Task: Lily of the Valley

Requester: Mira, Seamstress.

Quest Rank: E-rank

Rewards: 9 Large Copper Coins

Description: When I was young, I had a friend that played with me all the time, we were very close, you know?

But she had one fatal flaw... She really loved a flower field near our village... A field filled with deadly poisonous flowers... She loved looking at it, and wanted to get as close as she could. Of course we tried discouraging her, but she kept going anyways... Until one day, she didn't return.

Ever since that day, each year I have left a lily near the field in the day of her death, as a form of showing I didn't forget... Old age is catching up to me though, and the area that was once safe is now being quite hazardous for my health... Could you please leave the lily there for me?

Just... Be careful of the poison of the valley... And... If you see a girl in a red dress there, tell her I said hi. I often saw her in that field after my friend's death, I wonder how she could endure the poison... I suppose it doesn't matter anymore...

After receiving the quest, Zinc quickly made some preparations. In addition to some basic herbs and his medicine making kit, the young doctor also decided to bring along Arsenic who may prove helpful in dispelling the poison that may have permeated the air around the flower field. Once he finished preparing, Zinc headed out towards the village with the lily in hand.

Halfway to the village, Zinc stopped by some trees and picked up a few broken or fallen branches. Piling up the branches, the doctor quickly lit up a fire. Afterwards, Zinc waited by the fire until it burned itself out. Without more wood added into the fire, the fire soon died out, leaving behind some wood charcoal.

Zinc waited for an hour or two so that the fire pit had cooled down. Then, he scooped up the wood charcoal and stored them in his bag. Although it wasn’t very effective, wood charcoal was still a good alternative for absorbing poison and preventing it from spreading. Zinc might not worry about most of the poison he would encounter with the help of Arsenic, however, if he was to accidentally ingest some of the pollen, then that would be disastrous without the wood charcoal.

Once the wood charcoal was properly stored in his bag, Zinc continued towards the village. Some distance away from the village, Zinc could catch the first glimpses of the field in question. It was a blanket of red. The flowers didn’t look particularly enticing but then again, the doctor didn’t have much interest or love for flowers and their appearances. The only reason he would ever look at a flower would be whether the flower could be used as a medicinal herb or poison.

Diverging his path, Zinc headed straight for the flower field. The flowers were actually oleanders! The strange thing about it was that oleanders grew on shrubs, yet these ones directly grew on the ground. Could it be a mutation of some sort?

Upon reaching near the edge, Arsenic suddenly hissed and squirmed in his breast pocket. Something was up! There must be some sort of poison in the vicinity, maybe poisonous pollen or gas. Zinc quickly took out some dried wood charcoal and mixed it with some water. In a few gulps, he downed the black and gritty mixture. The mixture served as a sponge that could effectively absorb any poison that may have entered his body.

Zinc reached into his pockets and pulled out Arsenic. He laid the centipede on the ground and let him wander about as he consumed the poison in the area. Meanwhile, Zinc reached into his bag and pulled out the lily. He bent down on one knee and placed the lily at the edge of the red flowers. Then, with expert hands, he began crawling deeper into the flower field and gathered some of the oleanders to research and perhaps develop some antidotes from.

Just as he was about to get up, he heard a sound. It was some sort of singing…a girl’s voice! Zinc looked up and saw a girl in her mid-twenties strolling and sometimes dancing in the field of oleanders. The girl wore a red dress of the same color as the oleanders. Could this be the mysterious girl Mira was talking about? Maybe it was because of Arsenic clearing away the poison, but Zinc was able to see the features of the girl rather clearly. She had somewhat pointy ears, which indicated that she was not human.

Zinc tried calling out to her, but he suddenly began to feel nauseous. His legs began to lose strength as he fell back on one knee. His head started hurting as well. Zinc quickly called Arsenic to his side while he checked his pulse. Was he poisoned? Impossible! With Arsenic close by and the charcoal mix still in his stomach, he should be fine from a simple oleander poison. Unless it wasn’t from the oleanders. He had only started suffering from such symptoms when the girl appeared…how did she appear?

When Zinc first arrived at the edge of the flower field, he didn’t see anyone in the field or near the field. But in just a few minutes after, this strange girl appeared out of nowhere. No! She didn’t appear out of nowhere…she must have been here the whole time! Going by this logic, the girl in the red dress must be this flower field’s spirit!

Zinc backed away from the field and stumbled on something. He looked at his feet and saw a skull…a human skull! Zinc immediately scrambled out of the flower field and glanced back at the girl. She was staring at him, laughing melodically. Truly a creepy and demonic sight!

The doctor immediately turned to leave. He needed to report this to the guild. The girl in the red dress was most likely the spirit of the flower field. She would lure travelers and tourists into the field where the poison would then kill them. Their bodies would be used as fertilizer to nourish the field. Truly a horrifying thought! This probably happened to the seamstress’s childhood friend as well.

But then, why did Mira not see the girl even though she was with her friend? Could this all be a hallucination of sorts that only targets one person? Or could it be a combination of both spirit and hallucination? Zinc didn’t know for sure and he was ill prepared to find out. He should just leave this for some other adventurer or adventurers to take care of.

Soon, the doctor returned to the guild. He reported his accomplishments as well as his findings. He hoped to issue a quest as well indicating the importance of getting rid of the spirit. In addition, he hoped that the next group to take on the quest would bring back as many oleanders as they can.

Extra Notes on the 'Girl in the Red Dress':

Mid-twenties appearance-wise; could change depending on the viewer. Pointy ears like half-elves Fiery red hair and red eyes with pale complexion. Melodic voice that could draw one in if he or she isn't careful Motions of hands and body that could hypnotize people if they're not careful Poisonous gas or pollen that emit from the girl which causes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, lack of strength, weakness in legs, dizziness, and heart failure. The poison effects depend on how close you are to the girl.