"So, about yesterday… I met the new farmer. Her name's Claire Kafka, and she's a bit… odd."

"Really? In what way?"

"I don't know. She's really cheerful. Maybe "too" cheerful. I don't know, I have to admit that her sunny personality is contagious, but it disturbs me a little."

"You're probably just being paranoid about someone new who can stand your grumpiness. If she's as nice as you say she is, I'm sure you'll warm up to her, eventually."

"She told me this really… um… "interesting" story about her past in abandonment. I can't quite tell if she was joking about it or not, going by her mood."

"She must have thrown that in to lighten the mood then."

"Here's hoping. Anyway, she came back after a little trip around town to ask about the library. I told her it was on Holiday and that it would be open tomorrow. Expect her to stop by later today: she seemed real eager to pick up some gardening tips."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

And so, at Mineral Town's Library, its black-haired, speckled librarian pondered just how her first encounter with the new farmer.

"She sounds fun," she told herself in anticipation, "I hope I can give her a proper greeting."

Chapter 2: Much Ado About Mary

In mere moments, the golden-haired wonder stepped right into the very building with ample anticipation.

"Hi, I'm the new farmer, Claire Kafka! I just came by to look at a few books on farming to get me started! This girl named Karen gave me some free seeds yesterday for planting, but I'm just not quite sure how to properly do it! I tried doing the same thing with these watermelon seeds before owning the farm, but I just couldn't quite get them to grow!" the new girl introduced herself rather loquaciously.

"Ah, good morning, Claire! I was just expecting you. My name is Mary, and welcome to the library. Sure, you can have a look around", the raven-haired librarian greeted pleasantly.

As soon as soon as Claire laid eyes on Mary, her entire body immediately froze. Both women exchanged curious glances. An inexplicable tension was in the air.

"Ah, Mary? You're.. Gray's friend, right? Of course! Gray told me about you yesterday! How could I forget?" Claire resumed with a nervous laugh.

"So he's told you about me as well? Good. I guess we can skip through a lot of the introduction already." Mary grinned.

"Yeah, he told me that you were very smart and kind, and is you're usually by yourself most of the time in the library. But he never mentioned you were…"

"Mentioned I was what?" Mary asked with a blink.

"Ah…uh… nothing! Nothing at all!" Claire said in a fluster. "Why was I here again? Books! About Farming! Yes!"

"The farming books should be over in the back shelves. And you're in luck: we also have some books describing crop growth, so you can get some handy advice on which seeds to buy in each season after you can get enough gold on your own." Mary informed her.

"That's neat!" Claire cheered. "But I'm so low on gold now, and I'm stuck having to forage for a profit. I already used most of it, and then blew the rest of it on a meal at the Inn. That Doug's a great chef and a fun man to talk to!"

"Really? I did hear you blew an awful lot just to purchase the farm from Mayor Thomas, but it's so run-down now. It must have been a really big disappointed being ripped off like that, huh?" Mary mentioned with deep sympathy.

"Not really. I wasn't all that mad about it. In fact, all this means is that I've been given a greater challenge, and I have to give it my best to meet it head on!" Claire said with much fervor. "Of course, I'm here to learn just how to face it."

"At least you're looking at it from a positive prospective," Mary replied, "Gray really could learn a lot from you."

"Heh, thanks. Gray's a little scary to me, but I still really wanna be friends with him. Say… you're friends with him, Mary. Did he say anything about me? Does he like me? Because I think I annoyed him when we first met."

"Oh, don't mind him. He's kind of like that with everyone he first meets. I'm pretty sure you made a decent first impression, though, and I have a feeling you two will become good friends before you know it." Mary assured her.

"Thank goodness!" Claire cried in utter relief.

The astute Librarian took quick notice of the blonde farmer's reaction.

"Could it be… that she developed a quick crush?" she suddenly thought.

She then decided to momentarily push the thought aside when another issue came to her.

"By the way, Gray told me that you mentioned something about having an abusive Grandfather that disowned your Mother or something along those lines. Was that really just a joke just to break the ice? He made it seem like you just threw it out there on a whim." Mary asked.

The golden-haired farmer paused once more for a split second before proceeding to laugh it off heartily.

"Oh, that? Um… y-yeah! Of course! I have this strange habit of blurting out random things that come to mind! I got this really wild imagination, and so when I saw Gray and Saibara being all not-so-cool with each other, my imagination kicked in and I saw this odd story in my head about having an abusive Grandpa who owns this really big corporation! It's like a modern day fairytale just popped in my head from out of nowhere, you know? I always wondered why I never wanted to become a writer myself with all these ideas flowing out of me!" she explained.

"Wow… she's even more talkative than Ms. Manna when she's caught in a panic like this." Mary thought to herself.

"What a coincidence for you to say that. I happen to be a writer myself in a spare time… when I find the right inspiration." She replied.

"Really? Cool! You got any of your stuff on you right now?" Claire asked.

"N-no… nothing quite ready yet. I'm in the process of a novel right now, but I'm afraid it's not ready to be presented." Mary explained.

"Awww… that bites!" Claire sighed "Oh well, maybe that's for the best right now! If I got too far in your writing today, I probably wouldn't have any time left to pick up some farming tips! And that's just what I need to do right now! Alright! To the back shelves, onward!"

With that, Claire took off towards the valuable Farming Books she sought so for long, but before leaving the librarian's sight, she made a brief halt and pivot, then turned to face her one last time.

"Thanks again, Mary! I really enjoyed meeting you!"

"The pleasure was all mine!"

After the exchange, Claire went to her books while Mary went back to business as usual at her desk.

"She really is such a cute girl!" Mary thought. "I don't know for sure if she really likes Gray like that, or if the whole story about her grandpa really was made up, but I can tell she's a good person. I look forward to being good friends with her, for sure."

Meanwhile, as Mary was satisfied with her first encounter, young Claire took a quick glance at her new acquaintance before continuing on with her precious research.

"Mary… Gray never told me she was… so pretty…" She thought to herself with a discouraged sigh.

Coming up next, Claire is about to make a visit to the Doctor! What sort of prescription might he have in store for our young farmer? Find out in the Next Chapter! ;)