Killing Time

First into the inn’s lobby, I sat down in a nearby chair, waiting for my party. After about ten minutes of waiting, Flora came downstairs.

“Oh, hello Flynn,” she said, waving.

“Hey Flora,” I replied. “So, what are your plans after we get back to the capital?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, I haven’t really put too much thought into it, I guess.” she said, looking a bit down. “I don’t think this one job will be able to put me back on track as a merchant again. Especially now that I’ll need to hire guards.”

“Hmm,” I said, thinking over an idea I had. “How about you join our party?”

“Huh!? B-but I don’t know how to fight!” she stammered.

“That’s fine,” I said. “I think your skills could come in handy. We could use Hershel and your cart to carry valuable materials from monsters back to town. Then you could sell them for a profit. Your help would also allow us more travel mobility, letting us clear requests more efficiently. I really think you’d be a ton of help.”

“I don’t know...it sounds really dangerous...” she mumbled.

“We’d protect you,” I said. “We’ve been doing it so far, and we’re about to get a healer. Even if we screw up and you get injured, she’d be able to patch you up just fine!”

“Hmm...alright. It’s a deal,” she said, sticking her hand out. I eagerly shook her hand.

“Well, unfortunately, we’ll have to wait for it to be official until we get back to the guild and we can get you registered,” I said.

“That’s fine,” she said. “I’ll look forward to our partnership.”

“So do I,” I said. Sofia and Lucille came downstairs. “I’ve got some big news, guys.”

“Hmm? What?” asked Sofia.

“Flora has decided to join the party. Once we get back to Regnus, we’ll get her registered at the guild,” I said.

“Truly!? That is wonderful news! I am gladdened to know you will be continuing on with us,” said Lucille, giving Flora a hug.

“Nice,” said Sofia, patting her on the back.

“We've got some time to kill before that ceremony. Any ideas on what to do?” I asked.

“We should continue your training,” said Lucille.

“After that, we can go get some breakfast,” said Sofia, her stomach grumbling.

“Sounds like a plan,” I said. Lucille and I went out towards the riverbank. After a half hour of sparring, we finished training for the day, our empty stomachs getting the better of us. Following Sofia, we ended up in a bakery.

Taking her advice, I ordered a pastry known as a ‘Sweetbun’. It was a pastry covered in sugar and filled with chocolate cream. It was similar to a donut, but the shape and texture was completely different.

“So what’s next?” I asked.

“I don’t really know,” said Sofia. “We could always split up and explore the town. We didn’t get to do much of that yesterday.”

“I cannot think of another idea, so that seems to be acceptable,” Lucille said. And so, we each wandered off, exploring the town.