86. Fabulon Farm

Jace remembered this Fabulon, who, in the game, had left the farm with his wife and was looking for help in retrieving his pocket watch near Fort Western Springs with the old horse named Blanche.

Now he looks pretty young.

Rydol Fabron looked Jace up and down and asked, “If you don’t collect pumpkins, then what are you doing here?”

“I wonder if there’s a fishing village to the north?” Jess asked.

“There was.” Fabron said, “But a lot of the fishermen fled to Stormwind City during the Orc War, I don’t know what happened after that, and I haven’t been over there in a long time. Even if some came back, there shouldn’t be many left, look how depressed we are over here, it won’t be much better further north.”

Jace looked to the north, where there was no sea in sight and no fishing villages, a high slope blocked the view all together, where all that could be seen was a scattering of crooked trees at the top of a yellow-green wilderness.

“Sir, I’d like to get something to eat, bread, soup, whatever, I’m going to the beach this afternoon.”

Fabulon said, “Yes, come inside with me and let my wife cook you something to eat, just give us a few coppers so we don’t lose money.”

“Thanks so much.” Said Jace as he followed the farmer towards the farm.

The farm was large, and the buildings where they lived were quite large, just very old. After the war, it had probably been inhabited by orcs, and there were breaks and scars everywhere.

There are only two members of the Fabron family here today, and he and his wife, presumably, don’t have the energy to redecorate such a large house, so it looks like they’re just going to make do with what they’ve got.

Fabron wiped the table down and said, “Nowadays, there are only occasional people coming over during the Harvest Festival, otherwise there’s no movement at all all throughout the year, and my wife is chanting every day about going to Storm City, so I don’t think she’s taking this place seriously at all.”

“Fabulon!” A woman’s impatient voice came from the other room, “What if the orcs come again? You didn’t believe me last time when I told you that the orcs were coming, and I ended up hiding in the cave with you! I don’t know how many times we suffered! Everyone else believed it, but you didn’t. You’re the one with the most guts, and you’re the one with the bad luck!”

“Bad luck? Are you dead then?” Fabron yelled, “Where are all those yelling ones now? I’m afraid they’re not feeding the fish in Palatine Bay, the least you can do is stand still here with your mouth open counting your husband who saved your life I don’t know how many times!”

The women were silent for a while, and Jace said, “Speaking of which, the orcs may have a hard time coming back.”

“Why?” Fabron asked.

“Do you know about the expedition?” Jace said, “A few Alliance generals led some veterans to the Dark Gate, where they intend to enter the world of the orcs and resolve the crisis once and for all.”

“Crossing the Dark Gate?” Fabron tapped the table and said, “Finally, some good news! Fna, did you hear that?”

“I don’t know.” The woman in the other room said, “All I know is that even if the orcs were extinct, no one on our side would care at all.”

Fabron hesitated for a moment and said helplessly, “The expeditionary force will surely draw those most elite soldiers, right, and even fewer defenders can be stationed on this side, blessed by the holy light, let’s hope that it will get better and better in the future.”

“I hope so.” Jace asked, “What was it that Ms. Fabron said earlier about …… in the cave.”

Ridolfabron let out a sigh and said, “After the news of the orcs entering the Aelwyn Forest came through, everyone on this side ran away. Those who fled said that the orcs were all green-skinned, seven- or eight-foot-tall monsters with sharp teeth that ate people on sight.”

“But, before they are also so say Kurtilas people, say what Kurtilas pirates are blue skin, body grow gills and fins and so on, how about the result, Kurtilas Prodmor come to Storm City when everyone just see, that person looks like us not much difference well, is really taller.”

At this point, his face went from flirtatious to helpless a little bit.

“Hey, who knows if what they’re saying is true this time? Two heads taller than me, sharp teeth, green skin, monsters that can’t even be imagined in nightmares. By the way, you’re a Lordaeron?”

“Yes, I’m from the north.” Jace said. “You’re in luck then.” Fabron said, “During the time the orcs were occupying this place, I road my wife to hide out in a couple of abandoned mines nearby, this one was discovered, so we road a few people to run to another, and it was like that for almost two years until Lothar’s soldiers rescued us, but a lot of people died on the way out. Never mind, it’s old news, and I haven’t asked you what your name is.”

Jace looked at the woman walking through the door and said, “My name is Jace.”

The woman had light brown hair and didn’t look more than early twenties, this was Fabulon’s wife, Verna, which meant that she was probably in her teens when she followed Fabulon into hiding.

“It’s nice to see people, Jace, especially young ones like you, these days.” Fabron said, “The south side is fine, too many rumors of jackals to the north of us, scared the men away from coming this way, it’s the west side and a few farms that were abandoned. As a result, there are fewer people now, and the wolves are coming back.”

