"Hah! This is it!"

Lu shouted as he emptied his glass.

In Lu's hand was a very small cup. It was a cup he had brought from the fairy village when he left, made specifically for fairies.

Lu refilled that cup with fruit wine again. Although he had already drank several cups, the bottle of fruit wine didn't seem to be decreasing at all. But then again, since it was a fairy drinking it, only a tiny amount was being consumed.

"I really like this fruit wine."

The fruit wine Lu was drinking was the most expensive alcohol in Herrington Village. The bill would be paid by Ariel, but it wasn't a burden. They had received quite a lot of money from selling the troll corpse.

Ariel and Lu had come here to have a meal after selling the troll corpse.

The place was the inn run by Kanna's parents.

Apparently, this was the only inn in Herrington Village.

Ariel and Lu decided to have their meals and stay the night at this inn. They weren't particularly tired, but since they had come to the village, it didn't seem bad to leisurely stay for a day.

The inn was bustling with people. Everyone kept glancing at Ariel and Lu with curious looks. For the villagers, elves and fairies were that unfamiliar.

"Why are they staring like that?"

Lu grumbled discontentedly, but Ariel didn't react much. Ariel was originally simple-natured. She didn't care about things like people's gazes.

Moreover, Ariel was too busy paying attention to the bread placed on the table right now.

A round loaf of bread on a plate.

It was nicely browned, with steam rising from it and a fragrant aroma wafting out.

It was bread recommended by Kanna. Apparently, there was cream inside the bread, and just imagining the taste made Ariel's heart flutter with anticipation.

Ariel grabbed the bread and took a big bite.

"!"

Ariel's eyelids fluttered.

The soft, sweet cream melting in her mouth was an amazing taste.

Ariel wolfed down the cream bread hurriedly. Cream was smeared around her mouth, but she didn't notice. That's how delicious the cream bread was.

"Sister..."

Lu sighed softly, brought a tissue, and wiped Ariel's mouth. Then he handed Ariel a glass of milk.

Ariel took the glass and gulped down the milk. Lu watched her with a proud look on his face.

No matter what, she's still a child, eating bread and milk so deliciously like that, Lu thought as he drank his fruit wine too. His face had already turned flushed red.

After finishing the cream bread and milk, Ariel felt a slight tinge of regret. She wanted to eat more, but her stomach was already full.

"Excuse me..."

Then someone approached and spoke to them. Ariel and Lu turned to look at the person together.

The one standing beside them was an elderly man with white hair.

"What is it, old human!"

Lu shouted warily, and the old man politely bowed his head.

"I am the village chief of this village... I came to greet you after hearing that distinguished guests had visited our village."

"Hmm."

At the village chief's words, Lu became a bit smug.

'Distinguished guests' must be referring to Ariel and himself.

If he was the village chief, the highest authority in the village, it was only natural for Lu's shoulders to puff up when the chief personally came to greet them.

Lu crossed his arms arrogantly.

"So, you're the village chief of this village?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Well, don't be so tense. My sister and I only plan to stay quietly for today before leaving."

"I see. However..."

The village chief hesitated for a moment before asking.

"Before that, may I make one small request of you?"

*

The village chief's request was to find a flower called Patricia. Patricia is an extremely rare flower that is difficult to obtain.

There is no information on where Patricia grows, and no one sells it either.

Even the traveling merchant Lloyd had tried to acquire Patricia but failed. It's not that the price is high, but rather that the item itself is simply not available.

"But as you are an elf and a fairy, denizens of the forest, perhaps you may be able to procure Patricia..."

The village chief bowed his head desperately.

"Please... you two are my last hope..."

"What do you need Patricia for?"

Lu asked the village chief to explain the situation.

"It's to cure my daughter Daisy's illness. Daisy has contracted the 'Freezing Illness', and they say she needs to eat the petals of the Patricia flower to recover."

"Freezing Illness?"

Lu tilted his head in puzzlement. He had never heard of the Freezing Illness before.

The village chief gave a bitter smile.

"You may not know about it. It's an extremely rare illness like the Patricia flower... If you contract that illness, your body freezes starting from your hands and feet until you die."

The village chief's daughter Daisy was currently in a state where her entire body except her heart had frozen over. She couldn't move and was unconscious. At this rate, she would die soon.

"I've brought in a high priest from the city and tried using high-grade potions known for their healing effects, but nothing helped much. It only slowed the symptoms a bit. To fully recover, the Patricia flower is needed in the end..."

Tears streamed down the village chief's cheeks.

"I'm just an old man with little time left, so I have no regrets about my life. But I want to give Daisy a chance to live. If you can obtain the Patricia flower, I'll give you my entire fortune. So please, I beg you..."

It wasn't just the village chief. The villagers had also gathered around Ariel and Lu, bowing their heads.

"Please, elf and fairy."

"Daisy is a kind and lovely child. Please save Daisy. She cannot be allowed to die like this."

Even Lu couldn't help but shrink back at this point.

Lu glanced at Ariel. No matter what, the decision ultimately rested with Ariel.

But...

"Sister...?"

Ariel had her eyes closed while holding a glass cup. Her head was tilted slightly to the side, her shoulders rising and falling rhythmically.

Along with the snoring sounds.

"......"

Ariel had fallen asleep.

*

From the moment the village chief greeted them, Ariel had been feeling symptoms.

After eating the cream bread and milk, making her full, her body gradually became sluggish and drowsy. Her eyelids kept drooping.

