As enjoyable as the forest walk was, neither Celyn nor Vesta were inclined to stay in the woods for the night. Approaching the village, they were soon greeted by an anxious looking young man, his eyes lingering on Celyn for some time before stammering his words.

"Miss V-Vesta, the elder told to me stand watch and quickly inform him the moment of your arrival. Miss Vesta can res-" The young man quickly shut his mouth in worry as Vesta raised her hand signalling for him to stop talking.

"No need for rest, this little hunt took much longer than I expected, I'll just go see the elder." The young man feeling a little down as Vesta finished her sentence as she passed by, without so much as a glance. Of course she was out of his league, quickly recovering his spirit, 'maybe I'll have better luck with her friend', the young man raised his gaze towards Celyn's level as he passed by, following the dark haired lady. His lips twitched as his eyes fell on Clara, the little snake half coiled around the green haired beauty's neck , 'forget it, this one's crazy' he affirmed with conviction, returning to his post as he kicked stones with downcast eyes."

Along the dirt path to the elder's house, a few children could be seen inside the thatched cruck houses, peeking at them through the half open wooden shutters of the windows.

Soon, Vesta reached the her destination, quickly knocking on the door . Though she did the job with money in mind, Vesta didn't really expect a high payout, given it was a single wolf. Though she wouldn't have minded a bonus due to the wasted time, looking over the elder's house, thatched roof and antique wood, evidently made a long time ago.

Not long after knocking, the door creaked open, showing a grizzly looking old man. He anxiously eyed her before quickly inviting her in. "Miss Vesta, you are back, please, come in." His raspy old voice turning gentle as he hollered, telling his wife to make tea for the guest.

Sitting down on the surprisingly comfortable handmade wooden chairs in the small living room, the elder quickly blurted out with worry filled eyes."I hope miss Vesta brings good news, with that monster in the forest, it was becoming harder to appease everyone in the village, thank the gods for your arrival."

Wordlessly, Vesta picked up the small satchel on her waist and placed it on the table. As the village elder grabbed the satchel with trembling hands, he released a heavy sigh of relief peeking at it's contents, the wolf's razor sharp claws.

Right after peering into it, as if on cue, the Elder's wife entered the small living room with a gentle smile on her. The old lady gently placed a bag on the table along with three cups of tea, before taking a seat on the chair beside the Elder and resting her hand on top of his shaky old hands.

"We do not own much of valuable here, but this was part of my personal reserves, please, take it." The elder had prepared a generous sum, assured it would be enough, yet worry coursed through his mind upon noticing Vesta's delicately furrowed brows, eyeing the steaming tea prepare for her.

"Why only one teacup?" before he could inquire if there was any dissatisfaction with the payment, Vesta raised her voice, prompting a confused response from the old woman."Oh, apologies miss Vesta, but if you would like more tea, I can refill your cup in an instant."

"No, it's fine, I'll be going then." Downing the teacup in one go, Vesta quickly got up from the chair and left with the bag after short pleasantries. 

"Oh deary, the young sure are always restless." The befuddled old woman's voice fell only on her husband's ear as he nodded in agreement.

Looking around the house, Vesta couldn't immediately find the now noticeably missing Celyn. Seemingly, Vesta abysmal sensing skills triumphing over Celyn's supreme attention grabbing aura. Admittedly, she didn't have nearly enough time to do any search before the sound of giggling children wafted over, instantly distracting her. 

As she approached the source of the giggling, Vesta soon halted her steps as it came into view, their eyes meeting for a brief moment. A verdant haired beauty in strange clothing standing amidst a little sea of flowers, holding a brightly smiling twin tailed little girl in one hand and picking up a freckled young boy with the other while surrounded by laughing children. 

"Okay children, playtime's over, it's time for me to go." Vesta kept watching silently as Celyn coaxed the dejected children for a while before approaching her.

"You're pretty good with children." She voiced her thoughts while eyeing the formerly pristine clothing on Celyn's body, now slightly dirtied by the children. 

"Due to lack of things to do, kids living in the rural areas are easily entertained." Explained Celyn as he flashed her a smile, causing Vesta to shake her head as she tried to hide hers.

"So, I'm going to assume you're not staying in this village right?" Vesta Crossed her arms and looked away as she questioned him, waiting for his response.

Celyn stooped towards her partially tilting his head in the direction she was facing as he softly spoke.

"Where are we going next?"

Turning around and walking on, she soon answered his question.

"To Bellus, a town a week away from here, we can travel a day's worth on horseback if we hurry." The corner of her lips rising as she finished.

After a short walk they arrived at the stable in which Vesta's horse was being taken care of. From the outside Celyn could see a few well fed horses, among them, an elegant grey maned horse, easily guessing which belonged to her.

Vesta quickly walked the horse out toward the outskirts of the village, before mounting on and facing Celyn. "Come, hop on." He stood there admiring Vesta's figure on horseback before quickly mounting on.

As the horse galloped on, Vesta turned her head sideways, only to catch with the corner of her eye, the children from before waving goodbye. Feeling Celyn's arms snugly closing around her waist, she couldn't stop herself from leaning back a bit. The sensation reminding her of the sea, soothing and relaxing, yet infinitely flat.