By the time the sun began to sink behind the rooftops of Fareday, the festival lanterns were already glowing.
The Legends Booth stood crooked but proud in the golden light.
The cardboard sign had lost one corner. The underlines had smudged slightly. The bedsheet canopy sagged worse than before.
But it had survived.
Emilia stretched her arms overhead.
"Alright. Pack it up before the wind does it for us."
Kirian saluted dramatically.
"A legend's work is never done."
"It is very done," Gaius replied.
They began dismantling the structure. Crates stacked. Cardboard untied. The suspiciously familiar bedsheets folded with varying levels of guilt.
As they worked, people passed by.
The fruit vendor raised a hand.
"Thanks again! No bruised pears!"
The farmer tipped his hat.
"The hens haven't set anything on fire since!"
A young mother smiled shyly.
"My boys haven't stopped talking about the 'kingdom defense strategy.'"
Gaius paused at that one.
He looked away quickly.
Someone pressed a small wrapped pastry into Lili's hands. Another handed Emilia a ribbon "for good luck." A lantern maker gifted Kirian a tiny decorative charm shaped like a flame.
It wasn't grand.
But it was real.
When the last crate was tied shut, Emilia sat cross-legged on the cobblestones and poured the day's earnings onto the sheet between them.
Coins clinked in small metallic bursts.
Candied fruit. A pouch of dried berries. Two hairpins. A tiny carved wooden whistle. A handful of festival trinkets.
Emilia's eyes gleamed.
"Behold," she said reverently. "Fortune."
Kirian leaned in.
"…It's not that much."
"It's growth," Emilia corrected. "You don't start legendary. You accumulate legendary."
Gaius quietly counted his portion when she handed it to him.
He blinked.
"…This is more than I expected."
"Well you did tame the toddler uprising," Emilia said.
He stared at the coins in his palm.
He could already see it in his mind.
New blankets for the smaller ones. Maybe a set of storybooks that weren't missing pages. Fruit that didn't have to be rationed.
He closed his fingers slowly around the coins.
"…They'll like this," he murmured, almost to himself.
Kirian stood abruptly, puffing out his chest.
"Well! With these earnings, I shall fulfill my destiny."
Emilia raised a brow.
"Oh?"
"I will take a lady out on a date."
Lili tilted her head.
"Which lady?"
Kirian opened his mouth confidently.
Then paused.
Then blinked.
"…That is an excellent question."
Silence.
Emilia snorted.
Kirian's shoulders slowly lowered.
"I… do not currently know any available candidates."
Lili stepped forward thoughtfully.
"Well," she said casually, adjusting her umbrella even though it wasn't open, "I suppose I could accompany you."
Kirian blinked.
"…Really?"
"Yes," Lili nodded with complete composure. "Purely to ensure proper snack selection. I must verify standards. And perhaps dessert diversity."
Emilia burst into laughter.
Kirian narrowed his eyes.
"So this is about food."
"Everything is about food," Lili replied calmly.
He sighed, defeated but oddly relieved.
"…Fine. A dignified, quality-controlled outing."
"I will bring a rating system," Lili added.
Emilia wiped a tear from her eye from laughing too hard.
"You two are unbelievable."
She looked down at her own share of coins.
It wasn't enormous. Not life-changing.
But it was theirs.
Built from fruit crates, poultry combat, and toddler diplomacy.
She smiled quietly.
"Not bad," she muttered.
Lili was already staring off dreamily.
"With enough of this," she said, "I could commission a new outfit. Something soft. Maybe layered. Definitely not vermillion."
Kirian nodded solemnly.
"Never vermillion."
The sound of wheels on cobblestone approached.
Camila's carriage rolled into the square, lanterns glowing warmly along its sides.
She leaned out slightly.
"Are the Legends finished for today?"
Emilia grinned.
"Officially. Yes."
Camila smiled faintly, amused.
"Then climb in before you collapse."
They loaded their bundles into the carriage.
First stop was the church.
When they pulled up, Gaius hesitated before stepping down.
He looked back at them for a moment.
"…Thank you," he said simply.
Emilia waved him off.
"Don't get sentimental. Be at the booth tomorrow."
Kirian struck a pose.
"The Legends require all members."
Lili nodded.
"Especially the competent ones."
Gaius almost smiled.
Almost.
He stepped toward the church doors, coins still in his pocket.
The carriage rolled on.
As they rode through the softly lit streets, festival lanterns swaying overhead, the town felt… different.
Not grand.
Not epic.
But warmer.
A few children pointed as the carriage passed.
"That's them!"
"The Legends!"
The word floated after them.
Not mocking anymore.
Not exaggerated.
Just… accepted.
Inside the carriage, Emilia leaned back against the seat, satisfied.
Kirian stared out the window, probably imagining heroic date scenarios.
Lili counted her snack inventory with serious focus.
Camila drove them home in comfortable silence.
By the time they reached the house, the sky had turned deep blue.
As they stepped out, Emilia looked back toward the town square in the distance.
"Legends, huh?" she murmured.
Kirian smirked.
"Every great saga begins somewhere."
Lili twirled her umbrella once before closing it neatly.
"Yes," she said softly. "Sometimes with cardboard."
And just like that, the first official day of the Quadrate Legends came to an end.
Not with thunder.
Not with war.
But with coins in their pockets…
…and stories already growing taller than the truth.