The southern road out of Silvermere was quieter than the roads Luciana had traveled before.
Once the city walls disappeared behind her, the sounds of merchants, wagons, and adventurers gradually faded into the distance.
Ahead lay a stretch of woodland, green and peaceful beneath the morning sun.
Luciana adjusted the strap of her bag and pulled out the quest notice.
Wildbell Flower Collection
Location: Southern Woodland
Objective: Collect 30 fresh Wildbell Flowers
Reward: 25 silver coins
She looked at the reward for a moment.
“Twenty-five silver coins…”
A small smile appeared on her face.
Her first quest had earned her fifteen silver coins because she had shared the reward with Raizen.
This time, she would get the entire reward.
Twenty-five silver coins.
All hers.
Luciana tucked the notice away.
“Okay.
Let’s do this.”
She had no idea whether collecting flowers counted as proper adventuring, but she had learned something from her Moonleaf quest.
Not every quest needed to be dangerous.
Sometimes, adventuring simply meant walking somewhere new, doing a little work, and coming home with enough money to make the effort worthwhile.
Besides, she had enjoyed Moonleaf Meadow.
Maybe Wildbell flowers would lead her somewhere beautiful too.
The deeper she walked into the woodland, the more unfamiliar the surroundings became.
Tall trees formed a canopy overhead, their leaves moving gently in the breeze.
Tiny magical insects drifted between the branches, glowing faintly like floating sparks.
A group of rabbit-like creatures with unusually long ears peeked from behind a bush.
Luciana stopped.
They stared at each other.
“Hello.”
The creatures remained perfectly still.
Luciana smiled.
“I won’t bother you.”
One of them twitched its ears.
Then the entire group disappeared into the bushes.
“Okay.
Goodbye.”
She continued along the path.
A little farther ahead, she spotted flowers with pale blue petals growing around an old tree.
Luciana nearly went to investigate.
Then she remembered Sara’s warning about touching unfamiliar magical plants.
She stopped herself.
“Right.
Don’t touch strange things.”
She looked at the flowers again.
“…Even if they’re pretty.”
With some effort, Luciana continued walking.
According to the quest notice, Wildbell flowers grew mostly around shaded streams and areas with moist soil.
So she began searching near the water.
The first stream had nothing.
The second had mushrooms.
The third had something green and round sitting beside a rock.
Luciana stared at it.
The green thing opened one tiny eye.
Luciana stared harder.
The creature blinked.
She slowly took one step backward.
“Nope.”
The little creature closed its eye again.
Luciana turned around.
“That was definitely not a flower.”
She followed another stream instead.
After nearly an hour, she finally spotted something white beneath a cluster of broad leaves.
Luciana crouched immediately.
A small flower stood among the grass, its petals shaped like a delicate bell.
Her eyes brightened.
“Found you.”
She checked the description one more time.
White petals.
Bell-shaped.
Fresh.
It matched.
Luciana carefully picked it and placed it inside her collection basket.
“One.”
She looked around.
“Twenty-nine more.”
The task turned out to be more difficult than she expected.
The first ten were relatively easy to find.
After that, the flowers became increasingly scattered.
She crawled beneath bushes.
She searched beside tree roots.
She followed little streams through the woodland.
By the time she reached eighteen flowers, Luciana had leaves stuck in her hair and dirt on the edge of her cloak.
She sat down beside a large rock and sighed.
“This is harder than it looks.”
Her stomach gave a small growl.
Luciana immediately reached for her bag.
The moment she saw the familiar cloth wrapping inside, her expression softened.
“Grandma Martha…”
She pulled out one of the croissants.
The croissant was slightly squashed from traveling.
Luciana considered this a minor tragedy.
She took a bite anyway.
Her mood improved immediately.
“This is still perfect.”
She leaned back against the rock and listened to the stream flowing nearby.
For a few quiet minutes, she simply rested.
There was no one telling her where to go.
No merchant wagon waiting for her.
No village celebration.
No one reminding her to be careful every few minutes.
She was alone.
And surprisingly…
she liked it.
Luciana looked down at the basket beside her.
Eighteen Wildbells.
A second quest.
Her own money waiting at the end.
She smiled.
“I think I’m getting the hang of this.”
