Farah Wilder had just closed down her shop for the day and was now packing away the remaining cuts of meat into her freezer room while Tom, her temp worker, was wiping down the counters and sweeping the floors.
When she first came to Redwood Town, Farah's only intentions were to rest for a time before moving on to continue her search for a way to heal herself, but something about the peaceful atmosphere had kept her here.
In the beginning, Farah would wake each morning and think about leaving, but by mid-day, she would convince herself with some random excuse to loiter 'just one more day'.
Time passed day by day like this, and before she knew it, a month had gone by.
Farah had been wandering for nearly a decade at that point, searching in vain for something she knew she would never find while at the same time, running from a past she wanted to avoid.
She had kept pushing herself forward, but after having her first good rest in 10 years, Farah realized just how exhausted she was.
Did she have a reason to keep going?
Of course she did; she wouldn't have gone on for 10 years if she didn't. However, after such a long time, Farah had come to realize the futility of her quest and was now just relying on stubbornness to continue.
Was she on the run?
Certainly not!
She had committed no crime, and though she had made some enemies, none would be so dogged as to still be hunting her after so long; or at least, she didn't believe they would.
In truth, if Farah wanted to, she could probably have returned to the Royal Legion and taken up an honoured position. With her injuries, it was unlikely she would have been able to serve in a combat role again, but becoming an advisor or instructor was completely possible.
The only thing stopping Farah from doing so was her own pride and a feeling of shame.
Months turned into seasons, seasons turned into years, and soon more than 5 decades had gone by.
Farah and her butcher shop had become fixtures of Redwood Town at this point, having seen the Town Lord position change hands twice already.
The Newtons were very much unlike others nobles Farah knew, with Charles, his father, Edward, and his late grandfather Robert all being good hearted, kind, and easygoing in their own different ways.
That wasn't to say there weren't good nobles out there, there were plenty, but few were as whimsical and genuinely carefree as the Newtons were.
It was all quite refreshing if Farah was being completely honest with herself, and she had, at some point, come to accept that this would be her home until the day she died.
Recently though, Farah had seen a faint glimmer of hope that she wouldn't have to spend the rest of her life half-crippled. That hope came in the form of a strange little boy who possessed a gift of knowledge far beyond her ability to comprehend.
The ideas Lucas had and the way he saw the world were so different from what Farah considered common sense that if she wasn't aware of his unique situation, she would have thought he had something wrong with his head.
For instance, when he told her that within his memories were methods to perfectly repair any physical injury and cure any ailment, Farah had simply written it off as nonsense.
During her quest to heal herself, Farah had learned of powerful Spirit Pills and healing techniques that could be used to heal severe wounds or treat damaged meridians like hers, but even the Low-Rank Grade Three Spirit Doctor from the Black Tiger Kingdom she had been lucky enough to have examine her condition had told her that a full recovery from her condition was essentially hopeless.
When she told Lucas this, however, the boy had said that the methods he was talking about were completely different than the ones of this world and didn't involve the use of Spirit Doctors, Alchemists, or any other Spirit Professional at all.
At the time, this statement only made Farah doubt Lucas even more and she completely gave up any hope that what he was talking about was possible.
However, after regularly interacting with Lucas over the past 9 months, Farah had repeatedly been shocked by the things he had accomplished. On top of that, all the crazy ideas and theories he often spoke about had proven to be accurate, which ignited a small spark deep in Farah's heart.
If Lucas was able to explain the cause of all disease and illness, and provide simple ways to prevent most of them, maybe he really could heal her one day!
In line with that thinking, Farah became even more enthusiastic about teaching Lucas, and about protecting him. Fortunately, in a remote place like Redwood Town, there really wasn't anything to protect the boy from.
To put it bluntly, no one within the local County was a threat to Farah, so as long as no powerful, hostile outsider appeared, there would be no problem with letting Lucas slowly grow up and mature.
Farah had thought that her slow life in Redwood Town would continue on, just as it had for the past 50 years.
That is, until 21 days ago.
In all the years she spent in Redwood Town, Farah had never run into anyone from her past life, which wasn't that surprising considering she was born in the north of the kingdom and then spent most of her career in its capital.
However, that all changed when Garret Hendrix suddenly appeared in her shop.
Calling this Roth Family Elder an acquaintance was a big stretch, but there was no doubt that Garret was at least a familiar face from Farah's past.
What was worse was that Garret was decidedly hostile towards her.
Since Garret's appearance, Farah had been searching for a way to ensure he forgot about her existence and never returned to Redwood Town.
Considering their past, Farah knew that there was little chance she would be able to convince Garret to leave her in peace, and given the latter's current position and strength, she also knew that silencing him through forceful means would be impossible.
It was a problem that had frustrated her for many days now, but no matter how hard Farah thought about it, she couldn't come up with a good solution.
Locking up the freezer, as Lucas liked to call it, Farah walked back upstairs, lost in thought over this very issue, Perhaps the only choice I have is to leave Redwood Town.
Leaving this place she had come to see as her home, especially to escape from someone she once considered unworthy of her attention, naturally didn't sit well with Farah; but, the more days that went by, the more it looked like it would be her only option.
Arriving in the main butchery, Farah let out an uncharacteristic sigh and was about to dismiss Tom, allowing him to head back to the orphanage before it got dark, when suddenly she was struck by a sensation she had not felt in nearly 60 years.
Stumbling forward, as if she had been struck from behind, all the stray thoughts in Farah's head were instantly blown away as she had to focus on not collapsing to her knees.
The burly woman, who was famous in Redwood Town for always remaining calm and composed, now sported a pale faced as her eyes bulged so wide they looked like they might pop out of their sockets.
Whipping around, Farah tapped into the strength she had not used in all those years, arriving in a flash at a nearby wall that she unhesitantly punched her arm through.
Grabbing the handle of a massive great-saber that she had hidden there long ago, Farah ripped the weapon out before dashing to the front of the shop.
Clearly startled, Tom opened his mouth to ask what the matter was, but before the youth could get a word out, Farah shouted forcefully, "Drop everything and get back to the orphanage! Once you're there, tell Leah there's been an emergency and she needs to evacuate all the kids to the Town Lord's Manor!"
Tom was confused, and wanted to ask what was going on, but when he caught sight of the giant blade in Farah's hands, and when he saw the extremely grave look on the latter's face, he gulped down his doubts and nodded.
Once she was sure she had gotten her message across to Tom, Farah didn't waste any more time and dashed out of the shop.
As she leapt outside and turned to the west, Farah's expression filled with shock and horror as she gazed upon the terrifying sight that now filled the distant sky over the Great Western Forest.
Others may not have known what that shockwave was just now; in fact, most people in Redwood Town probably hadn't even felt it, but as a Spirit Initiate with a powerful Soul Sense, it was impossible for Farah to misunderstand.
Despite having some idea of what just transpired, Farah immediately discovered that she had greatly, greatly underestimated the scope and scale of the disaster.
Even with undeniable evidence now right in front of her, Farah was still finding it hard to believe what she was seeing was real.
It was a few seconds before she managed to recover from her shock, at which point she kicked off the ground hard, racing towards the western outskirts.
Ever since the Roth Family caravan had appeared in town, Farah understood that the quiet life she had enjoyed all these years was coming to an end and that soon, a massive storm would sweep through Redwood Town.
However, she never imagined that an even greater crisis would appear just days later, one that she could only pray would not destroy everything and everyone she now held dear.