(Retrieve the Rose) From Salty Sailors

Roses were a thing of beauty, and the redhead could admit that she enjoyed the lovely appearance of an object just as much as any other person. At the same time, the worth of these roses was increased by the fact that they were in fact derived from lacrimas, which always meant there was magic naturally imbued into something. In this case, the result of the magic was that the beautiful petals never wilted or darkened at the edges and the buds stayed perfectly crisp and fresh all the time. It certainly was magic to not have to pay for new flowers but still be able to enjoy the sight of such. In addition to the perfect appearance in an ordinary way (without any bruises, prickly stems, or tears in the petals) each flower seemed to glow with an unearthly light. If she gazed upon the moon, it would pale in contrast to the shimmer of the roses.

At least, all of this was what Leah had been told by the mysterious hooded man who had requested that she retrieve a shipment of roses from Lavantur- Lavanitr- Lavantir? Some port somewhere. So here she was, standing on the edge of the dock (not quite hanging over the water yet, as the girl didn’t trust the shaky wooden planks and thin metal frame any farther than she could throw the guild ship) craning her neck to see whether the Whistlebird had arrived yet. That had been the name of the vessel which the shipment was supposedly being carried on. Since it was fragile cargo, the girl had not particularly been expecting to see the roses until she had them safely in her hands and everything had been cautiouosly unpacked on dry land, but much to her surprise she witnessed their phenomenon right away. A young crew member had lugged a rather large box (hardly enormous, as it was only maybe the length of half his body) up onto the deck. It appeared to be moderately heavy, as the cargo was required to be dragged rather than carried. That made her nervous, because any bumps would be more readily felt by what whatever was inside, but the redhead retained her discomfort and did not say a word.

Instead, she only silently watched as the man pried the lid off of the box and revealed pure, snow white roses to the blue sky. Immediately, her attention was seized by the spotless flowers, peerless in their shape, apparently sturdiness… even the way their petals curved up to meet the sun. It was as though they had never been shut away in a box and stored in the belly of a ship. Stepping up lightly across the dock, the girl clambered onto the ship despite the protests of the crew (to the point where even though they tried to grab at her arms, she dodged as smoothly as she could manage without fearing of falling in the water.) As soon as she touched the box, it was just as she had suspected; the girl was able to requip the cargo into her interdimensional space, but it was a special part of her storage. Here, the items would never just go into the gigantic sort of realm where everything else dropped and instead they would be placed carefully. The catch was that only one thing could be in there at once, so reluctantly Leah removed the Stone of the World and stuffed it into the pocket of her jacket, to be exquipped later. Returning to the place where she had met the shadowy man was easy enough, and he was waiting for her when she arrived. After allowing the box to re-emerge from her extradimensional space, the redhead nodded imperceptibly as the cloaked figure passed her a few jewels for her trouble. It hadn’t been a notably successful day, but it was profitable nonetheless.

648 Words.