After having survived such a terrifying experience, we managed to fend off the Stray Wolves and finally made it all the way to our destination, the country of Umoris. Umoris is a part of the Four Water Countries, which is a territory in the southwestern side of Cardina. The moment we passed the border, we immediately noticed the difference between it and all the other countries of the world.

Namely, everything had a calm and tranquil feeling to it. Just breathing the air in felt like our lungs were getting cleansed completely, and no matter where we looked, everything felt so nice to look at. Although, this could also be because most of the things here were painted a certain shade of blue.

From Schnell’s Handbook, I recall that this specific color was handpicked by the locals because it apparently helps you focus more on the things you’re doing. This is also why the Four Water Countries are regarded as one of the most hardworking countries in all of Cardina, or heck, even the world for that matter.

We passed the border with little to no issues, safe from not really understanding the Cardinic language, but by just silently passing our passports over to the border officer, we somehow managed to get by. He did mumble something to himself while examining my passport though, but it’s probably nothing bad (I hope).

“Whoaa! Ed! Look, look! It’s a beach!”

Anna was particularly stoked to see this country. Looks like she really likes traveling, as shown by this enthusiasm of hers. Well, we did pass by countless rivers on our way here, plus Secundis certainly has it’s very own puddles that pop up here and there, but seeing a real beach where people go to enjoy themselves must’ve been a first for her. I’ll entertain her for a bit.

“Wanna go for a swim? From what I heard, the waters here are the most clear in the world.”

“W-Well…” Anna started second-guessing herself, “I didn’t bring a swimsuit… Plus, wouldn’t it be awkward…?”

Wait, that’s your biggest concern? Why do you think we went to the Royal Family, if not for this exact reason?

“I can just buy you one! We have the funds to splurge a bit, y’know? You don’t have to be so reserved about this!”

Uh oh, looks like a bit of my true motives began showing. Well, we all make mistakes in the heat of passion.

“Wow, someone’s desperate. You really wanna see me in a swimsuit that badly?”

I didn’t mean it like that, dammit. I just wanted to have some wholesome fun beach playtime, but if you’re gonna be like that…

“Hell yeah I do!”

“Wha-!”

Hehehe, you can’t beat the Saint in teasing! That’s what you get, now wallow in your own self-inflicted embarrassment! Muahahahahahaha!

“M-Maybe later? But right now we need to focus on the task at hand!”

Her words immediately snapped me back to reality. We’re not here on some sort of vacation (sadly), but rather we’re here to get Arthur back in tip-top shape! And in order to do that, we gotta go find an Andolia Baonei, the plant that can only be found in Umoris!

“Right, but where do we even start with looking for it?”

“Hmm… Do you know how it looks like? Maybe we can search for it ourselves somewhere in a nearby forest or something.”

Why would I even know how it looks like? Oh right, I didn’t tell them about my Analyze ability, I just blurted out that we need that exact plant and they just all decided to blindly believe me. So is that it? Did they just assume I knew how to treat Arthur’s illness from my travels?

“Nah, I haven’t the faintest on how it looks like. Hmm, what if we don’t have to do the dirty work, then?”

Anna looked at me with a befuddled stare as she raised one of her eyebrows.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, just because I’m associated with the ITA doesn’t mean I can’t commission someone to find it for me, right? This way we get what we want, and I get to help fill some random adventurer’s pockets a bit. That’s a win-win in my book.”

“Ooh! I see! Then what are we waiting for?”

As such, Anna and I pranced our way over to the nearest ITA center. The building itself was padded in stone, and decorated with waterfalls all over. No clue how they managed to implement waterfalls into the structure of the building, but it certainly does look majestic.

“Hello, we’d like to commission someone to go find us a plant named Andolia Baonei, please!” I said as a matter of fact.

“…?” The ITA Agent tilted his head at my order, “I mean… sure? Is the apothecary out of stock on it or something?”

“Huh?”

Wait, what is he talking about? Why would a rare plant that can only be found in this very country be in an apothecary? Shouldn’t it be in like… a dungeon or forest or something?

“…You did check the local apothecary where they sell it, did you not?”

Is this plant… actually that easy to acquire? I was certain that it’s a super duper rare plant that requires a whole adventurer team just to get a small portion of it, especially after Miss Harper said it can only be found here, but from the looks of it, it seems this plant is actually quite common amongst the locals.

“Sir?” I sheepishly asked.

“Yes?”

“Where’s this apothecary you speak of?”

“…” He looked at us with a bored gaze, “Foreigners, I take it?”

“Yeah…”

After this awkward conversation, the kind (albeit apathetic) ITA Agent pointed out where the apothecary is on the town map he had laid out on his desk. After thanking him earnestly and apologizing for our ignorance, we jogged over from block to block in search of it.

“Is that it?”

“Surely, it’s gotta be!”

Entering the building that had a huge plus sign on it, indicating it had something to do with health and/or medicine, we greeted the clerk, who seemed quite on edge.

“Šta hoćeš?!”

“Eh?! E-Erm, uhh… plant? N-No, uhh…”

“Pričaj, sliko! Šta si se ućuto?!”

“A-Andolia Baonei, please!”

“Tako reci!”

After this exchange, the burly man wrote something down on a piece of paper before going in the back to grab the plant. He placed it on the desk right in front of me, so I mistakenly thought it was okay for me to grab it.

“Alo! Jebeni stranci… Uuh, first write names on paper!”

