After Annie packed, seven dresses, seven headscarves, seven pairs of stockings, seven pairs of underwear and finally, and that was the most important part, seven aprons, she closed her bag and placed the feather-light device inside.
It was quite handy, as far as she was concerned. With a bit of mana each day, it made anything in a container light as a feather. That was the smartest a thousand gold coins she had ever spend.
The gray haired woman checked to see if her bun was in place, and she put on her favorite headscarf, the pink one that was made of puffin hair. As soon as she wrapped it around her head, she felt the fabric begin to feed on her mana, and she also felt her hair becoming softer. Yes, puffin hair scarves were all the rage for a reason.
With one last look at her room, she grabbed her bag and exited it. Passing by her flowers, she pressed some buttons on the water dispenser to make sure they were watered at exactly eight am each day. Then, she loaded her favorite song sheet in the music box and wind it.
Music would play as the dispenser watered the plants. Annie loved her flowers very much and her lemon tree bonsai, too. For all that Antony was a small tree, he always gave at least one fully grown lemon each year. He was a hard worker, her Tony.
She petted the leaves of each plant, Tony she tickled, and left the house. Annie locked it and placed the key below the mat, as she always did. No one will come to steal. Annie spent one third of her paychecks on security wards. She believed in the goodness of her neighbors, but she believed in the security wards more.
With a sure step, Annie went to her mana charged bike, and she got on. Cycling was such a bother for her old bones now. So, she had gotten this bike. She only needed to have her feet on the pedals, and it stir it left or right, and it would go anywhere she wanted it to.
She made it to the Ulssin Guild House building in record time, so excited she was. Before it, was a group of five young people. A mage, fire one, for the woman’s hat was red. Annie wasn’t surprised. Fire mages were a dime a thousand in the Duchy of Nathalas.
There was a berserker, a burly young man who had two axes strapped on his bag. Oh, my, that was not what Annie expected. Would they really need a berserker? She hoped not. For, if they did, that would mean that they would be mobbed eventually and in a melee everyone needed to fight. And Annie had never fought in her life.
A white haired teen wore the healer’s robes. The boy gave no feelings of surety to Annie. Usually, healers had to go through an Academy and slave away there for six years, four of which they spend as nurses.
But, this boy was an adventurer. And, the healers who would risk their necks to become adventurers were few and far between. The boy either had been thrown from the Academy, which made Annie believe he was found lacking. Or he hadn’t entered it at all, which was worrying.
The shield wearer was a tall, muscular man with a scarred face. He did have the most fetching baby blues that Annie had ever seen. With such eyes, he must be a dreamer, Annie decided. One could tell a lot from the eyes of someone. Annie had judged her late husband, Alfred, had the warmest hazel eyes Annie had ever seen. And he had been a gentle giant with a sense of humor.
Finally, the last one was a tiny looking pixie of a girl who had on a mask and gloves. Ah, the rogue. Every party had one of these and, so, they were plentiful in all the countries of the world.
Annie decided to withhold judgement of the party until she saw them in action. Harold wouldn’t saddle her with green boys and girls. She was a dear friend of his and earned him quite a lot with her rice stamina restoring dishes.
Annie gave the five adventurers a warm smile as she parked her bike. She placed the chain around it and fed it some mana. No thief would unlock her bike in the next two months, but, she hoped, she could come back sooner.
“Hello, are you my valiant protectors?” The mage woman cracked a grin at that and pulled something from her bag.
“A bracelet that measures your vitals, ma’am. Just so that we can inform Nyle if something happens to you,” the mage nodded to the healer, who waved. “My name is Krisina, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you, Krisina. My name is Annie. But you can call me granny. In fact, I insist!” Krisina cracked another grin and pointed at the healer.
“That is Nyle. Now, don’t let his appearance fool you, he is actually fifty,” Annie raised an eyebrow. She had heard of healers whose magic was so strong that they could retain their youth, but she had never seen one.
“Hi, Annie,” Nyle waved again and Krisina pointed at the shield wielder.
“That is Zachary, he got all scratched up falling down a slope when he was little. That shield of his has kept everything off him since he first picked it up,” Zachary waved and Annie returned the gesture. His name fit his eyes, Annie was glad.
“That grump is Timothy, but he likes being called Tim. Tim, try giving Annie a smile, will you?” The berserker grumbled something under his breath, and his brows furrowed even further. “He is a softy inside, Annie, but it is hard for him to show it.”
“Timmy, are you married yet?” Asked Annie, and the berserker blushed.
“No, but I have a sweetheart. Well, she doesn’t know I like her, but…” Annie chuckled. Yes, he was indeed a softy.
“And, finally, this is Lucita. Our rogue. Nyle keeps her young. They are twins,” Annie looked from the healer to the rogue and tried to see any similarities, but couldn’t. Lucita was covered head to toe and so, Annie just nodded.
“Well, that is everyone. Shall we go, granny?” Asked Krisina, and Annie smiled. She had never been on an adventure before. What would the road bring her?
