My official first day happened today, and it wasn't as peaceful as I thought.

I expected some work and learning as I reached the farm. Even if I had experienced tending my Mama Orphan's or Charlonzi's garden, still I looked forward to doing my own fieldwork. With automatic sprinklers installed in this field, I didn't need to do as much as I believed. The job I needed to do was only taking care of the farm animals, pulling out the grass, or harvesting. Since Olivier girl and Jin had finished pulling the grass yesterday, I decided to do the harvesting.There were a lot of crops I needed to harvest. Might as well make my round to introduce myself properly, said myself with such big determination.

It didn't take a long time until my harvest basket was filled. After I shut the fences and ensured that all of the animals were safe, I could be settled on leaving the farm. The first junction made me think: The Happy Cows was on my right, and the blacksmith was on my left. I determined to visit The Happy Cows first.

The Happy Cows was the only barn that offered a delightful array of goods and services catering to livestock and farming enthusiasts, as the place Yummi and Cole tend. At first glance, its most striking feature was the picturesque barn that stood proudly, radiating rustic charm with its weathered wood and classic architecture. Surrounding the barn were verdant pastures, with the cows, sheep, and chickens playing happily in the pens, creating a serene backdrop that complements the wholesome atmosphere of the place.

Now, now. If only I could ask, I would ask for Yummi to greet me in the shop. Honestly, I wasn't that comfortable to talk to Cole yet. I caught a glimpse of him for being somehow a rude person.

I opened the door and I saw Yummi filling the shelves with fodder bags.

"Welcome to Happy Cows!" she greeted me cheerfully. "Oh, Luna! What can I do for you?"She left the fodder bags to approach me at the door; while rubbing her hands clean on the apron she wore. I showed her my harvest basket and let her choose the vegetables I'd harvested.

"Whoa, what a nice harvest!" Yummi squealed with her soft voice. "They look delicious! Or should I say they look yummy? Hehehehe..."

I smiled at her joke.

"Please take some," I demanded. "I guess I should make my round and while I'm at it, I want the others to have some taste of the vegetables."

"That's so nice of you!"

"So... May I choose?" asked Yummi. I nodded.

Looking at Yummi's eyes was pretty amusing. Her eyes looked like the maids' eyes I used to see when they were picking some fresh vegetables up. They even taught me to choose the best vegetables. After all, good dishes come from good ingredients.

"Oh, sorry. I might already take so much..." Yummi woke from her 'shopping spree' after she realized that she could no longer contain the vegetables in her arms.

"It's okay, I still have plenty," I tried to make Yummi feel better with my answer.

"Thank you!" answered Yummi cheerfully as she arranged the vegetables on an empty table. "By any chance? Do you want me to get Cole?"

I immediately shook my head.

"I think I will excuse myself here. There're still a lot of places I haven't gone to." As I waved Yummi goodbye. She looked puzzled but managed to wave me back.

It wasn't like I didn't want to meet Cole. I just felt... uncomfortable. He and his eye patch... looked scary and I was so afraid that I might offend him with my action. Well, genuinely I would feel rather comfortable if I had talked to the person previously, but since I never talked to Cole or any other person outside the 'meeting table', I didn't develop any courage to meet them all yet.

I really didn't want to make my stay bad with another mistake.

The moment I reached the blacksmith, I hesitated to knock on the door. I took my time on looking around the blacksmith; a somehow quiet place with some woods piled on the side and a lantern on the patio. For a blacksmith, I couldn't hear any work sound coming from the house and strangely, the lantern was still lit; as if there was no one home.

But, if I didn't introduce myself properly, I wouldn't gain any friendships from others.I decided to knock on the door –very slowly and stood very patiently. 3 minutes I stood with no result. Probably it was for the best for me if I left before the door was opened.

I turned my back, right at the time someone opened the door. The white-haired man was standing with his posture still half-asleep.

"I'm really sorry!!" I panicked. "I bought some vegetables, please take some!"

The man –who I remembered the name as Azriel, stood behind the door as he looked at me cautiously.

I could feel my cold feet as Azriel took his time to respond. Ah, it would be okay if he just shooed me away to nothingness.

"Thank you."

"I'm sorry!! Wait.. what?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"I'll take one potato here, thank you," said Azriel, even with a brief smile. "If there's nothing you want to do, I'll excuse myself to my humble dwelling."

I nodded --and shook my head multiple times, panicked. Azriel giggled a bit before he finally closed his door.

... Was he actually nice?

I left his house in deep thought. It seemed too good to be true. His face at the meeting was totally killing me inside, but not in a good way.

I brushed the thought as I fixed my walk to Magnolia Clinic --the only modern building on this island.

As I approached the building, I could see an 'OPEN' sign on the door. I lightly knocked on the door and opened the door. A familiar face showed shock upon my arrival --Lance was having a conversation with the nurse at the front desk.

"Welcome!" the nurse welcomed me with her sunny smile. "Please come in!"

I stepped in and managed to take a seat beside Lance.

"What are you doing here?" Lance whispered to me.

"The same for you," I responded.

"Well, I need to do some work here...."

"Me too!"

"Guys, I can hear you pretty much. So if it's good for you and me, could you stop the whispering?" the nurse demanded us to stop our doing while pouting and folding her arms.We apologized right away; like children who got caught by their mom.

"Okay. What can I do for you, Luna?" she asked.

I tried to remember her name but to no avail. What really blew my mind was the memory of me catching her gaze upon Lance on the first meeting.

