I finished up this meeting by assuring them that water wheels, ploughs and wheelbarrows would be delivered to their villages soon by the guild. A couple of the villages that were closer together would be sharing a single significantly larger water wheel than those that were receiving their own. Each village would also be given five wheelbarrows and five ploughs each. If anymore were needed in the future, they could commission them straight from the guild themselves. I also told them that if any other villages were interested, they could also come to me for an agreement for their own devices and repayment.

It seemed they were nearly vibrating out of their sallow skin with the need to go back and spread the news of the new farming and tools and methods, so I dismissed them, save for one particular village head.

He was a middle-aged man with bags under his eyes and washed out hair that may have once been a familiar rich brown. I called out to him asking him to stay for a minute longer. He stayed behind anxiously.

"You can come in," I called to one of the side doors, much to the man's confusion. That door opened and out stepped Reggie, dressed as a male this time. His eyes were wet with tears and his nose running. The village head jumped to his feet.

"Reggie?!" The man called out in disbelief.

"Dad!" The tan boy wailed running into his father's waiting arms for a tight hug. That's right, this village leader was the father of my newest attendant. He probably never expected to see this missing child again, much like all the other children to go missing under the rule of the past lord.

The other boys that Verne sold off to god-knows-where were beyond my reach, but this much I could do.

I left the room, giving the father and son time to reunite.

The future of farming in the fief was looking up, so I was in a good mood on my way back towards the sunroom where Ronnie was no doubt resting after her latest exhausting training session. She surprisingly (or Unsurprisingly considering her blessings) took well to the physical training. She preferred to wield a longsword so that was her focus. She was no doubt eager to hear about the reception of these modern farming methods into this medieval setting, so I headed there first.

Unexpectedly, I was intercepted by Maddie on the way there.

"Young master, the magic tutor you requested us to contact has arrived," she told me while raising an eyebrow at her husband's wet eyes.

"Oh?" I asked with a touch of anticipation. Finally. I could start mine and Ronnie's magic training. "Guide him to the sunroom please, Maddie." Might as well have him meet us both at once.

"Right away, young master," she nodded and turned with a swish of her skirts, but not before shooting Luke a look that said, 'we'll talk later'.

I hope he gets chewed out for crying like a baby in the meeting. 'Serves you right~'.

As expected, Ronnie was waiting in the sunroom with an anxious face.

I told her in rough detail the happenings of the meeting while making myself comfy in a plush armchair. After hearing that it went smoothly, she gave a whoop of joy.

She was chattering away at my side about her latest training session, almost draped over the armrest when there was a soft knock on the door.

"Young Master, Young Miss, the mage Orion Redfield to see you," came Maddie's voice from the other side. Ronnie perked up like a puppy at the mention of bacon.

"Come in," I called.

The door clicked open and a figure stepped... no stumbled in. Before us was a boy about twelve or thirteen with unruly dark green hair and wide doe like pewter eyes behind crooked half-moon glasses. In his arms he was clutching a bunch of scrolls and papers in such a death grip that they started to crinkle. He took one look at us and blushed bright red all the way to his ears while stammering incoherently. I blinked.

"Mage Redfield I presume?" I didn't speak very loud at all, only enough to carry across the room, yet he still jumped almost half a foot in the air and managed to spill what he was holding in a cascade of paper that spread out across the floor. He fell to his knees frantically trying to gather them while apologizing profusely.

The Mage Redfield that we initially searched for used to be a retired B ranked mage acquaintance of Father's. Unfortunately, Joseph Redfield passed away a year or so back after he succumbed to some old injuries that had led to his retirement in the first place, leaving behind his only son, Orion Redfield.

Redfield Jr. was supposed to be a talented mage himself as well as the son of a family friend and not mixed up with any other noble houses, so he was given the job. I'd never met Redfield Sr. or his son, so I didn't know what to expect but...

I slid my eyes to Maddie who was practically sweat dropping at the clumsy mage.

"He's a child." My voice cut right through the awkward silence. Redfield blanched, and Maddie and Luke gave me wry smiles. Veronica seemed to break out into a sudden coughing fit with her shoulders shaking. Did I just hear the weird "hypocrite" among those coughs?

Sometimes it's easy to forget that I'm a child on the outside myself. I'm still a forty-seven-year-old woman on the inside; sue me. Pinching and stretching Ronnie's cheek until she yelped made feel somewhat better, though. I ignored the teary-eyed look of "the victim" that she shot me.

"I am a child," came a crystal-clear voice. Surprisingly it was from the still crouched young mage that was a stuttering mess just now. "But... but my father taught me all he knew." When he looked at us this time his eyes were firm. "Enough that I'm at the level of a B ranked Mage by now!"

For someone who gave off the impression of a scared bunny rabbit at first, his resolve is surprisingly strong. I got a sudden sense of Deja vu. Reggie was like this in the start too wasn't he? Though Reggie wasn't anywhere near as flighty as this one and even got a lot braver after being exposed to this household and the harsh training so long.

The young mage showed promise. If what he said was the truth, then it's a good thing this kid was snatched up by us before any other nobles sniffed out his talent and used some method to entrap the naïve bunny into their service. B rank at such a young age was no joke. Something good fell into my lap yet again it seemed.

I smiled, "I see. Well hopefully you can prove that hefty claim, mage Redfield."

"O-Orion is... y-you can c-call me..."

Ah... he's back to stuttering.

"Well, Orion," I spread my palms out, "Welcome to Onyx House."

If possible, he flushed even harder and uttered a meek "Thank you".

... I was probably going to have far more fun teasing this boy than is healthy. By my side I heard Ronnie mutter despairingly.

"Not good. He's too fun to tease..."

Where did I go wrong raising this child? [A/N Hypocrite (-_-;)]

Fief reformation under way and magic training finally about to start.

Yes, today I am in a good mood indeed.