After what feels like an eternity, Celeste finally saw a small village in sight. She turns to Valeria excitedly. "Valeria! Look! That's the village!" She said excitedly, knowing that they're finally out of the forsaken forest.
"It has been days since I laid my eyes on one, thankfully we are out of danger. ...for now." Valeria breathe a sigh of relief, at least they have returned to civilization.
Out of the sudden, Celeste smells something. "Hey, did you smell that? It smells like.. freshly baked bread." Celeste's stomach growls in hunger, she hasn't eaten anything the whole day, and her hunger is finally catching up to her.
Celeste quickly reached for her coin pouch, looking at the amount of silver coins inside. "Hm.. I hope this will be enough. No, it must be! I'm not eating rock or stick anytime soon." With that said, she quickly rushed off to the village, leaving Valeria behind.
Valeria seeing Celeste storms away shakes her head and quickly catches up to Celeste. "Celeste! Wait for me!" But Celeste doesn't listen, she just keep looking around where the smell of bread is coming from.
Suddenly, Celeste's eyes falls on a small bakery, where all the fresh breads are being displayed for sell. Celeste who is unable to contain her hunger, rushed straight to the bakery. "Excuse me! I wanted to buy a loaf of bread please!" She said with a high pitch, like a woman in a hurry. The owner of the bakery calmly replied. "That'll be five coins." He said without making an eyes contact.
Celeste checks her coin pouch, her feeling completely shattered when she saw she only had three silver coins. "F-five silver coins..? I.. I only have three.." She said with a trembling voice. "No money, no bread. Now move along." The word hits Celeste like a punch to her gut, she slumps in defeat, turning back facing Valeria.
"Hey, are you alright?" Valeria asked, her voice firm but not unkind. "I'm so.. hungry.." Celeste exclaimed as her stomach growls even louder. She feels like she would die from starvation, until suddenly. "Um.. miss, are you hungry?" A boy approached Celeste, carrying a basket in his hand. "If.. you're hungry, you can have my bread stick, it's.. not much, but it is better than walking with an empty stomach."
Celeste eyes lights up as she turns to the boy. "Really? You would give me this bread for free?" She asked the boy for confirmation. "Yeah, really. They are an old bread though, it is a freshly baked one." The boy explain to her as he holds out the bread stick to her.
Celeste shook her head. "No, no! It's okay! It's better than nothing, and.. thank you for your kindness, we'll repay you some day." Celeste accept the bread stick from the boy. "No needs to repay me, grandpa always said, what comes around goes around." The boy said with conviction. "Anyways.. I'll take my leave now, take care ,miss." The boy turned to leave.
"W-wait! Hold on" Celeste shout, urging the boy to hold on for a moment. "H-huh?" The boy startled by Celeste's voice, slowly turns around to meet her gaze. "What's your name boy? We didn't catch your name earlier." Celeste asked with curiosity, while Valeria just watched the interaction behind Celeste. "M-my name..?" The boy was confused for a second, and then he finally replied. "My name is.. Noir." The boy said hesitantly.
"Noir.." Celeste says, testing the name on her tongue. "I'll remember it, thank your, Noir." She gives a warm smile to Noir and pats his shoulder. "Um.. your welcome miss..?" Noir stopped, hinting to question both of the girl's name. "It's Celeste, and this is my companion, Valeria. We are partners and adventurers." Celeste said with confidence. "Adventurers? That's so cool! Maybe.. someday, I would have a chance to see the outside world too." Noir said with a hopeful tone, he knows the price of exploring the outside world is to leave behind the farm and the place he once called home, but but he can't ignore the thrilled of venturing into the unknown.
Valeria steps forward. "Well, of course you can, adventure is not forced on, it is a choice" Valeria says with unwavering confidence. "So when you get the opportunity to do what you really wanted to, seize it." She adds, her words spark a flame inside Noir's heart. A feeling of the need to step out of his comfort zone.
Noir nods. "I understand miss Valeria, and I'll remember your words. When the time is right, I'll heed the call of the unknown, and start my own adventure!" Celeste smiles warmly at Noir. "We know you will." Noir turns to leave, but before he depart, he looks over his shoulder and said "Thank you miss Celeste and miss Valeria, I'll be going now. May we meet again , under a new dawn." Noir then starts walking, his figure slowly disappearing into the crowd.
With that, the two adventurers continue their stroll in the village, looking for any tavern to get a commission. This is the only way for them to overcome their financial struggle, or they will ended up with a little to no money at all.
[---To be Continued---]