Wina fell silent. Gara wasn’t wrong, but she didn’t want to burden him, especially if using his Talent too much might exhaust him or even harm him.
But then her gaze fell to Gara’s still-flat stomach. Thinking about the future, she realized she wanted to spend more ti with him to make sure his pregnancy stayed healthy. If she spent less ti in the fields, she could have much more ti with her son.
"Co on, Mom," Gara added softly, still looking at her with those sad, persuasive eyes that lted her heart instantly.
"Alright," she finally agreed. "But don’t push yourself, okay? If you ever feel like you can’t make more water, we’ll just go back to using regular water. I still have plenty of savings to support you and your baby."
Gara didn’t know how to properly express the depth of his gratitude for the woman who had raised him.
They intended to inform the village chief about this matter. But since it was still early morning, the chief was likely busy tending to the fields.
And disturbing his midday rest which was usually brief, didn’t feel right either. So, they agreed to visit him later that evening.
After that, Wina headed out to the field like usual, while Gara began picking the radiant yellow tea leaves of the Lumora plant.
The pleasant fragrance of the leaves filled his senses. It was so different from the sharp, acrid sll of the poisonous herbs he’d been dealing with lately.
Once he’d harvested the mature leaves, he laid them out to dry beside the house. There was already a designated spot there, Wina’s usual drying area before she sent her herbs off to market.
It was a simple setup: four waist-high wooden posts arranged in a square, with cloth stretched between them to form a suspended platform. That cloth was where the herbs were spread out to dry under the sun.
Gara carefully placed his Lumora leaves beside the herbs Wina had laid out earlier in the morning.
"This village is so remote," he murmured to himself, watching the dark green leaves flutter slightly in the breeze.
"No Liners. No trace of magic. If the herbs were exactly the sa as Earth’s, I would’ve thought I’d just ended up in so isolated part of the world."
He stepped back inside and headed toward the kitchen. On the table sat a small pile of dried Lumora leaves.
Yesterday, so of the leaves had turned bright yellow, so he picked and dried them imdiately. Thanks to the strong sunlight, the process had only taken a day.
Now it was ti to grind them. He worked manually, crushing the dried leaves into a fine powder.
The body’s original owner had been used to turning dried herbs into ready-to-use ingredients, such as spices, teas, and the like.
Although Gara fumbled a little and had trouble at first, the original mories guided his hands. With effort and determination, he managed to complete the task.
His plan to create a fantasy-world version of soda needs to be put off, for now. Because tonight’s visit to the village chief’s house, he decided to bring the tea powder as a small gift.
He would say Madha brought it, of course. There was no way he could reveal that he had grown the Lumora himself.
According to Wina, even with the power of a Liner, Lumora wouldn’t grow unless it grew around druid. Gara had decided to keep the success of his cultivation a secret, for the ti being.
After a few hours in the kitchen, the heat beca intense. The breeze drifting in through the open door did little to cool him down.
Sweat gathered on his forehead, but finally, the Lumora tea powder was ready. He scooped it into several small tea pouches, a common item in their ho, as the original Gara had loved making his own herbal teas.
Naturally, whatever the old Gara wanted, his mother had always provided.
It wasn’t much, only enough for three to five servings. But that was fine. From what Gara rembered, Grandpa Jaya (the village chief) was more of a coffee drinker anyway.
Aside from the Lumora tea, Wina had also prepared a few other small items she’d purchased during her last trip to town.
If anything, they weren’t coming to ask for sothing; rather, they were giving sothing. But to Wina, these gifts were simply an expression of gratitude for the kindness the village chief had shown them both.
As a widow with a son, Wina had managed to live peacefully in the village thanks largely to the chief’s support.
When Wina finished bathing in the late afternoon, the two of them set out toward the village chief’s house. Along the way, several neighbors greeted them warmly, and they responded with friendly smiles.
Despite being a widow, Wina had earned a good reputation in the village. That wasn’t just because of the chief’s favor. She had always carried herself with dignity and stayed far from gossip or village quarrels.
Grandpa Jaya was sitting on his porch, smoking a hand-rolled cigarette, when they arrived.
He lived alone. He had two children, a son and a daughter. Both were married now.
His daughter had married a man from another village, while his son had awakened as a Liner and now worked in the county.
"What brings you here at this hour?" he greeted them with a warm smile.
Wina and Gara stepped onto the porch and took a seat on the wooden bench after being invited to sit.
Gara handed over the bundle of Lumora tea, wrapped neatly in cloth, along with a few other gifts Wina had prepared. "This is for you, Grandpa Jaya."
The village chief looked a little puzzled but accepted the gifts nonetheless. He could sense there was sothing they wanted to talk about.
"Thank you. But next ti, there’s no need to bring anything just to co visit."
"I happened to just return from town with a few things," Wina said with a chuckle. "Next ti, I promise I’ll co empty-handed."
...
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