Sarah's Story Chapter 060 - Homegoing

Susan, Paul’s wife, sipped her tea and sighed with contentment, able to relax now that someone else was watching the children. “Sarah, congratulations on getting that second Class you wanted all this time. Finder, was it?”

Lily, Brandon’s wife, cradling the dozing Becky, spoke next. “And it’s a new Class, right? Does your family just create new Classes all the time? Brandon tells me that Brawler was a new Class your great-great-great-grandmother, or something like that, created.”

Sarah nodded, sipping her own tea. “Yes, it’s new. It’s still developing, but I think it’s coming along nicely.”

“And what kind of Class is Finder? I mean, from the name I can kind of tell…” Julia, Sam’s wife, asked.

“Hmm… something like a Scout class, I suppose.”

“So it’s a combat Class, then?” asked Sam.

“No, I don’t think so,” Sarah replied. “I mean, I have Brawler already, so I feel like it’s going to be a non-combat Class, in the end. Oh, except I did get this [Find Weakness] Skill that proved pretty handy.”

Susan giggled. “So, can you find anything with that Class?”

Sarah tilted her head and thought. “Well, hopefully it develops that way—”

“Like a husband, maaaaybe?” interrupted Lily.

Sarah frowned. “I’m not looking for a husband,” she said flatly. “I’m looking for James.”

An awkward silence fell over the table. Paul reached over and took Sarah’s hand in his. “Sarah, I’ve been meaning to tell you this for years now, but thank you.”

“Huh?” Sarah said eloquently.

“Thank you for looking for James. We heard about the request with the Adventurer’s Guild, and how you keep adding to the reward. It’s posted up in our villages, too. And we’ve been asking around, but… there’s only so much we can do, as Farmers.”

Sam and Brandon nodded with grim expressions on their faces.

Lily looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Sarah, that’s not what I meant…”

The other two women nodded as well, sadly. “Right, of course you’re still looking for James. We’re worried, too,” said Julia.

“But…” Susan said, “don’t take this the wrong way, but find your own happiness at some point, too, okay?”

Sarah reflected for a moment on her mother and her aunt Nadine, and the conversations they’d had.

“Of course,” she said, and then she forced a smile. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

And so, to the consternation of the men, the conversation turned to what kind of boys Sarah liked, and what she would look for in a husband after she found James, which they were all now treating as a given.

“You really should consider a Farmer,” Sam said, and his wife Julia nodded. “They’re good providers, and you’ll never go hungry…”

But it was Susan who contradicted him. “Sam, dear, Sarah’s an A Rank Adventurer. It’s hard to imagine her ever going hungry anyway.”

Stephen joined them at the table then, and nodded. “That’s right. A Brawler and an A Rank Adventurer… Rather than a husband to support her, she’ll need a man who can keep up with her.”

“Dad!” Sarah exclaimed, flushing red.

“Listen to your father, dear~” Helen called out from the other room, clearly [Eavesdropping].

The conversation continued for some time, embarrassing Sarah further, until her father turned to her brothers. “And you lot, I know you’re here to learn my farming secrets, but you all need better training in your combat Classes, too. Has any of you even passed level ten?

The brothers paled, and their wives turned on them mercilessly.

“That’s right! Could you even protect me if Sarah came after me?”

“You’re always saying you’ll train later, and never do!”

“The only reason your bow isn’t covered in dust is because you cleaned it off to bring here!”

Sarah raised her eyebrows at her brothers, disappointment evident on her face.

“Even my Finder Class is level eleven, you know?”

“W-well, come on, that’s hardly fair,” Paul blustered. “Sarah’s an A Rank Adventurer!”

“That’s right,” Stephen said firmly. “And she’s not resting on her laurels. She’s going to be training this winter, too. So will all of you.”

“But I’m a Swordsman,” Paul said.

“Right, there’s no Spearman to learn from in this village, is there?”

“I, er, I suppose I can spend more time practicing my archery,” said Brandon, quailing under his wife’s fierce gaze.

Sarah snorted. “I can show you some tricks I picked up in the capital.”

“You can use a sword?” Paul asked, incredulous.

“Yep, I practiced with the Immortal Sword School all the time.”

“Th-the Immortal Sword School?!”

“And you can use a spear?” asked Sam.

“My [Spearmanship] Skill is at level fourteen.”

Sam paled, and his wife gave him a look.

