette scooped up a blue notebook from under her desk and plopped it up on the table stand, writing down the first batch of fruit sold that day. The list of sold produce would grow with each new client, filling in page after page as she was careful to jot a new sale down while checking to see what sold highest that day. If any customers asked for a fruit that she didn't have, she would take note of it. How many people asked for coconuts this day? This week, or this month?
That was what led to her newest cargo, it was her personal method for staying ahead of the competition. Supply and demand, always pay attention to see what people want. There were no breaks or rests for her, even when customers were absent she would pace around and keep check of the number of produce available. Move the brightest and healthiest, most appealing fruit to the front of their stands. Restock them at a weekly or biweekly basis. Spray a bit of water over them to keep that shiny look and tempt any hungry travelers passing by.
It may be scummy, it probably was, but business was business and she had a profit to keep and a business to maintain with a very full schedule.
Weekend trips to the other shops to check their rates, sales, management and to restock. Check in with associated groups, search for new contracts when a demand needed to be met.
She greeted her first employee once the morning shifted into early afternoon, relieved to see a pair of hands take over while she went to her desk at the back and had herself some lunch. She pulled out a basket from her carriage and ate silently in the back, munching on a crunchy loaf of bread with some sweet cheese, a pitcher of apple juice and a small bowl of grapes on the side. Afterward, she would open a small pouch and enjoy a snack of fruits and oats while she read off her book based on Monster Girls, with the chapter focusing on the Nekomata type.
She took to her quill and dipped it on ink before writing down a few notes on her own journal, comparing her observations with the studies learned from her own observations. She blew some air so that the ink would dry quickly, closing her journal and picking up another book to learn about native tribes. Without any confirmation from Reta, it was difficult for her to know for certain where her tribe came from and from how far. Some studies mentioned a few settlements of Wood Elves but those lived in the mountains where the forests were, preferring to live within a natural lively habitat with a preference for wildlife.
"Miss Janette?" She lowered her book and turned around as her employee poked his head around the corner. "The deliveryman just arrived."
"I'll be there in a moment." She replied, placing the book on the table and tucking her journal into her satchel. Pushing her wooden chair back, she adjusted her dress and fixed up her hair before making her way to the side exit. She paid off the man with a nice tip for his service and a little extra on the side. He smiled and reached into the back of his wagon, pulling out two hefty carts of fresh produce for her purchase. That was the way this game was played, she smiled and shook his hand.
"Merci, mon ami." He said as he got back on his wagon and made his way to the next market.
"Oui oui, stay safe!" She called out, grunting as she struggled with the first crate before whistling for her worker to help.
The day turned to night as her shop was kept busy as usual, the new batch of bananas sold easily today when hung out in display. It was always a surprise when she would hear from hungry travelers how they had never seen this product or that before.
From recent memory, halflings often favored the sour taste of oranges and lemons, combining them for their own meals to enhance the flavor. She believed it may be due to their ways of agricultural lifestyle, commonly referred to as gardeners. Carrots and cabbages were a plentiful source for them, but fruits were somewhat rare where they came from. Elves preferred the sweeter taste of peaches, pineapples, mangos and apples to mix into their salads, perhaps stemming from their herbivore diet while humans were less picky and purchased a bit of whatever came to their liking. Dwarves, however rare they were to approach her shop, would pick out grapes and olives while Avians would purchase cherries and cranberries instead.
She had a habit of noticing those small things, perhaps it was a lingering effect from her mind always analyzing and recognizing patterns in choices and behaviors. Her second employee arrived for a short time, helping with the evening position before they began to clean up the stock. Janette would pack up her own belonging, storing them into her carriage and listening to nearby gossip sometimes. But she would rarely entertain them, most of the shop owners looked at her with daggers in their eyes for one reason or another. The butcher from a few shops over tried to get to know her and she appreciated his effort, however forced it may have felt, but she pulled away when she suspected that he had other intentions for getting close to her.
It was a common reminder for a woman of her age, a young adult who lived a private life despite constantly being surrounded by others. She carried this need of discovering patterns to keep her position on top, to live up to her father's goals and support their family business. But doing so came at a cost of her personal life, something she would often think about when she would begin her lonely ride back home. As she departed from the Farmer's Den, she couldn't help but notice the many pairings of different couples kissing their partners as they were welcomed back home from a long day's work. It pained her to know that was something she had yet to achieve.