“Lots of wolves on the side?” Jace asked.

“They wouldn’t dare come into the farm, and if they do we’ll see if their brains are hard or my solid bullets.”

“You just blow it.” The woman muttered, setting a plate of stew and a large bowl of broth on the table with a clunk that was clearly tinged with emotion.

Fabron looked at the soup and said, “Don’t mind her, there’s nothing particularly hearty here anymore, this soup was made with meat, if you don’t think it’s good, I won’t charge you.”

Jace sniffed and took a sip from his own bowl.

For someone like him who had eaten the Red Ridge Mountain Stew the soup certainly tasted a little bland, but since he was a little hard up from hunger, he wouldn’t find it hard to drink at all.

“The soup is quite good then. By the way, sir, is there any Magic Emperor Grass around here?” Jace asked, “I’ve heard that this is where the Demon Emperor Grass grows, an herb.”

Fabulon said, “I don’t know much about herbs and such, can you describe what it looks like?”

“Purple.” Jess pulled out of her bag the picture and written description she’d been comparing from the library and said, “Big bright pink flowers with long stems ……”

Fabron took the picture in his hand and looked at it closely, saying, “Four-petaled flowers, bright pink four-petaled flowers with long stamens in the center, as I recall.”

“Wife.”

“What again?”

Verna answered from upstairs.

“Bring me your pot of flowers to look at, the one with four petals.”

Shortly afterward, Verna Fabron came down with a potted plant that looked very ordinary, just some tall, thick stems and green leaves, no four-petaled flower like Fabron said it looked like in the picture.

“That’s the one.” Fabron pointed and said, “Around April or May, this pot bloomed exactly like the one you have in this picture.”

“Really?”

Jace hadn’t expected to get this kind of crucial information in this farmer’s house. When he was copying down the ingredients for his mana potions, he forgot to flip through a book like the Encyclopedia of Plants and Herbs in passing, almost forgetting the concept that flowers had a flowering period.

No wonder he hadn’t found any traces of the Demon Emperor Grass the whole way he had traveled, maybe he had missed one.

“Where did you get this pot of flowers?” Fabron asked to his wife.

Verna said, “I saw it the last time I took Sartain and their kids to play on one of those unoccupied farms out west.”

“That seems to be it.” Jace said, “The news I got was also that there’s quite a bit of Magic Royal Grass growing on the slopes near the western mines, but isn’t …… that side of the mines occupied by jackals?”

“Mostly related rumors too.” Fabron shook his head and said, “A lot of people are still saying that all of our farms have been taken over by jackals, saying that that shitty village to the east has also been taken over by jackals, and that the mines have also been taken over by jackals. These people who spread rumors should really be beheaded, causing many people to be afraid to come to my place to collect pumpkins, and I still have to transport them to Sentinel Ridge or Western Springs by myself alone, and what were once good tender pumpkins are turning into old pumpkins, and the old pumpkins are turning into rotten pumpkins!”

“The Western Springs Fortress is also being harassed by jackals over there.” Jace said.

Fabulon said, “I wonder what damn guy is spreading the rumor again, right?”

Jace said, “I was attacked there myself and almost lost my life, and now Stormwind is looking for someone to put a manhunt out for the head of that gang of jackals.”

Hearing this, Fabron froze for a moment.

“Anyway, may the Holy Light bless you with success in finding what you want, lad.” He said as he picked up the broth.

“Thank you, and may the Holy Light bless the farm with all the best.” Jace picked up the broth as well, and the two of them drank it down as if it were a toast.

Fabron wiped a splash of oil from his mouth and said, “I don’t know what you’re doing on the coast, but if you’re planning on going, I’d suggest you go at night.”

“Why?” Jess asked.

“You do realize that the fishmen are coming in quite a bit from the west, right?” Fabron said, “Those fishmen’s eyes are not very good at night, don’t look at their eyes so big …… in fact, their eyesight at night is much worse than in the daytime. If you go in the daytime, they might see you from a long way off, and believe me, Jace, once you’re spotted by those fishmen, chase you for at least half an hour.”

The passage made Jace’s head spin a little.

Chasing him for half a minute in a game makes him sick to his stomach, what’s the deal with being targeted for half an hour, marathoner per capita?

“Can I stay there during the day if that fishing village is empty?” Jess asked.

“Of course.” Fabron said, “Even if there are still people there, they shouldn’t turn you away, the few families that live there shouldn’t be too old and have good tempers.”

Jace asked again, “Won’t there be fishmen occupying the empty houses there?” Fabron shook his head and said, “Fishmen don’t usually go into people’s houses, even abandoned ones. They deliberately distance themselves from all other races. But be careful in all things.”