Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos

Chapter 56. Cinderielle and Liu Shu.

Ariel's face changed a bit at Flor's offer. Regardless of whether she was sincere, they didn't need to guess. Flor had shown a willingness to kill over just suspicions. Now, she was giving them an offer based on their professions. While Ariel had never intended to work for monsters, she could see that these ones were different on a very fundamental level.

Flor had shown certain intelligence that you could only see in sapient creatures. While many beasts could think, act, and form small groups, they would never go beyond certain limits.

Ariel knew of this, so her eyes, while looking at Flor, who wished for something like a Caravan, changed from seeing her as an intelligent monster to an intelligent peer. After pondering for a while, she finally spoke. "I admit the offer is really tempting. However, Chief of the Rose Fairies, do you even have goods that can be traded that our caravan could have?"

She had dismissed it a few moments ago, but now that she learned that the monster was really trying to negotiate and not throwing words to confuse and tempt her, Ariel put forth her doubts.

Flor got thoughtful for a few moments and finally threw one <Basic Phoer Berry>, <Basic Aether Mana Berry>, and <Basic Energy Berry> at her.

The red, blue, and yellow fruits were easily caught by Ariel and the others. Then, they analyzed them and saw their effects. Ariel's eyebrows raised. "Not bad at all."

Flor smirked. "Those are just the basic ones. As the World Tree grows, she will naturally bear better fruits." Flor gestured with her not-burned arm. "Not only that, the World Tree has shown plenty of willingness to nurture her surroundings. She has fought alongside our group several times and protected us actively."

Ariel lifted her eyebrows. "That's rare. Usually, World Trees are of a non-interference mind."

Flor shrugged. "Well, she perhaps did so because she was attacked. However, I can tell you that she is not as indifferent as other World Trees. Her willingness to stop me from continuing to fight that woman should tell you something about her."

Ariel looked at the nearly seven-meter-tall tree with a profound expression. Robert looked at her with a severe expression and asked. "Ariel, are you thinking..."

She looked at him with a smirk and asked. "Wanna bet your lives? If we win, I think we'll become quite influential. If we fail, sadly, we might perish."

Robert sighed and crossed his arms. He was of an advanced age, so he did not have a strong adventurer's heart like he did in the past. Doles and Maley were much more interested in this, so they both swung an arm above Ariel's shoulders and smirked. "Let's do it!"

Ariel rolled her eyes and shrugged them off. Both brothers sniggered, and the three of them looked at the muscular man. Robert sighed and nodded. "Well, brats. It seems that I'll have the rust in my bones worn off while walking with you."

With a snort, Ariel answered. "If your bones are rusted, then mine are rotten!" Then, between the laughter of the other three, she looked at Flor and nodded. "Sure. I accept."

Flor relaxed and leaned on Liu Shu with a lazy body. "Finally, you accept. Sigh, all this work... I hate it."

Ariel didn't expect Flor to become a sloth-like creature suddenly, and her lips started twitching. 'I-is it really a good idea? What's with this change in attitude!?'

Cinderielle looked between Flor and Liu Shu a few times, making both the tree and the Rose Fairy Queen look on with confusion. Flor asked. "What's wrong?"

Cinderielle coughed and asked shyly. "C- Can I approach?"

Flor wanted to say no. After all, Cinderielle's eyes glowed strangely each time she looked at Liu Shu. Still, she decided to ask the tree. "What do you think, Liu Shu?"