"Wow..." Lily gaped as she stared at the scenery beyond the city walls.

Lush greenery spread out as far as the eye could see, with light vegetation covering the ground except for a well-traveled path scarred with wagon tracks. There was a nearby forest practically begging to be explored and tickled Lily's imagination. In the distance, birdsong graced the air, adding to the tranquil and enchanting atmosphere.

Lily was awestruck; she had no idea there were such untamed wilds beyond the city walls, and had never seen so much nature in one place. Sure, the orphanage had a small yard cordoned off with some sparse trees and vegetation, and some of the wealthy city residents had gardens, but nothing of this scale.

It certainly didn't help that the walls were high enough that nobody could see past them unless you climbed on top of a tall building roof, something Lily almost certainly would not be capable of. For her entire life, the world had been contained to the city.

"This is your first time outside the walls, right?" Rose asked.

Lily nodded, her ears flopping wildly against her sun hat.

Rose giggled at the cute sight. "Some of the boys do it quite often. Especially the ones who want to be adventurers."

"Tim?" Lily asked.

"Yes. He swings his stupid sword around in the sheath, or so I've heard," Rose answered. "He isn't bothering you again, is he?"

Lily shook her head.

Tim was a Leonia, another Demihuman related to lions. He was overly rambunctious and fond of roughhousing with the other kids. While normally this wouldn't be a problem, Leonia are all naturally quite strong, and Lily was unusually weak despite being older than him. This resulted in the younger boy bullying her, at least from Lily's perspective.

The staff at the time had mostly brushed it off, saying that Tim had a crush on her. Lily couldn't understand that reasoning; if she liked someone, she would want to treat them nicely and gently. Eventually, it became too much for Lily, and she verbally exploded at the boy, who then lashed out in retaliation. This resulted in quite an altercation—that is until Rose stepped in.

Rose had sent the proud lion tumbling away with a single punch. Rose declared that Lily was her little sister and would punish anyone who bothered her. Rather than fighting, Tim fled to lick his wounds at such a fierce display and hadn't approached Lily ever since.

"Good. Let me know if that ever changes, Tim or anyone else," Rose declared.

Lily gave Rose's hand another squeeze.

"Come, let's go pick some plants," Rose said and led the way.

Lily had no idea what she was looking for, and Rose was likewise clueless. The hope was that just focusing on variety would be enough, and at least one would be useful for Arakil, and then they would know what to look for. They picked two of everything whenever possible and threw them into the basket. Flowers, herbs, and most likely quite a few weeds. Anything that looked different from the grass was picked.

They were forced to wander a little bit away from the city perimeter to get more variety, although they were still well within what felt like the safety range.

"Do the other kids really come out here?" Lily asked.

"Mostly the other side," Rose answered. "Occasionally, small monsters appear weak enough that even a ten-year-old can beat them up with a pointy stick or a big rock."

"Really?" Lily asked curiously. "What kind?"

"Nothing bigger than a slime or dire rat," Rose answered. "When something like a dire wolf or gremlin appears, the city guards quickly get rid of it."

"Gremlins..." Lily mumbled. She had only seen an illustration of one in a book, and they were quite vicious-looking, with oversized mouths filled with teeth.

"They look worse than they are," Rose said reassuringly. "They are small, and a good kick is enough to nearly kill one."

"Why do you say that like you've had firsthand experience?" Lily asked with suspicion.

Rose coughed and failed at hiding a mischievous grin. "I may have snuck out once to try fighting one with some of the boys."

"Why would you do that!?" Lily demanded.

"To get stronger, of course. You have to beat monsters to get stronger." Rose answered, flexing one of her arms.

Lily stared with suspicion and doubt. That sounded too convenient.

"Don't give me that look," Rose rebuked. "It's what all the adventurers say. Why else do you think they hunt monsters?"

"To keep everyone safe?" Lily answered.

"Even if a few good people want to be a hero, there are far too many adventurers around," Rose reasoned.

"Money?" Lily tried again.

"That's definitely closer," Rose replied. "But the number one reason I heard was power."

"So, did the gremlin give you power?" Lily asked.

Rose sighed. "No... There were too many of us around. If I was alone, then maybe."

Lily couldn't hide her frown; the explanation didn't sound very reasonable.

"I'm telling the truth; you can ask any veteran adventurer if you don't believe me," Rose defended herself.

