Alex hummed softly as he returned to the Inn, there Sakuya and Lilith were waiting for him; upon sensing his arrival, Sakuya smiled.
''How was it?" Sakuya inquired, Lilith seemed interested, judging from her reaction, Sakuya must have told her what happened, how she had a brief talk with the Guild master before telling her where Alex was, if not for her, Celesta might have to wait until dawn when the two returned from their date.
Taking a seat across from the girls, by the way they were using Alex's room, Alex roughly explained the situation to them.
''So, the reward for this mission is to be able to board the ferry to pass through the kingdoms, principalities and arrive at the other side?" Lilith asked; she wanted to be sure if she heard right.
Alex nodded to indicate that she hadn't heard wrong. There was a reason for Alex and the girls to come to this particular city; it's because Blue Ivy was connected to a part of the endless sea, a sea said to traverse through all the continents.
The trio wants to board the ferry to traverse to the other side of the human continent; by doing this, they would considerably reduce the distance to the Demon's continent. They could have chosen to continue by land by it would take too much time, although the endless sea was a bit dangerous this time of the year, with fewer ferry willing to sail on it, they still believe that they could take a ferry to traverse, however, reality had proven to be cruel as the group couldn't find a ferry to board, not in a short time, it would take one month to one month and a half before they could be able to traverse. This left the group to be depressed. Therefore they decided to take a break to consider further options. This nominated quest arrived; its timely arrival couldn't be more welcomed; the reward was so enticing that Alex would be a fool; if he ever refused, after completing this mission, he and his group would immediately board a special ferry prepared by Celesta. Hearing the reward, Alex accepted the nominated quest; it is only Aurora grass delivery and some investigation; it shall be done in no time, so he believes.
''I understand, you will be leaving immediately; in the meantime, what shall Sakuya and I do?" Lilith inquired with a smile that wasn't really a smile; the fact not to be able to go with him somehow left a sour aftertaste in Lilith's mouth; she could not understand why she was feeling like this.
''Ayi! Don't worry, stay here; you may try to dive in the underwater dungeon in my absence or else spar with each. It won't take long; the tamed griffon wouldn't be able to take more than two persons, it is still pretty young after all. Don't worry; if I need help, I will contact you, and you will sneak out and carry Sakuya with you. Well, girls, I shall depart at once.'' Alex said as he stood up, giving the girls a beautiful smile he left.
Sakuya and Lilith exchanged glances before chuckling; they have decided to spar with each other; a smile couldn't help but blossom on Sakuya's face at the prospect of fighting against a strong opponent.
•••••
At the same time as Alex mounted the griffon and left the city, in the Adventurer guild in Blue Ivy. Inside the guild master room, Celesta could be seen staring at a magic crystal, a higher level of communication stone.
Pouring mana into this magic crystal, an image was projected.
It was the face of a man in his Sixties. He had a long beard, wore a robe, and had a sense of profound wisdom in his eyes. He was a mage who had been in the same party as Celesta several decades ago, Mathias. Their former party leader Ludic, was the acting lord of the city of Xeeno, while Mathias, like Celesta, was serving as a guild master.
''Celesta, my friend, Are you contacting us this time about the Aurora grass?"
Her former party member, who usually kept a calm expression, had a grave look. From that along, Celesta could easily imagine the crisis that Xeeno is currently in. However, nothing would change even if she had a severe expression, so Celesta nodded with a smile.
''Yes, we gathered a large amount of Aurora grass powder, and the carrier left the city a short time ago.''
''I see. It will take seven days to arrive at the earliest with the fastest magic carriage. I hope the patients with Magic Fever will be able to last until the carrier arrives.''
''Don't worry, the one I have sent would take so much time. Certainly, it will take one week even with the fastest magic carriage, but only if it is by land.''
Celesta's words made Mathias widened his eyes; hope began bubbling inside his chest; he had forgotten about the crazy things these former party members of his were able to accomplish.
''Fufufu! Recently, I have just tamed a young griffon, and I have a talented adventurer mount it to bring the Aurora grass powder over to your side.'' Celesta calmly explained.
Mathias was beyond surprised; he sighed when suddenly, he remembered something.
''Wait, this Adventurer of yours couldn't happen to have a magic storage, doesn't he?"
Facing this question, Celesta smiled; the answer couldn't be more obvious. Indeed Alex does possess a space ring.
''I see, that is a piece of great news. We just have to wait for this man to show up quickly.'' Mathias said with a smile; he felt like some of his loads had been taken off. The future wasn't looking bleak as it was anymore.
Suddenly, Mathias, who was feeling relieved from the current situation, heard Celesta's serious voice.
''Old D, tell me honestly what is happening? How can a magic fever start of the blue? Not even Blue Ivy has seen a Magic fever for decades, considering our proximity to the sea. There must be something else going on, and I know you must know something.''
Facing his old friend's serious tone, Mathias sighed, his shoulders slumped.
''Celes, Although I don't know what is the real cause behind this magic fever as we didn't get the opportunity to fully investigate before more than half of the city got contaminated. Few days prior, the purple fog started appearing from the Forest of Monsters at the east of the city, we sent time to investigate, but some came back while some simply disappeared. As you know, we lack adventurers over here due to the lack of dungeons and monsters, powerful monsters. I want to investigate personally, but as you can see, I can't, not before completely curing the sicks. It would be great if I had a talented adventurer on my side to investigate, sigh! I'm getting older. I should retire. My old bones couldn't take so much pressure.''
Celesta chuckled before saying, ''Don't worry, the one I sent his Rank 7 on par with Rank 8.''
This news made Mathias happier; he couldn't wait to see Alex and what he could do.