Chapter 30: Seeds Of Change

[New World Quest – Chapter.0]
[Collect all the ‘Seeds’ scattered across the Arcana Continent]
[Reward: ]
[Failure: ]

“Huh?”

The world quest that appeared was quite simple. Collect all the things similar to the cherry blossom seed I had just absorbed. However, the information contained in the simple sentence was not light at all.

First, similar things to the cherry blossom seed were scattered throughout the Arcana continent. And it probably meant that they had already bloomed like the cherry blossom tree.

I don’t know how many seeds were scattered, or what the abilities of each seed were. But I could clearly tell that I shouldn’t leave those seeds alone.

Just the cherry blossom tree had created an eerie, beautiful man-eating garden that lured intelligent beings to suck their strength and grow.

If I hadn’t found it and it had appeared in the middle of the academy…the damage would probably have been unimaginable.

The main characters who would stop the demon army’s southward advance in the future would have all died here.

“If this happens, I can’t ignore it.”

The reward field of the quest and the field for the penalty for failure were empty, but that didn’t mean it was a quest that could be ignored.

If a being like this cherry blossom tree grew on the northern absolute defense line…the result would be truly terrible. The absolute defense line would collapse and the original work would be completely ruined.

To prevent such a situation, I had to find these ‘beings’. Absorb the seeds, become stronger, and prevent the coming disaster.

“Sigh, this is crazy.”

Originally, [Arcana Academy] was a game that could be cleared by the heroines even without the intervention of the protagonist.

After all, this was a dating sim. It was a game where the romance route was the main focus, not defeating the demon lord.

So until now, I honestly didn’t have much thought.

I knew that the world would be fine even without me. So I just wanted to intervene in the tragedies of the original work.

For an ordinary young man who lived in a peaceful 21st century, the responsibility to save the world was too heavy.

But the countdown had already begun a long time ago.

The fact that the cherry blossom tree had bloomed meant that the other ‘seeds’ that the quest was talking about had also started to bloom. No, maybe there was one that had already bloomed and was growing.

And no one else knew of the existence of this ‘seed’ except me. Even if I told them about its existence, they wouldn’t believe me.

“Sigh…”

I let out a deep sigh and stood up.

I lightly gestured, and the cherry blossom garden melted away, and the shape of the Stigmata changed again.

The light purple mixed in my hair returned to its original color, and the faint pink tint in my amethyst eyes disappeared.

[Player ID: Sian]
[Lv:47]
[Strength: D+]
[Agility: C+]
[Stamina: C-]
[Mentality: B]
[Mana: C+]
[Charm: A]
[Owned Stigmata: Blink][Set]
[Owned Stigmata: Cherry Blossom Garden]

I closed the status window and moved.

As soon as I deactivated ‘Cherry Blossom Garden’, fatigue rushed in, so it was difficult to keep thinking.

“For now, let’s think about this a little more.”

A truth I learned from working as an adventurer for over 5 years.

When you can’t find an answer no matter how much you worry about it right now, take your time to think about it.

It wasn’t a light choice to risk my life to save the world. I wasn’t sure what would happen if I sat here and thought about it for a hundred days, so I cut down the blocked entrance.

“In the end, I couldn’t meet the Saint.”

Originally, I should have received a follow-up quest, but it seemed like it was impossible to receive the quest since the cherry blossom tree suddenly appeared.

I sighed and moved on.

Honestly, if I could recruit the Saint well, it would be easier in the future, but since I obtained ‘Cherry Blossom Garden’, a healer wasn’t absolutely necessary.

As soon as I absorbed the ‘seed’ of the cherry blossom tree, the first thing that changed was the gaze of the people around me.

My appearance, which was already quite cute, had a subtle charm added to it, unconsciously making expressions and actions thanks to the Charm (A) stat.

The difference was most strongly felt in the garden in the afternoon after class.

I was the top student of the swordsmanship department, having defeated Yelena Frost in the first duel of the academy. So I was already receiving various gazes, but the quality was a little different.

“Sigh…”

Just sighing lightly and brushing my hair back made some gazes turn towards me.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed this change.

“Sian, did you put on perfume?”

“Kya?!”

A voice heard from behind me as I was absentmindedly lost in thought. Along with that, a soft breath felt on my nape.

Yelena’s breath tickling my nape made my body shudder, and a creepy something crawled up my spine.

My cheeks flushed red like a ripe apple, and my legs automatically closed. I tried to calm my trembling body and turned around.

“I, I was surprised…!”

A faint watery sound was mixed in my voice. My jewel-like eyes trembled, and a faint, excited breath escaped between my lips.

Then, for some reason, Yelena’s gaze became dazed.

Her silver eyes scanned from my nape to my lips. My body shuddered involuntarily at the blatant and stinging gaze that Yelena had never shown before.

The cold eyes of the Frost family resembled the beasts of the north. For that reason, I felt a chill down my spine at the sight of Yelena swallowing with half-lidded eyes.

Was this the gaze of a predator looking at its prey? I felt a strong, unfounded anxiety that I would be eaten if I stayed like this.

So, I carefully called Yelena.

“Y-Yelena…?”

“Ah, ugh…? Ahem!”

Then, Yelena, blushing, took a step back. A girlish reaction, along with a faint smile on Yelena’s face, which seemed puzzled.

“Are you okay? Your face suddenly seems to be flushed, are you not feeling well?”

“…It’s nothing to worry about. A daughter of Frost, who handles cold, won’t catch a cold.”

“Hmm, well. That’s true.”

In the first place, the Frost family itself has strong resistance to cold.

The Stigmata that had been passed down through the Frost family was an ice-type Stigmata, so there was no way they would be harmed by their own Stigmata.

So, I lightly brushed off Yelena’s strange reaction.

“Where’s Regina?”

“Ugh, I…I was here all along…”

“Ugh?!”

I didn’t notice Regina because I was concentrating on Yelena. Regina, who was looking at me timidly from behind Yelena, approached me and asked.

“But, certainly…Sian smells faintly of cherry blossoms…”

Was this also because of the cherry blossom seed?

Even if I set the Stigmata to Blink, it seems that I can’t hide the changes after absorbing the cherry blossom seed.

Thinking that, I held out my hands to both of them.

“Have you both had a good day?”

“Well, it was so-so.”

“I…didn’t have anything special either…!”

Tomorrow will be busy.

It’s time to start studying.

So I asked to enjoy this last bit of leisure.

“Then, shall we go make something special?”

“I like…it!”

“I’m in favor too.”

The two girls held my hands as usual. I smiled at them and felt relieved.

Fortunately, Yelena and Regina didn’t seem to be affected much by the seed. We’ll probably be able to remain good friends forever.