Kindness

It was late at night when the Witch and the Succubus returned to the Red Witch’s house. They just finished putting dinner on the table. The Paladin looked visibly tired when the Red Witch called him out from the room.

“It’s a tricky curse,” he said. “I think I understand most of it, but it’ll take more work.”

Dinner was simple. All the vegetables came from the garden outside, and the ham was delectably well aged.

“I want to thank you all for helping Blue, but I didn’t have too much food on hand since I wasn’t expecting so many people today,” the Red Witch said. She looked around the table apologetically.

“This is plenty, Red, and I didn’t give you more advanced notice that I was coming,” White Rose said.

“I’m afraid that even if you had given me more notice, I would still barely have time to prepare much since I had to monitor Blue pretty closely,” Red Witch said.

The mood hadn’t been good since dinner started. The Paladin sighed as he ate. The Red Witch, still in a state of mini-panic over Bluejoy’s condition, only took tiny bites. From the looks of the Scholar’s and Fleur’s faces, it didn’t seem like they made much headway on their experiments.

“I was able to go about halfway down into the labyrinth,” the Witch said. “The good news is that the monsters so far were not difficult to handle.”

“I don’t think it’ll be much of a problem,” the Succubus said.

All around the table, the group looked relieved.

“However,” the Witch continued, “We don’t know what the latter half of the labyrinth is like. We’ll explore more tomorrow.”

“Yes, thank you very much,” the Red Witch said. She was very thankful that she wasn’t alone anymore and that there were more people now to help Bluejoy. Even though they were all strangers, they were willing to help out of the kindness of their own hearts. She couldn’t ask for more. Therefore, no matter what outcomes lie ahead, she decided that she would be grateful.

“I’m not happy to see one of us in such a dire condition. Of course I’m happy to help,” the White Rose said.

“As a Paladin, it’s my duty to help others. If I don’t, I would be breaking my oath,” the Paladin said. “Not doing anything about this evil act would insult my pride as a knight. I want to catch whoever did this. However, saving the Blue Witch takes priority.”

“I will follow wherever my mistress goes and do her bidding, that’s all,” the Succubus said.

It was justifiable that the White Rose and the Paladin would help. However, the Scholar and the Fleur only met Bluejoy recently.

“I understand,” the Red Witch said. She turned to the Scholar and the Fleur. “I can see that you have no obligation to stay. I’m thankful for all you’ve done. However, things will only get harder. I will not hold it against you if you wish to leave.”

“I’m a Scholar who’s always looking for new and interesting things,” the Scholar said. “How can I leave when there’s a mana plant and an unusual curse right here?”

He waves his hands around as if everything was a new discovery.

“Besides, I’m on a Scholar’s journey to discover new things. This is just perfect. I couldn’t ask for a better. Whether we can lift the curse and cure the Blue Witch, however, isn’t something I can guarantee, but I do have my own motive to see her alive and return to health again.”

“I’m glad that this happenstance just coincidentally matched up to the purpose of your travels,” the Red Witch said. “I thank you for your assistance.”

The Scholar grinned back at her and said, “I’m the one who should be thanking you for allowing me to stay.”

The Red Witch nodded back to the Scholar in acknowledgment.

She turned to the Fleur with a gentle smile. “It’s rare to see a fleur, and even rarer to talk and share a table with one.”

The Fleur returned with a shy smile. “It was time to update our knowledge of the faunas of the world. I had only been on the road for a week, and I’ve collected samples of more than a dozen new species we’ve never seen before. Now that there’s a chance to see a mana plant, there’s no way I’m leaving.” The Fleur’s eyes sparked, and tiny flowers excitedly sprouted from her hand. “Oh, please excuse me,” she said, returning the flowers to her body.

“How fascinating,” the Red Witch said, fascinated by the flowers. “Little is known about the Fleur because they’re such rare sightings. To think that you can grow flowers from your body.”

The Fleur blushed. “We can produce any flower as long as we absorb a part of that flower into us. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to produce a mana plant. If possible, I’d like to enter the cave to see those plants,” The Fleur said to the Witch and the Succubus.

“That would be a good idea,” the Scholar said. “As we were brainstorming different ideas, we realized that there was too much we don’t know about the properties of the plants. To utilize the mana plant’s potential, we need first-hand knowledge. Since it’s a plant that can’t survive unless it’s in the purest environment, we might have to process it inside the labyrinth, or even while its roots are still in the ground.”

The Succubus narrowed her eyes at the Scholar and the Fleur. It was one thing for her and her mistress, but these two were far too weak. Not only would they potentially be deadweight, but they might also even bring harm to her mistress with their incompetence.

Last time, her mistress almost didn’t survive the last level of the labyrinth with just her and her Guide.

The Succubus looked to her mistress, and it seemed like the White Rose was also thinking the same. However, conflict clouded over her eyes.

“I think it would be difficult for the two of you to head down there,” the Succubus said. “Last time when my mistress and her companion went on their own, they almost didn’t survive. I believe it would be wiser to find a way to bring the mana plant out.”

“That would be the ideal situation,” the Scholar said, tapping his finger on the table. “However, if worse comes to worst, we might need to bring the Blue Witch down there. I’m not thrilled about the monsters, but we should be prepared just in case.”

Everyone knew it was going to be a difficult task. However, no one would have predicted that even after two weeks, they still wouldn’t catch a glimpse of the mana plant.