"Good gracious, it"s really you!"
When Sunflower stepped down from the stands with a bag full of gold royals in her hand, she heard a familiar voice.
She turned around and a smile fluttered over her face. "Hey, Tigerclaw!"
"Haha, it has been such a long time, Sunflower!" The big man gave her a big hug and patted her on the back heartily. "When His Majesty announced that name, I thought it was someone else. I didn"t expect you would defeat the Chief Knight and Morning Light. You really surprised me! Hang on... you look plumper, don"t you?"
Sunflower pushed Tigerclaw away and punched him in the chest smilingly. She immediately shot back, "Oh, shut up! I"m just a little plumpy. Do you actually like the skinny me better?"
"No, I like you to be a bit plumpy." Tigerclaw whistled. "At least, you look more like a girl." With these words, he studied Sunflower up and down and said, "But you did change a lot, to be honest... I wasn"t even sure if it was really you on stage earlier."
"Really?" Sunflower shrugged. "My hair has gotten longer, and I eat more, too. Didn"t you get bigger as well?"
"I work out at the construction site every day!" said Tigerclaw as he lifted his arm triumphantly.
"Sun...sun... Sunflower, wait for me." Dawn pushed his way through the crowd, completely out of breath. "Hey, isn"t it Tigerclaw?"
"See? This guy hasn"t changed much. He"s as skinny as he used to be." Tigerclaw also gave him a crus.h.i.+ng hug and said, "Don"t tell me you ran all the way here."
"Ahem... be gentle," Dawn replied with a bitter smile. "The caravan offered me a ride. If Sunflower didn"t force me to come with her, I wouldn"t have bothered taking such a trip."
"Are you a merchant now?"
"Just an errandboy." Dawn scratched the back of his head in embarra.s.sment.
"He knows how to read and write." Sunflower cut in while twitching her lips. "As he was a fast learner in the elementary school, a Chamber of Commerce hired him right after the exam. Now, he deals with accounting books every day and is living very comfortably."
"I see. it"s good that you came. I"m happy to see you guys." Tigerclaw laughed. "Let"s have a sip in Neverwinter tonight. We should celebrate Sunflower"s victory!"
"Sounds good, but..." Dawn looked around and asked, "Where"s Snaketooth? Didn"t he come for the compet.i.tion?"
Sunflower"s heart suddenly started to pound in her throat.
She had wanted to ask the same question for a long time, but she tried not to look so eager. So, she turned to Tigerclaw and tried to sound as airy as possible. "I hope he"s not annoyed that you totally ditched him and went back."
"Oh him... He went to build the railways at Misty Forest." Tiger said drawly. "Although it"s well paid, the work is too dangerous. What"s the point of trading your own life for money? I don"t understand him. He used to be happy even with just living down in the drainage. Now he"s fussy about a real dwelling and insists on a double-roomed house."
"Because a double-roomed house can provide a cozy home for a family rather than just a shelter," thought Sunflower bitterly. Then she said, "He did so obviously for Paper."
"Paper?" Tigerclaw asked blankly.
"Hey, how can you forget Paper?" Dawn nudged him in his ribs. "She"s our friend."
"I know, but what does it have to do with her?" Tigerclaw was confused. "Paper has joined the Witch Union and is now living in the Castle District. She doesn"t need an extra house. And silly Snaketooth... he saw Paper many times but didn"t even have the guts to say h.e.l.lo to her. He even pulled me aside to dodge her. Now Paper doesn"t even know we"re here."
"What?" Sunflower was stunned. "Haven"t you met Paper yet in the past two years?"
Tigerclaw shook his head off-handedly.
"Hahaha." Sunflower grinned broadly. "Then he"s silly indeed!" For some reason, Sunflower felt much relieved as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She had to fight the urge to jump into the air and whoop.
"Sunflower, keep your voice down." Dawn reminded her while feeling a little uneased. "People are watching us."
But Sunflower did not care about it at all. She waved at the crowd who smiled back.
Everybody undoubtedly viewed her as Ms. Champion.
"It feels so good to be a celebrity..." Tigerclaw remarked impressively. "Two years ago, I would have never thought we"d be famous one day."
"I"m more interested in the 100 gold royals than fame." Dawn apparently had a different opinion. "We can invest the money in some businesses. We would definitely earn more than working for others. Even if we know nothing about starting a business, we can partner with a member of the Chamber of Commerce. If it works out, we can practically earn money by doing nothing..."
"No, I want to buy a house." Sunflower interjected. "In the Border Area."
"Huh?" Dawn was astonished. "This is a perfect opportunity! Do you know how long it would take to earn 100 gold royals if we start from scratch?"
"I know, but I"ve made up my mind," Sunflower said resolutely.
"Then what about your job?"
"I"m also planning to purchase a bicycle," Sunflower went on. "You see, it"s so convenient to have a bicycle. It would only take a day... no, half a day to ride to the Longsong Area from here. Plus, many people from these two areas write letters. I can probably earn more with a bicycle."
"You..." Dawn gazed at her for a long time. At length, he sighed resignedly and said, "Fine. I"ve never managed to persuade you anyway."
Sunflower gave a faint smile. She remembered what it had been like two years ago.
It was on the day of their departure.
They had been at the dock when she had asked Snakestooth if he and Paper would ever come back, but n.o.body had given an answer.
At that time, she had the impression that she would never see him again.
Longsong Stronghold was so far away from Border Town that she felt there was a world between them, even though the two cities had merged into one.
They had never been anywhere farther than the landfill outside Longsong Stronghold.
And Border Town was somewhere even farther away.
Tempted by the huge reward given to the champion of the sports meeting, Sunflower had finally made her decision to come to Longsong Stronghold. It was actually her first time setting foot on the Kingdom Main Street. To inject more courage into herself, she had also asked Dawn to join her.
Sunflower was actually more surprised at how close the two cities were to each other than her winning the champions.h.i.+p. The distance was absolutely shorter than she had antic.i.p.ated. It was a straight flat road without any curves, twists or portholes like many mountain roads. For the first time of her life, she had realized that it really was a city.
So, why did she have to wait for Snaketooth to come back?
She could just go there herself.
Just as His Majesty had said.
People needed to break through the impossible because no one knew whether there would be a miracle unless they tried.
"Let"s find a tavern and have a drink," suggested Sunflower as she patted her money pouch.
"Yay!" Tigerclaw wrung his fist out in excitement. "Too bad Snaketooth isn"t here. He"ll miss all the fun."
"Remember to store the money away in the hotel." Dawn reminded Sunflower. "Just take four or five gold royals with you!"
"Got it," said Sunflower smilingly.
She didn"t know the outcome but she was willing to give it a shot.
She started to like the feeling of pursuing a miracle.