The grassland rustled as the wind glided over it.
Rosa continued to walk along the beaten path.
A rare quiet moment from questing alone.
On her hip dangled some beautifully shaped tubers.
The smell of them mixed with her own labor, sweat, and exhaustion.
She shaded her eyes with her palm over her temple, fully straightened.
Her gaze pierced across the horizon.
That's when Rosa saw a movement not quite far from where she stood.
A caravan was under attack, fighting breaking out on all sides.
Rosa quickened her feet and readied her staff.
"Dieter! Hold off the left flank, they plan to rotate!"
A young brown-haired man in armor gave commands from near the cart.
Rosa rushed just at the outer ring of the fight and began to observe.
The caravan guards had formed a ring around the rear carts, weapons drawn outward.
One properly armored warrior swung his sword wide.
His opponents leapt backward in unison.
They were coming from outside of the ring, facing the carts.
Dented plating, makeshift armor, how they were positioned.
It was obvious who was who.
"Little miss! Don't stand around there, you'll get hurt! Move away!"
The young man at the cart yelled at her.
A throb in her vein did its usual pulse.
Should I leave them alone after all?
"I am a proper mage! With a guild card!"
"Little miss! Watch out! Behind you!"
Rosa turned around and saw two bandits rush in with a… leather bag?
"You're mine! Little miss!"
"Come here, miss… We're not bad guys… We got candy in here…"
Throb
Rosa lifted her staff towards the two without uttering a single protest.
Her body glowed blue as sparks formed around her and the amber tip of her staff.
The sparks launched upward and formed three birds floating above her.
"Vlitzsperling!"
A couple tiny lightning birds zapped the two in an instant.
"Gwaaaaah!"
The two fell to the grass.
The spell shouldn't kill them, but she made sure the zaps were the most painful version they could be.
Rosa gazed back at the young man, satisfied with her own performance.
Too satisfied - a small smirk curved up her lips no matter how desperately she held it back.
The young man's eyes went wide, his jaw slack.
He then gestured at an archer on top of the cart.
"Wilhelm! Support the you- Ahem, the caster!"
"Roger… Which one is the caster?"
"The red one, you idiot!"
I should have left them…
…
The bandits were now tied and lined up on the grass behind the row of carts.
The armored man rubbed the back of his head with an awkward smile.
"Thanks for the help, ma'am. Sorry for our uh… misunderstanding."
Rosa sighed, yet she couldn't erase the smirk painting her face.
"I didn't do much, really. Anyone got hurt? I can help with Heilen."
"We couldn't possibly burden you more… you've helped enough, really."
Rosa pouted as she gazed downward.
"It's… not like I've done that much. Besides I got excess mana, didn't do a lot in my quest either."
That was a lie. The sound barrier alone for those mandrakes had cost her a fair chunk. Her legs had been aching since long before the bandits showed up.
But she wasn't about to tell them that.
She planted her staff a little firmer and kept her back straight, even as her legs screamed at her from exhaustion.
The archer from earlier ran at them, face pale like he'd seen a ghost.
"We've a big trouble! Really bad one!"
"Calm down. Breathe. What happened?"
"The… The horses… The horses ran off! And the front cart's wheels got axed!"
The young man's eyes widened as he froze.
He bit the tip of his nail.
"Tch! We were too focused on the rear… What about Erika!? Is she okay!?"
"She's fine. She fended the front attackers. She prioritized Ursula…"
He clenched his hands.
"And we paid the price in broken wheels and loose horses."
An old lady waddled into view, a female mage holding her hand.
Probably the Erika they were talking about.
"My… my… It happened again. Those guys have always been a pain, ain't they?"
She gazed at Rosa with a warm smile. A face she was awfully familiar with.
"Have we met somewhere, young lady?"
The old lady asked as she leaned closer.
Her mind scoured her memories.
Word after word popped in her head.
Caravan. Old lady.
Watermelon… Harvest Festival!
"Ah… you're the watermelon old lady."
"Ho ho ho… old lady, well, I am but you didn't have to spew it out loud like that"
The old lady squinted her eyes.
"Aaaah… now I remember, you're the young couple at the festival! The cotton candy lady isn't with you?"
"We're not a couple!"
She protested as heat crept to her cheeks.
"Ho ho ho, saying that with such fluster isn't convincing, young lady."
Before Rosa could form another protest, the young man cleared his throat.
"Ahem… excuse me, Ursula. But I think we have horses to catch… and carts to pull…"
Ursula shifted her gaze towards him.