After he strained himself to speak a bit of our language, we finally understood his intentions. I wrote down my name, and Anna hers. We suspect this was done so he can tally up the stock he sold at the end of the day, but it could also serve as a form of receipt just in case we wanted to return it or something. In any case, this must be that so called ‘Culture Shock’ I’ve heard so much about…

He took a good look at the piece of paper we handed back to him, and immediately froze. He glanced back at us, then again at the piece of paper, before immediately switching gears.

“S-So sorry, I did not know you were Edward and Anna!”

We tilted our heads at him with a mix of confusion and a bit of fear. Somehow seeing this burly man apologizing to us and being overall submissive was scarier than how he was acting before. Also, what does he mean by this? Was he expecting us?

“Sir, you’re talking as if you already knew we were gonna come here, how so?”

“Ah, how you say… Sol informed me of your arrival. He paid for anything you were going to order and told me to tell you it is on the store.”

“You mean on the house?”

“Yes, that.”

But wait, that Sol paid in advance for our plants? I guess Mariabelle must’ve told him about us, but then why would he go to such lengths for people he never even met? There’s also that gift he gave us, and all this without ever having seen us in person…

“Well, in any case, thank you for telling us. We only need this, though.”

“Sol paid a fair bit more than just this though, so if you want you may take this rose for your lady.”

Anna glanced at the beautiful rose offered to her by the clerk, and then glanced over at me with an expectant gaze. Cute… you don’t have to tell me twice!

“Well, looks like we found the herb.” I said to the now very happy Anna who was waving the rose around with a childlike innocence to her, “It was way easier than I expected, to be honest.”

“Yeah! Looks like there really are a lot of nice people in the world. First the prine, then Mariabelle, then Sol! To think that that Sol would make our search this easy, looks like he’s the type to be kind to strangers!”

“Right… Hey, Anna?”

“Yes, Ed?”

“…” I wanted to tell her how suspicious that Sol guy is, but hesitated in the moment, “Let’s send a letter of gratitude to Sol before going home.”

“Yeah, definitely!”

As such, we went back to the inn, wrote the letter, and then went to sleep like the good kids we are. At least, that’s what should’ve happened. Instead what happened was…

“Slumber Part 2: Electric Boogaloo!”

Looks like Anna’s in high spirits…

“Aw come on, what does that even mean?”

“It means!” Anna rummaged through her bag for a bit, “That this time there’ll be no evil fizzy soda to ruin our stomachs!”

“Oh?”

I was glad she learned her lesson, but was appalled at her when she took out a bottle of Cardina's local liquor from the bag.

“Instead, we’ll be drinking this tonight!”

“Anna! That’s alcohol! We’re too young to be drinking this! And where did you even buy it?!”

The legal drinking age is 20, and neither Anna nor I fit that criteria. Also, getting drunk right before our trip back home can only spell trouble. I’m worried one of us is gonna do something they’ll come to regret later…

“Oh, nag nag nag… Come on, live a little! Also, Mariabelle gave us this, so it’d be rude not to drink it! Here’s your glass, refills come free of charge!”

I didn’t want to bend to her peer pressure, I really didn’t, but the way she offered it made it seem like it’d be a real shame if I missed out on it. Before I knew it, I was already taking a swig.

“Ugh, I forgot you’re the restaurant’s number one waitress…”

“Ehe~!”

We drank and drank, all the while expecting that one singularity point where we would reach the state of ‘being drunk’, but that moment never came. We played a few rounds of board games, ate chips and of course, drank. Anna was really chugging that bottle, wasn’t she? And isn’t she getting a bit too touchy-feely? Huh, she smells nice.

Smooch!

Eh? EHHHHH?!?! W-W-WHAT JUST HAPPENED!? D-Did I just… kiss Anna?! Oh God, that came out of nowhere! This alcohol is no joke, man! Oh no, she’s so confused, just look at her! Is she mad?

Smooch…

Huh? She returned the kiss? Whoa, her lips feel incredible… No wait, what’s going on? Eh, she’s not stopping (neither am I, though). Wait, I always considered her cute, but to think we’d really be doing this…!

“…”

Anna’s supine waist was now in full display for my eyes to gawk at while she spread herself out in front of me. We barely said a word to one another as we helped each other undress. Other than calling out each other’s names in the heat of the moment, there really wasn’t anything else to say. I embraced her with the vigor of a young man in the apex of his adolescence, and she took it all with the passion of a young maiden getting happily deflowered.

The moment we shared that night felt like it came and went in a flash, but the sight of the dawn’s sunlight emanating throughout the room was enough to disprove this. After we both had our fill, we snuggled up to each other under the velvet hued blankets, peacefully falling asleep in one another’s embrace…

“Huh? What happened last night? Ughh, my fucking head…”

I woke up first, albeit with an unimaginable headache. It was like someone was constantly splitting my head open with an axe. But never mind that, I looked around the disheveled room spread out before me, before getting up to close the blinds, as they were bothering my hungover eyes.

Getting out of the bed, I noticed one prominent detail. I was stark naked. Whoa, how’d that happen?! I gotta cover up before Anna sees-!

Just then, I looked over at Anna peacefully lying in the same bed as I did just a few moments earlier. She too was in her birthday suit, with the sheets barely covering all the areas that needed to be covered. I finally started piecing together all the minute details into a bigger picture, before realizing what it is that we had just done last night.

“Fuck. Arthur’s gonna kill me…”