Chapter 221

I followed the road north and east.

After saying goodbye to Nonna’s inn and to Sheyne and Aina, I began the journey to my next destination. Being innkeepers, they were well accustomed to hellos and goodbyes, so it wasn’t such a depressing affair. But hearing the faint traces of childlike loneliness in Aina’s voice as she asked me to come visit again was all the motivation I needed to ensure I’d be back someday.

I stuck to the road as much as I could, stepping off only long enough to let the carriages pass me by. Wagons full of grain were heading from Janpemon in the same direction as I was walking, while shipments of fruit from Ardeno came from the opposite direction. By throwing a few copper coins to a passing carriage from Ardeno, the driver happily parted with some of his cargo after counting them up, tossing me a green apple.

One wipe with a cloth and I could fully enjoy the crisp crunch as I walked. I had to say though, it was surprisingly not quite as sweet as I expected. The refreshing flavor made for a good snack on the road. With a big wave, I said goodbye to the carriage.

This time, I was traveling without carriages or boats. I kept a relaxed pace, carried forward by the wind on my back and sleeping in the open country. As I finally made it to Ardeno, the road I walked came to be lined with fruit trees. It was probably around here that I had encountered that greedboar. That brought back plenty of fond memories. I had been invited to the home of the farmers I had rescued and treated to quite the feast. For the greedboar itself and the farmers it had threatened, that incident had been a stroke of bad luck, but for me it was the exact opposite. Just by hunting a wild animal, I had gotten my hands on some incredibly delicious and elaborate cooking.

This time, I wasn’t to encounter any such luck. Instead, as I stepped into the city of Ardeno, I was greeted by a young woman carrying colorful flowers. “Oh, you’re an elf, aren’t you? People like you are pretty rare around here. We’re having a festival today, so please come in and enjoy it!”

With a mischievous smile, she pulled a flower from her basket and stuck it in my hair. Okay, no matter the reason, that was still rather embarrassing. I couldn’t just keep the flower in my hair, but I didn’t want to insult the girl either, so I stuck it into the mouth of my bag.

It was a cosmos, a pink flower that grew in autumn. Ardeno was apparently holding its harvest festival today. The country produced a wide range of fruit, like oranges and grapes, but apples were their true specialty. The fall, when cosmos flowers bloomed, was the same time of year they would harvest apples. So they decorated the city with these flowers as a sign of thanks for the good harvest received this year and a prayer for another good harvest for the next.

The unexpected, vividly colored display sent a wave of excitement through me. I thought Ardeno might suit me quite well. Just as I had accepted that I wouldn’t be struck by great luck outside the city again this time, I had walked right into an event like this. Besides cosmos, bellflowers, saffron, nerine, and zinnia flowers all lined the streets, admired by people wearing bright smiles walking throughout the city.

As expected though, the only ones wearing flowers in their hair were the women. At least, that was the case for as far as I could see. It seemed the girl before had been teasing me after all. I wasn’t mad, but it did bother me a little.

Other than that, the festival was extremely fun for me. Walking around the city, I enjoyed chicken skewers and fried apples from the stalls set up by the roadside, despite the small price hike for the event.

Apparently quite a few people were visiting from the surrounding villages. The cheaper inns were all full, so I ended up staying somewhere a little expensive. It felt like a needless expense, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. I had worked so hard to make money exactly so I could spend it on things like this. If I really hated spending money that much, I could live in the forest off of nature’s bounty, but I had grown tired of that lifestyle long, long ago. Wasting a little money here and there was all part of the fun.

While sitting down on my bed in the inn, I took a sniff of the cosmos flower I had been gifted.

A festival like this cost the lives of countless flowers, but those lives weren’t wasted. After the people enjoyed the decorations, the wilted flowers would be gathered together and either ground up or burned, and their remains eventually returned to the earth to nourish it. Their lives weren’t simply consumed; they were to become a foundation for further growth.

After a brief inspection, I figured out that the flowers hadn’t been treated with any kind of insecticide, so I popped one into my mouth. The flavor wasn’t anything pleasant, but the aroma of the flower was many times stronger when chewed than when simply sniffed.

I was a traveler. I wouldn’t be staying in this town long enough for this flower to wilt. So instead of giving it up to the earth, I would enjoy its aroma myself and have it become a part of me.