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At the request of Hikari, the small slime helplessly blinked at the priest. "...you want to see the flower?" he questioned. "I mean... I don't see why not... But why?"

"The flower just interests me, you know? For a flower to suddenly appear before you, that must mean something, right?" Hikari stated as she carefully held onto the unbloomed white flower. In the next moment, she began to scrutinize its details. "..."

[ Unbloomed Floral of Myriad ]

Type: Miscellaneous

An unbloomed flower that has yet shown its greatness.

...

"...a flower that's unbloomed," Hikari muttered out. "You say that you've got this flower from the cocoon, correct?"

"...yeah," Rustly nodded his head. "But... I don't see how this would help?"

"I think... This may be the cure to this 'illness' you may have," Hikari uttered out. "However... In order to do that, we need to bloom the flower."

"This is the cure?" Rustly tilted his head in question. "Um... A flower... That's not of fire, or without any holy essence... Yet something that came from Bareth's cocoon is the cure?"

"It appears so," Hikari nodded her head. "We can try other things to help cure your illness though if you don't believe—"

"No. That's not possible," Rustly sighed, quickly interrupting Hikari. "Our best bet would be the flower, since... I've tried everything already. Using holy flames, holy essence, even you used your spell on me and it didn't work."

"So this is our best bet, huh?" Hikari thought to herself. "If that's so then..."

"—Hikari, Rustly? What's all this about? An illness?" a male's voice protruded out from the distance. 

"E-Eep!" Hikari who was startled by the sudden voice unconsciously jumped up from the ground. "...w-who?" Turning to the man in caution, she noted that it was Shinto. "Zay? You startled me! Where did you come from? I thought you were still asleep in the real world."

"Aha... I just logged in a few minutes ago," Shinto chuckled. "I noticed you two were seemingly having a discrete conversation and I didn't want to bother you. Err, well... Until just now, course."

"...yeah, until just now," Hikari pouted. "Ahem... A-Anyways. Were you listening in on us or something?"

"Well, I guess so? You wearn't being all that quiet," Shinto shrugged. "Though it might've been some casual conversation until the talk of illnesses and cure piqued my interest. So, just what was that all about?"

Unlike Hikari and Raina who Reru had informed them about Rustly's case—Shinto and the rest hadn't been made aware of it yet. For Shinto, he had thought that since Sanke had fallen, the curses that the Sleras had suffered would disappear away. But to his surprise, it still remained.

"A-Ah..." Rustly muttered out in awkwardness. "Well... You see..."

"Rustly, there's no point in keeping it secret if you wish to get help," Hikari stated solemnly as she then took a deep breath and turned towards Shinto. "Rustly here... Seems to have gotten a 'curse'."

"...a curse? I thought we already dealt with that?" Shinto raised his brow. "...did you get another curse from when you were in that cocoon? Or perhaps... Sanke's curse didn't wear off?"

"No, no!" Rustly shook his head. "Nothing of that sort! It's just that...This curse was an inherited one... Well, not exactly? I don't know how to explain..."

"It's fine, you can take your time explaining," Shinto stated as he turned to glance around the area. "It seems that everyone's still asleep, so we've got plenty of time before we head back."

"..." Rustly's face turned complexed. "...I don't know. It's... Really complicated and well... All you need to know is that... All this while, I've been trying to do all I can to find a cure for it. If the flower is the key... Then, would you help with making it bloom?"

"...you," Shinto blinked at Rustly's mumbles and words. It seemed that Rustly didn't have any intentions of explaining it fully, thus, he kept things to a minimum. "...sigh," at a loss for words on what to say, a quest notification soon appeared before him and Hikari.

[ A slight connection can be felt between you and Rustly. ]

[ The quest 'For the Unbloomed of a Curse' is generating... ]

[ For the Unbloomed of a Curse ]

Difficulty: SS

For the longest time, the small slime—Rustly, had been suffering from a curse. A curse that would slowly rid away of all ability to move or to feel. The curse of the ice witch.

Though unknown of how he had gotten such a curse—he requests of you to help him in blooming the flower, 'Floral of Myriad'.