"Riiiight. Our mages probably couldn't levi all the way to the city"
"Um… excuse me… May I know where you're going?"
Rosa stepped forward with her hand raised. Just around her face.
"Triveli, my dear. Right, you were from there aren't you? The harvest festival."
She nodded.
"A local."
Her hand pointed to a direction forward.
"I think I know a small village not quite far from here. There might be a woodsmith to help with your cart…"
Rosa fidgeted, fingers toying with the mandrake dangling on her hip.
"I can help you show the way…"
"My, that would be quite helpful. But, young lady, I didn't remember hiring you."
Rosa shook her head.
"No… I was just passing around. Saw your carts get attacked, and thought I could help a little."
The old lady's smile widened.
"Then, I shall reward you when we get there"
She waddled off to the front cart.
"Wait, I didn't… I merely-"
The old lady didn't stop.
"She already left. Well, then, where do we go, you- I mean, ma'am?"
Rosa's eyes gazed at him with an icy look.
She sighed.
"Straight forward, going left to the north west on a small path…"
The young man thanked her with a smile.
She was then escorted to the front of the cart where several other casters awaited her.
After several discussions, the team was split into two.
One team led by the archer to reclaim the loose horses.
Another team was led by the young man.
They decided to tie the carts to each other.
Several casters sat in a circle on the front cart roof.
A caster used the spell Schweuven to lift the frontmost cart since that's the only one without its wheels.
The lifted cart dragged the ones behind it by rope, one pulling the next.
After the caster exhausted their mana, another took their place.
The carts moved steadily as the casters rotated their spell.
Yet Rosa knew how exhausting the spell was.
Some of them had visibly started sweating with the damp patches on their necks.
The carts weren't even half their way to the said village.
She weighed her choices for a while. Then a nod.
"Um… excuse me. Can I take part in the rotation too?"
The woman from earlier - Erika, was it? - met her gaze.
"Ah right. You're a caster. Would you be okay? Levying things isn't exactly light labor."
"I know how it is. I am sure."
The woman clearly looked at her with hesitation.
It was an understandable reaction.
She tried to levy a box around the town in the past.
When she got back, her feet were cold, her eyes blurred, and her stomach churned with cold sweat all over her.
"Fine. Please tell us if it's too much. You already helped us with the bandits, then the direction."
She chuckled.
"Wouldn't want our guest to be spent dry on top of that. Especially a pretty young lass like you."
Rosa's face ignited with pink as her vein throbbed in her temple.
Both kinds of being set aflame.
"I am not…"
She let out another sigh.
"Let me take over… watch…"
Rosa readied her staff and lifted it towards the sky.
The other mage sat down as he started to pant.
The lift was as heavy, no, heavier than Rosa expected.
She clenched her muscles and gave it her all.
Her lungs wheezed and her knees shook as she gained more and more distance.
Then she broke the record in distance before she sat down with a proud smile.
She tried her best to remain composed even when her legs felt like mush.
Proved them.
The casters looked at each other and nodded with a sharp smile.
"You're on, young lass!"
Huh?
"I can't let myself be beaten as well. It's on!"
What?
The woman let out another chuckle.
"I guess it's fine to give it our all sometimes~"
The cart continued to levitate meters by meters.
Shouts, screams, and laughter echoed from its roof.
The lad named Aldric stubbornly overtook her by a meter.
So she made sure to cover twice her longest distance.
She put all of her effort into that round.
Everyone tried their best to overtake her record.
In the end, Erika almost reached her by a three-meter difference.
The cart finally closed the final distance as they arrived at the town gate.
By the time they set foot in front of the inn, all of them were spent.
Rosa fell to the ground face up as her lungs demanded air.
Her fabrics were now darkened as they clung to her skin from the sweat.
Orange seeped across the afternoon sky.
Most importantly. She held the urge to smile ear to ear.
I won… I won! Proved them! Showed them!
Erika and the rest of the casters lay down beside her.
Rosa knew them all by name now.
"Haaah… haaah… congrats on that Rosa… Sorry for the… young lass"
"Told you… haaah… haaah… I am a proper… mage… Twenty three… and all…"
A shadow fell over Rosa's face - hunched, with a halo of wild curls.
"Ho ho ho ho… I'm glad you were having fun with our folks."
Erika tried to plant her elbow on the ground and pushed her body upward.
Yet it slipped and she fell back to the ground.