Youth was still in her favor, but now that she was reaching her mid-twenties she was beginning to wonder if perhaps the romantic life was not one she was destined for. Maybe it was the price she had to pay in exchange for her lifestyle, for she knew better than to be ignorant of how well off she lived compared to others.
Felix was a reminder of that, she wondered what kind of live he lived as he was a bit younger than her and yet he was illiterate. It wasn't rare but it wasn't common either, not from what she has known. Then again, as she thought more about it she didn't notice any schools around here as those were more common in larger cities.
She pulled her horses to a stop when she spotted a young boy with a dirty face and a handful of brown folded papers tucked under his arm. He looked up from his small cap, his pointed ears sticking out from his curly black hair, as he reached for a newspaper and held it out for her. "Papers?"
Janette paid him with a gold coin, giggling when he gasped at the sight and thanked her repeatedly before running back home. He was so excited that he didn't seem to care that he dropped his batch of papers to the ground. She shook her head and carefully lighted her lantern, reading the news while she continued her journey home. Today it seemed that the brown page had a nicely drawn image of a burning circus with a headline indicating an unfortunate incident for the traveling performance. She scoffed and read the entire page just in case, finding herself pleased to know that the fire was brushed off as some accident.
She tucked the paper away once she arrived back home, sighing to herself as she fed her horses and brushed their fur before climbing up the front steps. Digging into her pocket, she retrieved her house key and unlocked the double doors, closing them behind her as she stepped in. At the very least, she had a few guests to look forward to depending on whether they would talk to her or night. Still, it felt nice to have some company to at least listen to, even if she couldn't understand their language.
Oh well, she thought to herself as she sat down in bed. Tomorrow will be another day, another struggle to climb uphill.
Such was the daily life she lived in, always busy thinking of ways to stay ahead while reading up on her hobby of Monster Girls in the little free time she had left.
It was a new day for the lives of Farmer's Den, a timid little village built and ran by nearby farmers, ranchers, and hunters living within Lay'Lay Valley. As soon as the morning sun arose from its slumber, the residents would get to work and the village would soon be filled with noise and pacing, early shipments and cargo would be greeted by shop owners, each one attempting to bribe the deliverers to get the first pick.
Once the first pack of soon-to-be customers would enter the village, the shops would stay open for business until the late night crickets would sing from the tall grass surrounding them. Here in Lay'Lay Valley, where green was the dominant color and agriculture was highly sought for its popularity, this was the place where families can find a fertile plot of land to settle, plot their trees, and live a comfortable life raising their families away from the stress of burglary, pillaging, warring kingdoms and invading races and species.
Or so it was that way, once upon a time.
That was the rising song of success this place once represented, but to Janette it had long changed into early memories her father would recall when profits started to drop. It would seem that her brief visit to KuliKuli would cost her a few precious minutes as she arrived with several shops attending a few new customers. She sighed and pulled her carriage behind her shop, petting her horses and feeding each of them a carrot before moving to the front of her store.
When compared to the neighboring stores in Farmer's Den, Janette's shop was rather modest in appearance. It was meant to look modest, a simple green tent perched up with a row of plants decorated around it was enough to bring in plenty of customers to meet her daily revenue. It wasn't just any normal tent either, it was a boxy design with the front curtains pulled open to expose the variety of produce offered inside. The aisles of fruit products were plentiful, neatly displayer and organized for anyone to walk in and inspect before walking out. Red and green apples were in the front, followed by a row of oranges and mangos, kiwi and avocados, and from the hangers were large baskets of grapes, cherries, cranberries, and much more.
She was fortunate to have such a wide variety of fruit available in her shop, but it came with a lot of responsibilities. Packing up and storing them with the proper care to maintain their vibrant healthy look was a pain as many of her produce didn't have the longest lifespan before they began to wrinkle and rot. Thankfully, she had a few workers to help lessen the stress of storing them alone, but today they wouldn't be showing up until noon. They would often work from noon to evenings due to personal matters they had to attend, not to mention neither of them lived locally. Janette was understanding and didn't mind working with their schedules, the mornings offered her some time to think to herself in somber moments when no customers were around, although it was scarce when that happened.
