The party arrives in the floral city of Flavrence. Lush shrubbery surrounds the outside of the rustic houses in the city. Lavish plants are elegantly strung across homes, transforming the streets into a forest canopy hallway. A fragrant aroma permeates the city to which the group specifically points out themselves. Tatsuo especially finds it soothingly pleasant.

As the group searches the town for a place to stay, Sharon notices something about Darren.

Sharon: By the way, is everything okay Darren? You seem to be really tired lately…

“Huh? Oh…Yeah…Don’t mind me…”, Darren replies wearily with darkened highlights gradienting beneath his eyes. It was clear that he was facing a lack of sleep.

Whilst wandering the streets, Sharon and Victor eventually get swept up in some of the commodities advertised by the local townsfolk. Some of the featured items include: herbs, scented-medicine, perfume, and their signature rosemary flower. As the group marvels at the newfound products, Queenie was there providing them information.

“The rosemary flowers are this town’s signature product. Each flower can come in a different scent, and one is enough to cover an entire household. The scents from these flowers can last for a month, and they can be sold either as a single flower, or in bouquets.”

“Wow! You seem to know a lot!” The flower girl interacting with the group chirped in enthusiasm, impressed with Queenie’s apprehensive knowledge, “Have you been here before?”

Queenie: No…This is my first time actually visiting the town. I’ve just read about it.

Flower Girl: In that case, I recommend visiting the rainbow road! It’s one of the most beautiful spots around the town!I also suggest visiting the market place. It’s a section that our town is famous for! Especially the auction house! Many people from around the world gather there to sell and trade goods!

Sharon: I want to go to the auction house! It sounds interesting!

Victor: An auction house eh? It’ll be my first time going to one…

Darren: I can take you guys there. I’ve been there myself to sell things before.

Being in a flower motif town, Sharon is quickly reminded of her goal – “Oh! By the way! Would you folks happen to know anything about a plant called the Mardi Gracias?”

Flower Girl: Oh! You mean the flower that can cure all ailments and heal any wounds! It’s a story that people here know about, but in the end that’s all it is…

“Oh, I see…”, Sharon says disappointingly.

Flower Girl: Though, some say that before this town came to be, a Mardi Gracias once bloomed here. What happened to it, no one knows…But that’s just one of the stories that’s been told around town…Sorry, I really don’t know.

Sharon: That’s okay. Flowers seemed like a huge emphasis to this town, so I figured I’d ask.

The group bids their farewell to the flower girl and proceeds to look for a place to lodge. Along the way, they come across the rainbow road that the flower girl told them.

Before them was a bustling brick road surrounded by multitudes of flowers of all colors, glistening in the sunlight as the light beaming down reflected their colors onto the road; painting it rainbow.

Upon touring the spot, the group find themselves an inn to stay at. The group unanimously agreed that residing in an area that pops out would make it easier for them to find their way back. Of course, being placed in such a luxurious location meant it was going to be pricey, but the group had no need to worry about expenses with Queenie’s esoteric diamond funds.

Afterwards, the party makes their way to the auction house which is located on the outskirts of Flavrence. However, they are stopped by the doormen as they walk up to the entrance after waiting in a line.

“What business do you folks have over here?” - The doorman asks with a demeaninging look.

Sharon: What do you mean, we’re here to visit the auction house.

Doorman: Oh? With those outfits you’re all wearing? Don’t you know that formal dress wear is required in order to enter? The auction house is a place of official business.

Darren: Ah, shoot! I forgot! He’s right! There’s a dresscode we need to follow if we want to enter.

Sharon: Darren!? How could you forget something that crucial?!

Darren: Sorry…I forgot…It’s been a while… – He says embarrassingly while scratching his head.

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Looking at Darren again, Sharon couldn’t help feel disturbed by the dark circles underneath his eyes.

Sharon: …Are you sure you’re okay…? You don’t seem to look so good…

Darren nervously reassures Sharon, “Y-yes…! Yes…! I’m good…! That…Was just me being a dork…!”

He warily glances back and forth between Tatsuo and Queenie. Ever since the incident in the forest, Darren was constantly on high alert. Scared for his life that if Queenie somehow knew he was eavesdropping, they would kill him.

Doorman: Of course, perhaps I could make an exception with a small bribe. After all, like I said, this is a place of business. Surely, if you came here with the intent of looking for something of interest, you’d have cash on you.

