The roosters were crowing, a sliver of sunlight entered the room, hitting the girl in the eyes
— uuuuuuugh...nooooo, stop iiiittt...
She tried standing using the chair next to the bed as support.
After standing still, gripping the chair for a while, she realized something.
— Legs...not...working...right...guhhh —
Unable to finish her words, she rushed to the bathroom to vomit, tumbling all the way.
— Head...hurt...need...water...
She shoved her head inside the sink and drank the water that dripped through her hair and into her mouth, slowly, as if time was going by in a sluggish rate.
The door suddenly sprung open, making a loud bang.
— Good morning, Sere-nya!
Carina entered the room, loudly singing the words.
— Aughhh...please...no noise...
— Huh? Do you want me to stop talking? Is that it? You want me to do something? Well, should've thought it trough before being so...uhm...dumb! Ahahahahahahahaha!
— Please...I'm sorry...c'mon... — But as if suddenly waking up, Serena got out of her hangover — Did you just say "good morning"?
She rushed to the room's window and saw that the sun had already started to come up.
— Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!
She got in position to start running.
— Carina, I don't know why I'm here right now, but I can't die by my mom's hands like this, so I'm running back home before she wakes up!
— Heh, Amanda will definitly kill you, but good luck!
— Yeah, bye!
So Serena rushed out of the room, encountering a very tired Siegfreid going downstairs from the 3rd floor.
— Bye, uncle Sieg!
— Bye, Serena...no,wait! I have...she's gone, huh...
He looked at the letter in his hand and scratched his shiny head.
— Well, I'll just send it to her house...
A dirt cloud was seen going through the city that morning, and the girl with pink hair in front of it had gone from the Adventurers' Guild to the city's front gate within seconds.
The huge wooden gate, so large it seemed to be made for giants, had a small opening to let carriages go through, and next to the gate, an even smaller opening, guarded by two armored men, for pedestrians to go through.
— You guys know me, just let me go through.
— Yes, but it is our job, and you know it. So, name and where to.
— Fine, Serena Merlah, going to the farmlands, back to my house.
— Heh, stayed the night in the city and you're going back in the morning? It was nice knowing you, Amanda will defenitly kill you this time.
— Shut up and let me go already!
— Fine, have a nice day!
As the guard opened the small gate, the dust cloud appeared once again and headed towards a forest nearby, following the road.
Just after she entered the forest, no more than a few minutes had passed.
"Groaaann"
— Whoa, a monster? — She stopped and stood her ground
"Groannnn"
— Ah, it's just my belly...man, I'm hungry...I should just get...
She felt around for something near her waist, and after not feeling anything, she looked down.
— Damn! I forgot my purse somewhere...I had my dinner in it...hopefully it's still in the box at home.
She stretched a bit — Ok, I should get there before mom wakes up.
And she started running again, she ran and got out of the forest quite quickly, reaching a clearing full of farmland surrounded by the forest and a mountain range by the south-east, there she could see some carriages coming up and some going down the mountain range.
— Some people are kinda late today, even though going to Cinder is faster than going to Salman...but it doesn't matter right now.
She turned into the first field, soon arriving at a small, two stories tall house.
Sneaking around just before entering the house, she opened the door, slowly, as if entering a monstrous being's den.
The inside of the house was pitch black. She closed the door and walked towards a large box with a yellow gem on its latch that sat at the entrance hallway.
Wispering — Please be here, please, please — the box was slowly opened.
— It's not here...
Flames then lit the candles on the walls
— It sure isn't there, ungrateful daughter.
With not a milisecond to her reaction, Serena leaped towards the door, running away from the monster within the house, but it was for nought, because towering over her, in front of the door, was a pile of muscle full of scars and a well groomed white haird in a braid.
— Ungrateful and a coward, I taught you to face the consequences of your actions with honour, you...
The monster grabbed Serena by the hips, throwing her through the ground.
— Damn, mom! A suplex right away...I expected nothing less from you...
— That was barely anything, and since you're up so early, how about you plow the field today? I harvested everything on my own while waiting for SOMEONE to return yesterday, so you know, we gotta plant something on it's place.
— But I...
