Rubellia headed west, to the mountains. Patora headed east, near the forest. She asked me to come with her, but I rejected, saying that the less people searching all over, the longer it would take to find the place we were looking for.
And if I'm being honest, we'd most likely find the place we were looking for in the mountains. A solitary place; The mountains fit that perfectly. It's were monks of old would go to meditate in solitary. At least in my world, I don't know about this one.
"Kichi," it was Sora who spoke my name. She hadn't left yet and was staring at me.
"...Yeaaaah?" I replied questionably.
"You still owe me a date."
I had almost forgot about that. I had promised to take her on a date, but right now wasn't the time. We're searching for a house.
Huh, but if you think about, don't couples do that?
"Well, want to come with me then? That could be our date, I guess." I didn't look at her as I spoke, and I was scratching the back of my head.
"I'd love to!" She cheerfully walked next to me and grabbed my hand. "Let's go find the perfect house." With that we began looking.
Sora and I didn't really have a destination, per say. While the others were looking in places where we would most likely find a house, we were looking around the country side, which was actually part of the Plains. This part of the area though was like a farming zone.
Instead of green grass, there was yellow wheat all around, its height surpassing mine. When the wind would blow, the wheat would move with it, like synchronized dancing.
We were conversing with each other when we stumbled upon a house in a field. We both looked at each other, our eyes said the same thing, so we went and checked it out.
As we approached the door, Sora knocked. "Hello?" Her voice rang out across the silent field. Footsteps could be heard shuffling towards the door, and it soon opened.
"Why, hello." It was and old man who greeted us. Wait a second, he looked familiar.
"It's you!" I pointed my finger at him. It was none other than the old man I had first met when I came to this world.
"Oh, Kichirou," he smiled kindly at me, his gaze then turned to Sora with the same smile. "And who may this beautiful girl be?"
"My name's Sora," she returned the smile he gave her. "And, if I may ask, how do you two know each other?"
"Oh, well that's kinda-"
"I met him sleeping in the Grassy Plains with no gear, looking dumbfound," he interrupted me. Old people have no manners. "I gave him a ride to the capital on my carriage. He said he was going to become an adventurer, and from the looks of it, he has."
"Really? You were sleeping in the Grassy Plains with no equipment?" She looked at me like I was some kind of idiot.
"He's from the Southern Empire, and things are a bit different there."
"Oh, true. The south consists mostly of farmers and merchants," Sora nodded.
"Well, what brings you two here?"
"House hunting," I answered.
"Oh? And what brings you to this house? It's not for sale."
"Yeah, but we were going to ask if you knew any houses around that were for sale."
The old man scratched his beard in thought. "Hmm, I don't think so," he answered after a moment. "All houses on this side of the country have been bought."
"Tch." Damn, that sucks. We came all the way here for nothing. The scenery was nice though, so I can't complain about that.
"Really?!" Sora exclaimed.
"I'm afraid so," the old man's voice was kind.
"Well, thanks anyway. We'll be on our way now," Sora waved as she turned around and began walking. I followed behind her, nearly bumping into her when she came to a sudden stop. "Oh! What's your name?" She asked as she turned around.
"My name is Onsra," he replied. "Farewell, young ones. And good luck, Kichirou." At that, he shut the door.
We began walking again.
"Well, we may not have found a house, but talking and walking around with you was fun." Sora said as she wrapped herself around my arm.
"Really? I felt like this wasn't what you wanted," I replied.
"All I wanted was alone time with you, and as long as we both enjoyed it, it's a date. Did...did you enjoy it?" She asked as she looked me in the eyes.
I mean, we went looking for a house and didn't find it. We walked around for at least three hours, and my feet were hurting. It was a total loss from the original plan, but...I did enjoy our time together. Speaking about random things, laughing at stupid jokes she'd tell, which weren't funny. I just laughed when she did. It was contagious.
"Yeah, I did," I patted her head.
Extra Quest Complete: Take Sora on a date and increase affection system
Reward: All stats have increased by 50
After some more searching around the edge of the capital, we had given up and just returned to where we had planned to meet up, where I saw Patora waiting.
"Any luck?" She asked as she caught sight of us.
"Nope," Sora replied.
"And from the looks of it, you didn't have any either," I sighed. "Guess the others may have found some luck since they haven't returned yet."
"Maybe," Patora looked at the sky.
"Doubt it," Sora shot down what little hope we had. "They're right there." She pointed to two figures who were approaching us in a light jog.
"Hey guys," Han said as he approached us, Rubellia reached us not long after.
"Any luck with a house?" She asked.
"Nope," Patora, Sora, and I all spoke at the same time. The other two sighed, informing us that they, too, had no luck.
"Well, what now then?" Rubellia asked. "Do we not get a house, or settle with something in the capital?"
"We are not getting a house in the capital," I said. "There's to many people there, I don't like it. They'd see a new neighbor and try and be all buddy buddy with you. I don't even know why Han searched there," I looked at him.
"Don't give me that doubtful look. There are places in the capital that are isolated from others. Like private property. But they were all taken."
"No surprise there," Sora sighed. "Everyone buys a house because they want peace. So, all the houses we want are most likely already taken by someone else."
"Well, what if we..." They continued speaking, but I zoned them out.
I was looking at my menu instead, assigning skill points to level up my skills. It's not because I'd lost interest in a house or anything. I still want one, but right now there's nothing we can do. So why not level up some skills? I hadn't done it in a while.
I was in the middle of doing so when something strange caught my eye. It was a skill called Scan. The skill itself fell under my observation skill, like a subclass of the skill, or an upgrade to it.
It needed 5 skill points to be unlocked, and with a shrug, I unlocked it. Not like I was short on them.
Scan skill unlocked
Skill description: A powerful skill once used by one of the heroes of old. The hero, Glenda, had this skill. With it, she was able to find the secrets of the land and sea.
Skill usage: Consumes 100 SP and conducts a scan of the land and sea within 3 kilometers of your position. Any secrets will be revealed to the user of the skill.
A mini-map appeared at the top right of my screen next to the location and time. The map must have something to do with the Scan skill.
Without thought, I used the skill, and a sonar beeped in my ears as a green circle emerged from my position and started growing bigger and bigger. Each time the circle came into contact with something, it would be marked on the mini-map for a short time as a pin before vanishing. But then something strange occurred.
The mini-map was pinned with an X on it. The location was in a nearby forest not too far from us.
I know I said no more questing, buuuut...this could be an interesting thing to check out.
"Hey, guys," I interrupted them. "Follow me, I found something." They looked around with questionable looks but did as I said.