[Quest: Maria's Trouble.]
[Description: You met with Maria and saved her from the goblins. However, she turned out to be in a difficult situation because her attempt to grow rare flower seeds failed due to an unsuitable environment. As a result, she has spent almost all her money since winter ended.]
[Task 1: Help Maria fill her bag with mushrooms. (0/1)]
[Task 2: Help Maria find at least 20 valuable plant seeds or saplings. (0/20)]
[Time Limit: 2 days.]
[Reward: +5 EXP, +1 skill point, +10 copper coins.]
'What a responsive game! Or system? Well, whatever it is called...'
Dian's attention was briefly distracted by the sudden appearance of the quest panel, but he quickly refocused back on the woman, Maria. The description of the quest further strengthened his determination to help her.
"No, but..." Maria hesitated. She didn't want to trouble Dian more than she already had. She was very grateful to him for saving her and this alone had already make her conflicted about how she could repay this favor to this unknown young man. Even if he helped her gather mushrooms, she had no way to repay him.
Just as she was about to decline his offer, Dian smiled softly at her.
"Don't worry, I just want to help you because you remind me of my grandmother."
Maria was stunned for a moment. She looked into Dian's eyes and saw sincerity—he was telling the truth. There was no deception, only a genuine desire to help her.
Faced with such a sincere offer, how could she reject him? She immediately accepted his offer with a smile, promising herself to repay him to the best of her ability. Maybe she could invite him to share a warm meal with her and her children.
The two introduced themselves as they began looking for mushrooms and plant seeds.
"Do you live in a nearby village, Maria?" Dian asked.
Having just turned 20 last month, the age gap between them was minimal, allowing them to drop formalities and call each other by name.
Maria nodded in response. "Yes. I moved to Grebir Village about six months ago with my two children, Rean and Risa," she answered while searching for mushrooms near any nearby moldy logs, tree stumps, and rocks.
Dian noticed the missing member of her family. "Your husband is...?" he inquired, his tone innocent and simply following the flow of conversation.
"He's already passed away in the war," Maria replied, revealing the mushrooms she had found from an old, moldy log.
When Dian glanced at the mushrooms, he noticed that two of them were poisonous. He immediately warned Maria to discard them and apologized for bringing back any painful memories.
Maria didn't seem to mind; she had already moved on from her husband's death and was focused on living fully for her children.
The process of gathering mushrooms and seeds went quickly due to Dian's Eye of Wisdom and Maria's botanical expertise. He even discovered a particularly valuable sapling that surprised Maria when he identified it.
[Item: Fairbell Tree (Sapling)]
[Tier: Rare.]
[Description: A sapling of a rare tree called the Fairbell tree, said to be blessed by fairies. It will reach maturity in two months and will produce tiny, gleaming blue berries known as Fairbells during the Fall and Winter. These berries are very valuable for increasing one's total MP without leveling up.]
"Fairbell! I didn't know that they actually exist!" Maria exclaimed.
"Is it really that amazing?" Dian asked curiously.
Maria had already forgotten her earlier fear and despair after being captured by goblins. She began to excitedly explain the tales of Fairbell that she had heard as a child.
"It was said that Fairbell was very beneficial for extending one's life. Because it is blessed by fairies, some tales even claim that consuming ripe Fairbell from the Fairbell tree could enhance your magical talents! It's a wonderful discovery! If sold, you could get at least 300 gold coins for it!"
Dian cast a doubtful glance at the ordinary-looking sapling he held.
'These tales are extremely exaggerated...'
Maria then calmed herself down.
"Of course, that is only if this sapling is indeed from the Fairbell tree," she said, clearly not fully convinced about the assumption that the sapling in his hands is actually the real Fairbell tree sapling.
Given the exaggerated tales she had heard as a child, it was natural for her to doubt that this petite, thin sapling in his hands could be the legendary Fairbell tree sapling.
Dian didn't insist on proving her wrong. Based on what he had heard from Maria earlier, this world still lagged behind Earth in terms of technology. The residents, living in an era with limited information, tended to believe heavily in their legends and tales. If he handed the sapling to Maria, and others later discovered it when it matured, their greed could harm Maria and her children. He preferred to prevent that from happening, so he decided to store the sapling with him.
Like a typical game character, he had a storage system capable of holding items. Currently, his storage was limited to ten items, but it seemed that he could expand it in a specific way in the future.
Also, although it was somewhat late, he was now wearing clothes that appeared typical for adventurers of this world: a tunic, leather boots and gloves, all topped with a worn, ash-colored robe.
With this appearance, he could blend into this world without drawing suspicion.
Dian and Maria continued to gather more mushrooms, seeds, and saplings.
When the sun reached its highest point in the sky, they finally collected enough. This also meant that Dian had successfully completed his first quest.
[Congratulations! You have successfully completed Quest: Maria's Trouble! Gaining +5 EXP, +1 skill point, and +10 Copper coins.]
[You have successfully leveled up to level 2! Gaining +7 stat points and +2 skill points. The next level up will require 20 EXP.]
Maria smiled gratefully at him as she managed to fill her bag with mushrooms, along with 14 seeds and 6 saplings of valuable plants.
"Once again, thank you very much, Dian! How about joining me and my children for lunch?" she offered while showing him the way to the village.