161. Doing the farming right (3)- A Farmer's Weapon

Carlos found Kaia waiting beside the tomato fence the next morning.

Two Shield Militia stood with her, and Rowan was examining the fruit through the wooden rails. He had left the vine rooted where it first changed. The testing ground was farther away, beyond the nearest vegetable rows.

"Why are we all here already?" Carlos asked.

"You said today," Kaia replied. "We have training afterward."

Carlos looked at the basket near her boots. Cloth divided it into small spaces, each deep enough to keep a tomato from rolling into the next one. A folded layer covered the bottom too.

"Will this work?"

"If we carry it properly," Rowan said. "Nobody swings it by one handle."

He opened the fence and reached for a tomato. Carlos watched his fingers more carefully than he had ever watched someone pick vegetables.

Rowan held the fruit from below, then cut the stem with a small blade. It stayed in his palm without reacting.