It was a case of postprandial somnolence.

(T/N: Postprandial somnolence [colloquially known as food coma] is a normal state of drowsiness or lassitude following a meal. Source: Wikipedia)

Ariel had suffered from postprandial somnolence even before being reincarnated into the game. The symptoms were so severe that she had to take medicine after every lunch. Otherwise, she couldn't work in the afternoon.

But for the symptoms to apply even after being reincarnated into the game... Could postprandial somnolence be a mental illness? Or was it just a habit?

In any case, Ariel fell asleep while listening to the village chief's story. After an hour of not waking up, Lu eventually woke her.

"Sister..."

Ariel's eyes fluttered open at Lu's gentle tapping on her cheek. The glass cup she had been holding was already taken by Lu and placed on the table.

Ariel straightened her posture as if she hadn't been asleep, though it was too late for that.

The village chief and villagers, who didn't know what to do when Ariel fell asleep, had been waiting outside the inn for an hour.

Lu let out a small sigh and explained the situation to Ariel.

It was the same as the village chief's story earlier.

After quickly finishing the explanation, Lu shrugged his shoulders.

"You missed it because you were asleep, sister, but the villagers came swarming in... It was so burdensome. I may look tough, but I'm a soft-hearted fairy. Anyway, sister, what will you do? Will you accept the village chief's request? I don't care what happens to some humans... But he said he'd give his entire fortune. I may not know exactly what kind of flower the Patricia is, but as a fairy, finding it will be a piece of cake for me."

There was no race more knowledgeable about flowers than fairies. The Patricia was surely a flower Lu knew, just under a different name.

"And well, come to think of it, it's a bit pitiful too... Seeing how all the villagers want to save her, the village chief's daughter must be a kind-hearted child." 

If possible, Lu wanted to accept the village chief's request. He had a personality where he couldn't easily refuse requests.

Lu asked Ariel with a slightly earnest look.

"Shall we get that flower?"

"Sure."

Ariel agreed right away. Their goal was adventure after all.

Obtaining the Patricia flower would be part of that adventure.

If they could help someone in trouble during their adventure and get rewarded, there was no reason to refuse.

* 

Ariel and Lu left the inn and met the village chief again. When Lu confidently said he would obtain the Patricia flower, the village chief and villagers bowed their heads respectfully.

"Thank you so much, fairy!" 

"Thank you!"

Lu blushed and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Ahem, ahem, you should thank my sister, not me. If she hadn't allowed it, I wouldn't have moved either."

"Thank you so much, elf!"

The villagers bowed their heads again to Ariel. Ariel also gave a slight nod.

Lu said to the village chief,

"By the way, I'd like to know the exact appearance of the Patricia. I'm not familiar with the human name Patricia."

"Ah yes, I'll show you."

The village chief took out a piece of paper from his bosom.

It was a drawing of a flower.

The petals were depicted in detail, and even colored.

Lu examined the drawing closely and made a slightly dark expression.

The village chief asked with a worried look,

"W-Why do you look like that?"

"Is this flower really called the Patricia?"

"Yes, but is it not?"

"At least we fairies don't call it that."

"Then..."

"We call it something else."

Lu continued with a somewhat disgusted expression.

"This is the Corpse Flower."

Silence fell around them. 

The flower drawn in the picture was very beautiful. It did not match the name Corpse Flower at all.

"If it's really the Corpse Flower, it won't be easy to obtain..."

Lu muttered with a serious face, not joking or fooling around as usual.

"The Corpse Flower only blooms on cliffs. That alone wouldn't matter, I could just fly and pluck it. The problem is the blooming period. The Corpse Flower normally looks like a weed, then suddenly blooms."

Lu pointed at the picture in the village chief's hand.

"It blooms beautifully like this... but it only maintains this form for 3 minutes. After just 3 minutes, it withers immediately."

In summary, the Patricia only blooms on cliffs, has an irregular blooming period, and only stays bloomed for 3 minutes.

It's understandable why it's so rare.

"Hmm..."

The village chief and villagers' faces darkened. 

If even the flower-savvy fairy said it was difficult to obtain, their last hope seemed lost.

As if to dispel that gloomy atmosphere, Lu clapped his hands.

"Well, don't be too disappointed. It's difficult but not impossible. We fairies can instinctively sense when flowers will bloom. Of course, that includes the Corpse Flower too. If I patrol the cliffs and observe, I'll be able to find a Corpse Flower about to bloom. It's tedious but that part is simple. The problem is..."

Why the beautiful Patricia is called the Corpse Flower by fairies. 

That was the real problem.

"The Corpse Flower emits a deadly poison the moment it's plucked or pulled. It's toxic enough to instantly kill even a troll. If you're captivated by its beauty and pluck the flower, you go straight to the grave. Any properly educated fairy would never touch the Corpse Flower... but there are also many uneducated fairies in this world."

Countless fairies have died from plucking the Corpse Flower.

Therefore, where the Corpse Flower blooms, there are also many fairy corpses. 

That is why it's called the Corpse Flower.

"But it'll be fine. My sister is here. If it's my sister, she can pluck the Corpse Flower without issue. She may look frail, but she's someone who can beat a troll with her bare hands."

"Ooh..."

Color returned to the faces of the village chief and villagers.

Then Lu flew up into the sky, slightly excited.

"Just watch. My sister and I will obtain the Patricia by today. We will definitely save the village chief's daughter!"

"Woo!"

The people cheered loudly at Lu's words.