#086
What I didn’t know was that there were two things called “Rose of the Desert.” There were crystals that looked like roses, but there were also real plants. The plant’s official name was Selenicereus, and it didn’t particularly resemble a rose – looking at its thick lower stem, it was more like a baobab tree, but anyway, its flowers were large and magnificent.
The problem was that this flower was also in a frozen state. It didn’t make sense from the start that a desert plant would be in this ice mansion garden.
Nevertheless, I first took the Selenicereus pot and went to Celia. I set down the pot, but again, Celia’s statue showed no reaction. Of course, I thought it needed to be real, not fake.
But how do I make this real?
I pondered again. For Celia, who was from the desert, both the crystal and the flower would be items that stimulated nostalgia. But the reason for giving meaning specifically to the plant side was probably because of the story embedded here… but it might also be related to my identity as a farmer.
A farmer is someone who grows crops. So if I’m a farmer player in the game, I should have the ability to grow anything. But how could I do that without even having my own farm?
I reopened the part about the desert rose that I had found earlier. At the very bottom of the page describing Selenicereus, there was content that could serve as a hint.
‘Selenicereus dies when it leaves the desert. To grow in places other than the desert, it needs desert sand, desert water, and desert light and heat. If anything is lacking, the only thing one can hope for is the power of the nature god.’
There was no way I could create desert sand or light here.
‘The power of the nature god.’
What came to mind first were the Essence of Earth and Essence of Water I had obtained from the hidden quest. I didn’t know what the power of the nature god was, but the word “essence” itself probably meant something like the essence of nature, the essence that constitutes nature.
‘But is it right to use what I got from a hidden quest so early in a regular quest?’
I wasn’t without doubts, but since I couldn’t think of any other method, I decided to try it first.
Recalling the small terrarium made from glass bottle planters that I had seen at Eira’s house, I took out from my inventory the glass bottle I had salvaged from the settlement box, along with the Essence of Earth and Essence of Water. After hesitating a bit, I boldly put both essences into the glass bottle. Even though I didn’t shake it or do anything else, the earth settled nicely, filling about 1/3 of the glass bottle, and the water naturally soaked into the soil.
It was strange, but I didn’t feel any anxiety that it might fail. It might have been thanks to the Tranquility Potion I had drunk not long ago, but anyway, I moved my hands without hesitation as if I were doing something quite familiar, following whatever came to mind. It was as if I was temporarily possessed by something.
I needed to transplant the desert rose into the glass bottle, but it was frozen solid with the pot and there was a huge size difference, making it impossible in that state. I pictured the Selenicereus inside the glass bottle in my mind and experimentally grabbed the base of the frozen plant, applying slight pressure. Then the flower was surprisingly quickly pulled out of the pot with its roots and simultaneously became small enough to fit inside the glass bottle. It was identical to how farming tools became keychain-sized when attached to the tool belt.
I easily put the Selenicereus into the glass bottle. I moved the soil bit by bit with my fingers to position it properly. But that alone seemed insufficient. I couldn’t see any changes of the Selenicereus coming to life. I suppose it would also need appropriate temperature and sunlight. If possible, heat imbued with desert energy would be better than simple warmth.
After pondering, I took out the heat stones that Seiz had processed for me. These were minerals mined from the desert that served as batteries for the heating band. Hoping they would serve not only as desert heat but also as sand, I ground them up and mixed them with the soil. The glass bottle began to emit warmth gradually.
“Hmm…”
What about sunlight? The only light source I had was an exploration lantern. Although Seiz had made it, it wasn’t made from heat stones but was a regular item, so it didn’t contain desert energy. I tried shining the lantern light on it, but naturally, the Selenicereus showed no reaction.
My rapidly flowing thoughts suddenly stopped abruptly and my mind went blank. As I stayed in a daze without thinking, impatience gradually welled up.
‘Carlisle.’
His abnormally cold body temperature and pale face came to mind. This wasn’t the time for me to be doing this. As I became tense, my heart started pounding again. No. I don’t have any more Tranquility Potions to drink. I’ve already consumed two bottles in one day. Get it together!
Don’t get needlessly nervous and think. Use your brain. There must have been a hint somewhere. This is a game world after all!
