The Flower

Mei-wan plucked a red flower from its stem and stuffed it into her inventory. They had spent some time searching for flowers, each person taking turns taking some. Currently, there were only three between the four of them, with a necessary twenty to finish the quest with all of them. The village had provided some food, but they hadn't bothered with anything else. There wasn't much in the first place as they were apparently in the 'church' area although no one knew what that meant.

The red flowers were spread out sparsely. and there didn't seem to be any around, as if the first group mentioned took them all. They asked for some paper and made a bad map with the help of Lucas. They used points that Lucas talked about to map out generally where they were going.

The village had long gone out of sight, but there was a beacon somewhere ahead. They marked down the lake with a huge 'X' and they were determined to stay away from it. The dirt path had long worn itself out and there were only trees, rocks, and grass in the surrounding areas.

"That's 3 flowers," William said, dull, "17 more to go. It feels like an hour went by!" He sighed as he squatted. They weren't going to go anywhere at the rate that they were already going at - Which was by no means slow. Three flowers were amazing in reality as they were rare flowers in the area they were in, but to them, it was a plant that gave them too much trouble and, "This is why we should've waited for Otto... Fuck, I regret this."

"Stop complaining and help us look," Elizabeth inspected another red flower for the distinctive markings that William mentioned. William's skill ended up being helpful, without it, they would've picked up at least twenty false flowers that would've forced them to give up the entire task.

The red flower was distinctive in its strange glow, but it was barely noticeable in the sun. It was clear to everyone what its purpose was for, but they didn't know how to find any more than however many they already had, "They seem to be close on cliffs."

"Don't go near the cliffs," William warned, "Milly Mills if you fall you die, and no one is going to save you this time." The threat wasn't that no one would save her, rather no one could. The cliffs were staggering hills that didn't show one bit of rock - Just grass-covered land.

It was strange overall, but no one was willing to investigate as the cliffs had proven to be slippery. The first flower was a testimony to it - They had all nearly fallen down to their deaths trying to get it. It was another point that William was planning on asking.

"There's a red flower over there," Klaus pointed in the direction of a small red dot, "Stop bickering with Elizabeth, Lindberg. Just because you can help us find the flowers doesn't mean that we completely rely on you." William stifled a laugh with the back of his hand as he tried to open up the status window for the red flower in the distance. Unsuccessful, he walked closer with everyone hanging out a little farther back, wary.

They were all wary of everything.

Too wary.

"Wait... " William's eyes glowed green from their previous light blue, "It's..."

[Red Weed - Other than having a similar resemblance to the [Rode Kamelier], it is a normal flower.]

"Nothing!" He threw his hands in the air, "It's a red flower." Klaus sighed in exasperation as he glared at the ground. Everyone was feeling tired. They didn't know where they were going nor did they know what was happening.

There only seemed to be endless fields in front of them, with the hilly plains extending on forever - The cliffs were masked by their green surface, but it was still grassy.

"We'll be searching forever at this rate," Mei-wan said, "When we get five, we should just head back and hope they meant five for all of us. I doubt we'll even find two more at this rate. And we don't have a mage amongst us so we won't be able to see in the dark."

"Aren't you a magic swordswoman?" William asked, "Milly Mills too, just make your swords glow or something." He waved his hand before catching sight of something. A ruffle of clothing, feathers, movement, he didn't know. He was sure he saw the same movement not so long ago, but he didn't want to worry everyone, "Anyway! We should go somewhere else. This place is bare."

"What do you mean? There might be red flowers in the fields by th-" Elizabeth tried to take a step forward, but stopped as she nearly tripped on a cliff. William grabbed her just before she fell over, "Oh shit, thanks." Her eyes were wide in a comical sense, unable to take them off of anything except the ground below.

"The cliffs are misleading, I doubt anyone wants to fall," William said, "This is the farthest we should go in this direction. The big rock is right behind us, since we've hopefully been walking in a forward direction, it means that we're not too far from the village. Mei-wan's right, let's just find two more and head back - Before it's too late."

"What if they don't let us stay?" Klaus said, "They could just kick us out. Unless you plan on staying near the village." William shrugged, "We're not sleeping outside, it's unsafe."

"It's either sleep here or by a village," William reasoned, "We can't be picky now. Anyway, Otto might've gotten back, he may have a solution for us." William had a faint feeling that Otto was already back with someone new or at least with something good. Someone with an appraisal skill that lets them open a literal map wouldn't get lost at the very least.

"How do you know if he's alive?" Klaus asked, "He could be dead for all we know." William shook his head as he started to walk back, noticing once more the hint of someone in the distance. A man who was quite tall walked out of the bushes and bowed to them. Everyone froze for a moment, staring at him before he held up a hand.

"Excuse me," The man paused, he was wearing a thick winter coat and boots, "I'm a little lost and I need to find Mr. Jensen*. You are looking for Rode Kameliers, right? I have some, but I'll only give it to you if you help me."

His gloved hands took off his coat as he fished around in the inside, not in the least unnerved by the presence of knives or swords. His thick black coat seemed to go on forever until his face lit up and he took out a small box. The box glowed and out popped a single red flower, "There's more."

