Seira woke up to the sounds of fanfares, music and voices echoing through the halls of the inn she was staying at. Even though the woman had her windows closed, as well as her doors, there seemed to be a lot going on and she could nearly hear all of it. Seira yawned and rubbed her eyes, going by how tired she was it was certainly too early for her to get up and the sun was shining through the curtains, indicating that it was already morning. Although the woman prefered to sleep in and was more of a night owl lately she had to get up early quite often simply because she needed the entire day to find and finish work. Today wasn’t going to be one of those days, and she would much rather prefer spending some time at home, sleeping or in the library but it seemed that there were other plans she didn’t know about yet. Seira slowly got out of bed and peeked behind the curtains so she could get a glimpse at what was going on down on the streets. Strangely enough there was a massive amount of people, more than usual, seemingly walking around and preparing for some sort of event. Everyone was working on the same thing, they carried stuff and food around and decorated the lanterns and houses to make everything look beautiful. Seira wondered if perhaps she had missed out on a local holiday and today was said day, or else she wouldn’t know how to explain the festival mood and all the preparations. She sat down on the window board and glanced outside, making sure that hardly anyone could see her but even if, most people were too busy with their work anyways. Everything was covered in colourful bows and flowers and there were even street vendors, more than usual, preparing all sorts of food, especially a lot of candy and sweets. Seira had still absolutely no clue what was going on but she knew that she would find out in time. For now she simply wanted to enjoy the sight of everyone having a good time before she was going to join them. Perhaps one person or another could use them help and was willing to pay her for it. Seira, as a girl, was quite good at decorating and making things “look pretty” and she very much enjoyed it as well. This was quite the unexpected opportunity and although she was curious as to what was going on, the woman wasn’t in a hurry to find out. She sat by the window and looked outside for a little longer, slowly scanning one shop after another, wondering which one she would preferably work in. The ones selling sweets and candy seemed like a good deal, Seira loved candy. She also noticed how everyone was smiling while putting up tables and such and she couldn’t help but notice how everyone was in an extremely good mood. Usually they put up posters when there was a huge event coming up like this but perhaps Seira had simply missed it.

She got up and walked into the bathroom to get ready for the day. It took her a while but eventually she was clean and dressed and decided to have some lunch downstairs in the lounge where she would ask around about the turmoil going on outside. Seira often chose to stay in the inn she was also sleeping at for meals and such and since their food was delicious and quite cheap for those who also rented a room it was only natural that she would do so. One of the ladies who worked in the kitchen, Greta, greeted her and wished her a good morning. Seira decided that this would perhaps be a good chance to ask her about what was going on outside. “Good Morning, Greta. I see there is already a lot going on in the streets, but I think I missed out on this one. Can you explain to me what kind of festival everyone is preparing for? I must have completely missed out on it because I was so busy with work.” She shrugged helplessly at the middle aged lady who quickly hurried over to her with some orange juice. “Oh Seira, I completely forgot you aren’t from here! How could you possibly know! Have you ever heard about Medias Syrases? He’s a noble Lord and one of the most beloved ones by the citizens! He is funny and kind and has a big heart and is an overall good person. No one would hesitate to help him out, trust me! I heard that the other nobles think that he is odd, but they are probably just jealous.. he is a good man and I stand by that. He is also on very good terms with the Fairy Tail guild and mages in general. He has been helping them out for many years now and he is quite popular because of it. I think they will forever be in debt for him but generally speaking, they help each other out. I suppose the one thing he is mostly known for are the festivals. He organizes a lot of festivals that include the normal citizens as well as the noble families in Magnolia and his festivals are always amazing. Today is a bit different than usual, though,” She smiled and looked outside. Seira had heard his name before but could never add any useful information to it. She made a mental note to remember his name, since he was apparently quite important here in Magnolia. “Well, if today is different and he is not organizing a festival, then what is he doing?” Seira wondered while continuing to eat her breakfast. She took a sip from her orange juice as well. “Well, my dear, it’s his youngest daughter’s birthday today. She is turning 7 and he wants her to have a big party.”

