Chapter 141: Ashen Fairymoss

"So, you are the village head. We are fortunate, so we can be faster hahaha. We are the Ravenlight and Ethereal Miracle guild party, we came because of a quest from Mr. Aayan." Martin laughed a little loudly. He conveyed his greetings to represent this joint team for formality.

"Well, you are the third team to come to this village with the same quest in the last two months. Since you guys are from the big city, you must be quite good. Hope you will succeed in this quest." The chief of the village sent his prayer for pleasantries.

"Eh? That, what do you mean by we are the third team who came to this village?" Feeling something was not quite right, Franky questioned for details.

"As I said, there were two teams that came for the quest from Aayan in the last two months, but they failed. I don't know what happened to them, you can just ask Aayan directly." The village chief shook his head slowly. He didn't know more than that.

"Okay, then we excuse ourselves. See you again." Martin nodded, then he gave a slight bow before leaving.

The other members immediately followed him towards the village head's direction, the southernmost part of the village.

The village head looked at the adventurers walking away, but he focused more on the black-haired girl wrapped in a white robe.

From the beginning they came and then left, the girl did not speak to him at all, but he felt he had no secret from her mysterious purplish-blue eyes. Maybe she knew about his identity? Even so, he shook his head and then relaxed back on his rocking chair.

'To my surprise, the village head who looked fragile and vulnerable was actually a Master Knight. Perhaps, he has long retired and wants to spend his old age in a peaceful village?' Elysia muttered in her mind as all of them were walking towards the outskirts of the village.

'Maybe, we don't know, and we honestly don't need to know either, Ely. He's 400 years old, a lot has happened to his life. Many people long for a peaceful life.' Elena shrugged her shoulders a little. She really didn't care about the old man.

'Un, he seems to be enjoying his life.' Elysia also had such thoughts.

"Hey, what do you think about the two teams that have come for this quest in the last two months? What happened to them?" Anika didn't only ask her comrades, but also to Elysia's party.

"Died." The concise answer, from no one other than Dylan. The woman who asked paled at that short answer.

"Uhh... Father. Ah, my father means, they might have died or escaped for some reason... Err, maybe because that Ashen Fairymoss turned out to be too valuable." Sylvia swiftly corrected the sentence to a more suitable one.

"Well, yeah, anything can happen, and we don't know what they went through. Why worry about them? We don't know them." Franky gave an 'I don't know' hand gesture.

"Well, who cares about them. I'm just worried about this big rewarded quest. Neither of us knows Ashen Fairymoss and where it is, or how dangerous it is to take it." Anika hugged herself as if scared.

"Hahaha, that's why this client quest asks for a minimum of four Master level adventurers in the team. No matter their rank. Our departure has been granted without difficulty even though we consist of a Rank A and Rank F party joint team. Let's just say this quest is over and hundreds of gold coins are ready to enter our pocket." Martin declared with great conviction.

"Mama, mama. Look at that big tiger! Wow, are they adventurers? Their robes and armor are so charming! Can I be like them in the future?" There was a sound of a boy from the side. The boy tugged his mother's skirt to get her attention while pointing at the passing adventurers.

"Yes, you can be like them in the future. However, it takes a lot of effort and determination." A young mama squatted down and stroked her son's hair affectionately.

"Hahaha! Yes, your mama is right, little boy. Train your body while you can, and deepen your magic when you grow up. Look at my great Dark Ocean Blue Armor, am I not amazing?" Franky suddenly appeared close to the boy and the mother with a proud smile.

"Un! Uncle, you look great! I also want armor like that when I grow up!" The boy jumped with joy.

"U, u- uncle? Call me big brother, okay?" Franky immediately styled his dark blue hair to the back so that he could be seen more clearly. He was not that old to be called an uncle!

"Big, uncle?" The boy didn't understand.

"Ah, please forgive my son. He doesn't know many things yet." The mother bowed apologetically.

"Haha, easy, take it easy. I was just passing by, then bye." Franky immediately ran away from there. Apart from not wanting to be called uncle again, he also needed to catch up with his party. They purposely left him behind!

"Hehe, that brat is right, Franky the big uncle ~" Anika giggled when the blunt man finally came to catch up.

"If I'm a big uncle, then you're a little aunty. We're only three years apart." Franky snorted.

"What? What did you say? Little aunty?" The smile on Anika's face disappeared, then she looked down at the ground.

"I'm big because my body is great, well Martin is more muscular than me. You're slim, so you become little. Easy peasy."

"Humph! I am slender, this time I'll forgive you." Anika didn't want to bicker again, the medicinal plant garden has been seen, and a semi-permanent medium-sized hut was nearby, they have arrived.

Without waiting anymore, they immediately approached the hut, then Anika approached the only entrance.

*knock* *knock*

After knocking on the door and repeated several times, they got no response.

"The owner of the house is not at home? Ah, maybe he is asleep. Try calling his name, maybe we will receive a response." Elysia muttered lightly. She used her advanced perception to look inside and saw a man sleeping on the work table.

Anika simply nodded her head. She took Elysia's suggestion and did it. After calling the name of their client three times, the door of the hut finally opened.

The somewhat exhausted man with a slightly messy appearance appeared before them. The pungent aroma of medicinal plants is attacked by the unprepared noses right after the door was opened.

"Umm, who are you?" A man clad in a robe like an alchemist asked in confusion.

"We are adventurers from Rosemoor City. Because of your quest, we came here. My name is Martin, the leader of the Ravenlight guild party." Martin introduced himself.

"Oh! The team I needed came so fast? I thought I just gave it to transfer to the nearest big city yesterday, err, or the day after... Anyway, please come in." Aayan scratched his head confusedly. He went back inside and sat on the chair in the living room.

Six people entered, but the tiger stood guard outside, they sat on the available seats, and those who didn't get seats like two men in armor just stood in the living room.

"Okay! Since you accepted my quest, you must have known me. However, let me introduce myself. My name is Aayan, a simple alchemist who wants to make something big!" The sleepy expression of the man who just woke up suddenly disappeared. Aayan instantly introduced himself with a bright expression.

"Un, nice to meet you, Mr. Aayan. So, you can tell us about the details of this quest." Martin got right to the main topic of this meeting.

"Err, well, to the point, don't want to drink tea first?"

"Even though it is great, but we better enjoy it after we finish the quest. I know this quest is not as easy as it looks. Two teams from a nearby town have failed this quest, right?" Martin shook his head.

"Makes sense, you are insightful. Hmm, maybe the village chief told you, huh? Okay, the only target in the quest is a plant called Ashen Fairymoss, a unique gray flower similar to this picture." Aayan took a photo of his Space Bag and put it on the table for everyone to see.

All of them could see a slightly blurry image of a grey plant like a tall folded umbrella. The flower looked ordinary, nothing special. Aayan received everyone's attention with their bewildered expressions.

"Hoho, just like the rest of the party team, you don't understand, do you? Hmm, naturally, that flower is precious only to alchemist like me, and it is extremely rare." Aayan had expected their response.

"Hmm, this will be easier. However, please tell us what happened and what we need to know. With that, we will be able to complete this quest quickly and easily, according to your expectations." Martin folded his arms while looking directly at their client.

"Before that, I need to make sure you guys really have at least four people at the Master level. Two teams have failed this quest, I don't want the third one to fail as well." Aayan looked at Martin seriously, and the latter nodded confidently.