Marigold Town; it would have been a lie if Houren said he did not enjoy his time here. All in all, he probably had a better time here in Marigold than in the capital Crocus, certainly, in terms of the people he had helped. In Crocus, he had only ever really connected with Batra the Bartender, and some of the regulars, but that was really it. The Fairy Tail mage that he had met late night in the bar also weighed heavily on his mind, and Houren could only wonder whether she had returned to Magnolia yet or not. As far as he was aware, he knew she was a mage from the Fairy Tail guild, but she did not recognize him as a fellow guild mate. Or maybe she did, and that is why she had bothered to talk to him at all that day. That would remain a mystery for now. Houren looked at his map as he considered all the other destinations he could go to; Haregon was tempting but he ultimately decided to gloss it over because there wasn't anything immediately interesting, Magnolia was always an option, but he didn't feel like going home just yet, but he eventually decided on Orchidia Town, simply because the name sounded nice to him. He made a mental note to head to Era immediately after that.

That city was the home of the Rune Knights, the organization that Houren had aspired to join when he was a boy. Due to circumstances beyond his control, he ended up taking a detour at the Fairy Tail guild and has been there for the past few years, but his dream of becoming a Rune Knight was still very much alive. Still, he owed everything to the Fairy Tail guild, and his future was committed to them for the time being. There were plenty of mages who went from being guildless to joining a guild, and then moving on to a different venture; for example, joining the Rune Knights. It was a noble calling, but like he had just said, it wasn't yet his time to head to Era yet. But he still wanted to see how things were there, but not before he headed to the roguish town of Orchidia. He had never been there before, so he was genuinely quite excited to make the journey, although he knew that it wouldn't be easy.

The distance to Orchidia Town from Marigold Town was indefinitely longer than the one he had taken to Marigold Town from Crocus the Holy Capital, and the latter trip was tough enough by itself. He packed more food this time, and planned his route out much better. He wanted to reach Orchidia sometime in the morning, but he didn't want to be so lethargic that he needed to sleep immediately after arriving. He wanted to be fresh, so that he would be able to tackle the day as soon as he reached; from there, he could focus on finding an inn, getting lunch and if possible, getting a look at the bulletin board for the town. That was generally Houren's plan whenever he entered a new town city, and it seemed to work for him thus far. Why change a working formula if it's never failed you, right? Grinning happily to himself, Houren slung his bag over his back and headed over to the exit that lead towards Hargeon. From there, he would pass through Magnolia and so on, before reaching his ultimate destination of Orchidia Town. He honestly could not wait to arrive there. Perhaps he would visit some of his friends from Lamia Scale once he arrived?

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