I excused myself from the feast shortly after the gifting ceremony as I had to work early in the morning. In the end, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be. Even Konrad behaved quite reasonably, even though I think it will still take some time before our relationship restores itself.

I then continued working through the rest of the summer, and the next few weeks passed quite uneventfully. But I was glad I could use the wedding as an opportunity to catch up with my family.

Despite it being only a few months since I last saw them, it felt like an eternity. My sister Helga turned twelve during that time, and she is already starting to look like a fine young lady.

She talked to me about how lonely she is now that both I and Konrad are in the city. It seems like she doesn't have many friends in the village, and it looked like she would love nothing more than to come to the city too.

However, there was nothing to be done about it. I made it seem like it was an easy thing, but getting a job in the city for the poor peasants is anything but. For most people from the countryside, it's an impossible task without any connections or family.

The only thing someone like us can do here is take the lowest-paying jobs, which nobody else is willing to do. But the pay is meager, and their prospects are bleak. This means that many, in the end, turn to crime or prostitution.

That is why my parents were so reluctant to let me come here on my own. And that is also why the only option for Helga to have a somewhat comfortable life is to secure a good marriage, as there is no suitable job for her back in the village.

But just because I managed to secure a prestigious apprenticeship against all odds doesn't mean all my problems are gone.

On the contrary, I face many problems. And all of them can be characterized by a single common cause: a lack of money. I have barely enough money left to pay the rent. I severely underestimated how much everything here would cost me...

And now that the summer is coming to an end and autumn is quickly approaching, I need to prepare for the winter. And for that, I need lots of money.

The culmination of the harvest season was most noticeable in the city by the increase in both quantity and variety of crops that were sold in the city's market.

Although it was still some time before the annual big autumn market, the local farmers were already setting up stalls inside the city. It was my first opportunity to see everything from the perspective of a city dweller. But I had no time to dwindle and look around.

This abundance is only a momentary thing. When winter arrives, all the merchants will be long gone, and the crops will be gone with them. That is why I need to stock up on enough food to last me the whole winter. Not to mention other things like warm clothes and plenty of firewood to keep me from freezing to death.

All the things I took for granted back in the village...

Now that I think about it, I never paid enough attention to my parent's resourcefulness and ingenuity to be able to provide everything for our whole family all those years.

'Ahh, how nice it would be to just sit down by the hearth in our humble home and not have to think about anything!' I allowed myself a moment to reminisce, but then I quickly snapped out of it.

Now is not the time to dwell on the past. I need to think about the future, I reminded myself. It was I who chose this path. And I knew it would be hard to live here on my own. Despite it, I convinced my father to let me pursue my dreams in the city, and it would be quite pathetic to run back home even before the first winter.

So the goal, for now, is to get enough money to survive. The only thing I can think of right now is to sell the rest of the Moonlight Aster. I hoped to save these peculiar flowers for later until I learned more about them, but given the situation, I have to sell them now.

'I'm sure I can gather some more in the future...' I thought with a sliver of hope.

There wasn't really any other option. The City's forest would be picked clean by now, and even if I could find anything there, it wouldn't be nearly enough. And those strange gems I got from the monsters I slew—yeah, that's a big no.

I could somewhat explain the herbs as a lucky find, no matter their rarity. But those gems... they come directly from the corpses of very ferocious monsters, and it would be impossible to explain how I obtained them without disclosing my secrets.

So selling Moonlight Aster it is. But there is still the problem that I don't know how much they are worth. All the merchants I spoke with didn't seem to know anything about it. They would regard them as true herbs... at best. And I'm sure they are worth much more than that. Given the ordeal it took me to gather them, I won't sell them cheaply. Not at all...

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Now that the summer is ending, the number of herbs Isadora obtained each day from the market has decreased dramatically, and it won't be until the next spring before it picks up again.

That means my main task of drying the herbs is no more, and now I spend most of my time in the workshop helping make medicines and learning all there is to know about herbs. However, that doesn't take anywhere near as much time.

As I'm not paid a wage, I have no fixed work schedule. meaning that when I'm done with my tasks, I can leave the shop.

Before this, I used to spend all my time in the shop. Even when I was done drying the herbs, I tried to learn as much as I could. Not that there was anything better to do in the Northern Quarter anyway...

