Brain bloom

"Actually, there is one. The Rose Queen's crown is woven from thirty-two roses of different colors—but the petals contain several special spells engraved by the Rose Queen."

"This is the first time I've ever heard of this..."

Senshi skewered several fish and initially wanted to ask Fufu to sprinkle salt on them, but he hesitated and shook his head, starting to dry-roast them directly. Dandelion placed her flower crown on her knees and touched the flowers.

“We obtained a magic from the Queen of the Roses’ crown. The ghosts that wander in the night are actually guided out of people’s hearts.”

"What kind of magic?"

“‘Nightmares Come True’—that’s the name of the magic we’ve acquired.” She tilted her head slightly, her eyes reflecting the firelight that had been lit by the forest, and continued, “It only works at night, but it can turn any nightmare that occurs within its range into reality.”

"Is this the truth about ghosts?" Mori still didn't quite understand and asked for more explanation with his eyes.

"That's right, that's why those things called ghosts appear at night—after people have fallen asleep. As people drift off to sleep, if they have nightmares, the things that appear will be magically brought to life, and nightmare scenes will play out on the streets."

Mori's face turned ashen; she had actually made some guesses about this ghost.

For example, she thought those ghosts were souls killed by meteorites on Earth, and that they had traveled through time with her. But the truth revealed by Dandelion still exceeded her expectations.

Nightmares come true? Indeed, a good night's sleep is always a luxury, and many people have nightmares.

Dandelion's tone turned sorrowful—

"After the nation's destruction, the souls of many citizens did not find peace. Tu Mi actually carried the resentment of the entire nation. Tu Mi used this resentment to enhance her magic, which she then spread throughout the world, especially to the towns of our enemies. This resentment made her magic terrifyingly powerful..."

"May my compatriots find peace soon," Sen said sincerely, touching his heart and sighing.

“I have been working on this.”

Mori asked again, "What's the purpose of spreading magic? Is it for revenge?"

"Indeed, half of it was for revenge. In the first few nights, quite a few people really did die. Hahaha, it's really hilarious."

"...If you want revenge, why not just let the things in your nightmares kill everyone?"

"Unfortunately, it's beyond our control. And after so many people died initially, everyone found ways to live with ghosts, which is really annoying."

She continued:

"You remember that every house had things for exorcising evil spirits and for blessing, right? Those weren't just for show, and the churches in every town would bless every building."

Sen Shi was taken aback. Indeed, every household had these things, and they were quite popular in the free market. It seemed that this was the reason that prevented them from entering the houses and wreaking havoc.

The Four Seasons Race is indeed an extreme race, and the Kingdom of Flowers is not to be trifled with either. Sen Shi chuckled hoarsely a few times. Wouldn't it be better if everyone lived in peace? If war is inevitable, the retribution will be truly terrifying... But who wouldn't seek revenge in their place?

"And what about the other half of the reason?"

"Don't rush, let me explain slowly. Anyway, there's still a long night before we arrive in Silvermoon City."

Dandelion took a bite of the fish, found it tasteless, so she picked up Fufu and rubbed it all over the fish before eating it with satisfaction. Mori decided it was best not to say anything unappetizing and let her continue to enjoy the taste of the sea salt.

Besides, she wasn't in the mood to care about such trivial matters.

"To remember."

After swallowing the perfectly cooked fish, Dandelion hugged her knees, her tone becoming heavy.

“I often have nightmares, dreams of… when my homeland was still there. This is the only way I can remember all my compatriots. It can also make this damned world forever remember the anger of the Land of Flowers.”

"Princess……"

Before Sen could think of any comforting words, Dandelion smiled confidently.

"Don't worry! All our compatriots will find peaceful eternal rest, and resentment will eventually dissipate. I have been working towards this goal. You know our customs and the laws of life. When all resentment is liberated, new flowers and grasses will sprout."

