Swords and Secrets - A Stardew Valley fanfic

Chapter 22. Connection

For the next few days, I spent a lot of time collecting recipes from villagers. Between needing different ingredients for said recipes and fulfilling the Junimo bundles, my range of crops has diversified greatly. A lot of my farmland is now put to good use, and I could finally legitimately claim to be working a paying job.

My progress drew the attention of Demetrius, the town scientist. He suggested a mutually beneficial arrangement where he would set up an environment to either attract fruit bats or grow fungi in a small cave at the back of my farm. I would get the fruit or mushrooms, in exchange for him accessing and studying the specimens. After choosing fungi so quickly that I cut him off from speaking, Demetrius half-chuckled with a raised eyebrow before he got to work incubating the new mushroom cave with spores. Soon, life elixirs would be plentiful.

Cooking tested my patience to the limit. Robin had barely installed a kitchen before I made a complete mess of everything. Practice makes perfect though, and I succeeded in making several dishes that I tested on myself. Spicy eel, for example, seems to make me speedier, as did coffee brewed from my homegrown beans. Most dishes didn't seem to have an effect though, and I decided that we could probably use Harvey's help on this, as he would likely be both capable and keen.

Tonight, I'm sipping on some parsnip soup; the recipe of which I obtained from Caroline after finally getting back into her good books with many offerings of tea and other fresh produce. As per my routine now, my after-dinner activities include swinging my sword at several objects and doing some laps around the farm, despite my mom's fervent disapproval to run after a meal. The parsnip soup was definitely not my favorite and doesn't seem to improve my performance either, so I strike it through on a little list I've pinned to fridge with a magnet. Then, my attention is grabbed by my phone buzzing on the table.

[Hey Ash. Get over here to the graveyard. Something interesting. Two things actually.]

A little mystified but nonetheless intrigued, I quickly text back, sling my pack over my shoulder and briskly march out the door. Though I have walked past the graveyard as it is somewhat centrally located in town, I have never paid it much attention.

I am not one to be spooked so easily, but as I approach, the quiet night air and the thick cover of trees, which I could barely make out to be dark green, accentuates a sense of uneasiness. A sudden thought pops into my head: you're probably hiding behind or in one of the trees waiting to jump out to scare me. Steeling myself and slowing down slightly, I eventually see a tinge of purple in front of one of the very few gravestones. Apparently you are too engrossed to think of pranking me right now.

"Hey."

You start a little when you hear me, but otherwise think nothing of it.

"Ash! Look. I knew I saw Mona somewhere before. I can't believe I forgot. Here she is," you beckon towards the gravestone, dimly illuminated by a singular, flickering streetlamp outside the graveyard. It simply read, 'Our Beloved Mona', in relatively recently carved out letters.

"That's it?" I couldn't help but say.

"Yeah! But!" You stammer and purse your lips, "Okay, whatever. I know it doesn't tell us anything beyond what we already know. But thanks to Mona, I got curious and checked out the other gravestones. Check this other one out."

My gaze follows your index finger to another gravestone. My eyes widen as I realize the text seems an awful lot like the dwarf scroll, with a similar excess of the letters "U, V and O".

"Dwarf script? Did you—" I ask as I bring out my phone.

"Yep. Sent a pic to Gunther," you show me Gunther's reply. A shocked cat emoji followed by a series of exploding heads and magnifying glasses, then finally a short 'I need to get out of the museum more".