"And you said my magic plants were unbelievable," Lily grumbled.

Rose held out a freshly picked dandelion and raised her eyebrow. "Magic plant?"

"I didn't say that one was one..." Lily objected. "Plus, Arakil said the plants might have Mana inside them."

"Hmm... Convenient," Rose teased.

They laughed at each other.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

***

The plant gathering was going relatively well. Occasionally, a traveler would wave at the two, and one of the guards would check on them from time to time. It was a pleasant experience for Lily, and she vowed to get out a little more often.

Eventually, they found a nice spot to sit down, have a break, and eat. Lily was immensely grateful for Rose, who had the foresight to pack some sandwiches and water. The two spent most of their break people-watching, seeing all manner of visitors heading to and from the city.

Rose tried to spot any adventurers, while Lily was more interested in seeing the various animals, wagons, and carriages. They even played a game of guessing the cargo or the travelers' intent.

"Is this area safer because of all the people?" Lily asked.

"Yup. This is the main road, so it's kept safer than the others." Rose answered. "The other exit is basically the city's backyard, and it's kept a little wilder for newbie adventurers."

"How?" Lily asked. "Can't the monsters just... Roam around?"

Rose pointed to various points in the distance and swirled her hand vaguely. "There are guard posts around those areas; they do a pretty good job of deterring the monsters. There's also some patrols on the road."

Lily nodded along to the explanation.

"Actually... I think my magic teacher also mentioned something about wards?" Rose said, scratching her head.

"What are those?" Lily immediately asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"Oh no... I can feel my big sister ranking dropping," Rose said sheepishly. "I'm not sure... I can't remember..."

"I guess if you get kicked out of Regarth, I'll get to see you again sooner." Lily teased.

"... I'll start paying more attention..." Rose grumbled.

Moments before they were about to continue after their break, one of the guards approached. He waved friendly to the two, and both girls smiled and waved in response.

"You two sure are hard workers," the guard said with a bright smile. "Are you trying to earn some extra pocket money?"

"Actua-" Lily began responding.

"Yes. We're looking for herbs." Rose interrupted.

The guard actually nodded as if he expected that response. "I used to do something similar when I was your age. Although I'm afraid I don't see much the alchemists will like in your basket. This area has been picked pretty clean of the good stuff."

"Oh..." Lily said, feeling a little dejected. If these weren't magic herbs, they probably were not what Arakil needed.

"Ah! Don't look so down, little miss!" the guard responded in a small panic. He did not want to earn a reputation for making little girls cry. "There's a little hollow nearby here, hidden in a small cavity. Not many people know about it, so it might have something."

Lily immediately brightened up.

"Thank you, sir," Rose said politely, happy Lily had recovered.

"No problem, kiddo," the guard replied with relief, "Just passing along the favor I was given."

"Favor?" Rose asked with a hint of suspicion.

"I'm also from the orphanage," he answered. "A friendly guard back then helped me out and told me about this little treasure trove. So now I'm continuing the tradition."

"That's really nice," Lily said happily.

"It's pretty cool," Rose admitted.

The guard nodded, happy to have earned some heartfelt praise. "Great, quickly before my break ends. Then you two should head home afterward; even this safe zone is riskier when it gets late."

"Yes, sir, we will," Rose responded.

"Osmin," the guard replied. "There's no need to call me sir; I'm certainly not that old yet."

Osmin chuckled to himself.

"Thank you, Osmin," Lily replied.

True to his words, he took them to an area that, from a distance, would be easily overlooked. There was a cavity in the ground that was hard to spot unless you were very close. Looking down into the indent in the ground, numerous flowers could be spotted, and Lily gasped in surprise.

"Pretty..." Lily whispered.

"Most people call this the flower hole," Osmin explained. "It's pretty to look at but nothing valuable. However, here is the real secret..."

The guard pulled out a large dagger and cut away at some large roots blocking what looked like a small opening. He was precise with his cutting, ensuring he did not remove all the natural camouflage.

"Take a peek," Osmin said proudly, gesturing to the hole.

Rose was the first to approach, leading the initiative to carefully push aside the salvia flowers blocking the view. Lily followed closely behind. True to his word, the inside was a rather sizable hollow filled with all sorts of strange plants neither girl had ever seen before.

"I don't think I can fit in there..." Rose admitted. "I can reach in and grab some of the ones at the front, though."

