“We do not wish for this conflict to continue. I was glad he was receptive to the idea.” Tithia smiled as she considered the prospect of peace between the two nations.
Closing my eyes, I tried to wrap my mind around what Tithia had done and what she was trying to do. It was incredible how she could already work toward peace around the world while she had so much in her own country to deal with.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Tithia still smiling. “It’s wonderful news,” she said again. She was far more deserving of the Holy Maiden title than I was.
The corner of my mouth tugged up. “Ti— No, Pope Tithia. As the daughter of a ducal house of Farblume, I thank you for your wisdom and bravery in this decision.”
“All I want is peace throughout our world. Thank you, Sharon. You have helped us in more ways than I can count.”
Having given our formal thanks, Tithia and I finally let out the laughter we’d been holding back. “I’m so glad I met you, Ti.”
“I am the one who is grateful for our meeting! Without you, neither Leroy nor I would be here today. You saved our lives, Sharon. Any favor you ask of me, I will do everything I can to grant it.”
I grinned at Tithia’s offer. “I’m making out like a bandit, then.”
“Not literally,” Leroy cut in, as if to make sure her offer wasn’t legally binding.
Rats. You know I saved your behind too, Leroy. I took a long sip of my tea.
“So...” Tithia said. “When are we going to the dungeon? Right now?”
“No, of course not right now!” I said frantically.
“I would not put it past you, Sharon...” Tithia countered. For some reason, she thought me the kind of person who would shove my friends into the deep end without preparation. Weird...
“Some members of Frey’s party are working on attaining their new jobs,” I explained. “We won’t set out for the dungeon until they’ve returned from their quests and have gotten comfortable with their new jobs and Skills through hunting.” Overall, we weren’t in a hurry. It wasn’t like the trial had an expiration date. Our best bet would be to make sure we were prepared before heading in.
Tithia looked visibly relieved. “Good. We can go over our roles and possible scenarios before going into the dungeon. I am not too light on my feet, so I will try to be prepared.”
“You have amazing Skills, Ti. Just having you there will be a huge boost. I also admire your drive to improve,” I said.
“Thank you.”
Just like Tarte, Tithia was one hardworking girl.
Of course, there were things about this dungeon I was still in the dark about: how strong its monsters were, for example, or how expansive the dungeon itself was. I’d already learned that I couldn’t expect to beat dungeons as quickly as the players had in Reas. Out of all the ID’s I’d played, the quickest had taken no more than half an hour and the longest about five hours. In this world, though, we’d have to take breaks to eat and sleep, for starters. With our Bags and Storage, we’d have plenty of food and items to sustain us, but we couldn’t go on forever without rest. How long can Tithia be away from Zille? I wondered. During the prep stage, she could easily come see us to discuss strategy or stock up on items and still come back to Zille before the day was over, thanks to the Transportation Gates. Once the trial began, though, she wouldn’t return to Zille until we cleared it.
“Just spit it out,” Leroy sighed after watching me contemplate all that.
“It’s hard to guess the scale of this dungeon... Almost impossible, actually. I doubt it’ll take days, but we may have to spend the night in the dungeon,” I confessed.
“If we are to face Goddess Flaudia at its end, I would expect as much,” Leroy said.
“Yes, if that is what we must do,” Tithia agreed.
They were taking the news far too well. “Won’t it interfere with your work?” I asked.
“It won’t be a problem,” Leroy said. “Her Holiness and I were planning to visit Farblume soon anyway.”
“Because of the treaty...” I guessed.
“Exactly.”
Then the timing was as good as it could have been. That much was a relief. I took the opportunity to offer my house as lodging during their visit to Farblume. “I’m sure the king and queen will offer you a room at the castle, but I’d love it if you could stay at my house. We’ll prepare some delicious peaches for you.”
“Peaches?” Tithia and Leroy repeated.
I told them the story of how we’d gotten our hands on tasty peaches in Arcadia.
“You know how to get to Arcadia as well?!” Leroy asked, raising his eyebrow.
“I want to visit Arcadia too!” Tithia exclaimed.
“Once we clear this dungeon, we can all go to Arcadia together,” I offered.
Tithia beamed. “That is a wonderful idea!”
In the end, we agreed to have Tithia and Leroy visit Farblume in ten days. If Lina, Luna, and Mio returned from their quests before then, we would work on improving their Skills with the remaining time. Once everyone was together, we’d go over strategy while we hunted as a sort of rehearsal. What a perfect plan!
After leaving Tithia Cathedral, I decided to enjoy some shopping in Zille. If I could find something useful for the trial, great, but at a minimum, it’d be nice to restock my healing items. “Since I’m flush with cash...” I whispered to myself as I happily set out into town.
Soon, I came to the item shop I’d used to frequent—the one I’d once cleared of Jiggly Jellies, much to the astonishment of the shopkeeper.
“Hello!” I called as I opened the door.
The shopkeeper immediately came out to greet me. “Oh, I haven’t seen you in a while. You had me worried. How’s your adventuring?”
“I spent a lot of my time in Snowdia and didn’t stay in Zille very often. After this, I’m heading straight to Farblume,” I explained.
“I see.”
When I’d first come to his shop I had been something like a novice adventurer, but I hadn’t expected him to care enough to be worried about me. I will make an effort to regularly shop here, I promised myself.
“What are you looking for today?” the shopkeeper asked.
“Pretty much anything I can use when camping, and if you have any rare items in I’d like to see them.” I began by stocking up on Firestarters. They made lighting a fire so easy that you could never have too many of them. Since I’d have a bigger party, I made sure to buy a few more sets of cups, plates, and silverware too. “And I’d like a bunch of Empty Potion Bottles,” I added.
The shopkeeper brought out as many Firestarters and Potion Bottles as he could part with, and we were pretty much set for camping.
“Rare items, huh?” the shopkeeper then mused. “Lately, I’ve been getting more products from Farblume.”
“Are there more merchants coming in?” I asked.
“Seems like it. You know how we have more items that recover mana here in Zille, but Farblume has more that heal HP? We’re starting to get more of those, and I’ve seen more armor designed for close-range combat in the armor shop.”
“That makes sense...”
Even though news hadn’t broken to the public, the merchants had apparently caught wind of Tithia’s proposal. It would take more time for travel between the two countries to really pick up, but I hoped that the distribution of jobs among the adventurer communities would soon even out on both sides of the border.
“Can I interest you in some potions from Farblume?” asked the shopkeeper.
“Uh... No, I’m all right.”
“You got it.”
Taking just the camping supplies I’d bought, I left the shop.