We use Artemis on the way back, so we reach Minerva an hour later, and go tell Isolte negotiations with the dwarves went well.
She’s so happy, that it blows away her usual cool attitude, and she grabs one of my hands.
“You’re the pride of Minerva, Loyd.”
That makes it worth it.
The next day, around noon, I go to the adventurer guild and see a lot of adventurers. There are about a hundred of them, and they’re all taking part in the quest to restore the Luminous farm.
Iris isn’t around, but Mars and Lela are. It looks like they also accepted this quest.
“Sensei’s the MVP here.”
Mars says something strange all of a sudden, and when I ask what he means, he tells me everyone knows about how I negotiated with the dwarves.
“I just happened to have a connection with them. Everyone here wants to save the Luminous farm, so it doesn’t matter who contributes more. It’s the thought that counts.”
I’d have to refuse a bigger reward if it was offered to me.
It’s not like I did something that amazing. I didn’t use magic to do something more incredible than anyone else or anything like that.
“You really are generous. I respect that as a person.”
“You exaggerate so much.”
“No no, I really feel that way. You’re a real hero.”
Says Mars with a glint in his eyes.
I feel like if calling dwarves is enough to make someone a hero, everyone’s a hero. I leave Mars as he gets excited all by himself, and turn to Lela.
She doesn’t respond right away, instead speaking slowly a few seconds later.
“The wind is turbulent today.”
She says with a serious expression like she’s feeling the wind in the air. Is that something only elves understand?
“What do you mean by the wind being turbulent?”
“It means the wind is turbulent.”
She says with a faint smile.
That’s not an answer, but according to Mars, she’s just making fun of me.
“That was just a joke, but when I close my eyes and feel the wind on my skin, sometimes I really can hear voices. Just this morning, I heard a wind spirit say ‘picking up girls is made out to be a tradition of the sea, but it is but an urban legend, because what girl goes to the sea alone’.”
“I can tell they don’t have much to say.”
After a while, Iris also gets here. She looks to be alone again, something that would be unthinkable until recently because Roland was after her life for months.
It just shows that she’s becoming a regular girl.
“Thank goodness, you haven’t left yet.”
“Hello Iris.”
Says Mars.
“Good morning Mars. Let’s do our best today.”
“Yes.”
“A saintess with us is worth a hundred people. I’m sure the men will work themselves to death trying to score points with you.”
Says Lela.
“That sounds like a bad reason to work hard.”
Mumbles Mars.
“Why would men work harder with me around?”
Iris is confused.
“Because of the power of your cheering. Physical labor takes a lot of effort, right?”
“I see! Then I need to do my best to cheer everyone on!”
Iris clenches her fists, fired up.
Guys from Minerva give Lela a thumbs up, with tears of joy in their eyes.
Leaving aside whether her cheering will really increase productivity, healing the soil and reviving the dairy production are important jobs.
This would normally take between half a year to several years, but with holy magic, we can restart the farming with no time lag.
Then Isolte walks towards us, and tells everyone she’ll be the site foreman, the dwarves will be here in two days, and other things about the quest.
It’s important, so I need to pay attention, but Lela gets bored halfway through and starts messing with Mars with a grin on her face..
It really makes me feel like Lela is still a kid. Adults need to be quiet and listen even when things are boring.
“Sorry it’s boring.”
I didn’t actually say anything, but Isolte suddenly glares this way.
“And Lela, pay attention. You’ll be given an additional thirty minute lecture.”
“Uhe, thirty minutes!? Yes, sorry…”
After Isolte finishes her much appreciated speech, we leave.
For safety reasons, we’re traveling like merchants. They hired a lot of guards, and we’re going along with a caravan that’s going in the same direction. Although most people are adventurers, so it’s pretty safe.
We’re moving in a long line, with the four of us right in the middle, and Isolte in the front.
The horses are carrying all the stuff, and we’re walking alongside them.
I could use Artemis and get there before everyone else, but everyone’s hearts are united in reviving the Luminous farm, and I don’t want to do anything to ruin that.
In any case, we can’t do all that much until the dwarves arrive anyway. We’ll mostly get the terrain ready and establish a base camp.
A safe workplace is the most important thing. And there’s a limit to how much people can do, no matter how much we rush them.
Back when I did something crazy like sleeping while riding a horse, that caused accidents.
This is also my first ‘all hands on deck’ kind of quest, so I want to enjoy this feeling and learn.
Mars and Lela look like they’re having fun.
“Maybe this isn’t the right way to put it, but it feels like a festival.”
Mars says, looking like he feels a bit bad about it.
I get what he means. The other adventurers are chatting about random things too, and the whole mood feels soft.
We keep going as we see fewer and fewer trees, until we reach a grassy field.
I can see the lush Minerva mountain range in the distance.
There’s a group of goblins on the grassy field. There are fewer than fifty, but they’ve already noticed us. About thirty are on foot, and ten are what we call goblin riders.
The goblins aren’t a problem, but the riders can be a bit tricky.
Goblins that live in fields evolve on their own and ride magic beasts that look like wolves, giving them more mobility and ability to break through.
The goblin riders appear to be talking, but they’re not coming to attack.
I think they know the odds aren’t in their favor.
Nothing really happens after that, and the first day of traveling comes to a peaceful close.
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