The guard laughed. "Yeah, it's one of the reasons I stopped using it. Just be careful who you pass the knowledge on to; someone greedy might dig up the entire thing and ruin it for everyone."

"That would be horrible..." Lily replied with a frown.

"Agreed. Hence, the secret." Osmin said. "You should be small enough to fit in; just be sure not to pick it clean. Leave enough behind, and it will grow back quite quickly."

"That sounds..." Rose muttered.

"Magical?" Osmin answered.

Lily nodded in agreement with Osmin, but Rose still seemed skeptical. Still, she had to admit this was a positive outcome.

"Great. I'll leave you two to do your collecting; I need to get back to my post before someone complains," Osmin said, feeling rather happy about sharing this secret with the two.

"Thank you, Osmin," Lily said politely.

"Yeah, thanks!" Rose added.

"You're very welcome. Tell the orphanage staff that Oz says hello," Osmin requested, and both girls nodded in agreement.

He waved goodbye and started walking away.

"Oh! One more thing!" Osmin said, suddenly stopping. "When you try to sell to the alchemist, tell her Osmin sent you. She's a nasty old bat, but she means well. Usually..."

They nodded and thanked him again, although Lily had no intention of selling the plants. On the other hand, Rose was intrigued by the idea; perhaps when Lily stopped with this imaginary magic book friend, they could sell the stuff and get something fun.

"That was nice of him..." Lily said a little shyly.

"Yeah, I'm a little surprised," Rose confessed. "With the way some of the boys describe the guards, you'd think they had fun punishing kids."

Lily giggled. "You don't need to be a genius to figure that out. They're probably causing all sorts of trouble."

"You're probably right," Rose said. "Or maybe he was just totally charmed by my cute little sister."

"I don't see how me being cute helps?" Lily rejected the idea.

"Cuteness is the ultimate weapon. It can defeat anything," Rose declared.

"Even mighty dragons?" Lily asked teasingly.

"Especially mighty dragons." Rose pointed a thumb to her own grinning face. "Case in point."

They both laughed again. Today had been far more enjoyable than either of them thought it would be.

Lily reached up and pulled off her hat, her ears flopping with newfound freedom.

"Keep my hat safe, please. I'll crawl in the hole and grab some plants."

Rose agreed and supervised the task. Lily crawled down and stuck her head in; the hole wasn't big enough to fit her entire body in, so they decided on a coordinated effort. Lily would pick and hand the plants backward, and Rose would take them from her and place them in the basket. Nothing too complicated, but it simplified the job and the time required.

At first, Lily was slightly anxious about sticking her head into a potentially dark hole as she knew her body would block out most of the sunlight. However, when she did indeed block the sunlight, some of the mushrooms a little deeper in the hole revealed themselves to be softly glowing. Lily was mesmerized, and it only solidified the idea that plants were magical in her mind.

Lily picked at least two of everything while carefully following Osmin's advice to leave enough behind. She also didn't want to crawl too deep into the hole, concerned about getting stuck; that would be far too embarrassing!

"I think this is enough, Lily," Rose said.

"Okay!" Lily shouted back and began to crawl in reverse.

Rose helped her get to her feet and began dusting her off, even wiping the dirt off her face with a handkerchief.

"Well. I'd say that's more than enough for one day." Rose said, pointing to the full basket.

"Yes! Thank you for the help, Rose!" Lily said joyously.

"My pleasure. Let's head home," Rose said, carefully placing the hat on Lily's head, with careful attention to her ears this time.

Lily reached for the basket, but Rose insisted on carrying it for her. While Lily didn't seem any worse for wear, Rose was worried that today's activities might exacerbate her sickly condition.

Rose also fully unfolded her now dirtied handkerchief and used it to partially cover the basket's contents. If Osmin was to be believed about their worth, she didn't want to tempt anyone's greed. They certainly looked strange and unlike any plants she had seen before.

"Promise me you won't eat the plants," Rose suddenly said.

"I'm not going to eat them," Lily pouted. "They are for magic ink!"

Rose nodded, feeling a little relieved. The plants might be poisonous, and she had no idea what ideas were flowing in that silly head of hers. Rose was already uneasy about the inevitable aftermath of Lily's magic plan failing and didn't want to add accidental poisoning to her concerns.

"Kee-eeeee-arr!" A hoarse, screeching noise echoed out.