Brian 1: The Flower's Wish
The chill of early morning air brushed against my cheek. Sitting on a bench in the village square, last night's memories flooded back vividly. Beside me were my companions, Marianne and Kevin, but unlike usual, no one spoke a word.
"What the hell was that yesterday?"
I muttered the question that had no answer. My listless, drooping voice felt unfamiliar even to me.
"I still can't believe it."
Marianne fiddled with the holy emblem around her neck as she spoke. Her trembling fingers caught my eye. Even she, who was always so composed, was shaken.
"If it weren't for that scent... we would've..."
"We'd all be dead."
Kevin let out a heavy sigh. His words stabbed at my chest. He was right. We'd come that close to dying. A C-rank adventurer party taking on a troll? How reckless could we have been? But at the time, we had no choice. We couldn't just stand by and watch villagers get slaughtered.
"The troll's chill alone froze every crop in sight. How much longer could we have held out?"
I gripped the hilt of my sword without realizing it. The grooves dug into my palm, stinging.
"If only I'd been stronger..."
A bitter smile twisted my lips at the words that slipped out. Seven years. It had been seven years since I'd defied my family and chosen the adventurer's path. And in all that time, I'd stagnated at C-rank. Meanwhile, my genius little brother had already joined the kingdom's knight order...
"Don't blame yourself."
Marianne placed a hand on my shoulder. Her warmth seeped through.
"If it weren't for you, Brian, we wouldn't have even faced the troll."
"Yeah. For a C-rank party to hold out against those things? That's a miracle."
Kevin nodded. Their comfort was appreciated, but it only weighed heavier on my heart. If I'd been stronger, I wouldn't have dragged them into such danger.
I was lost in self-recrimination when a sudden commotion erupted.
"The A-rank party's back!"
"It's Arthur!"
"We're safe now!"
I turned at the noise. The A-rank party, dispatched for an emergency quest, was returning to the village. Arthur's imposing figure, with his massive tower shield slung on his back, was as formidable as ever. His sharp eyes scanned the village's state in an instant. Trailing him were the archer Lien with her sea-blue hair, the seasoned mage Oldin with his half-gray beard, and the female warrior Hafel wielding her enormous greatsword.
If we'd had that kind of power...
Seeing Arthur filled me with helplessness again. With strength like his, yesterday's trolls would have been dispatched in seconds.
Arthur headed straight for the village square.
"What happened last night?"
I flinched at his sharp voice.
"The north side of the village is a mess, crops frozen solid... Definitely the work of an ice troll."
I couldn't help but admire how he'd grasped the situation with a single glance. As expected of an A-rank leader. We'd have to explain.
"Yes, two ice trolls and a goblin horde. But..."
"Pfft! You held off trolls? A C-rank party? That's ridiculous. Even B-ranks struggle with ice trolls."
Hafel snorted, cutting in. Anger surged instantly. Why was she always like this? She'd looked down on us C-ranks from the first meeting, and now she wouldn't even hear us out.
"...We didn't stop them."
I gritted my teeth and spoke calmly. Someday, I'd shatter that arrogant attitude. But not now. I couldn't let emotions take over.
Marianne noticed the anger in my voice and continued cautiously.
"We were at our limit too. That's when..."
"A sweet fragrance started spreading. And the moonlight... the moonlight turned red."
"Red moonlight?"
Oldin's eyebrows shot up.
"Even magic couldn't change the color of moonlight like that..."
"We thought so at first too. But everyone in the village saw it."
Marianne said quietly. As she spoke, villagers gathered, sharing their testimonies. Their voices still mixed terror and awe.
Lien stood straight, listening, then spoke.
"There must be something to it. Can't ignore this many witnesses."
Oldin stroked his beard, lost in thought.
"In over fifty years of magic research, I've never heard of this. Intriguing."
Even Oldin didn't know. What could it have been? It definitely wasn't holy power like Marianne said. It felt... ominous and dangerous. Yet mysteriously alluring.
"We need to investigate."
Arthur declared firmly.
"This could be a new threat from Sia Kalt."
This was my chance.
"We'll come with you."
I stepped forward.
"As someone who experienced it firsthand..."