Life was always busy for her, it's why she chose to set up a shop in this village to begin with.
She had just finished setting up the fruit stands and officially opened her store, pulling the entrance curtains wide open and hanging up her sign: Janette's Fruits of Labor
"Morning!" She spun around and was met with the neighboring store owner waving at her from his own shop. "Saw your boys pulling up a mighty full wagon. New produce or just restocking?"
Janette smiled and waved back. "Coconuts. Managed to snag a few through a new contract."
The old man seemed intrigued as the wrinkle on his brow raised, his fingers drumming on the stand he was standing behind. "Hmph, not familiar with those. They look rather hairy."
"Just on the outside, they're a new produce brought from the coastline a few days east from here."
"Coastline! I hope it's not you making the trip yourself over there, I've heard stories about them pirates and how they be when they spot a woman. Unless." He chuckled and gave her a look. "Unless you're looking to bring one home to yourself? I mean you're not getting any younger, when I was your age my wife was carrying our daughter and I was hard at work saving up some coin for us. Besides, it would do some good to have someone to protect you."
Janette had opened her mouth to respond when someone approached her from the road, a seemingly human couple dressed modestly with the man asking, "You have any grapes in there?"
She smiled and looked back at the old man, waving goodbye before pulling the lovely couple into her shop. That was how every day at work would be for her. Life is a competition to survive, it did not matter where you lived, what class you were in, or whether you lived alone or with family. Even a hermit isolated in the mountains would be fighting for the same food that other animals crave, it's a fact of life.
Everyday functioned like clock work, every month a new merchant would come up with an idea to market, and every few months a new shop would open and another would close. But not hers, she learned from her father early on that the marketing life was a game amongst wolves. One needed to plan ahead, seek out new investments, alternate methods for profitability, save up enough coin in case of a slow year, things like that.
The early rush of travelers had just arrived, each consisting of different faces, races, colors and sizes. Be it a family of dark-skinned humans from the warm climates passing through, or a group of runaway elves searching for a new home, so long as they had coin in their pockets any and all customers were welcomed. Janette scooped up a blue notebook from under her desk and plopped it up on the table stand, writing down the first batch of fruit sold that day. The list of sold produce would grow with each new client, filling in page after page as she was careful to jot a new sale down while checking to see what sold highest that day. If any customers asked for a fruit that she didn't have, she would take note of it. How many people asked for coconuts this day? This week, or this month?
That was what led to her newest cargo, it was her personal method for staying ahead of the competition. Supply and demand, always pay attention to see what people want. There were no breaks or rests for her, even when customers were absent she would pace around and keep check of the number of produce available. Move the brightest and healthiest, most appealing fruit to the front of their stands. Restock them at a weekly or biweekly basis. Spray a bit of water over them to keep that shiny look and tempt any hungry travelers passing by.
It may be scummy, it probably was, but business was business and she had a profit to keep and a business to maintain with a very full schedule.
Weekend trips to the other shops to check their rates, sales, management and to restock. Check in with associated groups, search for new contracts when a demand needed to be met.
She greeted her first employee once the morning shifted into early afternoon, relieved to see a pair of hands take over while she went to her desk at the back and had herself some lunch. She pulled out a basket from her carriage and ate silently in the back, munching on a crunchy loaf of bread with some sweet cheese, a pitcher of apple juice and a small bowl of grapes on the side. Afterward, she would open a small pouch and enjoy a snack of fruits and oats while she read off her book based on Monster Girls, with the chapter focusing on the Nekomata type.
She took to her quill and dipped it on ink before writing down a few notes on her own journal, comparing her observations with the studies learned from her own observations. She blew some air so that the ink would dry quickly, closing her journal and picking up another book to learn about native tribes. Without any confirmation from Reta, it was difficult for her to know for certain where her tribe came from and from how far. Some studies mentioned a few settlements of Wood Elves but those lived in the mountains where the forests were, preferring to live within a natural lively habitat with a preference for wildlife.
"Miss Janette?" She lowered her book and turned around as her employee poked his head around the corner. "The deliveryman just arrived."
