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TBE Chapter 40
🕑 Added 2025-01-17 08:36:09 +0000 UTCTBE Chapter 40
On the way to the village to Mr. Duvon’s house, Ezekiel taught his brothers some nursery rhymes so they spent the whole way singing “Itsy, Bitsy Spider”, then “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and by popular request, the birthday song “Happy Birthday to You”.
The boys had fun singing at the top of their lungs that Ezekiel thought that he might have made a mistake but when they were near the village where people were present, the boys stopped singing.
He was a bit sad that his brothers turned reserved when other people were present. That was the main reason why he wanted them to enroll in school so they would get used to the presence of other people and open up. He was wishing that it would not be a mistake.
Ezekiel knew that Robert was brave though since when he asked him to fetch the butcher from the market, the young boy didn’t hesitate. It might have been because the boy had a clear goal but if he were by himself, he probably wouldn’t volunteer himself and Ezekiel truly hoped that school would change that.
When they arrived at Mr. Duvon’s house, Ezekiel knocked on his teacher's door and the old man answered. The two boys ran past Ezekiel’s teacher after saying good morning and directly headed to the courtyard. He apologized for his brothers’ behavior but his teacher just waved away his apology.
“I’m just glad that they’re becoming lively. And looking healthy too,” Mr. Duvon said after observing Robert and Luke.
Ezekiel was glad that his teacher said that since it confirmed his observation as well and that it was not just wishful thinking.
“I do try my best to make sure they eat nutritious food,” Ezekiel said.
“Well, I commend you for being a responsible big brother,” Mr. Duvon said.
Ezekiel and his teacher then went to the living room and started their lessons. After the lessons, Ezekiel was excited since he was now able to read simple paragraphs. With a few more lessons he could begin reading books and finally learn about the world through books.
“Sir, I wanted to thank you for your advice regarding enrolling my brothers in school. I spoke with Mr. Rengold and Robert and Luke would start coming to school on Monday.”
“That’s good. It’s not healthy for your brothers to grow up isolated. Having other kids surrounding them would assist them in their development.”
“That was what I was thinking as well.”
“Too bad we’re too far from the university or else I would recommend that you attend one.”
“Thank you for your confidence in me but even if we’re near the city, I probably would not be able to do that since I still have responsibilities towards my brothers.”
“What are your plans? Hunting animals in the forest is not a sustainable job for you.”
“I’m going to become a woodworker. I already created several pieces that I’m sure I could sell in the market. It would also be supplemented by the products I found in the forest like jams and honey.”
“Who taught you how to craft wood?” Mr. Duvon curiously asked.
“It was my father. He was a woodworker,” Ezekiel lied since that was the only excuse he could think of at that moment.
“I didn’t know that but I didn’t truly know your parents. I wondered why they hunted in the forest instead of starting a woodworking business,” Mr. Duvon wondered.
“I’m guessing that my father was catering to what my mother wanted back then.”
Ezekiel knew that he should stop weaving his lies because it was becoming elaborate so he said his goodbye to his teacher and called his brothers from the courtyard.
The three then went to the village green as usual and ate their lunch there. Robert and Luke requested the birthday food again and as usual, Ezekiel indulged them but he decided that for dinner, they would eat something different.
While they were eating Ezekiel talked to Robert.
“You should learn how to drive Prince Charming’s cart since on Monday, the school year would begin and I’m expecting you to drive yourself and Luke using the cart. During that time, I would be working on mastering wood crafting so I would have a steady regular profession that would allow us to earn coins.”
Ezekiel could see that Robert was excited at the prospect of learning how to drive their cart that was pulled by their donkey. He wasn’t truly worried that his brother wouldn’t be able to handle the responsibility since the village and the school were only a few minutes away from their house.
After lunch, Ezekiel told Robert that the lessons would start then. Although he called it a lesson, it was just him letting Robert handle the driving since there wasn’t actually anything that he needed to teach.
“Are we allowed to bring our toys to school?” Robert asked.
“Sure but there’s a good chance that they might disappear like you placing them somewhere you will not be able to remember or somebody stealing them.”
Robert paused, thinking deeply then Ezekiel was amused to see him talking seriously to Luke about leaving their toys at home so the other kids wouldn’t steal them. Luke had wide eyes while listening to his big brother and the young boy nodded in agreement with what Robert was saying.
“What about our coloring books, notebooks, and our colored sticks?” Robert asked.
“They’re called crayons and I’m thinking that those are safe since most kids are not interested in books, just toys,” Ezekiel answered.
Robert then concentrated on handling Prince Charming. Ezekiel was glad that their donkey was very docile and was even affectionate towards the three of them. More than likely, it was because they were treating Prince Charming as a family pet instead of their work animal. They healed it, fed it generously, watered it, and cleaned it thoroughly. It even had its own house.
When they arrived at their houses, Robert and Luke ran towards their bedroom house to store their backpacks there and ran outside to play. Ezekiel led the donkey to his stable, cleaned it using his Prestidigitation spell, and fed and watered it. He then renewed the Galder’s Tower spell even though the duration was only halfway done.
After that, Ezekiel spent several minutes cleaning the area using his Prestidigitation spell. It was amusing to see an area getting cleaned but the effect outside was minimal. He then summoned Yuki Onna to look after the kids. At least he could send the Snowy Owl familiar to accompany Robert and Luke in school to guard them. Even though he wouldn’t be able to communicate with Yuki Onna since he could only do that to a maximum of 100 feet, the owl was large enough to be an effective bodyguard.
Ezekiel then told Robert and Luke that he would go near the road to conjure a house that would function as his workshop and store and both boys just nodded while continuing their play.
It was early, around two in the afternoon so he went to the road near their Galder’s Tower houses. He planned to cast Galder’s Tower but he would make sure that it would be empty. Since their houses were near enough to the workshop slash store location if he needed to go to the toilet or wash he could just go home.
Ezekiel's plan for the workshop slash store was, that the door would be at the side, and the front would just be a regular window but extremely large. He would put in a table and shelves that would let him display his wooden arts and crafts items. He planned to put in a work table and chair on one side and storage shelves on the other walls where he would put in the wood and other unfinished products. He also planned to put a storage chest at the back of the house where he could put other materials.
The tools that he would be using like his hammer, handsaw, chisel, wood planer, tape measure, pencils, and other things would be on the wall where the work table was located. He would hang them on hooks when not in use. He would take his time designing his workshop since he wouldn’t pressure himself regarding the woodworking profession since it wasn’t truly going to be a coin-making profession for him, just a hobby and an excuse so that he could explain where he had gotten the wooden items that he would sell.
Ezekiel cast the Galder’s Tower and his workshop beside the road appeared. As he imagined the door was the side and the huge window was at the front. The window could be opened and closed just like a regular window but even though the door and windows looked flimsy, he knew that with his Arcane Lock spell, no regular person would be able to enter the store.
Even if the store were broken into, there wasn’t really going to be anything valuable in it since he could easily replace the tools by purchasing them again from his system shopping site. He purchased two huge tables. The work table where he would do his woodwork and the display table where he would put in the display shelves. He then purchased three huge wooden shelves where he would put the wood and some of the unfinished products and he also purchased hooks that he would put in the wall where the work table was located.