Dandelion unilaterally ended the topic, beckoned Fufu with her finger, and let the light of the salt sprite illuminate the surroundings.

But even without doing so, the light of the full moon was serene enough to illuminate the direction of the voyage.

……

The next morning, after watering each other's plants, they passed the time by fishing, neither mentioning the conversation from the previous day. Mori hadn't slept well; she'd spent the entire night worrying about Dandelion and having nightmares.

Fortunately, nothing happened overnight; perhaps the magic's reach was limited to those towns.

As the sinner who caused the country's destruction, she secretly decided to be a good girl, hiding under the covers every day and never having any thoughts of spying on ghosts again—otherwise, the resentment of her compatriots would cause her to wither away.

"Oh, we've arrived!" Dandelion suddenly exclaimed excitedly.

"arrive?"

"look--"

Dandelion pointed into the distance, where the Broken Sword Memorial Tower, a symbol of Silvermoon City's permanent neutrality, was already faintly visible.

……

(The main plot and setting explanations are temporarily concluded. The content is a bit complicated, so feel free to skip it if you find it tedious...)

This book has reached 100,000 words, and I've only gotten 3,500 followers. Does that feel like a death sentence? Well, actually, I'm already very clear about the risks of writing something that's not mainstream, after all, I've already had two books flop. But what can't be changed is simply unchangeable.

Thank you all sincerely for reading and your support.

I'm sorry I didn't include all the thank-you notes I've accumulated from donations, razor blades, monthly tickets, and recommendation votes. I can only express these feelings through illustrations and extra chapters, letting actions speak louder than words.

Also, given that my premise is so far-fetched that no one guessed it, the side story from the old book will be included soon. It should be a plot where Qianli and Sigrid are constantly flirting with other women, and Angelica repeatedly drags them home?

Volume 1 #045: Initial Conception

The sea was no longer so calm and lonely, because the closer we got to Silvermoon City, the more ships came and went.

A few escort ships with fixed routes were patrolling, while various cargo ships, merchant ships, and service ships were also heading towards the Silvermoon City docks in an orderly fashion. Sen Shi observed for a while and found that most of them were steamships, but some of the more elaborate ships did not reveal their structure.

"How prosperous!" Dandelion nodded contentedly. "Prosperity is good; business will only get better in the future."

"Are we going to the port too? Won't this ship attract too much attention?"

"No, I have a private dock."

She used her hands to change the course of the paper boat, humming a song as she prepared to dock.

Silvermoon City is situated on an island of considerable size—yet as far as the eye can see, it is almost entirely mountainous.

This city wasn't very famous during the game's era. Back then, Silvermoon City didn't have the title of "permanently neutral," nor was it an open map for players, and it wasn't mentioned much in the storyline, so Sen Shi didn't know much about it.

Clearly, in this day and age, it holds an extraordinary status and symbolic significance.

The paper boat deviated from its normal course and headed towards the right rear of the island. Dandelion noticed Sen Shi's confusion and acted as a temporary tour guide.

"The rise of Silvermoon City also occurred after Balzac Mor took office, so it's normal that Sen Shi didn't know about it. It's an independent city-state, with two affiliated villages in addition to Silvermoon City. The island is very prosperous, but land is scarce due to the many mountains, so land is very valuable."

"Wait, so you mean you own a winery in a place like this? Wineries have quite a lot of land requirements."

Mori asked the question that Dandelion had been waiting for, and the latter smiled brightly and proudly explained:

"Yes, I do. Among the war reparations I received after the War of the Flowers was a piece of private land near Silvermoon City. This land was very valuable, so I could be considered a small landowner."

"Speaking of which, do you mind if I ask a serious question? What about the original land of the Land of Flowers?" Mori asked tentatively.

"It was blasted into ruins by the Tumi flower, and it's said to be plagued by a rather troublesome magical contamination, so it remains a forbidden area to this day. Moreover, it's also embroiled in political disputes. All parties want to take over that land, but none of them want to clean up the contamination."