"Who are you?" Mei-wan pointed her sword in the direction of the stranger, "And who's Jensen?" The other's smile faltered as he put back the box and wore his coat. It looked too heavy for the current weather.

"I'm sorry," He apologized, "It appears that I've forgotten to introduce myself. Most people know me so it's not very common for me to see people who don't recognize me. I'm Rhys Byrne and I'm here to conduct Sileo's* National Survey." His smile unnerved the group as did his strange clothes and mannerisms, "I'm from Lyubopytnyy bank*... Do you not know it?"

[Rhys Bryne

HP: 200 000

MP: 100*

S: 1000

AG: 3000

DEX: 7000

Skills: Incoming Storm (SQ: 5), Immediate Organization (SQ: MAX), Advanced Management (SQ: MAX), Adjure (SQ: 2), Vychislit (SQ: 10), Owari (SQ: MAX), Percontor (SQ: MAX)

Class: Accountant, Hidden

Titles: Chief Managing Officer in Lyubopytnyy Bank, Head of Ecclesiastical Affairs Amongst Other Nonbelievers, Owner of the xxx, Host

Effects: 'Stay Lost Forever, You Bastard' - Olivia]

"Find him yourself," William replied. He had insane stats and William didn't want to risk him attacking, "Nobody gives a shit if you're lost."

"Ah, you can see my stats?" Rhys laughed, "I'm cursed to get lost and this is the last village that I need to go to. Please?" His carefree smile only unnerved the group even more as he tried to appear more welcoming, "I can take you to the Adventurer's Guild? That's what you're looking for right? No sane person would go this deep into this place. It's cold there too, so I'll provide clothes there."

"Who're you're looking for?" Elizabeth asked, "Who's Jensen? We don't know any Jensens. We don't need your help." The other laughed at the remark as if dismissing it as something stupid. He had slight wrinkles under his seemingly navy eyes and his gloved hands were stuffed into his pockets - an action that looked strange against his clothes, "We can find flowers on our own anyway."

"Are you sure? Rode Kameliers aren't really found here," The man said, smiling, "They're usually in the mountains as they exert their own heat. Besides, I don't even have a weapon - how will I hurt you?" He didn't seem at all worried with the sword pointed at him as he moved around freely.

If William was worried, everyone knew that something must've been wrong as William cared too much about his own survival to sell them all out to someone riskier.

"With your fists," Klaus answered, "It's not that difficult to punch someone, much less choke them." The other laughed and took out the box again, he was sure where it was. He held it out and several Rode Kameliers popped out. Exactly 20, the amount that they all supposed in the worst scenario, "What is it?"

"It's your flowers, obviously," The other smiled, "Consider it a prepayment or a gift, I don't really care. So can you please help me? I really need help." William reflected for a moment, if it was a quest, it would have popped by this point, but it hadn't. He didn't know what that meant nor what that would mean, but he really didn't want to risk anything.

"Are you a player?" He asked, inserting his knives back into the inventory. The other made a face and wheezed out another roll of laughs, "What? Are you one or not?"

"Ha, I'm not one of those monsters," He said, still laughing, "Players are absolute monsters around here. Ruins the economics. You must be wondering about my stats, right? They really aren't that special, I went to an academy and everyone who leaves an academy is pretty strong, strong enough to hold themselves against any old monster. Players, holy shit, players are crazy. They're literally born with skills."

"Then why don't we se- Ow," William pinched Elizabeth on the back to shut her up. Glaring at him, she shut her mouth and huffed before taking her own weapon away, Mei-wan and Klaus following accordingly.

"What academy?" William asked, trying to drain every last bit of information from the older man, who was taller, "And you still haven't explained who Jensen is." The other wriggled around in a pocket and plucked out a picture with deft fingers, on it was the old man they had met - Lucas. His smile more and more prominent as he stared at everyone, "Oh, Lucas."

"Yeah, him," Rhys replied, "I really need to find him, but I'm really lost as well. Embarrassingly enough." He wasn't tall by any means, rather he wasn't as tall as Klaus, but he certainly seemed to tower over them. William glanced at Mei-wan, who was biting her bottom lip in what appeared to be frustration. Her eyes were narrowed and she didn't seem to trust the man at all, "So, for the fourth time, will you help me? I really need to ask Mr. Jensen something."

"Sure," Mei-wan answered, "But you need to make sure that we are allowed inside the village. We're not bringing you there just for you to retract your offer." Rhys nodded vigorously before he stuffed the flowers into Elizabeth's hands.

"Take them, as long as you have them, these people will always let you in," He said before proudly sticking his hands on his hips, "I have like, a hundred because I always pick them when I walk around here. It's completely normal to be able to get them as long as you walk around properly."

"Alright then," William sighed before he stole the map from Mei-wan. Opening it, he stared at its contents, "We just need to go down past the big rock, it's not that far away from where we are right now."

"Then let's hurry up," Klaus said before giving one more wary look at Rhys before turning around to head in the same direction of William, "Staying here will only prove to be detrimental to us anyway."