But now I've finished my work quickly and can leave the shop shortly after noon. This gives me plenty of time to continue my search for information. I walked around the market square, asking the merchants, but I didn't learn anything new.

'Hmm, what should I do?' I was getting frustrated by not finding any answers until now.

'There must be someone who knows something about this damn thing...'

Left with no other leads. I decided to pay a visit to my childhood friend, Myra. I figured that her father might know something since he has a thriving merchant business here in the city. Which also means he has access to a vast network of information and resources.

I knew I should have come to visit her sooner than this, but with everything going on in the past few months, I never found the time for it.

'I just hope she won't be too mad at me for not coming sooner...'

***

The next day after work, as the sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows over the city's cobblestone streets, I walked through the bustling crowds. My destination was the Vogt's house in the Western Quarter. I've never been there before, but I remember Myra describing it to me.

The Western Quarter was where the rich and powerful lived. It was a far cry from the rest of the city. The streets, paved with cobblestones polished to a lustrous sheen, guided my steps through this haven of the wealthy.

Buildings stood tall and proud, their architecture an homage to a bygone era. Mansions, fortified with sturdy stone walls, rose like noble titans, their grandeur accentuated by soaring towers and graceful spires that soared into the sky.

Intricate carvings adorned the facades, depicting scenes of heroic deeds and ancient legends. My heart quickened with anticipation as I approached Myra's family's opulent residence.

'Wow, it's so much bigger in person!' With trepidation clawing at my chest, I stood before the imposing doors.

Yet, as I raised my hand to knock, the weight of the present hung heavily upon me. I don't know if she still remembers me, as we haven't spoken for over a year since she left the village for the city.

After a while, the door creaked open, revealing an old butler, weathered and stern, his eyes clouded with the weight of years. His gaze, like a sentinel's, met mine with unwavering intensity.

I cleared my throat, my voice betraying a hint of apprehension. "Good afternoon, sir. My name is Darian, a childhood friend of Myra. May I please see her?"

The butler's eyes flickered with skepticism, his lips pursing in a tight line. He studied me from head to toe. Despite wearing my best clothes, I was acutely aware that they left a lot to be desired in a place like this.

A subtle sneer tugged at the corners of his mouth, and for a moment, I felt the weight of my humble origins press upon me like a branding iron. "Master... Darian, was it?" He drawled, his voice laced with a thinly veiled disdain.

"Miss Myra doesn't have any appointments scheduled for today. And pardon my words, but visitors of your stature do not typically grace us with their presence. I'm afraid I cannot simply grant you an audience with the young mistress."

'Wait, did he just insult me?' I thought as I squinted my eyes at him.

He used a lot of fancy words, but that was basically what they meant. I knew for a long time that there was a chasm that separated Myra and me. But still...

A flicker of determination ignited within my chest, fanning the flames of my resolve. I straightened my shoulders, meeting his gaze with a fire that defied the boundaries of my station.

"Sir, I understand the customs that govern this residence," I responded, trying to keep my voice steady. "However, at least deliver these words to Myra: Tell her that her friend Darian has come to visit her, and I would be honored if she could take a moment to see me."

'Ugh, it's hard to talk like that.' Luckily, I got to learn some basics of etiquette in the course of my herbalist training to prepare me for situations like these.

The butler's eyes widened for a moment, his stoic facade yielding to a flicker of surprise that I knew how to properly conduct myself. He hesitated, weighing my words against the rigid rules etched into his very being.

With a barely perceptible nod, he gestured for me to wait before disappearing into the depths of the mansion. The moments stretched on, each second an eternity until finally there was some commotion at the entrance.

I could hear the butler exclaim, "Miss Myra! This is highly inappropriate..."

Before he could finish, the heavy doors groaned open once more. Myra's smiling face stood before me, her eyes alight with a mix of surprise and nostalgia.

Her posture was a lot more refined than what I remember, and she carried herself with an air of elegance befitting her status. Yet underneath, she was still the same cheerful girl that I remembered from the village.

She just stood there for a short moment looking at me. Then, she pouted her lips and loudly exclaimed, "Darian! You finally showed up. I thought you had already forgotten me!"