After finishing her croissant, she stood and continued searching.
Nineteen.
Twenty-one.
Twenty-three.
Twenty-six.
The afternoon sunlight gradually shifted across the forest floor.
Luciana crouched beside another patch of grass.
“Twenty-seven.”
She placed the flower into the basket.
“Three more.”
The next one took almost twenty minutes to find.
The second-to-last was hidden beneath a fallen branch.
Luciana proudly lifted it into the air.
“Twenty-nine.”
She looked around.
The forest seemed suddenly determined to hide the final flower from her.
“Where are you?”
She checked beside the stream.
Nothing.
Behind a tree.
Nothing.
Under a bush.
Nothing.
She walked several steps, then stopped.
Something white was sticking out from beneath a fallen tree.
Luciana narrowed her eyes.
She approached slowly.
A small bell-shaped flower was growing in the shade.
Her face immediately lit up.
“No way.”
She crouched and carefully picked it.
Then she counted the flowers again.
Thirty.
Exactly thirty.
Luciana stood and raised both hands.
“Yes!”
A few birds flew from the nearby trees, startled by her sudden celebration.
Luciana laughed.
“Sorry!”
She packed the flowers carefully and started back toward Silvermere.
The walk home felt different.
She wasn’t rushing.
She wasn’t worried about getting lost.
She knew the road now.
She had completed another quest.
And for once, there was no one beside her.
Just her own footsteps.
By the time Luciana returned to Silvermere, the sun was already sinking behind the city walls.
She went straight to the Adventurer Guild and handed over the Wildbell flowers.
The clerk inspected them carefully before counting.
“Thirty fresh Wildbells.
Everything is in good condition.”
Luciana waited.
The clerk placed a small pouch on the counter.
“Twenty-five silver coins.”
Luciana took it.
The pouch felt heavier than she expected.
She opened it and looked inside.
Twenty-five silver coins.
She remembered her first reward.
Fifteen silver coins.
Then she smiled.
“This time, I don’t have to split it.”
The realization made her unexpectedly happy.
She had earned this herself.
No sharing.
No help.
Just Luciana.
She tied the pouch securely to her belt.
Then she stepped outside.
She should probably go back to the inn.
Instead, she stopped.
The street ahead had begun transforming with the coming night.
Lanterns were being lit one after another.
Food stalls opened along the street.
Merchants called out to passing customers, while magical lamps floated above several stalls and painted the market with soft colors.
Luciana’s eyes widened.
“Oh.”
She looked at the pouch of coins on her belt.
Then back at the night market.
A slow smile spread across her face.
“I think twenty-five silver coins deserve a little celebration.”
And so, for the first time since arriving in Silvermere, Luciana wandered through the night market completely on her own.
She stopped at a food stall when she smelled something delicious.
She bought a small portion and ate while walking.
She paused at a stall selling colorful hair ribbons.
Then another selling tiny magical charms.
A merchant was selling sweets shaped like little animals, and Luciana spent several minutes deciding which one looked the cutest.
Eventually, she bought one.
She had no particular reason for doing any of it.
She simply wanted to.
The night market was lively and warm, filled with laughter, music, cooking smells, and the occasional burst of harmless magic from the merchants’ displays.
Luciana walked slowly through it all, taking in every little thing.
For the first time, she understood something.
Traveling wasn’t only about reaching the next city.
It wasn’t only about completing quests.
Sometimes, it was about having enough freedom to stop whenever something caught your eye.
She touched the little charm she had bought and smiled.
“This is nice.”
She stayed until she was satisfied.
Then, with her small purchases tucked safely inside her bag, Luciana finally turned toward the inn.
Her feet were tired.
Her stomach was full.
Her second quest was complete.
And twenty-five silver coins were sitting safely at her side.
Luciana walked back beneath the lantern-lit streets with a contented smile.
Tomorrow could bring another quest.
Another road.
Another strange place.
For tonight, she was simply happy.
And somewhere far away, on an entirely different road, Raizen was still traveling toward another country.
He had deliberately chosen to give Luciana a few days alone.
He had also given himself a few days to search for something she might like.
Neither of them knew yet what the other was doing.
For now, their paths remained apart.
And Luciana was perfectly happy to enjoy her little victory by herself.