Seira was surprised. “Such a huge party for a seven year old girl? Isn’t that a bit over the top?” In many aspects she was right, that did seem a bit over the top but as a father he obviously only wanted the best for his child. “Now, Medias is always throwing parties to begin with. But today he asked many people to help him create the perfect birthday party for his little angel and of course everyone is invited as well. It might seem a bit over the top but if everyone is having fun then there should be no harm in it? Besides, if you are looking for a job you can offer him your help and I am sure he will pay you. I am sure there is quite a few travellers doing that kind of work for the day. Besides, once it is down you can always enjoy the party.” She was absolutely right and of course Seira knew that. She decided that she was going to help out as well and after finishing her breakfast and paying for it she left the inn to walk through the streets to find Medias. Everyone was indeed smiling and seemed quite happy even though they were mostly unrelated to Medias and Seira figured that it was all simply because of how popular he was. Medias Syrases wasn’t very difficult to find. He was, of course, in the middle of it all and his looks were very distinctive. His clothes were that of a typical noble, he wore only expensive fabrics and fancy, golden headwear and jewelry. Besides that he had very tan skin and golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was also tall and quite muscular for his age. Medias was surrounded by people and it took a while until Seira could approach him. She greeted him with a smile and he returned with a smile of his own. “What can I do for you, young Lady? Are you perhaps here to help as well?” Seira nodded quickly. “Yes, I do have the day off and I heard that you are preparing for a special day for a special girl so I figured I would offer my helping hands to you. My name is Seira and I am a traveller from Era.” Medias, without a doubt, seemed to be thrilled that people from all over Fiore were willing to help out with his daughter’s birthday and he quickly explained the tasks Seira could do to help him. They were all fairly simple and as long as she could make everything look beautiful he would be happy. Seira began by grabbing some colourful decorations and hanging them up. Of course she had a good eye for beauty and soon everything she touched was decorated in the colours white and pink, alongside with some beautiful lanterns as well as flowers. Seira made sure that everyone who walked in these streets would feel at home. She decorated the fronts of houses and hung flowers upon their doors, knowing that most people would probably still keep them even after the festival had ended.

There were also many tables lined up against the street, where all the guests could sit and eat. Of course food was needed and most important but Seira decided to decorate the tables first. For the tables she used the same bows she had used before in all kinds of colours, together with a small amount of candles to set the atmosphere and most importantly: more flowers. There were a lot of tables so this actually took some time before Seira could worry about the food. Fortunately everyone was helping out so Seira finished eventually and started carrying pots and plates of food over to the tables. There was a good amount of all sorts of food, such as seafood in form of sushi, but also lots of different salads and fruits. Seira made sure to distribute and even amount of seafood, meat, as in steaks, vegetables and salads and also fruit salads to every table to make sure everyone could eat whatever they wanted to. There was also the desert, of course, and every table got its own bowl of candy as well. There was also ice cream but the chances of it melting was too high so they had to wait with that until everyone had finished eating. With time passing Seira and everyone else got closer and closer to finishing with the decorations and after a few hours of preparing and working hard every table had enough food that could feed nearly the entire town and the part could get started. It was now that Seira had officially finished her job and walked over to Medias to collect her reward. He was quite generous when he paid her and also asked her to stay for the rest of the party, which Seira assured him she would do. After all she had spent many hours preparing for this, she wasn’t going to miss it. Hundreds of people, including the birthday girl, had arrived by now and the party was officially getting started. Everyone was singing songs to the lucky birthday girl and eventually after all the presents had been shared with her she was left alone to play with kids her age while the rest of the visitors were allowed to have a good time and enjoy a meal while talking with everyone else who was present. The party, although it had the size of a festival, was a huge success and everyone including Seira was having a blast. The Sorceress stayed until late night, even drank some alcohol and shared a table with a few people from Magnolia as well as some travellers that were from different cities. They exchanged stories and shared experiences with each other and Seira learned a lot that night that made her realize that she still wanted to travel more and see more of the rest of the world. After it was getting dark Seira decided to make an exit and leave to rest in the hotel for the night.

[2017]
Quest.