[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies":3,"chapter-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-336":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Notes on Kraft Anomalous Studies",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2283814,4467,"Chapter 336","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-336",336,"\u003Cp>“I’m such a fool, really.” Dominic leaned against the haystack, lifeless, clutching his cane as he watched the hired farmers and craftsmen bustle back and forth. “I knew driving would be difficult, but I never imagined it would get this bad.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master Kraft must be furious. We’ll be stuck farming this land till we die, hoping he one day remembers some useless task we can be put to.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Field dared not speak, shoving a wild berry into his mouth. The long-abandoned wasteland scattered small, natural surprises—orange-red skins, plump and warm, enclosing a slightly tart sweetness, perfectly ideal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though he disagreed with the current arrangement, it was best to keep quiet while his companion was still angry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that accident, the two were quickly sent to the foot of the mountain to supervise the hired farmers and craftsmen rebuilding the monastery’s annexed estate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Brother Raymond, who delivered the order, called it “a weighty task, vital to the future foundation of the Order,” requiring careful planning: preparing grain and supplementary food stores, herb gardens, stables, and workshops before the next planting season, allocating upstream and downstream positions according to water needs and contamination levels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The draft plan alone ran several pages, including several blank zones specifically marked by Kraft, requiring them to be kept far from flowing water or production and living areas—with no additional annotations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first glance, it seemed a heavy responsibility; but once they took over, they realized it was nothing of the sort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were still in the early stage of repairing infrastructure and re-clearing the wasteland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The locally recruited farmers couldn’t possibly abandon their nearly ripe wheat fields to work here, and most of the abandoned facilities, neglected for over twenty years, had to be rebuilt from scratch—everything moved agonizingly slow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As outsiders, they couldn’t instruct locals in farming, nor offer technical guidance to skilled craftsmen. Their daily work, politely put, was overseeing the whole operation and monitoring progress; bluntly, they were just decorative figures on the construction site.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both spent their days rotting with idleness; achieving anything seemed impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Honestly, I think Master Kraft hasn’t sidelined us—he still demands a written report every three days.” Field, being fair, believed a man constantly busy wouldn’t waste time every three days reading meaningless reports.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They’d even been explicitly told that if any special circumstances arose—including personal issues—they could send a messenger immediately, without waiting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frankly, he was puzzled: what could possibly be worth reporting from this soil? For weeks, besides daydreaming, he’d strained his mind to cobble together enough content for a report, handing it to those who came down periodically to buy supplies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Dominic still wallowed in self-pity, Field had already grown accustomed to rural life. If you didn’t consider the future, staying here indefinitely wasn’t a bad choice—it allowed him to devote more energy to pursuing personal interests.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tasted another berry, redder in hue, and sighed contentedly. A few more days of this leisurely life would be quite nice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If only there were sugar. Berry season was always short; boiling them with sugar into jam would let them savor this flavor during the barren winter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He passed the wooden tray of fruit aside. Dominic didn’t respond. Perhaps the trauma from the accident hadn’t faded—his already quiet personality had grown even quieter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes he’d stare blankly, as if lost in thought, but when asked, he never spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Want to read something? I brought my own copied collection of stories. Interested?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What?” Dominic paused a moment, then realized he was being addressed. “Oh, no thanks. I’ve read all those at least three times.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s wrong with you? Did you hurt your brain?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing him zone out again, Field worried it might be a post-accident aftereffect—he felt guilty just thinking of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Want to take a walk?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dominic’s vision suddenly went black, cutting off his drifting gaze and thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled the object off his face—a straw hat, bristling with coarse hairs, woven from common broad-leafed wild grasses, but with the sharp tips removed, the top twisted into a strange spiral pattern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The craftsmanship was mediocre, but certainly not Field’s work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Where’d you get this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Someone gave it to me.” Field nodded toward the fields, where a young girl, accompanied by a middle-aged woman, was gathering and tying dried hay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Her father’s ill. I prayed for him. This is her thanks.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the hat was casually placed atop Dominic’s head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You should treat a believer’s gift more seriously—whether it’s a straw hat or a gold coin, before the Lord, they’re equal.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Got it, got it.” Field waved dismissively, standing to brush straw stubble from his back, stretching his arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dominic’s injured leg had improved well; Kraft had diagnosed at most a hairline fracture—he could now bear slight weight and walk a few steps with his cane.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“By the way, are their hats only this weird, or…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or are they all like this? Dominic looked toward the laborers, most wearing straw hats for shade—and got his answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, perhaps it was a local custom: every handmade hat bore a bulky, twisted spiral, resembling the curling white foam left by oars or fish stirring the water around settlements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, I asked. She said this hat protects and blesses me—something like a talisman?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Really? This area’s been a parish for ages. Shouldn’t they wear holy symbols instead?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not strange. Holy symbols can’t be worn on the head. Every place has its own customs—no need to meddle in idle curiosity.” Field reached out, lending a hand to help Dominic rise. “According to their elders, the hat’s shape resembles clouds—it makes whatever’s up in the sky think you’re just another drifting cloud, so you’re safe.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Never heard of that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Field tapped the thick straw spiral on the hat’s crown. “Neither have I. But at least it blocks falling pebbles and branches from the mountain. Maybe that’s the reason.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So, want to wander around? To the village, or those gentler slopes I heard about?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good idea. I’m rusting away.” Dominic readily agreed. Too much idleness bred near-panic; vague thoughts kept surfacing in his haze, occasionally tugging at his over-sensitive nerves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He ought to move around, find something to do. With the monastery’s written records destroyed, perhaps compiling a fresh overview of the surrounding region’s culture and environment would enrich their reports—and impress Kraft.\u003C\u002Fp>",1050,"2026-06-20T02:15:56.940Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","dca06819dba084fe3d33431ec2269d5be6aa7d4070692265585eda04183d7835","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-337","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-335",406,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fnotes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-cover.jpg"]