The fairy maid cheers for her deceased master today.

In the afternoon, the Royal Botanic Gardens was bustling with people at its entrance. Horse-drawn carriages came one after another.

Gentlemen wore top hats, ladies held parasols, and the air was filled with the scents of perfume and flowers.

Upon arriving here, Ax was momentarily disoriented.

In the morning, we faced a terrifying alien disaster and almost lost our lives.

But by the afternoon, the world was beautiful.

Such a peaceful and beautiful world... makes it impossible to imagine that so-called alien natural disasters could erupt at any moment.

But perhaps everyone has already gotten used to it. Humans are always very adaptable.

Ax handed the invitation to the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper bowed and let him into the park.

"So many people..." Angel gripped X's hand tightly, her blue eyes curiously scanning the surroundings.

Ex fixed her hair: "Don't wander around. This is noble territory. Be mindful of your appearance."

Irene, suppressing her excitement, hurried towards the display board and called out to X, "Look! The first-place winner of this fern collecting contest will receive a medal from the Queen!"

Irene was both excited and shaking her head. She seemed to feel she should have entered the competition much earlier.

Ax walked over and saw that the display board read:

"This is a special event organized by the Victorian Fern Lovers' Association. The winner of this fern collection and display competition will receive a medal personally signed by the Queen."

Angel jumped up: "I want to participate!"

"And what about your exhibits?"

Angel's face immediately fell. But that was the Queen's autograph! If only she could have it.

Elena continued with an expectant expression: "I heard that this year's judge is Sir Joseph Hooker himself."

Ax raised an eyebrow: "That famous botanist?"

The fragments of memory contained information about a botanist. Since the original owner of this body knew about him, he must be a very famous person.

“That’s right.” Elena nodded. “He’s the author of ‘On the Origin of Plant Species’.”

X suddenly realized.

Irena is likely a grass-type fairy, and her abilities are related to plants. So it's only natural that she's interested in plants.

Elena looked at X, lowered her head, and suddenly whispered, "Thank you."

"Um?"

"I know, Sir, you didn't want me to be down, you wanted me to cheer up, that's why you brought me here. Don't worry, I'm very capable. After all, I'm a former Holy Path Fairy."

"what?"

"Sir, you are so kind. You even specially chose the botanical garden, which is my favorite place... Well, that's it, thank you so much."

As she spoke, Elena became a little embarrassed, so she quickly walked into the botanical garden.

Angel leaned closer: "Hey, Master, what are you talking about?"

"He rambled on about a bunch of random things."

Ex touched his nose.

I chose to come to the botanical garden... really just because I saw that invitation on the table. And it happened to be today.

It's simply that we're stuck on a case and have no leads. So we decided to do something else, since we felt it would be a waste not to use the invitation.

Shaking his head slightly, Axe followed and walked into the Royal Botanic Garden.

Right now, in front of an exhibition hall, there's a small area that looks like it's used for events.

"Distinguished guests!" The host rang a small bronze bell. "The fern digging competition is now beginning!"

The crowd immediately erupted in excitement. Gentlemen, armed with special tools, carefully dug up the ferns. Ladies watched and took notes, occasionally letting out a gasp of surprise.

"Look! That's a moon staghorn fern!"

"No, that's a bluebird's nest fern!"

Discussions rose and fell.

Ex asked curiously, "What kind of competition is this?"

"A competition that tests your skills in digging up ferns."

"You can even compare these?" Ex said, expressing his amazement.

"Of course, these are all easily startled ferns. If you're not careful, they'll immediately become deformed, for example, by folding their leaves."

Irene spoke fluently, demonstrating her expertise in this type of competition.

"Are you good at this?"

"Of course!"

"Could it be cheating?"

Irene stands with her hands on her hips.

"I'm a professional!"

Come to think of it, they were former members of the Holy Path Society and demons, so they probably wouldn't stoop to cheating.

However, Angel wasn't interested in the competition. Instead, she dragged Ax to a display of ferns: "Master! Look, these are so beautiful!"

Ex crouched down and saw a strangely shaped fern with leaves that spread out like feathers and shimmered with a metallic sheen in the sunlight.

"This is an iron-winged fern." A gentle voice came from behind.

Axe turned around and saw a middle-aged gentleman wearing glasses, dressed in an elegant black tuxedo, with the Royal Botanic Gardens badge pinned to his chest.

"Sir Joseph Hooker." Elena noticed the visitor and seemed somewhat surprised, immediately bowing.

Sir Hook smiled and nodded: "The two fairy ladies have excellent taste. This is a rare variant of fern. It's something most people wouldn't encounter."

Angel puffed out her slightly voluptuous chest: "I am Master's most capable assistant!"

Sir Hooker laughed: "Then do you know another name for this fern?"

Angel immediately shut up.

Irene, however, laughed and replied, "The Ironwing Fern is also known as the Adit Fern!"

That's the name of the person who discovered this fern. It was originally named after him.

Sir Hooker raised an eyebrow in surprise: "I didn't expect Miss Fairy to be so professional."

"I'm very interested in ferns. So I've learned a lot about them," Elena said with a touch of pride.

Sir Hook looked at Axe: "And who is this gentleman...?"

"I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Sir Ax Moore." With that, Ax extended his hand to the other man. "It is an honor to meet you, a botanist."

Sir Hooker did not extend his hand, but instead said apologetically, "I'm sorry, my hand is injured and I cannot take off my gloves."

Indeed, the other person was wearing light-colored gloves.

Ax naturally didn't mind such a small matter. He chuckled and nodded in understanding.

"Since Sir Moore possesses a contracted fairy who is so knowledgeable about ferns, perhaps you yourself are also quite knowledgeable in botany?"

It is clear that Sir Hooker has misunderstood something.

Angel immediately jumped out: "Nonsense! Master belongs to me alone!"

Ex coughed, clenching his fist: "Etiquette."

Angel gave an "oh" sound, looking sullen, but immediately stood obediently behind her.

Seeing that Elena was in a daze, Ax smiled modestly at Sir Hooker and said, "I know a little bit about it."

Sir Hooker, however, was very interested: "Then you must know that ferns are among the oldest plants on Earth."

Elena snapped out of her reverie and immediately nodded: "Yes. Legend has it that they are even older than the alien species."

"That's right." Sir Hook nodded approvingly. "And they have a special way of reproducing—spores."

Angel nodded and said, "It's like magic!"

Spores are like magic? What kind of nonsense is that?

Ex said he didn't understand. "I can't talk to you real magicians."

I rely entirely on the system to cast spells.

Anyway, I have the system, so if I don't understand, I don't understand.

Sir Hook laughed: "You're right, you're all experts. You've come to the right place today. Come, let me show you our special exhibits."

This is an opportunity not to be missed.

The group walked inside and soon arrived at a special greenhouse. Under the glass roof, various ferns grew lushly, and the air was filled with the moist scent of earth.

"These are our latest research findings," Sir Hook said, pointing to a huge fern. "This is a new species brought back from the Amazon, and we're temporarily calling it the 'Emperor Fern'."

Ex looked at the fern, its leaves spreading out to a diameter of over two meters, shimmering in the sunlight.

"It's spectacular..." Elena exclaimed.

Ax felt the trip was worthwhile. It completely shattered his preconceived notions.

Angel also circled around the fern, seemingly trying to memorize every part of it.

Sir Hooker was in a good mood upon seeing such support from several people, and his beard twitched.

Then Sir Hooker suddenly lowered his voice: "Actually, we have an even more special exhibit."

Oh? There's another expert!?