After confirming their quest, Seraphina, Edwin, and Samuel made their way out of Vesta toward the outskirts of the city, where the valley stretched out before them.
It wasn't a particularly long journey, so they packed lightly— after all, it was only a beginner quest. The task seemed straightforward enough: collect Filai Leaves and deliver them to the requester at their location.
The requester even included a bit of their reasoning in the notice, having mentioned they were usually able to gather the herb themselves but had been unable to recently, so they had put up the quest to find others to do it for them.
Seraphina didn't know the exact details, and it didn't matter much. It was just a quest, so she would finish it and collect the reward without much care about the personal issues of the requester.
As they walked along the well-worn path leading out of the city, Seraphina found herself enjoying the scenery just like many times before. The sky above them was clear, with only a few wisps of clouds drifting lazily by, a good sign since it meant that rain wasn't likely.
The light breeze carried the faint scent of fresh grass and wildflowers, a welcome change from the city's busy streets. She glanced at Edwin and Samuel as they walked alongside her, the rhythm of their footsteps matched her pace.
"I read about the Filai Leaf."
Seraphina said, breaking the silence. Her voice was casual, more to fill the quiet than out of any real need to impart knowledge— mentioning the information she had seen before in one of the books she had read.
"It's used as a binding agent in medicinal pastes, to hold together crushed ingredients. It's pretty common, but not everyone likes picking it because it looks a lot like weeds."
Samuel, walking a step ahead, turned his head with a raised eyebrow.
"That's an interesting little tidbit. Good to know we're not just picking flowers for someone's garden, huh?"
Seraphina gave him a brief smile, she mused at his attempt at a joke but she didn't mention anything about it.
"True enough. But it's also useful in all kinds of salves, and even some alchemic concoctions. So it's not entirely a waste of time."
Edwin, who had been walking in silence, glanced at Samuel as if he had something to say but then surprisingly cracked a small smile. It wasn't much, just a flicker of warmth, but it was enough to make Samuel blink in surprise.
"That's the first smile I've seen from you since we got here."
Samuel remarked, his tone playful, as if he hadn't meant to point it out.
Edwin gave a small shrug, his face quickly returning to its usual stoic expression.
"Didn't seem worth mentioning."
The brief exchange was enough to leave a lighthearted atmosphere in the usually stoic group, they had been so focused on survival that they had little time to live.
The lighthearted atmosphere, though fleeting, had been a welcome change from the usual quiet.
The landscape soon shifted, and they found themselves entering a small grove filled with short and tall fields of grass alike, sparsely decorated trees that seemed to add to the scenery.
From what they had heard, the Filai Leaves grew in abundance here, they were mixed into the other common flora, blending in with the tall and short grass which made them a hassle to look for.
It wasn't like it was hard to spot them, the jagged leaves stood out against the other greenery, easily distinguishable once you knew what to look for.
But the task of collecting them wasn't as simple as pulling up any old leaf; the problem wasn't finding the Filai— it was the monotonous task of sorting through all the other plants that looked almost identical.
After the group arrived they decided to just get the task over with as quickly as possible and get back, so they knelt down and began sorting through the leaves, their fingers working carefully to separate the Filai from the weeds.
The day was warm, and the sun bathed the valley in a soft, golden light, but the task at hand was far from thrilling. She glanced over to the others, who were busy at their own patches, observing what they were doing as she searched.
Samuel, ever the talkative one, was making small talk with Edwin who largely ignored him, but Seraphina kept to herself for the most part, focusing on the task in front of her.
"This is going to take forever."
Samuel muttered with a sigh, clearly annoyed by the monotony. He pulled up another handful of leaves and tossed them into the small satchel he carried.
"How do people even do this for a living?"
"Patience."
Edwin replied shortly, his hands moving efficiently as he worked.
"Sometimes it's not about the excitement."
"Oh, I know that."
Samuel said, rolling his eyes but smirking nonetheless.
"But this? This is just... tedious."
Seraphina's lips quirked into a small smile, though she didn't say anything— she couldn't say she disagreed with him, the task was rather bothersome. She knew the task wasn't going to be thrilling, but it did give her the time and space to think, to let her mind wander a little.
The hours passed in a slow, steady rhythm.
The sun climbed higher in the sky, and they took breaks intermittently, exchanging small talk and even having a small snack to fill their empty stomachs.
After a time, Samuel let out another long sigh seemingly getting tired of doing the same thing for hours on end.
"This is ridiculous. I'm halfway convinced we're just collecting weeds at this point."
He plucked a particularly stubborn plant from the earth and eyed it dubiously before tossing it aside— he was right it was just a weed.
"We're nearly finished."
Seraphina said, glancing at the small pile of leaves they had gathered so far.
"Just a little bit more, and we'll be finished. Once we're done, why don't we go back and have a good meal at the inn?"
But before they could settle back into their work, a shift in the air caught Seraphina's attention. A low growl echoed from the nearby tall grass, the rustling of the leaves drawing their attention toward it; almost instinctively Seraphina grabbed her blade.