Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Chapter 153. Vera, Shadows, and Flor’s Firm Stance.

Flor's group arrived at Sirol City when it was getting dark. The guards at the entrance of the city noticed Flor right away. Her appearance was very eye-catching, after all. 

Flor was a very petite woman with large wings behind her and a wild yet pretty dress clearly made out of leaves. Her aura was clearly strong, and her beauty felt very natural. Like a pair of rubies, her eyes had an ethereal glow that attracted attention. 

It was easy to distinguish her inhuman nature at first glance. 

"Halt!" 

Verdantia and the rest stopped calmly, already expecting this. Verdantia commented. "We are headed toward the <Explorer Association>. The creature here is called Flor. She is an intelligent Rose Fairy that wants to speak with them."

The guard snorted. "I don't care what her name is, Sylvan! A monster can't enter a city, or it will be too late to stop it if they go on a rampage! Can you bear the responsibility of the death of those innocent people when she goes on a rampage?"

Verdantia smiled coldly. "I can. I also know that you are doing your job. Therefore, I will give you a few chances. Now, make way and let us in."

The other guard saw that his partner was about to go ballistic, so he grabbed his arm to stop him and asked. "What's your name?"

"Verdantia Liferoot."

The angered guard froze in place, and his face paled at a visible pace. The other guard's lips twitched. "Miss Verdantia, please excuse his attitude, it was-."

"I know." Verdantia cut them short. "Now, can you make way? I want to go to the Explorer Association before they close down, which…" Looking skyward, she added. "should be soon."

The guards nodded a few times. "Of course, miss. Go on."

Verdantia smiled gently. "Thank you." 

Cinderielle followed Verdantia and clicked her tongue. "Really, having Aunty Verena as your mother is like a cheat. I would've needed to spend who knows how much time if they even allowed us to enter."

Verena looked to the right, and her smile disappeared. "Sadly, not all are benefits."

"Oh? Verdantia!"

Tempestria, Flor, and Cinderielle looked sideways and saw a woman with similar green hair approaching. Her height was a head shorter than Verdantia's, but other than that, they had a few similarities. Verdantia answered. "Cousin? What are you doing here?"

The green-haired woman snorted and crossed her arms arrogantly. "What, I can't be here?"

Verdantia commented. "I don't know, who told me that staying here instead of going beyond the <Wall Forest> was a waste of my talents? That this place was barren of opportunities?" Verdantia looked down and raised her eyebrow. "Do you mind reminding me, Vera?" 

Vera snorted. "I was right when I told you about it! You were just lucky that something happened in that useless Golden Sap Forest!" 

Flor frowned, but she held back her mouth. She was here to show that she was civilized; if she had snapped here, it would have given people a bad first impression. So, after a few seconds, she took a deep breath and recovered her composure. 

What she didn't know was that there were quite a few high-level people observing everything from the shadows. 

"I told you, didn't I?"

"I wanted to check myself. A monster's nature is fickle. There are plenty of intelligent monsters that have no shred of empathy or forward-thinking, using their intelligence to do nothing but hunt. I wanted to check if Flor has compassion in her."

"Whatever. Will you accept now or what?"

"I will. But, I won't place any law. If they fail and die in the process, that's their fate." 

"Fair enough. As long as you help me keep those old people away for a while, I am more than satisfied. Well, it's not like something like this will interest them."

"You should also not be that interested, yet here you are. You spoil your daughter too much."

"Perhaps~."

Flor blinked and looked toward the building toward the right, confused. 'Hm…?' Then, she shook her head and looked forward. 

Verdantia asked. "Is something wrong, Flor?" 

Flor answered calmly. "Nothing. Should we go?"

Vera snorted and demanded answers. "Go where! And also, what is that thing? Your new summon? A pet? How did you make her talk!?"

Verdantia sighed. "Vera, you are 19. You should mature a bit. Who behaves like you? People would confuse you with an average human brat if it weren't for your hair." 

Vera puffed her cheeks. "Meany!" 

Verdantia spoke. "Anyway, I am going. We can talk later if you want to catch up or speak. I am staying in the inn near the Explorer Association."

Then, she turned and left. 

Cinderielle commented once they were far away. "That cousin of yours is… explosive." 

Tempestria chuckled. "I wouldn't want to have someone like that, to be honest."

Verdantia shrugged. "She is family, so I needed to take care of her from time to time. She is quite spoiled, which resulted in that attitude." 

Tempestria clicked her tongue. "Discipline is lacking nowadays. Too many arrogant people in our age bracket." 

Verdantia didn't deny it. Even if Vera had no bad intentions and probably just wished for attention, that was no way of getting it. Regardless of the intention, her attitude being inappropriate was a fact.

It didn't take long for the Explorer Association's building to appear in the distance. The people who accompanied Verdantia looked at Flor and then at Verdantia. "Miss, it was a nice trip." Then, they looked at Flor, and the bearded man spoke. "I was a bit rude. It seems that your intentions are different."

Flor spoke flatly. "No need to apologize. I was expecting this and much worse things. Monsters are not welcome anywhere, after all." Flor added. "With reason at that. I don't want to promote monster-kind. The grand majority will attack anything or anyone." 

