Chapter 149: Chapter 149: Don’t I Need It?
Gavin Donovan: "Okay, should we let the others know?"
"Yeah. They’re still down below. It should be easier for us to see from up here."
They took a moment to notify the teams on their left and right. Then, they all climbed onto the giant flowers. Leaping from one blossom to another wasn’t too difficult.
However, once more people were on the flowers, the insects active up there—butterflies, moths, and the like—started rushing over to attack them.
’Faye Yardley really didn’t get it. Do butterflies, moths, and bees eat people or something?’
And because they could fly, the wide-open space above made them even more troublesome to deal with.
After taking down another one, Ethan Yardley said, "You two point us in the right direction. Give us a signal every so often. We’ll travel on the ground."
"Okay."
Once those butterflies and moths were down on the ground, their movements were severely restricted, making them much easier to handle.
With the others gone, it was just Faye Yardley and Gavin Donovan up top. The probability of being discovered dropped significantly, and their travel speed did indeed increase a lot.
During one of their stops, Faye Yardley finally saw the glittering golden flower Gavin Donovan had mentioned.
But it seemed you could only spot it from a certain angle when the sunlight hit it just right.
That wasn’t important, though. Since the flower was so unique, it was definitely worth investigating.
The closer they got to that flower, the denser the swarms of butterflies and other insects became.
Hiding among the stamens of a flower, Gavin Donovan whispered, "Boss, I think I see some winged Sprites."
Faye Yardley nodded. She had seen them too. The Sprites blended in so perfectly with the butterflies and moths that they didn’t look out of place at all.
But... she thought she saw Dahlia White. ’Now that’s strange.’
Dahlia White was a Cloud Sprite. ’What is she doing mixed in with these Flower Spirits?’
’She’s up to something!’
"We’re going down. Approach slowly, and tell my brother and the others to be as quiet as possible."
Gavin Donovan nodded to show he understood.
Just as they were about to move, two Flower Spirits flew over and landed on the very flower they were hiding in. Instantly, the pair froze, not daring to budge.
"Oh, dear, who knows where Princess Vivian ran off to. She’s still not back, and the coming-of-age flowers we planted for her are about to bloom."
"If Princess Vivian misses the blooming this time, she’ll have to wait another ten years for the next one."
"I hope no nasty thieves show up this time."
"Well, let’s just patrol properly. If we find any thieves, we can just get rid of them. We might even get a reward from the Queen."
"Don’t worry. It was planted in such a remote place on purpose. There’s no one else here but us."
Another Flower Spirit flew over. Seeing them chatting idly, it scowled. "Get back to patrolling! It looks like there was a fight up ahead. More thieves must have gotten in."
"Yes, right away."
After they all flew off, Faye was about to move when a head suddenly popped up in front of her. Faye gave her a big smile. "Hi, Dahlia White. Long time no see."
"Faye Yardley, how did you get so small? Wait, what are you doing here?"
Faye Yardley blinked. "Exploring. This is Flower Spirit territory, isn’t it? What’s a Cloud Sprite like you doing here?"
"Hmph, I was invited to observe the ceremony," Dahlia White said with a smug look on her face.
Faye said sincerely, "Dahlia White, you’re amazing. How about this: if you can take us to watch the ceremony with you, I’ll give you a piece of candy."
"Hmph, who wants your stupid candy."
The moment Faye took out an "I Want It, I Want It" candy from her backpack, Dahlia White’s eyes went wide, and she started drooling. Faye put it back in her pack just before she could pounce.
Dahlia White was so mad she stomped her foot. "Give it to me, and I’ll take you to the ceremony."
"There are fourteen of us, you know."
"You’re ripping me off! You want me to bring fourteen people for just one piece of candy?! Faye Yardley, you’ve got some nerve!"
"You can always say no. We’re just here exploring, not trying to join the party. If it’s dangerous, we can just go look around somewhere else."
"Two pieces."
Faye put on a troubled expression. "It’s not that I’m being stingy, I only have one. Take it or leave it. I can’t just pull more out of thin air."
Suddenly, another little head popped out from a petal at the top of the flower, giggling. "Give it to me, and I’ll take you to the ceremony. I don’t care how many people there are."
Dahlia White whipped her head around and saw the speaker, fuming. "Vivian, how could you do this? I thought we were best friends!"
’Vivian... isn’t that Princess Vivian? The star of the show!’
Faye didn’t care about any of that. She took out the candy and tossed it to the Flower Spirit. "Princess Vivian, the candy is yours."
Unexpectedly, after being thrown, the candy began to grow bigger and bigger. Perhaps this was its original size, but for them in their current state, it was far too large—bigger than half their body.
Fortunately, the flower was sturdy. It swayed a couple of times and then stabilized.
The two little imps started fighting over it, shouting, "It’s mine! It’s mine!" Faye immediately told Gavin Donovan to go get the others. It would be bad if other Flower Spirits found them and attacked them as thieves.
Their squabbling attracted other Flower Spirits. The butterflies, moths, and other insects didn’t dare get close to where the Flower Spirits were, avoiding them as they flew past.
However, seeing who was arguing, none of them dared to approach. But you could tell from their gazes that they wanted the candy too.
A few of them noticed Faye and flew over, surrounding her.
Faye shouted, "Alright, alright, stop fighting! Why don’t you just eat it together?"
Dahlia White turned to glance at her, a look that said she was staring at an idiot.
That was enough to tick Faye off. "Then just consider it our coming-of-age gift to Princess Vivian. Dahlia White, you can stop fighting for it."
Princess Vivian let out a loud laugh. "Well said! From now on, you’re Vivian’s friend."
Hearing Princess Vivian say that, the Flower Spirits surrounding Faye backed away a little.
"Princess Vivian, what about my friends?"
"Let them all come."
And so, a world in which only Dahlia White suffered was born.
Then, Dahlia White let out a WAH and started crying. The clouds in the sky began to gather, and big drops of rain started to fall.
Princess Vivian’s expression froze. She coaxed in a gentle tone, "Alright, alright, don’t cry. I’ll give you a third, but no more than that."
Hearing she would still get a third, Dahlia White finally broke into a smile.
Meanwhile, Ethan Yardley and the others were completely baffled. One moment they were fighting a squad of Flower Spirits to the death, and the next, they were told the two sides were now friends.
So, in honor of this sudden and baffling friendship, Ethan Yardley took out some Bandages and Hemostatic Pills for the injured Flower Spirits.
When they climbed up onto the flower and learned that his sister had bribed the Flower Spirit princess with a single piece of candy, their expressions all turned rather strange.
As the group was led to the flowers surrounding the golden one to sit and wait for it to bloom, Dahlia White sighed. "Vivian is so lucky this time. With the candy you gave her, her chances of a successful transformation will increase a lot."
A thought struck Faye. "You’re good friends, and you knew she needed it, so why were you still fighting her for it?"
Dahlia White said resentfully, "You think I don’t need it, too?"
