“My Father told me he wasn't proud of how he acted back then, but that's how the world was back in those days. And I'll be damned if I ever let a story like that fade away! Children like you should know how cruel the world used to be before that damned winter ended! That winter was miserable but it was the people behind East Anglia Exotics that made it bearable enough for me to live to its end!”

  The old man shouted with tears in his eyes.

  (“I always heard that old bastard mention something like that a few times but it seemed like he was downplaying how bad it was. Or maybe it wasn't that bad for people like us.”) Tina thought, stroking her cheek.

  “(Wheat that can grow in seven days within terrible temperatures?) Wait, so you're saying that's the royal strain?”

  “The original version of it, yes,” Barclay answered. “We grow a modified version of it that takes a month to grow, that was developed for flavour. I think it was the old king who declared it illegal to own after a certain point when the famines stopped. But… I won't allow those rabbits to spit all over our legacy.”

  “Wait how did they manage to create it!?” Tibaut asked. There was no conceivable way, even if you poured infinite money into its research, that this would be possible in his old world. Were the rules of this world so malleable you could create an infinite food source?

  Tina looked at the old man as well.

  “I couldn't tell you lad, but those nobles, not modern ones, but the ones from those days were real heroes. And some of them and their sons now run East Anglia Exotics, so put some respect on their name.”

  (“That's… interesting. I can see why he’d go to bat for them. But based on what Elizabeth said after the fact, Albus wasn't telling any lies either. Guess I'll just focus on his uncle in the future.”)

  “But, every month? With that much food, no wonder you can't rid of those rabbits.”

  “It's more than the food boy. Someone's planting them.” He quickly answered.

  “Planting them? I thought you said they appeared in this parish. (I mean, if they could use magic to make those wheat berries into what they are… Maybe it's not so far-fetched that magic or whatever they used on it would have side effects on wildlife.)”

  He considered asking how long it took people to give birth in this world but when he remembered the person beside him, he put the kibosh on that idea.

  “Things like that don't just appear overnight, boy. Someone has made an effort to screw over our operations and it's-”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  A brick flew through a window and Tibaut grabbed it before it landed on the old man's hand, resting on the table.

  “(What the-)” Tibaut and Tina quickly got up and looked out the windows.

  A vein started to form on Barclay’s head and he screamed at the top of his lungs.

  “THOSE BASTARDS!”

  He quickly got up and ran out the door, with a full head of steam. The pair quickly walked behind the old man to see the miscreants in question. The crowd that had formed outside had quickly dispersed.

  It was a group of five people or so throwing rocks at various houses and windows around the village.

  Barclay began shouting at the top of his lungs.

  “You little wankers! When I get my-”

  Tina grabbed a stone heading towards his face and threw it back, creating an ugly sound when it impacted the man's leg. They gathered around him and their leader stood in front of them.

  “So you guys have thugs huh!? Well, unlike you bastards, we have some proper adventurers on our side!” The young man shouted. He was a blonde-haired young man, about the same age as Tina.

  Tibaut turned to Tina disappointed and raised an eyebrow at her.

  “(What hell's this about?) Tina, you haven't been-”

  She grabbed his arm and tried to twist it. He quickly broke out and tried to reverse it before she let go.

  “Fuck off, this is the first time these little limpdicks have shown back up, I didn't do shit.” She answered as she looked around the floor, ready to fling another stone.

  Two men slowly walked up, with one throwing an axe at Tibaut, which he effortlessly caught in mid-flight.

  He felt the edge and dropped it.

  “It's blunt.” Tibaut mused. Tina stopped tensing her legs, no longer looking like she was getting ready for a sprint.

  The only reason both of them hadn't rushed the pair down was due to this singular fact.

  “Now!” One said. “I don't know who you two are but I gotta say, it sure as hell isn't cool to be taking sides in squabbles like this, ain't it J?”

  He wore black sunglasses, with a black shirt, a white poncho, and a black… cowboy hat? They make those here? Regardless, based on the axes in his hands, he was the one who threw it earlier. He wore what looked like white jeans and black leather boots.

  “Right, Tyler. How about we even the odds, for these friends of ours.”

  The next man wore simple light armour with some thick pants and a coat covering most of the armour that went to his feet. Combined with his ponytail and moustache, he looked like a mob boss wearing a coat over his bulletproof vest.

  “You know these guys?” Tibaut asked.

  “I think so.” She looked at them more closely and clicked her tongue. “Tch, actually I definitely do remember them. I'm not wasting my time on this.” It seemed whatever interest Tina had in her opponents vanished and she turned around without hesitation, heading back to the elder's house. “How about you get some exercise, fatass.” And with that, she closed the door.

  Given her reaction, any concern Tibaut had was thrown out the window.