The people looked at Flor with clear surprise in their eyes, and the bearded man smiled. "It seems that I really misjudged you. I sincerely apologize."

Flor nodded. "Apologies accepted." 

Cinderielle commented. "Let's go in, they are about to close."

Verdantia and Tempestria followed behind and entered the building. Once inside, they were about to approach the receptionist when someone stopped them. "Hello, Miss Verdantia, Miss Cinderielle, Miss Tempestria, Miss Flor. The headmaster of this Explorer Association building is waiting for you."

The four of them were confused but decided to follow since he had invited them. It's not like they could deny the invitation. After all, they intended to talk with the headmaster to set up the town formally. 

After going up to the fifth floor, they entered the room and were welcomed by a relatively luxurious setting. Beautiful wooden furniture and carpets adorned the walls and floor, while there was a stylish lamp hanging from the ceiling, illuminating the room.

The man sitting on the other side of the desk looked at the four of them with a piercing gaze. His gaze seemed to have weight. Such a sensation was difficult to feel for our girls, so they guessed that he probably was a <Second Cycle> person.

The man spoke, gesturing with his hand. "Sit down. I more or less know why you are here." 

Flor saw that there was a seat for her size as well, leaving her speechless. She flew over and sat, looking at the man who was looking at her. "Flor, right? You are a Rose Fairy that has managed to gain strength beyond what a Rose Fairy is expected to have."

Flor didn't deny it. "I have been lucky and have had several encounters with different natural treasures. I was able to eventually reach my current level of strength and also gain enough intelligence to understand… Or, well, start to understand how large the difference between intelligent races and monsters is."

The man nodded with praise. "The ability to reflect and know that you have a lot to learn already shows that your intellect is truly similar to humans, Sylvans, and beastkin. I want to ask, what about the rest of your race?" 

Flor crossed her arms, becoming thoughtful. "I can't say with 100% honesty that they are similarly intelligent. However, their intellect is enough to understand right from wrong. We've lost most of our 'Wild' side and only acted in self-defense for the last several months."

The man's smile became cold, and he spoke. "And yet, there have been several deaths. Many Explorer groups have disappeared, with most being confirmed dead."

Flor didn't flinch and said. "We are in a very delicate situation. If any of those who discovered our town returned, we feared that there would be retaliation since we are monster folk. You would feel threatened if you heard about a group of monsters building a town. A small sign of a beast tide is enough for the Explorer Association to place it everywhere; a town of monsters would be quickly exterminated." 

The man asked with a threatening face. "Didn't you think of capturing them, for example? Why kill so ruthlessly?"

Flor defended her stance. "Being ruthless is not only particular to monster folk. You, humans, Sylvans, and beastkin have captured my sisters and elders to sell their wings and other body parts for money. Who knows if there aren't Rose Fairies being forced to germinate their seeds to grow unending 'Practice Targets' for the sects?" 

Verdantia, Cinderielle, and Tempestria noticed Flor's rising emotions and wanted to stop her. 

However, it was too late. 

Thinking of such places that might exist, Flor's face fell, and she shouted. "The one that should be angry is me! Most Explorers are greedy people who want to loot the forest without thinking of consequences! We, Rose Fairies, even before our increase in intelligence, never actively hunted! We wanted to protect nature and attacked everyone who disrupted that. We bear no blame for greedy people who, even when YOUR organization warns them, decided to step into our territory in search of opportunity and treasures!"

The three Sylvans paused and looked at Flor deeply. Then, they choose not to say anything and let her continue. They were clearly taking her side. 

Flor stated powerfully. "They had a choice and decided to risk their life for riches! They failed! Therefore, they died! Monster folk or not, any creature that wants to protect their home would've reacted the same way!" 

Realizing that she had been shouting at the person who she wanted to convince, Flor grimaced.

The Rose Fairy Queen took a deep breath and relaxed her surging emotions. However, she didn't speak right away, as Flor could feel that she was becoming emotional. 'Did I blow my only opportunity? Did I need to explode like this right now? Couldn't I have swallowed everything a bit more? Stupid. Stupid Flor. Why did you do that? Sigh…'

Not hearing anything from anyone, she spoke lowly. "Excuse me, I was too emotional. Allow me to recover my bearing."

The man who had been with a serious and gloomy face smiled and leaned back. "No need. That was great." 

Flor raised her head and blinked a few times. "Huh?"

The man laughed. "I said, that was great! I completely agree with you. Rose Fairies are one of the few monsters that are in the 'Inoffensive until offended' catalog of our monster encyclopedia. They are an awesome race that takes care of forests just in exchange for the plants to protect their future generations. You are like the Level 0 species of honeybees, only good for the environment and almost harmless." He smirked. "Although you seem to have evolved a bit further than a simple harmless honeybee."

Flor smiled awkwardly, and the man said. "Okay, let's talk about what you came here for!"

The Rose Fairy Queen felt a wave of relief and smiled. "Thank you." 

Behind Flor, the three Sylvans smiled and looked at the little woman with admiration.