A/N: Again, not a fan of author's notes so this will be brief. Chapter one has been completely rewritten if you wish to read it for all the changes made. Thanks for reading. :)

Chapter Two

One week. That's how long it had been since she first arrived in Selphia. Since she officially moved into her new home. And also how long it took her to clear and prepare the land for planting. The amount of debris and overgrowth that needed to be cleared from both the front and back yard was more than she'd anticipated. So much so that she'd decided to focus on only the front yard and leave the back for another time. She might have had time to do both within that week, but the ache in her shoulder slowed her down more than she thought it would. She pushed through, working from dawn til dusk, but with limited tools to work with, she was forced to do a lot of the heavy lifting by hand and, unfortunately with her injury some of them became too much for her to handle. But if she didn't start planting soon, the spring crops wouldn't be ready by harvest time. So, a bit begrudgingly, she'd fully cleared and prepared the front yard and left the back for another time. At the very least, she was glad that the injury in her shoulder was now fully healed and wouldn't hinder her while she planted.

Now the only thing left to do was purchase the seeds she needed for planting. During the little downtime she had when she wasn't preparing the farm, she was unpacking and cleaning her house. She was proud to say that it was now a fully functioning house, complete with basic furniture. Only one of the bedrooms had a bed, but it was only her so it wasn't a problem. She considered using the second room as a storage area until she could get a shed built outside. But all that left her no time to shop for seeds. She'd only been to the local store once on her first day, and she only did so so she could get some provisions. But that was a week ago and in addition to needing seeds, her stock of food was low as well.

So she decided today would be all about shopping for the things she needed. As much as she loved working on her farm, she also decided today would be a good time to take a break and explore the town. Another thing she'd had no time to do was sight see. She'd already lived here for a week and yet she barely knew anything about the town. She decided to take it a little easier today, just enough to walk around town and get acquainted with the area.

She also hoped that exploring the town would introduce her to the one other thing she'd heard of this town. Though her farm was reason enough to move here, farms were available in other places and she could have easily purchased her land elsewhere. However, other than having a good feeling about this land, there was one other reason she'd chosen Selphia specifically. Apparently in the land of Selphia, adventurers and bounty hunters were welcomed, as the town had its own system of posting requests for various tasks to complete, all requested by the locals themselves. The requests could be anything, ranging form something as simple as a delivery from one place to another, or as far as going out into Selphia's great wilderness to collect rare resources or dispose of monsters that invaded the area. Most cities didn't have such policies; rather, the local guard would handle such tasks. The town she came from was one such town. But for as long as she could remember, she'd always longed to explore the world, using her fighting skills to help others, as well as another way to make a living. Farming was something she was familiar with, something she was good at and had always been the career path she'd wanted. But she'd always wanted to explore the world and use her fighting skills to help others in any way she could. And the best way she could think to do that was to be a bounty hunter. She knew it would be easy to manage both. After all, there would be times during her farming career where a lot of downtime would appear, particularly right before harvest time. She decided she would use whatever free time she had to accept requests.

The only thing she had left to do was find exactly where these requests were posted. In all the information she'd heard about the request system, she'd never been told exactly where it was. Some people said it was an inn, some said it was a bar, but no one could remember the name of the place itself. So now she'd tasked herself with finding it, preferably today if she could.

So, after slinging her empty bag over her shoulders to carry all the things she planned to bring back with her, she left her house and headed toward town.

Walking to the end of her dirt carriageway after walking through her tilled and prepared yard, she reached the dirt road that would eventually lead into town. About half a mile down, the road turned to a wide, blue-toned cobblestone road, the same material that paved every part of town that she'd seen so far. She smiled up at the bright blue sky, thankful that the weather was perfect for a day of exploring the town. The temperature was what would be expected for mid spring, cool but not cold, as the last of winter's snow had melted long ago, making her choice of jeans and a t-shirt a perfect choice for the day. She also didn't bother to put her hair up, letting her hair hang freely down the middle of her back. The few clouds that hung in the sky were small, proving the weather would stay and she would have the whole day to explore without worry that the weather would turn. Now her only concern would be finding her way around. She could have wandered aimlessly if she wanted, but then she might not find her way back home without asking for directions. In order to prevent that if she could, she decided it best to stop at the local shop first to buy a map. While she was there, she might as well get her shopping done. It would be a bit inconvenient to carry around a full bag on her back all day, but if she decided to buy the map now and shop later, she had no way of knowing if she could get back to the shop before it closed. After all, she wasn't sure exactly how big the town was and how far she would walk and didn't want to risk missing her chance to get the seeds she needed. So in order to prevent that, she would shop before she did anything else.