Quest Clear Condition: Bloom the flower, 'Floral of Myriad' before the day of when Rustly turns into a body of ice.

Quest Rewards: Max Relation with Rustly, +10 Stats Point, +1% Innate Ice RES and certain skills and equipment.

Quest Failure: All quests relating to 'Tomb of the Deserted Sanke' will be destroyed.

...

"...this," Hikari mumbled out as she was dumbfounded by the sudden quest that appeared in front of her. "Rustly... You want us to help, yet..."

She didn't know why, but it seemed as so she was feeling unsatisfied and angry. Though, not because of the quest's content nor the rewards—but with Rustly.

"—you want us to help, but... You want to keep us in the dark the entire time as well," Hikari frowned. "How is that fair? If we don't understand the situation, how can we help to our fullest?"

"I know. But, it's just that..." Rustly reluctantly spoke out. "...I don't want to recall the past, alright? I-It's fine if you don't want to help, but... I'll do anything to bloom this flower. So... If things ever go south, tell Reru that I'm sorry, alright?"

"Hey, Rustly," Shinto furrowed his brow. "Why does it seem like you're saying this at the thought of going into a battle and never coming back alive?"

"...because it's exactly as so. This battle... Will have uncertain results," Rustly stated firmly. "But. Even then, I have my goals in all this. So, I don't want to let this one last opportunity go," he continued. "—even if I end up dying."

"Huh?" Shinto raised his brow in question. "You..."

"However... Before then,  I'll have to make sure my goals are done." Rustly stated as he leapt away from the two. "...anyways, I'll go and check around the premise and find the most efficient route back."

"Hey, Rustly!" Hikari shouted out. However, the small slime continued on ahead. "...what's up with him? To keep something that could potentially kill him from top to bottom in secret... Is he really asking for a death wish?"

"...I guess it's difficult for him too," he shook his head helplessly.

"Yeah... With Rustly's attitude, it kind of reminds me of a certain someone," she pouted whilst glaring at Shinto. "A certain someone who truly is a hard one to deal with..."

"...cough. You're not referring to me... Are you?" Shinto muttered out.

"Hehe~ Who knows!" she chuckled. "But in any case...  About this quest..."

"...do you want to accept?" Shinto uttered. "The quest rewards are pretty good... But it's an SS ranked quest, so it won't be easy."

"Well, the rewards are beside the point," Hikari shook her head. "It's Rustly that I'm talking about. A simple curse should be an easy explanation. But, for him to keep this a secret... Do you know anything about it?"

"Not at all. In context to this... All I know was that there someone who had cursed everyone in hopes of obtaining a necklace," Shinto explained. "But in the end, he was defeated. Though... Through his own way."

"..." Hikari tilted her at the thought. "...sigh. There's no use pondering over it, huh?"

"Nope," Shinto shrugged as he turned towards the rest of his sleeping party members. "You know, let's just give it some thought. You seem rather reluctant and well... I kind of know the reasons, I guess? But you should rest for a while longer. Ethan and Raina haven't logged in yet and Crowelin and Frey are fast asleep in dreamland. When's your daily limit running out?"

"I logged out just recently and came back in," Hikari stated. "So, I've got all the break I needed."

"I-I see..." Shinto nodded his head. "If that's the case... Then, I'll leave you be and—"

"Hey, who says you can leave, hmm?" Hikari glared at Shinto. "Surely, you're not forgetting about the promise?"

"U-Uh... Well..." Shinto stuttered. "Now isn't the perfect time... There's still—"

"Now's a perfect time. If need be, we'll force Crowelin awake," she smiled. "Now then~ Shall we get started with the story? Or... Are you going to keep us in the dark again?"

"...Hikari," Shinto sighed as he now turned his head over towards his skill list, soon noting of the skill 'Shadow Recreation'. "Fine, fine. I'll explain things. But, we're going to a lesser crowded space from here."

"Sure thing," Hikari nodded her head with slight excitement. "You best explain everything in detail!"

"Yeah, yeah... Let's get on with it," Shinto said helplessly.