It was an excuse, really. Traveling with an A-rank party might push my skills to the next level.
"Fine."
Arthur agreed quicker than expected.
"Your testimony will be useful."
My heart raced. My first adventure with an A-rank party. This could be the break I needed to escape the C-rank slump.
...
Our party and Arthur's ascended the Sia Kalt mountains together. Normally, the tension would choke me, but strangely, the path was eerily quiet.
"This is odd."
Arthur frowned.
"At this altitude, we should've run into at least a pack of wargs."
He was right. Usually, we'd encounter three or four wargs by now. And today, of all days, with an A-rank party... No chance to show my stuff.
At Arthur's signal, Lien scouted ahead.
"No footprints. Normally, the snow would be covered in monster tracks this time of year..."
Lien's insight was incredible. I'd traveled this path often but never noticed footprints.
"It's like all the monsters vanished clean. Did they follow yesterday's scent and never return?"
Marianne's words sent a chill down my spine. Had that fragrance lured every monster in these mountains?
"Stay alert."
Hafel gripped her greatsword, eyeing us pitifully.
"Especially you C-ranks. You wouldn't know how dangerous this silence is."
What do you know...
I swallowed the retort. Even here, she belittled us. Someday, I'd make her pay for that arrogance.
"Hafel."
Arthur's firm voice rang out.
"They're our comrades now. Respect each other, rank or no."
Hafel bit her lip and turned away. She couldn't defy Arthur.
Thank you, Arthur.
But it nagged at me. Why team with someone so haughty? She was A-rank skilled, sure, but that personality could fracture a party.
Oldin prodded with his staff as he walked.
"No traces at all is strange too. Monsters usually mark territory."
I scanned around again. He was right. No claw marks on trees or scratches on rocks.
"Come to think of it, the trolls and goblins that attacked the village haven't returned either."
Kevin was spot on. Where had all those monsters gone? I gripped my sword tighter.
"Something's... something's up."
The unnatural silence persisted as we climbed. This deadly path felt like a park stroll—peaceful, but that made it more unnerving.
"Hold."
Lien halted abruptly.
"That smell..."
The fragrance hit my nose, and my heart nearly stopped. Sweet yet deadly... wafting down from the peak.
"This scent..."
Marianne's eyes widened.
"It's the one from yesterday!"
Memories flashed: us on the brink of collapse against the trolls, then the sudden fragrance... monsters entranced, following it.
Arthur raised his shield hastily.
"Everyone, ready up."
Higher up, a gruesome scene unfolded. Countless monster corpses tangled in the snow. Wargs, trolls, goblins, wyverns, chimeras... an uncountable massacre.
This... no way...
In seven years adventuring, I'd never seen anything like it. Piles of bodies, including A-rank wyverns and chimeras.
"What the..."
Hafel clutched her greatsword. For the first time, her voice wavered. No wonder—a battle this scale would tax even an S-rank party.
"No blood."
Oldin pointed his staff at a nearby corpse.
"All bodily fluids drained clean."
Only then did I notice. Amid all these bodies, not a drop of blood stained the snow.
Demonkin? Dark mage?
No rumors of such in Sia Kalt, but...
Lien voiced my thoughts.
"Demonkin or dark mage?"
"No."
Oldin pointed again.
"Traces of monsters fighting each other."
Up close, wounds varied: pierced by sharp objects, bashed by hard impacts, gnawed by tiny mouths... But no blood anywhere.
Lien's breath quickened.
"Look... over there..."
Beyond the ridge, black shadows writhed. Hundreds of insect monsters clustered. Hyperborean ants, blizzard hornets, frost hoppers, icicle arachnes... every bug type from Sia Kalt.
Those... those are the killers?
The wounds matched the bugs. These tiny things pulled off a mass slaughter?
"Fall back!"
Arthur shouted. I drew my sword, preparing to retreat. But where to? Surrounded by that swarm...
"Wait."
Oldin raised his staff, blocking Arthur.
"They're not attacking."
True—the bugs just watched us, unmoving. But their eyes gleamed murderously, like instincts barely restrained.
"Look."
Marianne pointed skyward. Ice-wing flies swirled around us, translucent wings shimmering, gesturing as if to follow.