Finding the shop wasn't hard, as she'd already been there once before and knew the way. It took a bit if time though, as her house was in the northern part of town while the shop was in the eastern part. She was sure there were other shops, but she knew this one sold both groceries and seeds, as well as some other general items she thought she might need. In addition, the old lady who ran the shop was pleasant and Frey was more than happy to return to a store that was clearly running well.

It wasn't long until she reached the store, and she entered the moderately sized building after confirming it was open by the sign on the door. A bell jingled as she entered, and she found some other customers wandering around the shelves throughout the store. She grabbed a hand basket from the stack at her feet and went about her shopping. She didn't have much trouble finding the provisions she needed, as she'd already become fairly familiar with that part of the store last time. By the time her basket was full of all the provisions she felt she needed, she headed to the gardening section. Here she took her time, familiarizing herself with the items and seeds that were for sale. She was glad to see an abundance of seeds, the variety much larger than she'd anticipated. She already had specific ones in mind before she came here and had no trouble finding them. She even found some she'd never thought of and got some of those as well. She was also happy to see a lot of different gardening supplies, as well as a lot of tools. She would surely need a lot of these tools soon, but would wait until she wasn't spending the entire day wandering around town to purchase them.

Once she was satisfied she'd collected everything she needed, she headed for the check-out counter. It was there she found the maps, on a small shelf near the counter. While the old lady at the register rang up the customer in front of her, Frey scanned the maps in order to find the one she needed. Not only did she find a map of the town, but she found another map of the entire continent. She decided to get both. After all, if she were to go on any bounty missions, she would need a map to find her way around. Once the old lady asked for the next person in line, Frey placed all of her items on the counter.

"Oh, hello again my dear," the old woman smiled sweetly when she saw Frey, clearly recognizing her from her last visit. Her voice crackled slightly with her age, but was cheery and gentle. Her bright, friendly smile smoothed some of the wrinkles in her cheeks, making her look younger than she was. "How are you today?"

Frey couldn't help but smile back. "Just fine, thank you. How are you?"

The old woman smiled even brighter, her eyes shining. "Oh I'm just wonderful." She began removing things from the basket and ringing them up on the register. She entered them with accuracy and precision that proved her age hadn't slowed her down or affected her ability to do her job perfectly. When she started ringing up the seeds, she smiled and said, "Oh, planting a garden? Now's the right time of year for it."

Frey nodded, packing her items into her bag as the old lady registered them and set them on the other side of the counter. "Yes, ma'am. It took a little time to get the land ready, though."

"Oh, please, call me Blossom. I told you last time you were here that it was alright, so please do." Frey smiled and nodded, not forgetting that she had been told the same thing last time she was here. Though she wanted to do as she was asked to make the sweet old lady happy, she just couldn't help but show respect and call her ma'am. She didn't think it was right to be so familiar with someone she didn't know very well. Blossom continued doing her work. "Must be quite the large garden for this many seeds," she said as she casually laid the items on the counter. She paused ringing up the items, and Frey looked to see that she appeared like she was thinking about something. Blossom looked up at her, an excited smile appearing on her face. "You wouldn't happen to be the one who moved into the farm up north, would you?"

Frey nodded in confirmation, smiling a little at the woman's excited reaction. "Yes, that's me."

Blossom's smile brightened even more. "Oh, that's wonderful! That farm's been abandoned for so long." She continued registering the items as she spoke, her smile just as bright as before. "It's good that that beautiful land will finally be put to good use." Frey just nodded in agreement and continued to pack her items into her bag.

Once the items were rung up and packed into her bag, Frey paid for everything and slung her bag over her shoulders. Right before she left, however, it occurred to her that she could save herself some time if she asked Blossom for directions. Frey still planned to wander around town with the help of the map she held in her hand, but she could save time in finding the request board if she just asked. She didn't take a thorough look at the map just yet, but she decided it best to ask someone where it was in case the map didn't specify its location. She turned to Blossom and asked, "Excuse me, but do you know where I can find the request board?"

Blossom smiled and nodded. "And which request board would you be looking for?"

Frey stopped and blinked. "Uh..." was the only response she could manage when she found herself confused. There's more than one request board? She hadn't heard anything about that. "...The one with bounty requests?" That was the only thing Frey could think to say to specify which one she wanted, considering she had no idea what the other request board might have been for.