"I'll be there in a moment." She replied, placing the book on the table and tucking her journal into her satchel. Pushing her wooden chair back, she adjusted her dress and fixed up her hair before making her way to the side exit. She paid off the man with a nice tip for his service and a little extra on the side. He smiled and reached into the back of his wagon, pulling out two hefty carts of fresh produce for her purchase. That was the way this game was played, she smiled and shook his hand.
"Merci, mon ami." He said as he got back on his wagon and made his way to the next market.
"Oui oui, stay safe!" She called out, grunting as she struggled with the first crate before whistling for her worker to help.
The day turned to night as her shop was kept busy as usual, the new batch of bananas sold easily today when hung out in display. It was always a surprise when she would hear from hungry travelers how they had never seen this product or that before.
From recent memory, halflings often favored the sour taste of oranges and lemons, combining them for their own meals to enhance the flavor. She believed it may be due to their ways of agricultural lifestyle, commonly referred to as gardeners. Carrots and cabbages were a plentiful source for them, but fruits were somewhat rare where they came from. Elves preferred the sweeter taste of peaches, pineapples, mangos and apples to mix into their salads, perhaps stemming from their herbivore diet while humans were less picky and purchased a bit of whatever came to their liking. Dwarves, however rare they were to approach her shop, would pick out grapes and olives while Avians would purchase cherries and cranberries instead.
She had a habit of noticing those small things, perhaps it was a lingering effect from her mind always analyzing and recognizing patterns in choices and behaviors. Her second employee arrived for a short time, helping with the evening position before they began to clean up the stock. Janette would pack up her own belonging, storing them into her carriage and listening to nearby gossip sometimes. But she would rarely entertain them, most of the shop owners looked at her with daggers in their eyes for one reason or another. The butcher from a few shops over tried to get to know her and she appreciated his effort, however forced it may have felt, but she pulled away when she suspected that he had other intentions for getting close to her.
It was a common reminder for a woman of her age, a young adult who lived a private life despite constantly being surrounded by others. She carried this need of discovering patterns to keep her position on top, to live up to her father's goals and support their family business. But doing so came at a cost of her personal life, something she would often think about when she would begin her lonely ride back home. As she departed from the Farmer's Den, she couldn't help but notice the many pairings of different couples kissing their partners as they were welcomed back home from a long day's work. It pained her to know that was something she had yet to achieve.
Youth was still in her favor, but now that she was reaching her mid-twenties she was beginning to wonder if perhaps the romantic life was not one she was destined for. Maybe it was the price she had to pay in exchange for her lifestyle, for she knew better than to be ignorant of how well off she lived compared to others.
Felix was a reminder of that, she wondered what kind of live he lived as he was a bit younger than her and yet he was illiterate. It wasn't rare but it wasn't common either, not from what she has known. Then again, as she thought more about it she didn't notice any schools around here as those were more common in larger cities.
She pulled her horses to a stop when she spotted a young boy with a dirty face and a handful of brown folded papers tucked under his arm. He looked up from his small cap, his pointed ears sticking out from his curly black hair, as he reached for a newspaper and held it out for her. "Papers?"
Janette paid him with a gold coin, giggling when he gasped at the sight and thanked her repeatedly before running back home. He was so excited that he didn't seem to care that he dropped his batch of papers to the ground. She shook her head and carefully lighted her lantern, reading the news while she continued her journey home. Today it seemed that the brown page had a nicely drawn image of a burning circus with a headline indicating an unfortunate incident for the traveling performance. She scoffed and read the entire page just in case, finding herself pleased to know that the fire was brushed off as some accident.
She tucked the paper away once she arrived back home, sighing to herself as she fed her horses and brushed their fur before climbing up the front steps. Digging into her pocket, she retrieved her house key and unlocked the double doors, closing them behind her as she stepped in. At the very least, she had a few guests to look forward to depending on whether they would talk to her or night. Still, it felt nice to have some company to at least listen to, even if she couldn't understand their language.
Oh well, she thought to herself as she sat down in bed. Tomorrow will be another day, another struggle to climb uphill.
Such was the daily life she lived in, always busy thinking of ways to stay ahead while reading up on her hobby of Monster Girls in the little free time she had left.