"Oh!" I returned from the daydream. "I harvested vegetables. Please take some."

Her eyes widened; she was super excited.

"Reanneee!!" she shouted. "Do you want some veggies??"

Reanne --who I recalled as the doctor, didn't respond immediately. Instead, we could hear some steps from the back room.

"Kaoru, I told you so many times. Don't shout in the clinic," she sighed but the nurse pulled her tongue jokingly.

Ah, yes. The nurse's name was Kaoru.

"Please take some..." I pushed my harvest basket to Reanne.

"Thank you," she smiled. "What a fruitful harvest..."

"Or should I say 'veggieful harvest'? Baa dum tsss!"

We ignored Kaoru and her bad jokes.

"Seriously? That was pretty good, right? My joke? Hello?" Kaoru asked for justification.

"Yeah yeah, so good," Reanne kept on picking the veggies, leaving pouting Kaoru on her side.

I engaged in a small chat with Reanne, while Kaoru had some laughs with Lance. I tried to eavesdrop but I couldn't. Reanne's knowledge of health and balanced nutrition was way more interesting.

"You sure take some time, Lance," noticed Reanne. "Do you want something? Kaoru here needs to do her documents, I'm afraid."

I supposed that Reanne was pretty strict when it came to obligations. I should say that she was actually better than Kyo for leading the team just from this small scene.

"I want to talk to you, Reanne," Lance cut his small talk with Kaoru. "About the plants and animals on the mountain."

Reanne paused her veggie-picking.

"I guess that's not within my field..." responded Reanne sourly. "I would be very glad to help you. But animals and plants and mountains... I'm afraid I can't help that much."

I caught a glimpse of small disappointment on Lance's face.

"How about the medicinal plants?" he asked desperately.

"That, I can help," Reanne smiled, followed by Lance's smile.

Lance quickly opened his small note and wrote the schedule he saw written on the board; Reanne's schedule. I knew that Lance had always been this serious type; especially about work and study.

"I'm wondering if the naturalist before me could help me a bit..." Lance said his mind out loud.

"The naturalist before you was Mawar," Reanne responded. "You could ask for her opinion if it's necessary. You guys are pretty close to her, right?"

I and Lance looked at each other.

"Well, yes..." Lance hesitated. "I tried to ask for her guidance but she shrieked and told me that 'just sell everything'.. something like that."

We paused a bit before Lance continued.

".. I... I'm afraid.. that wasn't what I've been trying to do now..."

What Lance just said ticked Kaoru's sense.

"Hahahaha of course! Mawar didn't know anything about the farm or the mountain. She was bad."

"Hey Kaoru..." Reanne stopped Kaoru's comment. "That's not nice at all."

"Oops sorry. I forgot that you guys are her relatives," Kaoru rolled her eyes. "But what I said was true."

"Kaoru!"

"Alright alright. She wasn't bad. She was useless."

Reanne sighed. Their small bickering made me even want to ask more about Mawar on this island. Just... what Mawar had done to be kicked out from the island.

"Then... how about the naturalist before Mawar? Is the naturalist still alive?"

Reanne giggled at Lance's sudden question.

"Yes, gladly she's still alive," Reanne smiled as she continued her veggie picking. It was almost obvious that the response between the first naturalist and Mawar was a huge difference.

"Can I... Can I ask for her help as a naturalist??" Lance enthusiastically asked.

"Hmmmm..." Reanne folded her arms. "She might oppose that idea but also she might help you."

I and Lance looked at each other again. What in heaven with this act of randomness?As we continued in our deep thought, a small movement was heard from the patient's bed.

"Don't sit if you don't feel any better," Reanne claimed without observing the patient bed behind her.

"Oki..." replied the patient slowly.

"Were we that loud, Olivier?" Kaoru rushed to the patient's side.

"The only loud thing I heard was your yelling to Reanne..." she flatly responded. Kaoru then, mouthed 'sorry' cutely to Reanne.

Olivier? Was it the same little girl I met on the field? I moved around in my attempt to take a better look at the patient. And yes, it was the same Olivier. She looked pale and her eyes were dead. Obviously, she wasn't that healthy.

"I know that you hate medicines, but please bear with them for a while," Reanne mentioned. "I needed to ask Storm to catch you because I noticed that you skipped on some medications.."

Oh.. now the mystery was solved. She got caught by the bear for her own good. Reanne just wanted her to take the medicines that she hated so badly.

"I'm sorry..." guilty Olivier. "I thought I could skip just a day... I would take my everyday medications from now on."

"Good girl," Reanne pat Olivier's head with a carrot --and Olivier tried to eat the carrot. Almost like Reanne feeding a stray animal.

"Oh yes, Lance.." Reanne suddenly remembered the previous topic. "You can ask the nature thing with this Olivier here."

Reanne's words left me and Lance totally flabbergasted. Was she kidding? She didn't even giggle or smile. Reanne was dead serious? The kid here... could help with the nature?

"I'm sorry, Reanne..." Lance intruded. "I don't mean to underestimate but I need the previous naturalist."

Reanne wrinkled her eyebrows.

"You're looking at her," Reanne exclaimed. "The girl here was our proud naturalist."

My and Lance's jaws dropped. The girl here... wasn't an ordinary villager? She wasn't the other's sister or daughter...? Her body was so skinny and small... like a schooler... It was so untrue that she had reached university age.

It seemed impossible.

And with our mind completely struck with the fact, Olivier waved slowly.
"I know some animals..." she said limply.