It seemed to be enough thankfully, as Blossom nodded and said, "Ah, yes, the Bounty Board is located in Porcoline's Kitchen. It's just north of here, right next to the airship port."

Frey was relieved that it had been cleared up so easily. She smiled and nodded. "Thank you very much, ma'am, I appreciate it."

Blossom nodded and smiled politely. "Of course, dear." She chuckled and added, "And please, it's Blossom."

Frey chuckled, a little embarrassed, "Yes, sorry about that." She waved as she turned to leave. "Bye, and thank you!" With that, she exited the store, stepping back out onto the street into the beautiful, clear day.

She stepped to the side, making sure not to block the store's door, then opened the town map she held in her hands. Blossom's directions were clear and simple enough, but she wanted to see the location for herself before she went on her way, just to establish any proper route or street names she may want to remember. Sure enough, just north of the shop and right next to the port was a building labeled Porcoline's Kitchen. And right next to that text was another set of words that read 'Home of the Selphia Bounty Board." Frey felt a little embarrassed for asking for directions for something that was so clearly labeled on the map, but since she had no way of knowing it would be labeled on the map she decided it was fine. After all, it would have taken her a few minutes of blindly reading every location on the map to find it on her own and asking had at least giving her an indication of where it was so she wasn't searching blindly.

While she was scanning the map for the route she would take to the restaurant, she was suddenly taken over by curiosity of the other message board. She didn't know there was a second message board and was curious of what it was for. So she started scanning the whole map, reading the locations of most of the places in town. It took a few minutes, but she finally found a small box labeled with the text 'Selphia Request Board.' And she couldn't help but feel surprised when she saw its location.

It was right in front of the castle.

This confused her, as she hadn't expected the other board to be so close to the castle. Surely it wasn't encouraged for people to get so close to the castle, considering it's where the Queen resided. She considered that it was a message board that just displayed current events and news and that it's location in the middle of town was convenient and made sense. But according to the map, it was a Request board. It made her wonder what it was and what kind of requests it was for if there was already a Bounty Board in the restaurant.

Well, she decided the best way to find out would be to see the board for herself. But she decided she would do it later when she was exploring the town. For now, she was a lot more eager to see the Bounty Board and planned to go there next. With that decided, she headed down the street and turned on the road that led north, making sure to check the map as she went so she wouldn't get lost.

It turned out she had nothing to worry about though, as the road was a straight shot, leading straight up to the northern road where the airship dock was visible. She turned on the road and passed the dock, finding the restaurant on the other side of the road. It was so easy to find that she could have found it with the directions alone without the map. Excited to see the Bounty Board where she would take requests for her adventures, she folded the map into her pocket and headed inside.

After entering one of the double doors, Frey found the inside of the building much larger than she initially thought. The first room she entered was the dining area, evidenced by the many tables and chairs laid around the varnished, wood floor. The vaulted ceiling was high, making the building seem bigger and much more grand, yet the room still managed to feel cozy and comforting. Frey could only imagine this was thanks to the medium brown, varnished wood walls and the light colored table cloths on some of the tables. It was mostly the colors that made it feel at home. On the other side of the room was the counter, behind which were some doors that led to rooms she could only guess, as well as a set of stairs that led to a hallway on what must have been a second floor. To the right of the counter was a small stage, a small portion of the floor raised higher than the rest. On top of it was a grand piano as well as stands containing other instruments, such as a lute. Beyond that was a hallway that led to another area she couldn't see from where she was.

And on the left side of the room, in the middle of the wall, was a large board covered in sheets of paper. Above it, large letters spelled out the words 'Bounty Board.'

Frey smiled to herself, her heart racing with excitement as she made her way over. She stopped in front of it, scanning over the papers full of requests. The board was large, the bottom level with her knees and the top going above her head, possibly even higher than she could reach. It was a simple cork board, each sheet of paper stuck to it with a tack. As she looked over the board she noticed there was a blank gap straight down the middle where no papers were posted. That was when she noticed a black line drawn down the middle, separating the board into two sides. There were small letters at the top of each side. The left side said 'Errands' while the right side said 'Bounties.' Curious of the difference between the two, she began reading through some of the papers on each side. It didn't take long for her to learn what it was. The side labeled 'Errands' consisted of requests that involved simple, non dangerous things like delivering some packages in town or collecting some simple plants outside of town, while the side labeled 'Bounties' involved collecting rare resources in the wilderness or battling monsters in the wild. Clearly, the requests on the Bounties side were meant for adventurers prepared for battle and danger on their requests.

