Chapter 100 K

Chapter 100 K
Chapter 8: Three More Names

The general store had sawdust on the floor and dried herbs hanging from the ceiling beams. The woman behind the counter didn't look up when Jasper walked in.

"Pell sent you." She kept sorting through a crate of nails. "Said you'd come asking about the guild's numbers."

"Word travels fast."

"Word travels faster when it's good news for once." She looked up. Her hands were rough, scarred along the knuckles. "I'm Sana. Ran a supply farm three plots south before the fines got bad. Had to lease half my land to cover them."

Jasper set the ledger fragment on the counter. Sana read through it, her face tightening line by line.

\[READ INTENT ACTIVATED\]
\[TARGET: SANA\]
\[ASSESSMENT: RESTRAINED FURY — CAREFULLY CONTROLLED\]

"I knew it." She set the parchment down carefully. "I told my husband a year ago something was wrong. He told me not to make trouble with the guild."

"What changed his mind?"

"He passed last winter. Fever took him before the healers could do anything." Her voice stayed even. "I've been running the farm alone since. Paying fines alone. Wondering if I'd lose the land alone. Nobody needs to convince me twice."

Jasper didn't offer condolences. He nodded once and let it sit.

"I'm gathering five names for a formal grievance. Pell's in. I need three more before we file."

"I know two who'll join without hesitation. Marra, works the orchard past the eastern well. And Bram, though you'll have to catch him early before he starts drinking." Sana crossed her arms. "That's four with you and Pell. Who's the fifth?"

"Working on it."

"Work faster." Her eyes narrowed. "Hesk isn't a patient man, and he isn't stupid either. Four Farmers suddenly quiet and thoughtful instead of complaining loudly like always, he'll notice that shift eventually."

"I know." Jasper tucked the ledger back into his shirt. "That's why I need this moving faster than comfortable."

Sana studied him. "You're not what I expected, when Pell said Farmer."

"Everyone keeps saying that."

"Because it's true. Farmers in this village keep their heads down and their mouths shut. You've been here two weeks and you're already organizing a grievance against the man who controls half the local economy. That's either courage or recklessness, and I haven't decided which yet."

"Does it matter, if the outcome's the same?"

Sana's mouth twitched. "Suppose not. Go find Marra. Tell her I sent you. Tell her about the ledger before she asks too many questions. She trusts numbers more than she trusts people."

Jasper thanked her and headed east, past the well, toward the orchard. The trees grew in neat rows, heavy with fruit ready for harvest. A woman moved between them, picking and sorting.

"Marra?"

She glanced up. Her shoulders tensed immediately.

"Sana sent me." Jasper held up the ledger fragment before she could ask anything. "About the guild's yield reports."

Marra set down her basket and crossed the distance between them fast. She snatched the parchment from his hand.

\[READ INTENT ACTIVATED\]
\[TARGET: MARRA\]
\[ASSESSMENT: DESPERATE HOPE — LOOKING FOR CONFIRMATION OF SUSPECTED WRONGDOING\]

"I've been tracking this myself." She pulled a small notebook from her apron pocket. The pages were filled with cramped handwriting and columns of her own figures. "Comparing my actual yield against what the guild claims I've produced. The gap's been widening for months. Nobody would listen when I brought it up at the guild office."

"They dismissed you?"

"Told me I was miscounting. Told me farming math wasn't as simple as it looked." Her laugh came out short. "I've run this orchard for fifteen years. I know exactly how much fruit comes off these trees each season."

Jasper looked at her notebook. The figures matched the ledger fragment almost exactly.

"This is good." He meant it. "This is better evidence than what I've got. Independent records, dated entries, your own handwriting instead of stolen guild documents."

"You need it for the grievance."

"I need it for the grievance." Jasper met her eyes. "Assuming you're willing to add your name to it."

"I've been waiting fifteen years for someone to finally do something about this." Marra tucked the notebook back into her apron. "My name's already on it, whether you needed to ask or not."

\[QUEST UPDATED: RALLY THE FARMERS — 3/5 CONVINCED\]
\[REPUTATION INCREASE: +5 (MARRA)\]

Jasper thanked her and turned back toward the village. He still needed Bram, and a fifth name after that, but three signatures sat solid in his plans now, each one carrying months and years of proof behind it.

He walked past the well, past Sana's shop, back toward his own field. Wheat swayed in a sky that had no wind in it.

He stopped at the fence and pulled up his status screen.

\[STATUS\]
Name: Jasper
Class: Farmer
Level: 5
STR: 5 | AGI: 5 | VIT: 8 | INT: 6
Skills: Hoe Mastery Lv.2, Soil Sense Lv.2, Crop Cycling Lv.2, Read Intent Lv.2, Perimeter Sense Lv.1

He closed the screen and looked out at the field, five plots strong, wheat pushing up faster than any tutorial crop should grow.

"Three down." He said it quiet, mostly to himself. "Two to go."

He picked up the hoe leaning against the fence post and got back to work.