The Snake Queen was serious business, the authorities of the Fairy Queendom seemed quite worried about her. She was some sort of snake, right? Was she a big snake like the midboss? It would be hard to fight her if that's the case… Ugh, we won't be doing this any time soon though, we all want to sleep, we are merely waiting for things to cool down here.
"G-Going to the swamps? So soon after their initial invasion? Are you insane, Nieve?"
"You might be the Magic Knight's Capitan but that doesn't make you the one that takes the decisions in here!"
"We lack power as well, all our golems ended destroyed by that enormous beast that was miraculously defeated… And our troops are all wounded and with lowered morale, going there would be an absolute suicide."
"I-I know that!" Nieve said. "But if we don't do anything, we'll only give more time to the Snake Queen to make more of her children. Who knows how many hundreds of eggs she has already laid in her lair, slowly growing into more of those vicious creatures? The entire forest will be overrun by then ultimately! I bet her numbers are low now and she must be preparing for something big again. We have to strike while the iron is hot!"
The officers and generals didn't seem to agree with her idea and were all waving their heads and simply trying to ignore her. Their looks of disapproval was all she got from them.
"We won't do something so risky yet, I am sorry, Nieve."
"Nonetheless, it should be more important to repair the golems and the Barrier Crystals that are creating the Barrier itself, if we end up ignoring the most basic of things, it might get bad."
"We also need to look for clues of the traitor behind the sabotage of the golems, be more mindful."
"Right…" Nieve was shut down at the end. However, I felt the impulse to speak while the rest of my party was watching in silence, nobody had much energy to get involved in such a heated conversation…
Except me.
"Excuse me, but can I say something?" I asked.
"Ah, yes?"
"What is it?"
"Ah, the Dryad. We shall give you a reward for your aid later."
"No, no, I don't want any reward. Don't worry. I just wanted to say that I was willing to go to the swamp and help you defeat the Snake Queen. Nieve, you can come with us if you want to, we'll appreciate a powerful Magic Knight like you in our party." I said with the gentlest smile I could to lift her spirits.
"Y-You what?! You're willing to do so much for us?!"
"But the Snake Queen and the swamps… We haven't said anything because you've done a lot already, it would be out of our way to ask you even more…"
"It would be hurting our pride, quite honestly."
"Well, I just want to go and defeat her because that's what the Tree of the Beginning has asked me to do. As a Spirit of Nature, it is my duty." I said with a benevolent voice.
"Planta…!" Nieve cried. Her face twisted with many emotions, as she began to cry a bit.
"Eh? Don't cry…!" I said, trying to make her feel composed.
"T-Thanks!" She cried. "I'll help you as well!"
The other fairies looked at one another.
"It is true that you possess incredible power as a group, but how exactly are you planning on doing this, and when?"
"We are afraid we won't be able to provide too many soldiers for your cause."
"Indeed…"
"Ah! Don't worry about it. We are quite competent, and this is a Quest made by the Tree of Beginnings and also the Gods, it is our duty." I said, reassuring them. "More importantly, I would like to ask you for a few resources, such as Medicinal Herbs, and perhaps Potions."
"Oh, we got that in the storage. We could provide you with such things."
"Yes, do you need this for your travels?"
"Partially! Also, Acorn here is an amazing Alchemist, Apothecary, and Doctor. He has already made up a new recipe that could potentially cure the disease." I said. "Right, Acorn?"
"Y-Yes! That's right. I have made something up." He said.
The fairies were skeptical of a squirrel-kin. They seemed to see these beast people as "lowers" than them, perhaps due to their animalistic appearances.
"A squirrel-kin being capable of making up a cure to this disease not even our greatest experts have been able to heal?"
"…But he's part of her party, she might be saying the truth."
"We once not believed her and she proved us wrong. Let us have… a little faith on them this time around."
"True… I suppose we can do as much."
The fairies quickly agreed to aid us with any resources they had disponible.
"Alright then! We need to first make an All Anti-Curse Remedy, which requires a few materials. I have around over half of the available in my Item Box, but we need to go pick up the rest. This is also why I wanted to check if you had these items. After we are done with the All-Anti-Curse Remedy, we need to make Cure-All Base, and then refine it with the Venom of the Snakes here. They must be all related." Said Acorn.
"What are the ingredients you need?" The old Fairy Lady asked, as Acorn gave her a rough paper with a written list of things.
"I got most of the ones I put a circle on, but the rest are missing. I know where they can be picked up but I doubt we'll have time to do this leisurely right now…" Acorn said.
"Hmm… Anti Paralysis Oil Extract, Sundown Flowers, Salty Grass Oil Extract… Ah, I believe we got everything you need! But this quantity of materials… Almost over thirty! You've conceived an immense recipe!" Said the woman.
"Yeah, I am making an Elixir!"
"Y-You know how to make Elixirs?!"
"Yeah! I learned from my grandpa."
Acorn seemed to be way more than the fairies had expected from him.