"Could it be that you were involved in the so-called magical contamination as well?"

Because this is an extremely heavy topic, but Dandelion spoke of it lightly, without showing any concern for the ruins of her homeland, which is why Mori had this thought.

Dandelion nodded, confidently admitting, "The land of the Land of Flowers is not so fragile, nor will it suffer from any pollution."

……

The paper boat docked in front of a private harbor, surrounded by rolling, verdant hills.

But right in the middle, there was a fertile field. As soon as she stepped onto this land, the fresh air refreshed her entire body. She couldn't help but take off her hat, and for some reason, she had an impulse to be planted in the ground and rest peacefully for decades.

Dandelion carefully put away the paper boat and led Sen Shi into the pebbly path in the valley, walking among the neat rows of grapevines.

With a proud tone, she introduced the grape varieties, terroir, and how the climate affects the grape varieties to Sen Shi all the way, but she suddenly stopped after a short while.

"Even if I diligently brew wine for ten years, my income might only be equivalent to what you earn drawing a magic scroll..."

"Don't think like that. Didn't you specially pick the best grape varieties in the world? Your time has just begun."

"Hmm... but I probably still can't compare to you." She pouted.

“Princess, there’s really no need for us to compete. I started making money for you.” Sen Shi took a deep breath of the fragrant air. “The winery you own is beautiful, something money can’t buy. I’m so glad to live here with you.”

“I think if you were a man, you could use that mouth to win over the Demon Queen of Chaos… then we’d never have to worry about restoring our kingdom again.”

The dandelion pretended to sigh, but was actually very happy to be praised.

Delving a little deeper, Mori finally saw something characteristic of the Four Seasons people: wooden houses. Beside a wide, clear river, two-story wooden houses draped in flowers sat, their distinctive arched roofs and the abundance of flowers—a tradition of the Four Seasons people.

She knew this was where she would be living from now on—and it was a good place.

The two entered the cabin, which was fully equipped and much more welcoming than a hotel. However, it was covered in a layer of dust, perhaps because the owner had been away for a while. After a short rest, Dandelion and Senshi called out Fufu and together they began cleaning the room.

It wasn't until evening that they cleaned up their accommodation and replaced the bed in Mori's room on the second floor with a hardboard.

"In a few days, I, the princess, must find a maid or something, otherwise the great cause of restoring the kingdom will be wasted on cleaning."

"Buy, buy, buy! I'll give you the money."

After having a quick bite of Fufu grilled fish for dinner, they both felt the urge to take a bath. There was only one bathtub in the entire house, made of wood—a high-end item.

According to Dandelion, such a bathing facility costs nearly one hundred silver coins. Moreover, just like buying a fountain pen requires consumables like ink, taking a bath consumes two magic scrolls: 'Submerge' and 'Ignite'.

Fortunately, they were both magicians, so they could do this kind of small magic themselves. After understanding the principle, Sen Shi found it to be more convenient than an electric water heater.

Dandelion went in to take a bath first, while Senshi remained restless, feeling as if disaster was about to strike...

Taking a bath, this is a bath...

She looked down at her body, which she was already used to. Was she going to be completely naked soon? Unlike when she slept in a little dress, this was a girl's body with nothing left on.

"Mori, the bathroom is empty. You can use my spare bathrobe for now, since we're about the same size anyway."

"Oh, are you already done washing?"

"It was just a casual soak, what's wrong? Why do you look so pale? Did Fufu lick you again?"

"...It's alright, I'll go right away."

Mori was filled with unease as it was finally her turn to take a bath.

However, when she crawled inside, nervously took off her clothes, and touched herself all over, she realized that she didn't actually feel anything. In fact, very few people get aroused by themselves; Mori was a normal person.

On the contrary, I feel a little inferior because of my lack of curves... I should have created a more curvy character when I created my alternate account.