From A Brave Adventurer, I Become A Nanny

[Side Quest: Memories Often Windswept - Take Miko back to her apartment]

"How do I always end up taking care of nauseated people?" Mizuki sighs as she pushes herself up, hanging Miko's arm around her shoulder to help her up. Miko stumbles onto her feet with wobbly knees. Mizuki takes small steps until Miko finds a pace that she's fine with walking at, dodging objects and people so the older woman doesn't get hurt.

It's a good thing that her apartment's only on the third floor so she doesn't have to drag her up several fleets of stairs. It's difficult enough to walk someone who's knocked out drunk.

The moment Mizuki lays Miko on her bed, she passes out. She snores loudly. Mizuki watches over her pitifully from a side, her palm at her hip. "Never would've guessed someone as boisterous as you could go through such pain."

[Side Quest: Memories Often Windswept - Wait for Miko to wake up]

Mizuki makes sure to leave a note on Miko's desk on a spare notepad she has on her desk. It's well-used and almost tattered, like she's been using it often as she travels. Mizuki scribbles a small message, one in her handwriting that has only worsened with the little writing she's been doing the past weeks. 'I took you home, in case you're wondering why you're in a different place. You ate a sandwich but I'm not sure it helped'.

Mizuki closes the door behind her softly, glancing back once towards Miko before she leaves. On her way out, Ingrid greets her, "There are new commissions up on the board for you to do! We included a new tier-system so you can get better rewards. Do make sure to check it out."

Mizuki nods, "I'll start a few when I'm free. See you!"

"May the stars guide you," Ingrid nods blissfully. On the way out, Mizuki catches sight of the man she recalled seeing the previous day. He has a cart laid out in front of him with a collection of cloth, several fabric samples hung from the top of his makeshift stand.

Out of curiosity, she approaches him, "Hello, I'm Mizuki. You're the traveling merchant from Sirius, I heard. I saw what happened yesterday."

"Shame there's such a conflict here in the capital. Used to be easy travel in the past," Naresh shrugs. Mizuki's eyes trace the array of clothes, impressed at the selection he has. Each and every one of them are woven with grandeur and finesse. She reaches a tentative hand towards a silken skirt, tracing her fingers along the glass beads used as decoration.

"Do you sell simple clothes here? I'm looking for something I can wear regularly," Mizuki clarifies, picking a simple white gown off a hook. It leads her into a separate interface with a changing room and an array of clothes for her to wear. She gasps, excited at this idea. She searches through the catalogue, picking whatever's cheapest and fits her comfortably.

With twenty thousand gold coins, she manages to buy herself five sets of clothes she can wear for travel and two nightgowns, humble cotton frocks, which she can switch around between until she can afford to spend more money on clothes. Upon exiting the interface, she thanks the merchant gratefully, "Will you be returning to Sirius soon?"

"Oh yes, of course. There are boutiques around town as well but I always have the special, traditional clothes from my hometown that you won't find around here."

"Why do you like travelling here?" Mizuki questions.

"Towards the west of Ocantis where there's an open field, there's a village that supplies me with fabric and food every month in exchange for my earnings. I only come around when it's the time of the month for my collections," Naresh states as he arranges his stall. Mizuki tries to figure out what exactly he's trying to do by picking up random objects around him but she avoids asking.

"It was good to meet you."

"Dress yourself in a thousand colours with my clothes. I hope we cross paths again," Naresh presses his palms together, flashing a bright smile.

Packing the clothes in her satchel, Mizuki decides to check the commission board again, right behind Naresh's stall actually. She tip-toes to get a good look at it. In curled, sprawled handwriting across the parchment, Mizuki finds a B-Level commission. At first, she thinks about ignoring it and then her eyes are caught by names written fervently in red. 'Olive and Garden'.

Mizuki runs her fingers along the rewards, realising she'll be able to unlock their backstory if she does this commission for them. While she won't get much of a boost in terms of levelling up or that many coins as she would like, friendship levels are a worthy stand-in, considering it could earn her discounts and potential gifts. Touching the tip of her finger against her tongue, she runs it along the commission, counting it accepted.

She notes another commission, squeezed somewhere towards the edges of the paper in a tinier handwriting compared to the much larger, more elaborate handwriting of others. She squints to look at it, something that involves flowers of some sort. Mizuki shivers at the thought of having to return to Blueblume forest so soon. "I'll work on this later," she reminds herself, adjusting her satchel around her shoulders.

She roams the city briefly in search of Olive and Garden. They're nowhere near the Plaza and Rose only briefly suggests to her that they've gone off to babysit somewhere in town. Mizuki treads around the town, peering along streets in hopes of finding the twins. Upwards along one of the streets leading down a row of houses, Mizuki hears obnoxiously loud bawling. Curiosity piqued, she approaches the sound, finding a toddler sobbing his eyes out in the middle of the sidewalk. "Ah," Mizuki purses her lips.

She's never been the best with children either. Upon nearing the twins, Garden takes notice of her while Olive frantically attempts to calm the child. The toddler briefly pauses to look at the ball in Olive's hands. Olive smiles. The child stares. He bursts into tears again.