In the massive flower field on the outskirts of Figliad, beneath the rays of the morning sun. A vast flat grassland surrounded by hills served as a barrier between the town and Etveya's vast forest. Roses, peonies, sunflowers, and other flowers were planted in the area, which was divided by multiple fences and soil footpaths owned by land owners such as nobles and merchants living in the town. Flower Utopia was the name given to this location.
As the gentle wind from the nearby hills blew through the flower farms, the flowers danced in unison, welcoming the new morning. Peasants were scattered throughout the farmland, tasked by their landowners to care for and harvest the flowers, and so adventurers took requests from merchants who did not have peasants to harvest their farms.
Laughter could be heard as peasants and adventurers conversed, and others decided to sing while picking up flowers. Every participant had wooden crates next to them where they stored the flowers they picked, which would be sold at the market or exported to other towns and Meirhan's capital.
Gideon was one of the adventurers harvesting flowers; he was quietly listening to the conversations around him while picking up yellow peonies and placing them in his nearly full wooden crate. He would occasionally find himself laughing at the jokes of the nearby adventurers and answering their friendly questions. Both the peasants and his fellow adventurers were friendly to him, so he decided to make this type of quest a regular occurrence.
"Then Gideon said, that's not a worm, that's a freaking abomination!" exclaimed the red-haired adventurer as she picked up red peonies in the section next to Gideon's. "And the next thing I knew, both of us were already running out of that mine tunnel," he laughed. He was telling them stories about their adventures in the Agiza cave.
When he heard the laughter of the adventurers and peasants from the other sections of the farm, Gideon shook his head. "You can't blame me; it was the first time I'd ever seen an earthworm the size of my thigh with freaking razor-sharp teeth."
When they heard Gideon's response, they burst out laughing. Gideon joined them in their laughter.
"Oh, there he is," a familiar cheerful female voice said from a distance. "Gideon!"
Gideon's attention was drawn to the voice, and his eyes darted to the direction of the sound, where he discovered two familiar faces walking toward him. Ordy's towering image immediately took over Gideon's entire vision as he stood next to the section where Gideon was harvesting flowers, while Halini waved her hand at Gideon with a huge smile on her joyful face.
He had seen their party several times since the day he was recruited to the guild, two weeks ago, but had decided not to approach them because he was still not convinced that he was fit to join them. However, thanks to Xilgran's words, his perception of himself was changing for the better.
"Look at our Gideon, Halini. This is the lad who has received praise from Xilgran himself," Ordy said, staring at Gideon from head to toe. "We heard you're doing well in training, which is to be expected given that you're our lad."
"I guess I did alright," Gideon said as he placed the last yellow peony he needed to finish his flower-picking quest. "You've returned from your quest."
"Actually, we returned a few days ago, but decided to take a break from adventuring for a while due to the unprecedented dilemma we faced on the previous quest," Halini explained before leaning forward and placing her hand next to her mouth to whisper to Gideon. "We were paralyzed for a few days after I, Mian, and Vien dragged Ordy's cocoon-covered, sleeping body after he was stung by a Dream Eater Tarantula. We did it all while being pursued by them," she said, placing her hands on her hips. "Do you know how difficult it was to drag this big guy back to the Intersection Clearing? It was a nightmare... I nearly burned down the entire place just to get rid of those persistent pesky monsters."
Ordy, on the other hand, simply chuckled as he placed his hand on Halini's shoulders. "At least now I know you three girls will never leave me behind!" He raised his other hand, revealing a section of his slightly red bicep with a hint of a circular wound where he was stung by his former assailant. "It still hurts, and I never expected it to put me to sleep in one strike, but at least it wasn't poisonous."
"Leave you behind? We would never do that; even if you gained three times your current weight and fat, we would never leave you," Halini replied, her eyes narrowing.
Gideon smiled as he observed their banter. "I see, and I'm glad to hear you're all well."
"Of course we are!" Ordy said, raising his thumb and smiling at Gideon. "But it would be even better if you were there, my lad," he said confidently, and Halini agreed by nodding repeatedly.
Gideon stared at Ordy, saying nothing and nodding slowly. The three of them remained silent for a brief moment before Ordy cleared his throat and pulled a piece of brown paper from his pants pocket.
"Anyway, Gideon. We're about to get another quest. This time, we need to collect the cores of Gravel Golems. We're going to smash some rocks!" Ordy shrugged. "We've been thinking that maybe you're sick of staying here and want to go somewhere dangerous to slay monsters for gold coins; after all, we're the ones who invited you here, and we don't want an amazing traveler to only have uneventful memories of our town."
"Unless you prefer picking flowers and squeezing cows' breasts," Halini added. "However, I know some people who find it more preferable and enjoyable for reasons I don't understand."
The next sound was the intentional synchronized coughing of the nearby male adventurers as a result of what Halini had just said.
Gideon placed a hand on his chin. "That would be fantastic, to be honest; I'd love to come along, but I'm afraid I'm not strong enough to fight that kind of monster. Golems? That sounds like bad news."
"However, the pay is quite handsome," Ordy responded.
Gideon furrowed his brows. "How much are we discussing?"
Gideon was already convinced to join them the moment he saw them again in front of him, and he was only acting reluctantly to hide that fact from Ordy and Halini. He had always wanted to join them, his newfound friends, but was held back by his own self-doubt. And he'd been waiting for a reason to convince himself that he, too, could fit into their party. And Ordy's always-closed eyes could see right through it; he could read Gideon like an open book.
Ordy crossed his arms with a huge grin on his face. "Does three gold coins per person sound appealing?"
Gideon raised his index finger, his enlarged eyes fixed on Ordy and Halini. "Three gold coins? Of course, that's more than enough."
Ordy laughed. "That's what I wanted to hear," he said as he walked away from Gideon. "Meet us in the marketplace after you submit those flowers; we'll buy equipment for you to use on our journey."
"Ha? Immediately?" Gideon asked, lifting the crate of yellow peonies.
"We'll be waiting for you!" Halini exclaimed to Gideon, waving her hand.
Gideon, on the other hand, just watched them walk away while slowly shaking his head, holding the crate of flowers he had picked up earlier. He found the eyes of peasants and adventurers looking at him with smiles on their faces as he wandered his eyes. They didn't say anything, but it was enough to encourage Gideon to take another step forward, toward where he could meet his newfound friends.
He was about to embark on another journey to broaden his horizons.
"Wait!"