Princess of the Silver Ocean - Chapter 87

“A deciduous tree!” they answered in unison.

The anthousai clapped her hands and nodded.

“Correct!”

Astoria yelled in triumph, feeling a sense of relief that their answer was correct.

“Here you go,” the anthousai said, holding a piece of a puzzle.

Astoria took it and thanked her. They stared at the puzzle piece, which had an image of a part of a plant. She put it in her belt bag and smiled.

“We should get going since we agreed on spending thirty minutes on each location,” Laojin said, staring at his watch.

They nodded and bowed at the anthousai.

“Thank you for your time,” they told her, and she smiled at them.

“Thank you for keeping me company, and I wish you well at the remaining locations of the riddle race. I hope you will continue to work this well in all the other locations. Your teamwork is really great.”

Astoria and the others stared at each other and smiled. Yeah, their teamwork was surprisingly great, making her happy because she wanted Nexi to get a good mark for this subject.

“Bye!” the anthousai watched as the students waved goodbye at her and left the Future Garden of East Corrilt.

When Astoria and her team stepped outside the Future Garden of East Corrilt, they stood next to the fairy and looked at the map.

“We managed to finish within the time frame,” Laojin said, staring at his watch.

Davitt sighed and nodded.

“I am glad,” the gargoyle said, running his hands through his hair.

“Now,” they heard the fairy say, “The closest location to here is the Summerna Park.”

The fairy looked up from the map and pointed in the direction of the map.

“If I am not mistaken,” she said, pressing her fingers to her chin, “When I was sitting next to the cab driver in front, I saw the entrance to the park. I estimate that it should be a five-minute walk from here.”

Everyone nodded, and the fairy put the map away and held Astoria’s hand. The two began to walk away.

“This way, boys,” Laurelai exclaimed, ushering Laojin and Davitt to follow them.

The guys exchanged glances and shrugged. They then followed behind Astoria and Laurelai, who were happily chatting away. Well, it was mostly Laurelai. She was amazed at all the shops they came across.

“Look at that!” she pointed at a shop that was selling dresses, “We should come here tomorrow to look around and do a little shopping.”

Astoria did not really love to shop, especially since she wore jeans, a t-shirt, jacket, and sneakers for work. Because of that, she mostly had those kinds of clothes and did not bother shopping for girly clothes. She had a more tomboyish style, after all.

“Yeah, we should,” she said, nodding her head in agreement.

Although she was not really keen on walking around to do some shopping, she did want to know more about this place. She wanted to try going to the different recreational venues.

“Wow, they even have a huge cake shop,” Laurelai’s mouth was salivating, “I would love to try some.”

She sighed, and they continued walking.

“We are here,” Astoria said as she read the entrance that had italicized text which read, ‘Summerna Park.’

They walked towards the entrance and noticed how there were flower patches situated in every corner. It was as if it was a botanical garden. The park was huge, and there were tables and benches lined up everywhere.

Some couples and families were having picnics and enjoying the time they got to spend together. Children were running about, screaming and laughing. Different creatures were going about, enjoying the beautiful park. Trolls, witches, anthousai, treants, elves, dwarves, etc.

“How are we supposed to find our anthousai in such a huge park?” Laojin groaned, bowing his head.

Astoria scrunched her nose and came to a sudden realisation.

“Hey guys,” she said, getting everyone’s attention, “Do you not think that Miss Yalvina gave us the brochure for a reason?”

The fairy took out the brochure and opened it to the page about Summerna Park.

“Hm?” the fairy said, furrowing her brow, “You might just be on to something.”

The fairy read the brochure page.

“What if every anthousai is situated at a famous spot within the location?” Astoria suggested, “Laurelai, turn to the page on the Future Garden of East Corrilt and tell me all the famous spots.”

The fairy nodded and turned to the page, and her eyes widened.

“The pond!” the fairy exclaimed, looking up from the brochure and to Astoria.

Her face lit up.

“It says here that the pond is the most famous spot at the Future Garden of East Corrilt,” the fairy read.

She held up the brochure page and showed them, pointing at a picture of the pond.

“As for this park,” the fairy turned the pages of the brochure and skimmed what was said about the park. Her eyes were glued to something she had just landed upon.

“It says here,” she looked up at them, “that this park is famous for a hyacinth statue.”

Laojin tilted his head.

“A statue?” Davitt asked.

The fairy nodded her head.

“Built a few dozen years ago, this group statue at the grand plaza is here to celebrate the peaceful life this region is known for and has upheld for so many years,” the fairy showed them the picture of the hyacinth statue,

“It is huge!” Laojin exclaimed as his eyes widened at the statue’s size, stated below the image.

“It says here,” Astoria bowed her head to read the text below the statue’s image, “that its position within this city is meant to represent the blossoming of both life and the city throughout all periods of time.”

She looked around to see if she could find any glimpse of the hyacinth statue. The fairy brought the page to her face and read on.

“It was designed by a famous national artist who exquisitely captured the cultural history of the city,” the fairy softly said, ” She used a smooth style to convey her vision in this piece of art.”

Davitt was curious to see what the statue looked like in person.

“Can anybody see the statue?” he asked as his eyes scanned the park as the team walked around.

“Every element of the statue was crafted and created with high-quality materials from local suppliers,” Laurelai read on while also scanning the park as they walked around, “ensuring it will be an integral part of this city for many generations more. Wow! That is amazing.”

She closed the brochure and put it away. Her teammates watched as the fairy ran up to an elderly elf couple.

“Good afternoon,” she greeted them with a smile on her face.

“Oh, what a beautiful girl! Saleh, look!” the female elf said, adjusting her glasses.

The fairy giggled, feeling giddy because of the compliment. The woman’s husband nodded.

“Thank you, ma’am,” the fairy said at the woman, “May I please ask you something?”

The elderly couple smiled at her, and they nodded.

“We are looking for the Hyacinth Statue,” Laurelai told them, “But since we are new here, we got lost looking for it.”

“That is understandable,” the female elf said, “This park is big after all.”

“The statue is just around the corner,” the male elf said, adjusting his glasses, “Just walk straight and turn left once you reach the mango tree.”

“Yes, thank you very much for your assistance,” Laurelai said as she bowed at them both.

“It is our pleasure, dear,” the female elf said.

The elf suddenly stretched out her hands and wrapped them around the fairy’s hands.

“Beautiful girl,” Laurelai heard the female elf say, “Are you married, perhaps?”

“Or do you have a boyfriend?” the male elf added, smiling at her.

She pressed her lips together and shook her head, ‘no.’

The female elf smiled at her answer.

“I have a son who is just as handsome as you are beautiful,” she told the fairy, “Marrying someone as beautiful as you would make him so happy.”

The elf’s husband nodded vigorously. Meanwhile, Astoria and the others were watching the scene.

“What in the world is going on there?” Astoria asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“Beats me,” Laojin shrugged, “But we are wasting time so-”

Davitt began to walk to the fairy.

“Ah,” Laojin slumped his shoulders, “He did not listen to everything I wanted to say.”

Astoria narrowed her eyes at Laojin and crossed her arms. It was just the two of them as Davitt was now by the fairy’s side. Astoria cleared her throat, and the troll looked at her. He flinched upon seeing her skeptical expression.

“W-what?” he stammered, backing away from her a bit, “W-hy are y-you giving me that look?”

She tilted her head, her eyes glued to the gargoyle and fairy who were speaking to the elderly elf couple, and spoke.

“You have been very cooperative since you joined this team,” she said, causing him to flinch at how scary her tone was.