And those were exactly the kind she was looking for.

"Oh, hi there!"

If the restaurant had been quiet, Frey was sure the sound of a voice right behind her would have frightened her to death. But thanks to the small amount of patrons causing a murmur of activity and conversation throughout the building, she was only startled enough to jump. When she spun around to find out who had scared her so much, she found a young woman with an apologetic smile on her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I startle you?" The young lady chuckled, putting her hands together in a pleading manner, smiling apologetically towards Frey. Though she was clearly apologizing, Frey couldn't help but notice that she seemed amused as well. "Please forgive me."

Frey was able to get over the fright rather quickly once she confirmed that there was no danger involved. "Oh, no it's okay," Frey said truthfully, fully turning around to face her. "I was just lost in thought, that's all." And it was true as well. She would have been more aware of her surroundings if she hadn't been so excited to see the Bounty Board. In that aspect, Frey felt that the blame for being so frightened was equally on her.

Now that Frey had calmed down and was standing face to face with the lady, she finally realized a few things that should have been obvious right away. The first thing she noticed was the most obvious one; this woman was tall. At least tall to Frey, anyway. Frey being the average height of five foot four, this woman appeared to be half a foot taller than that. The second obvious thing was her hair; it was long and golden blonde, tied in two separated braids, the loops dotted with small, blue flowers. And finally, when noticing her hair it would be impossible not to notice the ears that peeked from behind those braids. They were pointed at the ends.

And Frey suddenly understood. This woman was an elf. Frey had never met an elf before, but she at the very least knew they were tall. That much was common knowledge. She suddenly felt silly for being so focused on how tall the woman was. It seemed so tall to her, but to an elf it was probably normal.

"Oh, good," the elf breathed a sigh of relief, lowering her hands. She gave Frey a friendly smile and said, "I was worried I might've scare you to death. I wouldn't want to be responsible for that." It was said in such a casual and friendly way, Frey couldn't help but smile back. She was finding it easy to relax now that she knew no harm had been done.

"So," the elf started, gesturing with a hand to the board behind Frey, "Thinking about taking a bounty?"

Frey only stayed quiet for a moment to regain her bearings before saying, "Oh, yeah. Well, maybe not yet." The lady looked at Frey curiously, like the answer confused her. Frey felt silly, realizing she'd given two answers and neither one was clear. "I probably will once I get settled," she corrected herself. "For now I just wanted to know where the board was."

A look of understanding came over the elf and she nodded, seeming satisfied with that answer. "Oh, okay." She smiled as she continued to talk, seemingly excited over the conversation. "Where are you staying? Since you're a traveler, probably at the inn down the road."

Frey was immediately confused by the question. Sure, she'd never been to this inn before or met this person until now, but what made her seem to be a traveler? "Huh?" Was all she managed to say.

The lady pointed at the bag on Frey's back. "Your bag. I figured you were a traveler if you were carrying that much luggage with you."

When the answer became so obvious, Frey couldn't help but chuckle. Not at the assumption, but how much sense it made. It never occurred to her that walking around town with a large bag would make her look like a traveler. The realization was funny, and she couldn't believe she didn't realize it sooner. "Oh, no, actually I live here." She smiled, feeling silly that the question had confused her so much. "I just moved here a week ago so I don't really know anyone."

The lady went quiet, her smile turning into a thoughtful frown. Before Frey could start wondering what was happening, the elf's eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open in a wide grin, like she'd just realized something exciting. "Oh, you're Frey, the new farmer! It's so nice to meet you!" She grasped Frey's hand with both her own, startling Frey. "I'm Margaret. I work here as a musician and general worker," Margret said as she shook Frey's hand.

Frey didn't return the gesture, too distracted by the fact that Margaret knew her name. Frey had never seen her before, and she knew very few people in town. In fact, as far as she was aware only some of the people at the castle and the lady that owned the local shop knew her name. So, how on earth had Margaret known who she was? She recovered enough to voice her question. "Uh… how did you know my name?"

Margaret released Frey's hand, waving the question away as if the answer were obvious. "Oh, everyone knows about you. That the farmer up north had arrived in town by falling through the roof of the castle and walked away without so much as a scratch." She smiled thoughtfully, seeming excited about her story. "It's been quite the topic of conversation, with lots of theories as to how you survived. But almost no one had actually seen you and didn't know what you looked like." She smiled warmly at Frey. "It's so nice to have a face to go with the name."

