"A fairy girl with pink hair and wings?"
After we explained things to the grandpa fairy, we quickly gave him the same description the engineers gave to us about this fairy girl. He began to caress his beard, looking around. He was thinking, but very slowly. He was very old so I could understand he had to take things slowly.
He slowly sipped some tea and sighed, looking back at us after almost three minutes of thinking.
"Eh?!" Nieve cried in surprise.
"Ugh, this is hopeless…" Sighed Titan.
"I-Is there a way to make you remember, grandpa?" Sighed Achlys.
"Hmm… If I only had some of that herbal tea… Kachi Herb is able to help me remember stuff, but since the curse started spreading that nobody had gone outside to pickup herbs, so I haven't found any to make tea." Sighed the old man.
"Kachi Herb…" I muttered. "Where can we find it, do you have a clue, grandpa?" I asked gently.
"Hmmm… I've heard… Err, I think it was… Ah, I don't remember." He sighed.
"How can't you remember a thing?!" Achlys roared, but Titan quickly brought her outside the shop because she was losing her patience. Rita was never good at dealing with old and slow people.
"Hm… Then we should probably find someone that can tell us where it is, pick it up, and bring it back, right?" Nieve asked.
"Well, I guess that's the plan for now." I sighed.
"Then we'll be back with the tea, grandpa, please wait for us, okay?" Asked Nieve.
"I am closing the shop at 6 PM so make sure to come back before that…" The grandpa said.
Like that, we took a detour and went to the Alchemist Guild, where we decided to ask the alchemists, who had a lot of herbs, about if they had any of the Kachi Herb, or at least tell us where we could find it. In our way through the building's interior, we found a large room where Acorn and the Mushroom Brigade, alongside six other alchemist were working relentlessly.
I didn't wanted to interrupt them when they looked so concentrated, so I sneaked away from their sight and we reached a receptionist quickly after.
"Kachi Herb… Err, let me see…" She said, opening a book with ingredients that showed everything they had in their storage. "No… We don't have any, I am very sorry."
"Oh damn…" Rita couldn't help but sigh.
"Do you know where we could find some outside?" I asked.
"Outside? Well, if you want to go outside… I think they're not that far away from here, they usually grow near the Sleepy Meadows, where a pink and purple-colored plants grow nearing the West River."
"Gotcha! Thanks a lot!"
I looked at my System's Map and suddenly found the place, marking it with a big, red-colored O. After that, we quickly decided to make our way out. Nieve decided to bring her Beetle as well, so we were getting a ride with this big bug.
Nieve sighed while admiring the forest.
"This place looks so peaceful sometimes… At day, especially, the snakes never show up at this hour. It is like a completely different world altogether… I often wonder if everything we had been going through was just a bad nightmare when I see the tranquility of this forest." Nieve sighed.
"It feels that way to you?" I wondered.
"Hm… I guess things might turn to the better now that all of you are here helping us… Acorn is working hard at making a potion to heal the curse, and we are doing our best to find the culprit. After that, however, we'll have to go against the snakes and the powerful Queen… I don't know if I'll ever come back alive after all of that." Nieve sighed.
"Nieve…" I hugged her little body without hesitating.
"Uwah! W-What are you doing, Lady Planta?!" She cried, flapping her wings around.
"Don't worry, I will do everything I can so you survive and come back alive. I'll even use my own body as your shield, so don't worry! If you are with us, we won't let you die." I nodded.
"Going to such lengths… W-Well, I wasn't talking as if I am dead weight or something…! I will also help you with my abilities and magic as much as possible." Nieve said.
"You're a bit cheeky sometimes…" Achlys said.
"C-Cheeky?!" Nieve cried. "I am just… Well, I wasn't back then. But I had to grow up so I could raise my little sister better."
"Little sister? You mean Florie?" I asked.
"Yes, her… She's such a clumsy girl sometimes… But she had brought me a lot of happiness." Nieve said.
"Is she really your sister?" Wondered Rita.
"N-Not really, not my blood sister. I found her when she was a little girl in the woods. She was lost, covered in bruises, and poisoned by snake venom." Said Nieve. "I hurriedly brought her back home and barely managed to heal her from the venom, since then, she lacked memories of who she was or how she got there… I've been raising her ever since then.
I used to be a squire but now I am one of the highest-ranking knights in my Kingdom. Serving the Queen is my pride, while taking care of my little sister is my joy."
"I see… How is she today?" I wondered.
"She's fine, she was sleepy as always, and when I flew off home, she had just barely woken up and was having breakfast." Sighed Nieve. "She's lazy but will soon join the Magician Troops as she's good at magic. I got high expectations for her."
"I see! I hope she works hard, she's a very good girl." I said with a smile.
"Thank you, Lady Planta. You're a truly good person to always wish for the good of others. Usually, you don't find such people nowadays… Especially in a world that is slowly descending into the Old Age." Sighed Nieve.
"Oh! Ladies, I think we are here." Titan said, pointing upfront, as we saw a truly beautiful scenery.