How long had he been in Crocus now?

It couldn't have been more than two weeks, yet he felt like he had been there for a long, long time. He had made some good friends, namely Batra and some of the regulars at the bar, and his mind was often preoccupied by that fellow Fairy Tail mage that he had so rudely left alone when he had felt dizzy. He could still remember her face well enough though, so when he saw her again in Magnolia, back in that very familiar guildhall, then he would need to make it up to her then; he had promised to do as much. Houren stood at the city exit, remembering how just a few hours ago, he had been fighting here with a conman that had scammed one of Batra's regulars. Houren had defeated the man, brought him back to the inn and collected what was probably his final paycheck from the kindly owner of that inn. He had made a promise to return someday, to buy a drink once he had become a more famous mage, but who knows when that day would come?

He had received a tip from one of Batra's customers who had just returned from his travels that there was a lot of work in Marigold that needed to be done, that they needed strong hands and guys like Houren would be well appreciated. There wasn't a man alive in this world that didn't want to be appreciated, and since he had pretty much done everything he had set out to do in Crocus, he decided to put the little town next on his list of destinations. It was actually somewhat far, and even further from Magnolia than Crocus, so he imagined that he might have to stay a while there. It wasn't as though he minded, Magnolia was where his current home was, but it wasn't his hometown. It wasn't the city itself or the surroundings that made him happy in Magnolia, it was the people. As long as he had friends, he would be happy no matter where he was in the world, be it traveling on the high road or skirting around on the high seas in a dingy boat or luxury cruise liner.

He paid one more, silent farewell to the city of Crocus before he exited town. His large frame became smaller and smaller before it was completely out of sight, just in time for the sunrise. This way, he would be able to make a lot of ground before the sun set again, and he could expect to be at Marigold in prime condition and at a reasonable time. His purse was somewhat heavy, the fruits of his labors and hard work and he could treat himself to a decent meal once he reached Marigold Town. For the next few days while he was traveling there though, he would need to make due on the tidbits he had bought and the big meal that Batra had prepared for him before he left. Besides, life on the road wasn't that bad, was it?

520/500