“The small ones are fine,” Tarte said, looking a little pale. “The Serpent in the Dark was scary too, but I knew we had to fight the boss. I’m not so brave with normal big snakes.”
Gotcha. Understanding what your allies’ likes and dislikes were was an important part of traveling together. If Tarte could set her aversions aside while she was fighting monsters, I saw no need to force her to get over them entirely. “Then we can’t use that snake for transporting our party,” I said. “I feel a little bad for Kent, but...”
Cocoa was fiercely nodding her agreement. “I don’t want to ride a snake if I can avoid it. I’m really not good with it... I hate it,” Cocoa finally said quietly.
“I’m fine,” L’lyeh reassured us. We could only thank our lucky stars that L’lyeh hadn’t set her mind on having one of her own.
“Since Kent already has the belt, I think it’s fair for Frey’s party to have the snake,” I said.
“Oh, that’s great! I completely agree!” Cocoa said immediately.
Frey and Lina looked at us wide-eyed.
“It’s a very rare mount. Are you sure you don’t want to discuss it?” Frey asked.
“Yeah. To be honest, I don’t like snakes either,” Lina said.
Frey’s excited anticipation and Lina’s dread were painting a perfect contrast.
“I wouldn’t mind selling it off and splitting the money...but Luna’s going to want to keep it,” I said.
“Right? I know she will... How am I going to talk her out of it?” Lina whined.
Of course, I wouldn’t mind if Luna kept it either, but it wasn’t something that would help their party in battle. At the end of the day, Frey’s party would have to talk it over and decide.
“Let’s get going, then. Frey, can you lead our formation?” I asked.
“Of course.”
With Frey leading the way, we followed in the order of L’lyeh, Tarte, Cocoa, me, and finally Lina.
While we soared on dragonback, Frey’s party carried on a heated debate.
“Why not?! It’s amazing that five of us can ride it at once!” Luna said. “And it’s much faster than a horse! It’d be a waste for our whole party not to use it!”
“But it’s a snake!” Lina countered. “I hate it!”
Okay, it had devolved into more of an argument than a debate.
“Well, we’re not in a hurry, so take your time and think it over,” I said, chuckling at their sisterly rivalry.
“I think the snake is pretty cool,” Kent said in support of Luna. He didn’t suggest that our party use it, though. He knew Cocoa wouldn’t like that.
After we’d flown for a while, a city came into view: my hometown, Blume, the capital of Farblume. The city was famous for the flowers that vibrantly decorated it, growing beautifully in its temperate climate.
There’s no more delaying it. Swallowing a sigh, I pointed out the city to the others. “That’s Farblume over there!”
Everyone cheered in excitement.
“It’s such a purrty city!” Tarte said.
Frey’s party had halted their snake debate to admire the cityscape.
“So many colors!”
“Look at all the flowers.”
“Your family lives here, don’t they, Sharon?” Frey asked.
“Yeah. You can stay with them anytime you’re in Farblume,” I offered.
“That is very generous of you,” Frey said.
“You guys are always welcome!” I reassured her.
Frey was visibly excited.
“I wonder what your family home is like? Do you have a lot of flowers?” Lina began asking.
Yes. The gardens are certainly well manicured and vibrant. “Flying in with this many Dragons could cause a commotion. Let’s land a little way off and walk up to the city,” I suggested.
Having landed slowly, we dismounted from our Dragons and took our time walking up to the city proper.
“So this is Blume, the flower capital! It’s ameowzing!” Tarte purred.
“The city feels loving and kind,” Cocoa said. “We were here when Kent switched jobs, but we didn’t get to stay for long. I’d love to do some proper sightseeing, maybe even see other cities in Farblume.”
“That’s a great idea! Once we register the Gates, we can come back anytime,” Tarte said.
“Perfect!” Cocoa said.
I would definitely be joining them on their Gate-registration journey. I supposed our next goal would be to register the Gates in all the cities. Along the way, I’d enjoy the views, and Tarte could gather ingredients for Formulation. “A tour of the Gates, huh? Farblume also has Toras, the Valley Village; Fishing Village; Tulia, the City of Flowers; Ryuren, the City of Water; and Flower Market. There are also Traveler’s Inn and Relaxing Inn on the border.” I had stopped by Traveler’s Inn on the way to Erenzi. Similarly, Relaxing Inn stood along the route from Farblume to Laureldite Republic.
“There are a lot of shops that have to do with flowers,” Tarte observed.
“Mm-hmm. The city is famous for its flowers, so you’ll see flower jewelry and the like. If you want to see fields and fields of flowers, that’ll be in Tulia,” I said.
“I can’t wait, Meowster!”
Tulia was a beautiful city full of wildflowers, which drew a lot of people needing a medical retreat. They also studied new breeds of flowers there. “We will be sightseeing, but let’s stop by my house first. It’s not like we carry any luggage outside of our Bags, but we can sit down and talk for a bit,” I said.
“Okay, if you don’t mind,” Frey said, and the others shared her sentiment of gratitude.
Even though it had only been a few months, coming home felt very nostalgic. Neither the city of Blume nor our manor had changed at all since I’d been exiled. Both greeted my return with flowers of all colors and fragrances.
I still love this country and my family... I just detest Ignacia.
“This is my house. Make yourself at home,” I said before the gate, and everyone’s jaw dropped to the ground.
The fact that the two guards loudly declared, “Welcome home!” the moment they saw me didn’t seem to help.
“Y-Your house is huge, Meowster...”
“It is a duke’s residence. Ours may be the biggest residence in the city, after the castle,” I noted.
Tarte mewed in awe as she gazed up at the manor. I’d explained who I was before we’d arrived, but the house still came as a shock, apparently. Chuckling, I told the guards to open the gate.
“We are so happy to see you safe, Lady Charlotte!” one of them said.
“We’ll send word to Matthew straightaway!” said the other.
“Thank you. I’m happy to see you both as well.” I smiled at them.
“Lady Charlotte...” the guards replied in unison, holding back tears as they returned to work and opened the gate.
Seeing how eagerly people were waiting for me did something funny to my heart.
“I think you are very meowch loved, Meowster.”
“Yeah. It’s very nice,” I said, thanking the guards and stepping into the grounds. We still had to cross the expansive garden to reach the manor. “That’s the house, beyond the garden.”
“Whoa...” Kent breathed, looking a little nervous upon seeing that the house was bigger than he’d expected.
“Hey!” Cocoa nudged him with her elbow.
“You can relax, I promise. You’re going to be staying here a while,” I reminded him.
“We can’t relax,” Kent, Cocoa, and Tarte all replied, shaking their heads.
Just you wait, I silently vowed. I’m going to make you feel at home if it’s the last thing I do!
I gave them a brief tour of the garden as we made our way across it. Soon, the front doors were flung open, and several servants poured out, Matthew at the helm. The servants all looked terribly happy to see me as they called out my name.
“I’m home,” I said.
“Welcome back, Lady Charlotte,” Matthew answered for the staff.
Something hot burned the insides of my eyelids. Holding back my tears, I couldn’t help but feel grateful that I’d made it back here one more time. “I’m home!” I said to the rest of the staff.
“Welcome home, Lady Charlotte...!” they answered in unison.