Victor: What?! We gotta pay to enter?! That’s ridiculous!!

Sharon: Victor, calm down!

She whispers into his ear, “We still have quite a lot of cash on us, so we should be fine. Plus, we have Queenie so it doesn’t matter.”

However, Sharon sympathized with Victor though. ‘This sleazeball though…It’s clear that he’s just trying to scam money off of us!’ She says in her head.

Sharon: So? How much do we need to pay to enter?

Doorman: 10,000 coins

Sharon: What?! That much as an entrance fee?! That’s enough to buy an entire weapon! This is unfair!

Doorman: The auction house is a sacred place and I treat it as such. You folks are the ones that turned up without the proper dress etiquette and here I am allowing it to slide. And you say I’m the one being unfair?

Sharon: Whatever. Sorry Queenie, but do you think you can cover this for us?

Queen: Sorry…But I have no more diamonds to give to you…

Further away from the group, Tatsuo silently looks at Queenie and what she said in the background, as if observing her.

Sharon: Huh? Oh…

Sharon was caught off by this predicament. With Queenie always constantly pulling out diamonds, it didn’t seem she was close to running out. It was jarring for Queenie to bring it up now, rather than warning them beforehand.

“...So what happened to money not being a problem here?” - Victor says softly to Sharon.

Sharon: It’s not exactly a problem…But we still need to save some for the trip to Odale.

Doorman: Hey now…If you lot aren’t going to offer anything, then hurry up and scram…! You’re holding up the people behind you!

The group turns behind them to see the folks waiting behind becoming agitated.

Darren: I…Think we should just go…

Victor: Yeah…As much as I hate to say it…It’s probably best that we just leave. It’s clear that the guy isn’t gonna let us in…

With that, the group vacated the scene, disgruntled. As Sharon and Victor mope about being unable to enter the auction house, Sharon turns to Queenie to apologize to her.

Sharon: Sorry about that Queenie…We always had to rely on you for money…I wasn’t thinking about how much of a burden we were being to you because of that.

Sharon’s apology made Queenie pause for a bit. By cutting off her utility of providing funds to the group, she thought that they would devalue her as a member. An ambivalence feeling stirs in her – for as much as she wants to detach herself from the group, Sharon’s profess of consideration made her happy. She returns the apology by saying that it’s fine.

Victor: Well, guess that’s it then. What else shall we do?

Queenie: We can always still check around the marketplace for whatever may interest you all. Although, it may not be as grandiose as the auction.

Sharon: There were some stuff that I saw that I’d like…But knowing now that we have a limit on cash…

Darren: Then, why not just make more?

The group looks at Darren, wondering what he meant.

Darren: I’m talking about taking up jobs. We can always see what we can do at the Guild Hub for instance.

Victor: Oh! Just like in Pillberry!

*Flavrance's main town center.

The group arrives at the Guild Hub, scanning the billboards for events and quests.

“Wow! This sure brings back memories!”, Victor exclaims, recalling the events in Pillberry. “Hmmm…What quests should we do?”

Darren: We’re not here to stay for much long anyways, so there’s no use in looking at the general quest list. We’re heading to Odale, so we should try to search for something on the local board instead.

At the corner of Sharon’s eye, she notices something. Sharon turns to face the corner of a billboard where she catches a glimpse of a young girl spying on them. Upon being caught, the young girl frantically scurries away blushing.

Sharon (thinking): So cute…!

Victor: Which one should we do then? There’s one for hunting faeryflies…Collecting honey…Cyanocloid drop, whatever the heck that is….Andragae…Most of it just seems like gathering materials. Oh look! There’s even one for hunting slimes!

Victor: Look at that Tatsuo! Remember when we found that $5,000,000,000 slime?

“Wait, hold up. You mean to tell me that was legit?!” – Darren whips his head at the two. “Also, it was $1,000,000,000.” He adds, quickly correcting Victor.

Victor: Oh, did Tatsuo tell you already? Yeah! We actually found it! Sucks that we couldn’t catch it in the end. I wonder if somebody’s caught it by now…

Darren and Victor return to perusing the board.

Darren: Just taking a quick look at the rewards…None of them seem to stand out…It looks like the ones hunting monsters yield more reward than the material gathering ones though…

Tatsuo: Why pick and choose?

Victor and Darren look up at Tatsuo.

Tatsuo: Let's just do them all.