I nearly stepped forward, entranced, when Lien's shout snapped me back.
"Wait!"
She nocked an arrow at the butterflies.
"We need to turn back. This could be a trap..."
Before she finished, the bugs erupted in killing intent. Hundreds of compound eyes glowed coldly, fixed on us.
This... from bugs?
My legs shook. Each one outdid a troll's aura. Hundreds of them...
"...No choice."
Arthur sighed. He was right. We couldn't fight that horde. Even the kingdom's knights would falter.
We advanced slowly, guided by the flies into the swarm. The fragrance grew thicker.
"There..."
Marianne froze.
"That's..."
My breath caught at the sight. At the circle's center bloomed a single flower. Blood-red petals gleamed like rubies, a jet-black stem smooth as marble. Violet stamens like serpent tongues swayed, releasing the sweet scent. Dozens of black roots pierced the earth, cradling it like a throne.
It looked... like a monarch commanding this vast insect legion.
Yesterday's presence... it was this flower.
Marianne clutched her emblem with trembling hands.
"This... Lady Michael's... It's definitely her blessing."
"What!?"
"Huh?"
"What?"
Everyone gaped. Me included. A monster blessed by god? Absurd.
"It's faint, but clear."
Marianne's voice filled with awe.
"I feel Lady Michael's divine power from this flower."
I couldn't doubt her. Raised in the temple of light, her divine sense rivaled a saint's.
Suddenly, the air grew heavy.
"Ugh..."
An overwhelming pressure poured from the flower, making breathing hard. Like a mountain on my shoulders. Kevin and Marianne paled.
"This... this is..."
Arthur's shield hand trembled. An A-rank leader shaking? Impossible.
"S-rank monster... no, beyond that..."
Hafel's greatsword clattered. Fear flickered across her haughty face. I felt a grim satisfaction, but no time for it.
Lien and Oldin sweated silently. Fifty years of magic knowledge useless now.
Can this be real...
Seeing my idols crushed like this felt surreal, nightmarish.
Then, a black root rose slowly, pointing to the flower's center. Golden nectar glistened there.
"This is..."
The nectar sparkled like liquid jewels under moonlight. The scent teased, saliva pooling instinctively. But revulsion hit too—poison, or worse.
"...No."
Oldin shook his head slowly.
"Ingesting monster fluids... death, or worse—mind control."
"Ancient records say most who consume monster fluids..."
Before he finished, the bugs surged. Hundreds of claws, stingers, fangs aimed at us.
Is this... how it ends?
I'd dreamed of glory leaving home, not this. But resignation overtook fear. Stuck at C-rank seven years, dying like this...
"No choice, huh."
Marianne gripped her emblem tightly.
Arthur sighed deeply.
"I'll go first. If I..."
"No."
Marianne stepped forward.
"I'll do it. With Lady Michael's protection..."
Ah, got it.
She sensed divine power here. Maybe the nectar too...
With trembling hands, Marianne took the nectar, prayed briefly, then tasted it. Her eyes widened. Terror vanished, replaced by ecstatic bliss, like beholding heaven.
"This... this is..."
No fear in her quivering voice now.
The others followed. Oldin's wrinkled face brightened; Lien's tight lips smiled. Even Hafel softened.
My turn last. I stared at the golden nectar on the root tip. Death's taste? Or...
Whatever. No choice anyway.
As it touched my tongue, reason nearly fled. Not mere sweetness—this was a flavor from birth's first breath, impossible in this world. Sweet yet refreshing, soft yet intense. Every sense ignited. Childhood honeyed apples, royal desserts—pale comparisons.
How is this possible...
Ecstasy nearly overtook me when a fierce will pierced my mind.
Language!
Not words—mind to mind, like desperate longing.
Tell me!
I realized: the flower wanted to learn speech.
"It..."
Lien stared at the flower in shock.
"It has consciousness. Crystal clear..."
"It wants... to learn language?"
Kevin muttered.
Oldin stroked his beard.
"A monster seeking language... unprecedented."
"But how..."
The words burst out.
"How do you teach a flower to talk?"
Arthur pondered.
"To survive and return... we find a way."
We exchanged glances. A bizarre new challenge: teach a monster language, history's first.