Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 85

“As a defense mechanism, the Crocus Cobaea is poisonous for most creatures. They rely on the wind to carry their seeds away to reproduce. Once pollinated, they grow fairly large, inedible fruits.”

The anthousai grabbed the book she was reading and nodded.

“Now that I have explained all the five plants,” she said, “I will give you about ten minutes to discuss with each other about which you think is the poisonous plant. If you have an answer before your ten minutes is up, then come to me and tell me.”

With that, the anthousai sat a few meters away from them at another bench. She opened her book and began reading again. Laurelai sighed.

“All right, ” the fairy clapped her hands, “Let us discuss this.”

They looked at Davitt, who ushered them to stand in front of the bench so that they could get a good look at the five plants lying on the table.

“Okay,” Davitt said, opening his notebook, “Here’s what we know. There are five plants here.”

Everyone nodded.

“We have the Carya Monticola, a small plant, and can be used as an energizer,” he said, pointing at the small plant, “Next to it is the Centaurea Pitchatum, a rare pitch-black plant, and the anthousai told us that it is poisonous, which may or may not be true.”

“Yeah,” Laurelai nodded, “You know what they say; looks can be deceiving.”

Laojin crossed his arms and nodded.

“The next plant is the Ficus Soulangiana,” Davitt continued, “She told us that it is her favorite.”

‘I wonder why she said that,’ Astoria thought, pouting her lips as she thought about what the reason could be.

“She said this plant can be used for medicine to treat wounds,” the gargoyle tilted his head as he examined the plant.

“I remember that she also said once pollinated, they grow small, delicious nuts which are used in the making of hazelnut and raspberry fruitcake,” Astoria added.

Laurelai clasped her hands together.

“Do you think she likes hazelnut and raspberry fruitcake?” the fairy asked, “Maybe she said that because that fruitcake is her favorite.”

Laojin and Davitt nodded.

“It is a possibility,” Davitt said.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his brown hair. This caused Laurelai to stare at him in longing. The fairy was really smitten by him. Her mouth was wide open as she stared at his strong arms.

“Hey,” Astoria nudged her, causing the fairy to shake her head as she snapped out for her daze, “Don’t stare for so long unless you are planning on making him realise you like him.”

She whispered to the fairy, and Laurelai tugged some red strands behind her ear and blushed slightly.

“Sorry,” the fairy whispered back, “I couldn’t help it.”

They stared at Davitt, who was examining the plants with Laojin.

“We agreed that we are canceling out the Childanthus Betonicifolia, right?” Davitt asked, staring at his team members.

“Yes, you can trust me on that part,” the fairy nodded, “I would phone my dad for more clarification, but we are not allowed to use our phones to do this race.”

Davitt nodded and pointed at a medium-sized plant.

“Finally, the Crocus Cobaea,” he said, examining the plant, “It is a very common plant and is used to treat wounds.”

“Now, among the four, we have to find which one is poisonous,” Laojin pressed his lips together as the others scanned the four plants.

Laurelai patted his shoulder.

“Remember what we learned at the academy?” she asked him.

“Huh?” the troll tilted his forehead and furrowed his brow in confusion.

“There are two traits to a poisonous plant,” the fairy said with a smile, “Firstly, most poisonous plants produce inedible fruits.”

Davitt nodded.

“They also don’t grow any type of flower,” he added, pointing at the plants.

Laojin nodded.

“That anthousai,” the troll said, scanning the plants, “She said that the Carya Monticola and the Centaurea Pitchatum grow flowers, and the Ficus Soulangiana as well.”

“Which leaves the Crocus Cobaea as the only plant which does not grow any flowers,” Astoria pinched her nose as she came to a realisation, “She also said that it is poisonous to some creatures and it grows inedible fruits.”

Laojin sighed.

“Okay, I get the two traits of a poisonous plant,” the troll said, earning their attention, “But remember that she did say she lied about a poisonous plant and made it seem not poisonous, so how sure are we that she did not lie about the plant Nexi mentioned?”