Though that response made sense, Frey was still having a hard time accepting it. This would mean that someone from the castle had told someone about what happened the day she arrived and it had apparently spread across town. That in itself made sense; after all it was a strange occurrence, one that Even Frey was still having trouble understanding, and would surely be a topic for conversation. What she was having a hard time accepting was that this story that had spread around town was about her. She knew it wasn't personal. On the contrary, almost no one who heard the story knew who Frey was, that much was evidenced by the fact that Margaret didn't know her until now. She knew no one meant any harm and she wasn't upset. She was just finding it hard to believe a story about her had been such a popular topic, whether it was personal or not. It just made her feel a bit strange, if nothing else.

"Come to think of it," Frey was taken out of her thoughts when Margaret started speaking, "How did you survive that fall?" She looked at her thoughtfully, smiling like she was eager to hear the answer. "After all, why theorize about it when we can get the answer straight from the source?"

At first, Frey didn't know what to say. After all, the fact was that she wasn't quite sure of the answer herself. She knew that landing on the dragon had broken her fall and had been helpful at the very least. But the fact remained that she fell from the sky, and without knowing how high up she'd been, there would be no real way of knowing how she survived.

"Well…" Frey started, not sure if the answer would be satisfactory. But there was nothing else she could say as she didn't have the full answer, so she just said what she knew. "All I really know is something broke my fall."

Margaret was quiet for a moment, almost seeming like she hadn't heard her. Then her eyebrows raised in surprise. "Oh, really?" She frowned, almost like she were disappointed. "So it was that simple, huh?" Frey just remained quiet, not sure if she should add the detail that Queen Ventuswill was what broke her fall. That part didn't seem to be common knowledge and, for a reason she wasn't sure of, she decided it wasn't necessary to mention it.

Margaret sighed, like she'd been given disappointing news. "Oh well. It's really anti-climactic, but all that really matters is that you didn't get hurt, right?" She straightened up, her disappointment seemingly gone as she smiled at Frey. It was such a genuine smile that Frey couldn't help but smile back. She decided there was no harm done.

"So, do you need a table?" Margaret asked. "We can talk more if you stay. I would really like to get to know you more." She chuckled. "You know, so I don't just know you as 'the farmer that fell through the castle roof.'."

That suddenly reminded Frey that she needed to go, as she hadn't started looking around town yet and wanted to see as much as she could before the day was over. "Oh, no thanks." She felt a little bad when Margaret seemed disappointed. To thank her for being so friendly, she added, "I can't right now, but I'll be back sometime to pick up a bounty."

Margaret smiled, seeming satisfied with that answer. "Okay, sounds great. Maybe we can talk then." Frey nodded in agreement and gave a small wave as she turned to leave, deciding she didn't want to lose anymore of the day.

After leaving the restaurant, Frey spent the rest of the day walking around the town, taking as many sights as she could, using the map as her guide. She learned where many more of the other shops were, finding some that she knew she would be visiting before long. She became familiar with the shops and streets as best she could, determined to memorize everything, at least to the point she would no longer need the map. That wouldn't happen right away, but she knew she was well on her way.

When evening was nearing and Frey felt she'd explored as much as she needed for the day, she started on the path home. She had the simple route memorized by now and it didn't take long for her to reach her carriageway.

Before she started walking down the path, something at the end of her carriageway caught her eye. Namely, her mailbox. She'd had it set up during the same time she'd set up her furniture, placing it on the wooden post and writing her address on the side. Though her address was registered, she didn't expect any mail anytime soon. After all, everything had been paid and no one really had her address. Which was why she found it strange that the mailbox's door was slightly open. She'd closed it for sure after it was set up, so it stood to reason someone opened it. It could easily be explainable, maybe something bumping into it, but just to be sure she decided to check it.

When she opened it, she was surprised to find a letter inside.

Wondering who it could be from, she took it from the mailbox and looked at it. Her name and address were on it, which of course meant it wasn't delivered to the wrong person. When she checked the return address, she was surprised to say the least.

It was from Queen Ventuswill.

After she got over the initial surprise, she opened it and removed a piece of paper from inside. Though it was a full sized sheet, the writing on it was short, written in perfect cursive and black ink.

Frey,

Your presence is requested in Selphia Castle by Lady Ventuswill as soon as possible.

Signed,

Clorica, In Regards of Her Majesty Queen Ventuswill