Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
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A nourishing drizzle was falling across Crete in March. The misty sea had lost the sacred blue it normally had in summer. It seemed a little ashen gray, which was a rather intriguing sight for the Aegean Sea near Crete, especially since it was the month when rain and sunlight were switching places constantly.
The curtain of rain formed a beautiful boundary line. The sea and the island were misty, but it was warm and bright on the other side, with lots of blues and greens.
Stands of olive trees were scattered across the area closest to the curtain of rain. A few old farmers were diligently clearing weeds and getting rid of pests for the trees.
The rise of the sea level had certain impacts on agriculture. There were now a few species of sea bugs around that fed on the leaves of the olive trees. These bugs were as transparent as water and would normally show up early in the morning. The farmers would mistake the bugs for dew if they did not watch carefully.
They would normally use chemicals to get rid of ordinary pests, just having to spray the non-toxic chemicals every now and then for the olive trees to grow well for a year. The roots would not rot and the leaves would remain in good condition. Huge olives would grow on the tree like agates. When it was time to harvest the fruit, the best ones would be kept as raw olives and the rest were refined into olive oil. Merchants from across the world would try extremely hard to get their hands on the final product.
Ever since the new bugs had shown up, the farmers had to get rid of the bugs themselves, as the chemicals were not effective against them.
The stands of olive trees were huge and manual labor was very expensive. The transparent bugs were difficult to spot, making things worse, so it was almost impossible to spot them when it was hazy.
“Let’s catch as many as we can while it’s still bright. I heard some magic vendors are buying these transparent bugs, too. We aren’t getting paid a lot for our work here. We might as well earn some extra income,” a woman wearing a hat spoke up.
“Why don’t we hide the olives in our bags? These things sell better than those disgusting bugs,” a young man with freckles proposed.
“Harper, don’t even say that again. They will really send you to jail!”
“Humph, they keep asking us to do so much work without increasing our wages! There’s no way I would stay here if it wasn’t for the boss’ daughter,” the young man called Harper tossed his tool to the ground and sat down under a tree to rest.
“Be quick, It’s going to rain soon. We won’t be able to spot those annoying bugs when it rains. If we don’t catch three full bags of them, we aren’t getting paid today,” the woman pointed out.
Harper ignored the woman’s remark.
He did not understand why anyone would bother putting in so much effort. Why couldn’t they receive their pay if they didn’t catch three full bags of the bugs?
According to his experience working on many fields and farms, as long as he gave them a reasonable excuse, he would still get the pay he deserved.
If he was getting paid either way, why would he have to climb up the trees and have a sore back after working for the whole day. It would hinder his ability to dance with the ladies at night!
“We still have half an hour, we should be able to make it, Harper! Harper…(sigh), forget it, just don’t get a cold,” the woman did not care about the guy who was slacking.
Harper pretended not to hear her, and took a nap under the tree. There was plenty of sunlight along the beach. In another month or two, it would be Crete’s hottest season again. He would be wearing beach pants and showing his six-pack on his sailboat, and many ladies from other countries would be falling into his arms. He would not have to waste money on hookers… he might actually earn some extra income, too!
Harper hoped time would pass quicker as he felt the warmth of the sunlight. Many women between sixteen and fifty-six came to the Aegean Sea searching for a romantic encounter. For some reason, they enjoyed hooking up with the local young men, perhaps because they were feeling a lot of pressure in their own countries and families.
A cold breeze swept at his face as he was deep in thought.
Didn’t they say the rain would come in half an hour? Why did the sunlight disappear all of a sudden? It was still very cold in March. He would not be able to take his nap without sunlight. He began to wonder if the Heavens were trying to mess with him.
“Isn’t it time to call it a day? It’s getting cloudy. The rain is almost here too!” Harper yelled out.
No one responded. Harper began to feel impatient.
Were they a bunch of machines? Did they think working diligently would guarantee them a fruitful life? How amusing, he could easily live a luxurious life if he owned an olive grove like this. Work had nothing to do with a person’s life!
“I’m leaving if you guys aren’t! How are we supposed to see those transparent bugs if there isn’t any sunlight…” Harper trailed off.
The trees in the grove were lush, but the wind suddenly stopped blowing.
It was strange when there was not any wind on an island. Either it was a perfect shelter from the wind, or a sign that a huge storm was approaching.
“Where did they go?” Harper went further inside and saw an empty area ahead.
The area was around the size of a basketball court, but it was unlikely their boss would leave the place empty, considering how expensive the land was. The area had enough space to plant at least seven olive trees.
“Oh? Did some idiot drive the tractors the wrong way? Why is everything smashed into pieces?” Harper realized the empty area was actually a pit. Water was flowing out of it, turning the surrounding area into a swamp.
Inside the mud were the crushed remains of olive trees.
Harper kept going forward for another five minutes, but did not see anyone. However, he found another hole around the size of a basketball court.
This time, in addition to the crushed olive trees, he also saw something bright red like mincemeat. It did not belong to an animal, since animals did not wear clothes!
Harper began to feel nervous. He started running in the direction he had come from.
He picked up his pace when he felt like something was not right!
A bright ray of sunlight suddenly came down from above and blinded him.
Weren’t there clouds above him? Why was there sunlight again?
Harper subconsciously lifted his head and looked through the leaves.
His organs stopped functioning, as if he had just touched a high voltage cable. His body started convulsing too!
It was not the clouds that had blocked the sun above the olive grove!
It was… a titan!
The sunlight returned when the titan that was the size of a mountain headed for the town nearby, yet Harper felt like he had fallen into darkness as he was overwhelmed by fear, like the sky had collapsed and formed a huge abyss atop him.
Humans were tinier than the transparent bugs on the leaves of the olive trees before the titan!