“No, sorry, I haven’t seen anything like that.”

  “Are you sure? Think harder.”

  “Nope, nothing. Wait, what color did you say it urple?”

  “No! I said blue!”

  “Oooooh!”

  “Well?”

  “Well what?”

  “Did you see a blue flower like that or not?”

  “Oh no, haven’t seen a blue oher.”

  Balthazar felt an urge to tear his hair out, but fortunately, as a crab, he had no hair. Unfortunately, as a human, the adventurer in front of him did have hair, and the temptation was being quite difficult to ignore.

  Thankfully, the easily fused man walked away soon enough, leaving Balthazar to his other thoughts.

  The desperate mert had spent the entire m stopping every traveler who passed by the road, not to peddle his wares, but to ask them if they knew of a certain blue flower with five long sharp petals that only blooms once a year.

  Most did not know of any such flower, some could swear they had seen it before, but couldn’t recall where or if it wasn’t something else simir, and a few had even cimed to have it on them, only to present him with a on blue flower from the pins.

  Both his patiend his hopes were at an end.

  Druma remained on his bed, boung between a feverish, trembling sleep, and an uate of unsciousness where he mumble to himself.

  Bouldy had not left his side the eime, remaining firmly stuck to the ground behind the haystack, watg over his friend. Not that the golem ever used to sleep before, but who did sleep most of the day was Blue, and even she seemed to sense something bad was going on, and spent a lot of her time lying on her cushion, looking mopey and the sick goblin without getting any shut-eye.

  If Balthazar didn’t know better, he could almost swear it was as if she felt guilty for it all. But Balthazar did know better, and he doubted she really felt remorse, given how little the drake seemed to care when it was the crab who was surrounded by the wolves before.

  Such a heartless and disobedient creature, always doing as she chooses, never doing what she’s told. Definitely not something Balthazar appreciated. Just like irony.

  The notification of his level up tinued softly blinking in the er of his eye sihe enter with the wolves ended, but the crab had felt little desire to deal with the system’s nonsense.

  “Argh, quit bugging me. I got more important things to worry about than stupid level ups right now.”

  But blinking is in the er of one’s eye had a way of not listening to verbal pints, and so it tinued on blinking.

  Letting out a sharp exhale, Balthazar came to terms with the fact that it would be faster to just get the whole thing done and over with while waiting for someone else to walk by than to tinue ign it all day.

  “Fine, level 12, throw my stupid attribute point into Intellige’s 22 now, big whoop,” the grumpy crab mumbled as he his eyes dashed through the menus. “Bah, gotta pick a pointless skill, too, I guess. Would be nice if there was ohat let me find rare flowers under a rock, but that would be asking for too much, I’m sure. Or ohat helps me with drakes and dumb adventurers who ’t follow basistrus.”

  Balthazar stopped for a moment, looking up at the sky thoughtfully.

  “Wait a moment, that might not be the silliest idea you’ve had yet, Balthazar,” the crab told himself, as he scrolled through the long list of avaible skills. “Aha! This souly like what I need.”

  [Leadership: F]

  [The ability to better and and inspire those around you.]

  [ Rank Requirements: Level 5, Intelligence 10, Charisma D]

  [Upgrade]

  Figuring he had little to lose at that point, he firmed the upgrade, and upgraded the new skill to a D.

  “Probably not going to do much yet,” Balthazar said, while dismissing all the system’s menus back to the er of his sight, “but what else am I going to spend it on? The Dang skill? Hopefully Leadership will let me ‘inspire’ one of these fools to fihat flower, and maybe make a stubborn drake finally listen to me.”

  He looked over to the ter of the islet again, at Blue, still on her cushion.

  “Yeah, fat that st part.”

  Still feeling bitter about it, he turned his gaze away from the islet and back to the road, where another adventurer approached, this one looking like some sort of knight, wearing heavy steel armor from head to toe, parts of it adorned with white and yellow banners.

  Balthazar wondered how that one mao fight anything, given how stiff and unfortable their way of walking was in that set of armor.

  The crab took a look through his mo the awkward figure.

  [Level 12 Knight Padin]

  “Good m, uh… noble knight,” Balthazar said.

  The adveopped and stiffly looked around while holding one hand over the ma their waist.

  “Who goes there?” the knight asked.

  To the mert’s surprise, the voice sounded feminine, something he would have no way of guessing uhe bulk of all the armor she wore.

  Her steel helmet, that resembled a bucket with two narrow slits for the eyes, clearly restricted her vision, as she tinued sing the area around herself horizontally, but failing to look down to where the crab was, right by her feet.

  “Reveal yourself!” she demanded.

  “Er… down here,” Balthazar said, trying to wave one pincer up in front of her helmet.

  With difficulty, she bent at the waist slightly to look down at him.

  “Good heavens! You’re a crab!” she said, with a startled jump.

  “Yes, thanks for letting me know, but I have already been made aware of that,” the crab casually said. “I’m Balthazar, and I’m a local mert. You might have heard of me in town.”