Susan spoke for all the wives. “You all are definitely focusing on training while we’re here. Not just talking about farming and drinking all day!”

“Can I train, too, dear~” Helen called out from the living room.

“No!” Stephen declared, and everyone laughed. Even Helen, as she played with the children.

So the winter passed. Sarah’s nieces and nephews were delighted to see her walk on her hands, juggle, and perform other feats of dexterity and skill. The older children were also impressed to see their young aunt teaching their fathers how to fight.

The oldest of the grandchildren, ten year old Stacy, even privately asked Sarah about Classes, already looking ahead to her Choosing Day.

“First of all, make sure you Choose a combat Class,” Sarah said sternly, and her niece nodded dutifully. “Beyond that, don’t feel like you have to Choose a Class right away. It’s hard, but if you have something in mind, you can hold off and wait until you find the Class that’s right for you and what you want to do in life.”

“What if… what if I want to Choose two combat Classes?” Stacy asked hesitantly. Sarah blinked.

“Well what’s wrong with that?”

“Huh?”

“It’s fine, isn’t it? I’ve known lots of people with two combat Classes. They’re really strong.”

Stacy looked up at her aunt with wide eyes, as though nobody had ever taken that position before.

“But,” Sarah said, and Stacy’s expression fell. “Hey, hold on, don’t make that face. I was going to say: but, Brawler can already do almost any kind of combat you would want.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Brawler’s a great Class. Just about the only thing it doesn’t do is magic.”

Stacy scrunched up her face in a frown. “Ugh, magic sounds nice, but being stuck with just one element is so lame.”

“Hm? I know a mage who could use every element, though?”

“Huh?!”

Sarah’s face turned serious. “Yes, and she said she gained affinities, too, though she didn’t tell me how. That’s what I’m saying; don’t just pick the first Class you see because it’s the closest to what you want on your Choosing Day. Give it some time, and if what you want doesn’t exist as a Class, you can practice without one until you make a new Class.”

After that conversation, Stacy became a regular spectator of her aunt’s training sessions.

Sarah taught Paul the basics of the Immortal Sword School, and bought him a few swords from Jared the Smith as a gift. Jared also scolded him about maintaining his sword properly.

Sarah taught her brother Sam some tricks with a spear, but mainly she just let him practice his moves on her while their father instructed him in proper fighting.

Brandon, on the other hand, did indeed practice his Archery with enthusiasm, and he taught Sarah some more advanced tricks and techniques.

Brawler Class Skill [Archery] has reached level 7.

And Sarah, in turn, taught him some Scouting tricks that fit into his Class, and together they hunted down some winter game to add fresh meat to the dinner table.

And while Helen taught some of her Homemaker Skills to her daughters-in-law, and the fathers watched over the children, Stephen taught his Brawler daughter the secret Techniques passed down through their family.

[Technique: Snake Martial Arts_Wobbly Punches]

[Technique: Air Step]

[Technique: Shadow Stealth]

[Technique: Critical Strike]

[Technique: Damage Reflection Counter]

[Technique: Misdirection]

[Technique: Topple the Giant]

[Technique: Stunning Blow]

[Technique: Joint Lock Restraint]

[Technique: Nonlethal Takedown]

[Technique: Internal Circulation]

This last technique, which circulated energy within the body to empower blows even further, also helped with resisting the winter cold. And this improved Sarah’s [Cold Resistance].

Brawler Class Skill [Cold Resistance] has reached level 5.

…

Brawler Class Skill [Cold Resistance] has reached level 11.

By the end of winter, Sarah no longer wore any kind of coat or even sweater. [Internal Circulation] was more than enough.

After one last winter storm, the snow started to melt. The river swelled, and the roads to the south were surely clearing up. Sarah planned to head south, to the trading town of Brightriver, to join one of the first trading caravans of the year heading to Iberteria. She bore no traveler’s pack on her shoulders, however: instead, she had a magic bag at her hip. A gift from her mother, who had herself received it from her noble friends in the capital. Inside was food, clothing, and all the other traveling necessities, as well as an assortment of weapons forged by Jared, the village smith.

“I hope you find him,” the large man had said gruffly, as he refused any kind of payment for the small armory’s worth of weapons, and walked back up the road to his forge.

And so it was that the first Finder headed south on her journey to find her lost brother.

To the Kingdom of Iberteria.