Davitt smiled and signaled everyone to look at him as he snapped his fingers.

“I forgot to mention something which I just remembered now,” he said.

“Mention what?” Astoria asked, wondering what he wanted to tell them.

“I read a book about plants once when I was young, out of curiosity,” the gargoyle explained and pointed at the Crocus Cobaea, “It mentioned something about poisonous plants. one of the dominant characteristics is that it is square-shaped.”

Laurelai and Laojin’s eyes widened.

“A-are you sure?” the fairy stammered, her green eyes darting from the gargoyle to the Crocus Cobaea plant.

Davitt nodded and looked at the gargoyle.

“How much time do we have left for discussion?” he asked him.

Laojin brought his arm to his face and stared at his watch.

“Two minutes,” he placed his arm to his side.

Davitt nodded.

“Okay, everyone,” he told the team, “We have two choices, which, according to my observation, are one of the poisonous plants.”

“Which ones are those?” the fairy asked, tilting her head to the side with an anticipated look on her face.

“It is either the Crocus Cobaea and the Ficus Soulangiana,” Davitt told them, closing his notebook.

The team examined the two plants and had a few seconds of discussion. The anthousai walked towards them and stood by the table when the time was up. She smiled at them.

“I trust the team came to a decision,” she asked them, and they nodded.

Astoria pressed her lips together and clasped her hands. She hoped, for Nexi’s sake, that their decision was right. That they picked the correct plant.

“Great, and which plant have you picked to be the poisonous one?” she asked them.

As the group leader, Davitt wanted to be the one to tell the anthousai the answer. No one had any objections to his suggestion. He pointed at the medium-sized plant.

“Our answer is the Crocus Cobaea,” he told the anthousai, who smiled ambiguously.

“Is that your final answer?” she asked them, and they all nodded.

She clapped her hands, and the plants disappeared.

“You do realize that if you are wrong, a new set of plants will appear, and you will have to redo this challenge, right?” she asked them, and they nodded.

They all pressed their lips as they waited for her to tell them if their answer was correct or not. Did they pass the challenge, or did they fail it? Did they have to redo it? That would be such a waste of time. This would cause them to be behind.

“Well, then,” the anthousai said, “Your answer is…”

They all held their breaths as they felt like the anticipation of the correct answer eating away their very oxygen.

“That is… correct!” the anthousai clapped her hands in delight, “As expected, students from Leararts Academy are knowledgeable.”

Astoria and everyone else in the team let out a long sigh of relief and grinned, beaming from ear to ear.

“Thank the Goddess!” the fairy exclaimed, placing a hand on her beating heart and trying to calm it.

“Now on to your riddle,” the anthousai said with an angelic smile on her face.

They nodded and listened to her attentively.

“Reaching stiffly for the sky, I bare my fingers when it is cold,” the anthousai began, “In warmth, I wear an emerald glove, and in between, I dress in gold. What am I?”

Astoria stared at her teammates.

‘I bare my fingers when it is cold?’ she thought, biting her lip, ‘Wearing emerald gloves in warmth?’

“Do you think it is a living thing?” Laurelai asked her teammates.

“It could be a plant like a tree,” Astoria said after a while.

“A plant like a tree?” Laojin asked, his brow furrowed.

Astoria nodded.

“Warmth could be summer, the cold could refer to winter, and in between could be spring and autumn,” she told them.

“That makes sense,” Laurelai snapped her finger, “because when it is cold, most trees lose their leaves or their leaves freeze.”

“So the ‘bare my fingers’ could mean-”

“A deciduous tree branches!” Laojin exclaimed as the answer hit him, casting him to cut off the class president, “Sorry, I got excited.”

Everyone laughed, and they nodded at each other.

“Do you have the answer to the riddle?” the anthousai asked, looking at each of them.

They nodded and, as a team, gave the answer.

“A deciduous tree!” they answered in unison.

The anthousai clapped her hands and nodded.

“Correct!”