While anxiously racking my brain, I was unconsciously shining the lantern on the glass bottle when I suddenly felt something different. The light had become stronger. It wasn’t just the lantern’s light but much brighter, more dazzling, and even strong light that I could feel the heat from.
I stared at the lantern with my mouth open, then looked inside the glass bottle again. The Selenicereus was showing changes. The ice surrounding it was melting away. I became tense. I was afraid that the ice would just melt and everything would disappear, or that the ice would melt to reveal only a dead plant.
However, the Selenicereus didn’t turn to water and disappear. Colors began to emerge gradually beneath the melted ice. The colors were vivid and the body was upright. My mouth opened wider and wider.
I looked at the lantern I was holding. Had Seiz, the world’s greatest craftsman, made a very special lantern? Maybe I just didn’t know, but this might also be made from something brought from the desert.
But while staring at it blankly, I realized that the heat and light weren’t coming entirely from just the lantern. And that fact made me even more dumbfounded.
“Why are my hands… glowing?”
Light was emanating from my hands. I could even feel it was hot. It was that heat I had felt in the desert.
“What is this? The farmer’s power?”
Without realizing it, I put down the lantern and examined my hands. Then the light and heat disappeared instantly. The Selenicereus, which had begun to reveal its vivid form, started freezing again as soon as the light disappeared. I tried bringing just my hands close to the glass bottle without the lantern.
“……”
Nothing happened. I actually felt relieved.
“What was that? That scared me…”
It seemed the lantern was indeed a special item. This was probably also made from desert materials like heat stones or Halmite.
I picked up the lantern again and shone it on the glass bottle. Light poured out again and heat swirled around the glass bottle. It should have been too hot to hold, but strangely it wasn’t. The surrounding ice didn’t melt either.
‘But it’s still a strange effect…’
Although I confirmed that light was coming from the lantern, I still felt like light was also coming from my hands. Maybe the lantern’s light wasn’t just coming from the front but felt like it was coming from the entire body, causing me to have that illusion. Usually it was just an extremely ordinary lantern that only illuminated the front…
‘Anyway, it’s working, so that’s fortunate.’
The ice in the glass bottle melted quickly and the Selenicereus came vibrantly to life, showing off its gorgeous red color.
I placed the glass bottle at Celia’s feet again. Then I stepped back and waited for the next change.
“Wow…”
Just like the Selenicereus, Celia’s statue also began to reveal colors as the ice melted. The coat Celia was wearing was white as snow. While I was thinking that if she had been buried in snow wearing that, it would have been difficult to find her, her flowing red hair regained its color and her wheat-colored soft skin was also clearly revealed. The statue that had been an inanimate object made of ice just moments before gradually came back to life and began to move.
Celia wasn’t surprised to see me standing in front of her. A strange blue light swirled in her green eyes. It was the same light as Carlisle’s. It was not a good sign.
After looking at me and then surveying her surroundings, she discovered the fairy tale book and Selenicereus placed at her feet and gazed down at them quietly. But I couldn’t feel any special emotion in her eyes looking at them. She picked up the desert fox. The desert fox in her arms, like its owner, quickly transformed from melted ice into a real living fox. The small fox made strange squeaking sounds and cried, then burrowed into its owner’s embrace. Drawing her coat close to wrap it up, Celia looked at me again. And finally opened her mouth.
“You’ve done something unnecessary. I didn’t want to wake up.”
Her expression and voice were strangely cold. She no longer looked sad either.
What kind of reaction is this? Wasn’t the problem supposed to be solved just by awakening this statue?
“Why didn’t you want to wake up?”
Feeling deceived, I couldn’t help but ask.
“Well, because I no longer love the owner of this place, and living is just tedious and meaningless.”
“…You could go somewhere else and live a new life, couldn’t you?”
Even if she was freed from the ice state, she didn’t seem to be in human condition, and it was questionable whether the mansion’s owner would let her go, but I asked anyway.
“I wonder, where could I go? I don’t want to return to the desert.”
Right. She said she was abused there.
“I can’t stay here anymore either. I can’t think of anywhere else I’d want to go. What difference would it make? Living is nothing but suffering anyway. At least when trapped in ice, I could spend time without feeling anything and it was peaceful, but you’ve shattered that. My body hurts. My heart hurts even more.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