"Ursula…"
"It's okay, you bunch did your best. Let me fetch some water. Y'all earned it."
"I… thank you."
"Don't mention it."
Ursula stopped briefly. She turned her gaze to Rosa.
"And for you little one. I believe I owe you a lot. Let me fetch something for you too~"
Rosa managed to form some words mid panting.
"I… haah… I'll be fine… haaah… No need…"
Yet the old lady kept walking.
She knew where this was going.
If she lay still, she would've been forced to accept something she didn't deserve.
Her elbows dug the ground as she forced herself up.
She planted her staff into the ground and leaned on it like a crutch, then walked away.
"H-hey… Rosa, where are you going?"
"I have… somewhere to go… urgent…"
"With that wobbly leg of yours? Hey!"
Rosa didn't turn around. She had to go. Fast.
…
Wind gently caresses Rosa's skin with the gentle cold of the midday.
Steam rises from the porridge and dances in the breeze.
The brown-haired girl leans close. Too close to her face.
Lilia nuzzles to her shoulder despite Rosa's urge to push her away.
So much for personal space.
"You know her?" Lilia asked.
Rosa shakes her head.
"No. First time meeting her. But I may have met her grandma."
"Right!"
The girl snaps her eyes at Lilia.
"Did you know!? She fled when grandma was about to give her something!"
Lilia raises an eyebrow, finally she leaves Rosa's shoulder alone.
"Really? You never told me anything about that."
"Wasn't that important to begin with. I just helped a little when I was going back from fetching some Earcrusher Mandrake."
"Grandma told me how spent you were! That wasn't a little! If you weren't there, our mages would be pushing that carts!"
"Wait, was that when you came back smelling like-"
Rosa shoots her gaze.
"Not another word."
She scoops a spoonful to her mouth.
The girl doesn't fish out a few coins. She presents the whole pouch.
"I was told to give these to you if I do find you!"
"Rejected."
Rosa continues to shovel another spoonful into her mouth.
"At the very least look at me!"
"Give it up, this stubborn girl would rather eat glass than accept a coin."
Her head wobbles as Lilia pokes her temple with her finger.
"You have a way better chance getting struck by lightning."
Then again. And again.
"Which is exactly what she is."
Throb.
Rosa turns to the side and chomps the finger.
"Ouch! Hey!"
The girl sighs as she puts the pouch to her belt.
"Part of me wasn't surprised, given how grandma told how she was."
"Is that all you need from me?"
Rosa asks with her usual flat tone.
"Well, there's actually something else."
She looks left and right before she leans closer.
Rosa splays her palm on her face, pushing her away.
"Ah waf goin' to hw guilf to muwk a queft."
Lilia grabs her own chin as she hums.
"Translation would be… I was going to the guild to make a quest?"
"I heard her just fine."
Rosa pulls her hand as soon as she regains her personal space.
"So? What does it have to do with me, specifically?"
She continues.
"Right! I want to privately give you a quest!"
Her eyes widen. That last phrase didn't sit right with her.
Especially after Eisenvalt.
"And the reason would be?"
The girl pouts, pressing her fingers against each other.
"You see… guild usually cuts the reward by a fifth…"
The girl's hand grabs the spoon as she gazes down, not meeting Rosa's eye.
The spoon traces circles in her bowl.
"You see… you seem like a trustworthy person, and I'd rather give all of the coin to you."
"Rejected."
Lilia nods.
"Even if I wasn't Rosa, I would also reject."
"Why!?"
"You don't know anything about the guild, do you?"
Rosa asks as she grabs another spoonful.
The girl shakes her head as she mirrors Rosa.
"Ahem…"
Lilia clears her throat.
"Because if anything happened during the quest, the clinic would be hella expensive."
Not only that. Accepting it would also mean putting Lilia at risk again for no good reason.
If anything happens, it will add another debt.
And Rosa still can't repay her even now.
Even just before-
Even if you don't feel like you earn it. Please lean on me like I would lean on you.
You told me you would rely on me more… was that a lie?
Lilia's words from earlier stop her thought.
Rosa whips towards Lilia with a pout.
"Hm? What is it- Oouph!"
She shoots her hands towards Lilia's cheeks.
"Whuf aw yu dowinf!? Whaf dif ah du!?"
Her hands pull away with a plop.
"I changed my mind… Let's hear the quest first…"
"Really!?"
The girl squeaks excitedly. Rosa sighs yet again.
"Don't make me regret it…"