Chapter 195 Even Flower Fairies Have Cleverness; Welcome to the Land of Sin! ...
Crispy moss biscuits, moist and fluffy moss water cakes, refreshing moss salad, and a cool and refreshing moss soup, all served as dessert with ice grass cake sprinkled with a thick layer of moss flakes. Nanaja sat down and began to eat heartily. In the end, all the plates were completely cleaned, and the empty plates and soup bowls looked like they didn't need cleaning.
After finishing this incredibly lavish meal, the blue-haired flower fairy in her uniform practically seemed to have tiny flowers blooming around her. Her bright blue eyes sparkled, and after a shy smile, she spoke frankly:
"I apologize, Your Highness. I was a bit out of line. Please forgive me. My servants and I have been eating dry tree bark all the way here. It was not a pleasant experience at all."
Before Nana and the others were brought back by Xi, Shu Xin had just eaten lunch. While Nana was eating heartily, Shu Xin held her water glass and slowly savored the moss iced tea that the cooks had just made.
If these mosses with excessively high sugar content were brewed as a beverage instead of a staple food, it would be fine. At least Shu Xin thought this tea was quite delicious, icy and sweet. But when she heard Nana Jia's words, she didn't know for a moment whether she was telling the truth or just joking.
"Although it doesn't taste very good, it can fill your stomach at least. Would you like to try some?" Nana shrugged, took out a space stone from her pocket, and actually pulled out a piece of dry, withered tree bark from it.
Shu Xin was stunned for a moment, and under Nana Jia's expectant gaze, she inexplicably took the piece of bark. The dry bark, which was less than the size of a palm in the flower fairy's hand, could only be pinched by Shu Xin's fingertips.
The elven servant who came to collect the tableware glanced at the Flower Fairy City Lord, then at the Flower Fairy Lady, and hesitated to speak.
Shu Xin put the small piece of dried bark into her mouth with some skepticism.
The moment Shu Xin tasted the tree bark, she found it bitter and astringent, which immediately reminded her of the texture of bitter wheat. However, the tree bark wasn't as bitter as bitter wheat. Although it was also rough and coarse, like eating sand, it was still much better than the cement-like texture of bitter wheat...
This small piece of bark has a surprisingly high magical content, comparable to acorn wine.
After swallowing, Shu Xin took two large gulps of sweet tea to get rid of the bitterness in her mouth, and sincerely said to Nana Jia, "Thank you for your hard work."
The elven servant carried a stack of plates and left, glancing back every few steps.
The flower fairy, resting her chin on her hand and watching with great interest as the flower fairy ate the tree bark, chuckled and said, "My lord, you are completely different from what I imagined."
Shu Xin took another big gulp of sweet tea: "You're completely different from what I imagined."
Faced with an irresistible natural disaster, he would risk everything and demand that all the citizens of the city take all the supplies and move away, while he himself would resolutely stay behind to guard the empty city. In Shu Xin's imagination, the city lord of Lotte City had the image of a lone hero who disregarded life and death. Unexpectedly, Nana Jia, who came with her magical cat, was surprisingly cheerful and even a bit carefree.
Nanaja burst into laughter: "Thank you for your forgiveness!"
She suddenly leaped to her feet, took a bottle of potion from her bosom, and drank it. In the soft magical light, the flower fairy's eyes and hair subtly changed color. When the magical light faded, the flower fairy, who originally had blue hair and blue eyes, had undergone a dramatic transformation—
Her long, thick golden hair was quite dazzling, but what stood out most were her bright red eyes, like burning flames. The golden-haired, red-eyed flower fairy called out, "Hana!"
Amidst subtle spatial fluctuations, a magical cat appeared in the restaurant. Having shed its disguise along with its owner, the magical cat no longer had blue fur and blue eyes. Instead, its dark green fur, almost black, paired with deep green eyes, made this magical cat mysterious and majestic.
The flower fairy, accompanied by her magical cat, bowed again in greeting.
"Please allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Nanaja, the lord of Lotte City, and a high-level apothecary. This is my magical cat, Hana. We both have the magical talent of luck. What you are tasting is a preliminary-processed oak bark. I hope you don't mind; it is a very useful potion ingredient."
Shu Xin's eyes widened, and when she came to her senses, she was both surprised and delighted: "Of course I don't mind! This land of sin welcomes you!"
There are clever ones among the flower fairies! That's wonderful!
In this brief meeting, Nanaja conducted two tests. The first test was by disguising herself as a flower fairy with water magic talent, and the second test was by sending dried tree bark to Shuxin to taste. The former was to confirm whether the Land of Sin was truly capable of dealing with the drought, while the latter was to confirm how the flower fairy would react when facing the flower fairy.
This made Shu Xin quite appreciative of Nana Jia, and Nana Jia's revelation of her true identity must be an acknowledgment of her abilities and attitude—the Land of Sin has ample water resources, so it wouldn't immediately take Nana Jia, who has "water magic talent," and the magic cat to make water. The flower fairy wouldn't act superior or aloof, and wouldn't feel offended or furious at the flower fairy's slightly impolite behavior.
Shu Xin smiled, her eyes crinkling. She picked up the teapot next to her and poured Nana a cup of moss iced tea: "No need to be so serious, come on, have some tea, sweet tea, with ice!"
The magical cat vanished again, and seeing the blonde, red-eyed flower fairy sit down and reach for her teacup, Shu Xin finally asked the questions she was concerned about:
"What exactly is the situation in Lotte City? How did it come to the point where the entire city needs to be relocated... Do you know anything about the situation in the other territories? Did the guards encounter any patrols when they went to pick you up, or did they not? Did you encounter any trouble on the way back? What are the conditions of the vegetation and the weather along the way?"
Nana answered the flower fairy's questions in great detail—
The city of Lotte is located on the banks of the Garnar River. Although it is the rainy season, not a single drop of rain has fallen. After the rainy season ends, the weather becomes drier and drier, and the river level drops day by day.
When the riverbeds began to be exposed, Nanaja felt she could no longer sit idly by and wait for death. However, she was unable to find a solution to the drought. The situation in the surrounding territories was equally bleak, and even worse because they were farther from the river. The land cracked, crops withered, slaves lay dead everywhere, and commoners and nobles began to starve and die of thirst.
When large sections of the riverbed were already exposed to the scorching sun, a caravan from the Land of Sin arrived with precious water. After making up her mind, Nanaja activated her innate magic, ordering all the surviving residents of Lotte City to relocate to the Land of Sin, while she and the tax collector remained in the city to deal with the patrolmen who might come to hold officials accountable for dereliction of duty at any time.
"Tax officer? I didn't see that—" Realizing something, Shu Xin fell silent.
Nana lowered her eyes: "Bebe really... she has a talent for water magic. She has overdrawn her magic power too many times and has developed a very serious fever. My medicine can't cure her."
As for the patrolmen, they did arrive quickly, but even faster than the patrolmen were the guards of the Land of Sin.
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Author's note: Writing definitely still requires a keyboard...
Because my new, super thick, extra-large fluffy bathrobe was so comfortable, I lounged on the sofa for a couple of days and comfortably typed over 5,000 words on my phone. Then my right hand fingers started to swell up, especially my thumb, which was both swollen and painful!
I can't even use my thumb to press the spacebar anymore. [wiping tears]
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