Amanda lifted her daughter and threw her outside their home — Don't come back until you finish, and Frika is resting today, so go give her food and don't you dare use her!
The door was slammed shut.
—That went better than I...
"Groaaaaannnnnnn"
Serena gripped her stomach — Ugh...forgot...hungry...
Through a small window next to the door, the monstrous woman pierced Serena with her sole green eye.
— Sorry, mom! I'll get to work right away!
Next to a one horse stable, a subsoiler with 7 shanks sat directed towards the field
— Damn, this'll be tuff...but before that.
The girl got into the stable, where a brown, tall and muscular mare stood.
— Good moynin Fika, ayu good, garl?
She scratched and spoiled the mare before grooming and feeding her.
— I won't be able to play right now, so you'll need to stay here today, ok?
The mare neighd and shook her head slightly then faced the subsoiler, pointing to it.
— You too? Why are you on her side? Do you hate me?
The mare nodded.
— Fine, screw you then! I'm going and I'm never coming back!
Frika neighd enthusiastically, as if laughing at Serena, who was walking away.
Now face to face with the great subsoiler, Serena cracked her neck and stretched.
The sunlight shone onto her, marking the start of her day on the field.
— Ok, let's do this.
She got in front of the machine, setting herself where Frika normaly would be and pushed.
The machine moved, slowly but surely.
The soil was soft, making her footing unstable, but alas, the subsoiler rummaged the ground on a steady pace.
Opening a window, Amanda spoke — Serena, just a heads up, you'll need to do 70 rows, and do not make a sloppy job, or...
— I know, mom, or else I won't have anything to eat. I got this!
— Since when have you been a smartass?
— Well, I just finished my arrest quota, so I'll finally be able to join the Order, so maybe I'm just happy.
Amanda sighed and looked down — You really won't give that up, huh? — she mumbled
— What did you say?
— I said, stop talking and focus on your work!
— Heh. Fine, just go do whatever you old women do all day and leave this to me!
— Yeah! I will!
Amanda slammed the window shut.
— She's so mad. — The girl said with a smile — But anyway, let's do this!
The front door slammed open, and Serena's trembling body entered the house, followed by the cold night wind.
— Go take a shower, come eat and go to sleep.
—...Yeah...
She stumbled her way to the second floor and entered the bathroom, where a breath of air came out to embraced her.
A bathtub full of warm, clean water called for her.
Her eyes filled with tears — She's the best mom ever.
Struggling with exaustion, she took out her dirty clothes, revealing her muscular body and a huge scar on her left shoulder.
— Oahuhuhuhu...wow...oh man, that's good. — She said as her eyes slowly shut.
Amanda suddenly knocked on the door, making Serena jolt in the water.
— Are you drowning in there? Your food will get cold.
— But I just got in here...right?
— Did you end up sleeping in the bath? It's been almost half an hour since you got in there.
— Woah, that's scary...alright, I'm getting out! Thanks, mom!
She wrapped herself on a towel, getting out of the bathroom — Brrr, so cold! — and ran downstairs to get her food, and after quickly finishing her meal, she dashed into her room, jumping on the bed to cover herself with a thick blanket.
Amanda broke into the room — Hey! I already told you not to jump on the bed! It'll break someday!
— Ok, mom, sorry!
— Yeah, you better be!
— I am.
Amanda was about to close the door, but stopped halfway through, staring at her daughter, who was grinning and wriggling around after sheltering from the cold.
— What? Why are you looking at me like that?
— It's...nothing...just that...
She scratched her head
— You've grown up so well...I guess?
— Yeah, I did! I'm awesome, right?
With a slight grin she replied — A child in an adult's body, you really are our daughter... — Amanda sighed — Listen, Serena, you know that all I do to you, I do because I love you, right?
— I mean, sure, you're clearly not the best putting it in words, but you're a great mom...so...
— So, what?
— I love you too, mom, good night!
— Yeah, good night — With a movement of her hand, all lights in the house extinguished, leaving only the faint glow of the two moons illuminating Serena's room from the window.
Now alone in the comfort of her bed, Serena got hit full force by the accumulation of the exhaustion and the coziness she was feeling, and with a deep exhale, she was gone into a peaceful slumber.