  “Ah, yes. Now that I think about it, they did mention something about a crab who sells goods and wares outside of town,” she said, while stroking the of her helmet, for whatever odd reason the crab could not hope to fathom.

  “Right, that would be me. Gd we skip on the whole trying to hit the talking crab with a blunt object business.”

  “Ha-ha! Fear not, dear creature!” the boastful knight said in a loud voice. “I would not harm anyone unwarranted, only if you posed a threat and acted violently against me or the i would I be forced to deliver upon you the holy justiy blessed mace.”

  Balthazar sighed. It would seem Ardville had an unending stock of nutjob adventurers.

  “But,” she tinued, “I’m afraid I do not need any wares at the moment, mert. My course is set, and my journey is already pnned. All my supplies have been carefully taken care of before I left your neighb town.”

  “Yes, that’s fine. I’m not actually trying to sell you anything,” the increasingly impatient crab said. “I was actually just looking to ask if you wouldn’t happen to have e across a certain type of flower before, and if so, if you would be willing to sell its petals to me.”

  “A flower?” the bucket head repeated. “I’m afraid not. I ot afford to waste time gathering flowers in my crusade, friend. My mission is to help those in need wherever they might be, not to be pig petals and chasing butterflies.”

  “Exactly, helping those in need,” Balthazar said. “That’s us. I hose petals for a potion that would cure my friend, who is gravely ill. That’s what you’re ied in, is it not? Helping. Well, there you go. I just need someoo fihose damals to cure my sick friend. ’t get any more basic than that in terms of s, or whatever.”

  “Aha!” the padin said, pg her hands on her waist. “Why did you not say so from the start, kind crab? To help those who are ill is one of the acts for a padin such as myself. Right o sying the foul undead or bashing the skulls of disgusting goblins.”

  Balthazar wi the st part of her sentence, but thankfully for him, she was uo have seen it from her limited field of view.

  “Right, sure. Anyway,” he quickly said, “ you tell me if you’ve ever seen a blue flower that looks like this? It’s called frostshade.”

  The crab unfolded a small piece of part where the orc shaman had drawn a sketch of the flower and offered it to the adventurer.

  She took the paper and brought it up in front of her visor, moving it several times closer and further away, as if having difficulty seeing the charcoal drawing. Which she probably did, given her refusal to remove the helmet.

  “Hmm,” the padin pondered. “I ot say that I have ever seen such a peculiar flower. My apologies.”

  “I figured as much,” the disappointed crusta said, taking the paper back. “Still, if by any ce you see ah petals of it, make sure y them to me right away. I will reward you handsomely for them, better than any alchemist. Just get them here right away.”

  “Oh-ho!” she excimed. “So it is to be a noble quest! To seek a cure for an ill retive.”

  “No, it’s not a quest, damn it!” an exasperated Balthazar said. “Why do you all adventurers insist on saying that?”

  The knight scratched the top of her metal helmet with the tip of her gloved finger. Once again, for whatever strange reason that the crab could not uand.

  “Is it not?” she asked. “It really sounds like your average fetch quest to me.”

  “No! It’s not! I’m just asking that if you fials from this flower, that y them to me, and I will reward you for it, and… damn it, it does sound like a typical quest.”

  The knight padin shrugged. “That’s what I was trying to say.”

  Balthazar sighed i.

  “Worry not, little crab,” the adventurer said, pg a hand over her heart, “I, Hah, knight padin, swear on my honor that I will see your quest through, and bring you the cure for your friend, whatever it takes.”

  “For the st time, I’m not a quest giver!” the irritated crab excimed.

  Hah dropped her shoulders and rexed her heroic stance before speaking in a lower, less boastful voice.

  “Look, mate, I’m trying really hard to py a role here, and you’re kinda ruining my groove and immersion. ’t you just, like, I don’t know, go along with it, please? I’ll get your flower, just help me help you out, alright?”

  Balthazar stared with ay expression at the equally empty steel surface c the adventurer’s face.

  His friend was fighting pain and fever while he wasted time arguiics with a loon who was a little too muto the whole holy noble knight act. He wasn’t sure whie looked more ridiculous at that point.

  “Fine,” he said with a long sigh. “Will you… urgh… noble knight padin… help me find the petals of this blue frostshade, so that I may cure my friend’s ailment? I will repay your... kindness if you find them for me.”

  Balthazar struggled to finish the words, and once he did, he felt he would least two whole pies before the bitter taste would leave his mouth.

  “Very well!” the once again boastful knight announced. “I shall set out on my journey and find you this rare cure, kind crab! For your friend. For you. For the gods!”

  The crab stood staring impassively at her.

  “Right,” she finally said, seeing his ck of rea. “Off I go, then. I will journey north now and hopefully return soon with good news. Farewell, mert.”

  Balthazar watched as she tinued her way down the road, heading south, armor g with every step.

  “Pretending to give quests to idiots,” the golden crab said, while shaking his shell. “I ’t believe I’ve stooped this low.”

  H0st