Stardew Valley’s Farming Master

Chapter 292 Rome Stories February 16 New Share

Before leaving, Leon still remembered to thank Rasmodius and Linus.

"Thank you both for your help. Without you, I might really have died. Sorry for the trouble."

"It's nothing, nothing." Linus waved his hand in comfort. "Even without us, you wouldn’t have died. Don’t worry."

"Then I’ll be going first." Leon didn’t even know what state he was in at the moment—just that he was extremely tired. He decided to leave first and come back to talk to Linus about the matter once he felt more rested.

The moment Leon spoke, he suddenly found himself inside his farmhouse. He knew immediately this was Rasmodius’s doing and wasn’t too surprised. Following his instincts, he lay down on the bed and drifted into deep sleep.

Rasmodius watched him disappear and turned to explain to Linus. "His soul has grown too quickly. Right now, his body can’t fully withstand its strength, so he needs to rest and let his body adapt to the powerful soul. Nothing serious."

"Of course I know that. I was just wondering what he and his grandfather talked about in the Spirit Realm that made that old coot erase the memory of their conversation before sending him back," Linus said, a touch of complaint in his voice.

"It probably wasn’t anything important. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been erased. Knowing Leon, the little rascal probably did something foolish." Rasmodius’s expression said he had already seen through everything.

"That does make sense." Linus found himself agreeing—after all, he had also experienced Leon’s playful and mischievous nature.

"That old man cares for Leon quite a bit. I thought I would have to help stabilize his expanded soul power after bringing him back from the edge of the Spirit Realm, but clearly, the old man had already condensed his soul body in advance. If this kid ever decides to study the secrets of Arcane Magic, his talent might rival my own in my younger years," Rasmodius said with a note of admiration."Take the path of a mage and become a detached observer of the world? Forget it. Not possible. That old man won’t agree, and neither will I," Linus said warily.

"I was only speaking hypothetically, not trying to influence him," Rasmodius explained quickly.

"You’d better keep it that way," Linus muttered.

"You should head back. You got your fish soup, Leon’s safe, and there’s nothing left for you to do here."

"Aren’t you forgetting something?" Rasmodius’s expression darkened.

"Oh? You want to continue our fight?" Linus instantly caught on.

"What else? Challenging a Guardian is a serious crime," Rasmodius said with a cold smile.

"City of Elements arena?" Linus offered without hesitation.

"I’m not going to embarrass myself in public. Let’s go to the Secret Academy. I have a secluded training ground there," Rasmodius said, opening a portal before them.

The two stepped inside in unspoken agreement.

After some time, only Linus suddenly reappeared in front of his camp.

His clothes were completely shredded, leaving only half a rag tied around his waist to cover the essentials. His exposed body was covered in dense scars—none of them fresh. Without the torn clothing, no one would believe this seemingly frail old man bore such frightening wounds and those darkly gleaming, steel-hard muscles.

"Despicable mage," Linus muttered as he crawled into his tent, changed into a new set of vagrant’s clothes, and promptly fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Rasmodius appeared in his Wizard’s Tower. He retrieved a pitch-black potion from his bookshelf and downed it, the pallor in his face easing slightly.

"Barbaric warrior," he muttered in much the same tone as Linus, before sitting cross-legged before a magic circle and closing his eyes in meditation.

No one knew who had actually won that battle.

…

When Leon woke again, the sun had already risen in the east.

A glance at his watch told him he had slept half a day and a whole night.

He felt completely renewed—refreshed in a way that was hard to put into words.

So it has this benefit too? That mutant carp fish soup isn’t just a hallucinogen after all, Leon thought, though he couldn’t help blaming it for his current state.

Even so, if anyone tried to make him drink another bowl of that green, oily soup, he would refuse without a second thought. That trippy experience was not something he wanted to go through again.

After his usual wash-up and breakfast, Leon watered his crops, fed the chickens, and stopped by the cave to pick some mushrooms.

The fruit bats still hadn’t paid rent, but Leon didn’t mind. After the big score from the American raspberries last time, he was satisfied enough—as long as they brought something back now and then, he had patience for them.

Once he was done, Leon returned to the cabin and opened the mailbox.

Among the letters, besides the payment for yesterday’s shipment of yardlong beans, was another envelope.

"Leon, I was planning to tell you yesterday, but you weren’t at the farm, so I decided to write instead. Today is Haley’s birthday. I’ve prepared a small birthday party for her. If you’re not busy, I hope you can come join us — Emily."

The elegant handwriting on the simple stationery was straightforward, and Leon understood immediately.

"Haley’s birthday, huh? I guess it’s about that time." He thought for a moment and realized it lined up.

In the game, Haley’s birthday was right after Easter. In reality, a year had been expanded from the game’s four months into twelve, but the timing should still be around these days—it made sense.

What surprised Leon wasn’t the date but the fact he had been invited at all. He hadn’t expected people to throw birthday parties in real life, let alone invite him.

He wasn’t sure if this was a Pelican Town tradition or just something Haley and Emily could afford to do thanks to their family’s wealth. But since the invitation had come, and he wasn’t busy, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to go.

He just needed to think carefully about the gift.

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