After the tree marten made sure that the young man and his party were following, he dived into the canopy of the tree and immediately disappeared.
After seeing the tree marten disappear from sight, the young man couldn't help but become nervous.
This guy... won't take the opportunity to escape, right?
He had lost his bow and arrows somewhere, and now he had nothing to do with this tree marten.
Fortunately, this worry is unnecessary.
After a while, there was another sound from the tree.
The young man looked up and saw that the tree marten jumped out of the tree crown again.
This time there was a silver chain in its mouth, and there seemed to be a delicate pendant on it, which should be Nia's necklace.
It seems that this tree marten built its nest in this big tree. This tree has lush branches and leaves, and it is built in the crown of the tree, so its nest is well hidden.
If the tree marten hadn't been willing to hand over the necklace, they might not have been able to find the necklace even if they searched the entire forest for more than half a year.
The tree marten climbed down along the trunk of the tree, and then stopped in front of the girl. It raised its head high, and the silver necklace in its mouth swayed gently in front of their eyes.
"Thank you!"
Nia nodded and took the necklace from the tree marten's mouth.
Although this "thank you" was just out of politeness, the boy felt a little unhappy when he heard it. It is only natural that the property should be returned to its original owner. Even if this little thief knows his mistakes and can correct them, it is not worth saying "thank you" to him.
"Now that we have the things, let's go. Heimer and the others are probably already looking for us."
The lair of this white-headed tree marten is actually not very far from the teenager's camp, but of course it's still some distance away.
It will still take some time to go back, and it's getting dark now, so it's probably already past dusk.
"Wait a moment, little Marten, he has something to give us."
Nia stopped the young man who was about to turn around and leave.
"Forehead?"
"It said it wanted to give us something as an apology."
After hearing what the girl said, the boy was not in a hurry to leave.
Since there is something to take, it is nothing if you don’t take it.
After the tree marten took the necklace from the girl, it immediately climbed back.
After a while, the small shadow on the tree crown appeared again.
This time it actually had a flower in its mouth.
“That flower is—Tia ground flower?”
The young man looked at the white flower in the tree marten's mouth in astonishment.
"Do you recognize this flower? Verus."
Unlike the boy's somewhat exaggerated reaction, Nia was very calm.
She had also seen this flower. Just a few days ago, on the cliff that she could not reach, there was a flower that was exactly the same as the flower that the tree marten took out.
It's just that she doesn't know this kind of flower with swirling petals, which looks gorgeous and has extremely elegant colors.
"Of course I do. This is Noah's national flower."
The ground flower of Dia is the national flower of Noah. It is also known as the "King of Flowers" and the "Goddess of the High Mountains". It almost only grows on inaccessible cliffs and is difficult for people to pick.
At the same time, it is difficult to cultivate the seedlings of Tia flowers in ordinary greenhouses. If a Tia flower blooms naturally, the vegetation near it will wither.
This is an extremely miraculous phenomenon, and it seems to be because after blooming, the flower will continue to absorb nutrients from the air and nearby soil, so that ordinary plants and trees will die due to their inability to accept nutrients.
Moreover, once a large number of vegetation dies, the blooming Tia flower will wither soon.
People say that Tiaia is guilty to death because of its own characteristics that cause other plants to die. It is kind-hearted and is only suitable to bloom alone on unclimbed cliffs.
All in all, Tia ground flower is a rare and stunning king of flowers.
It is said that Noah's founding emperor, Colander I, had a Tia flower in his mouth when he was born, so later the royal family's coat of arms was engraved with the Tia flower pattern.
"Really? I don't know much about this."
Nia looked at the flower, and a feeling of nostalgia came to her heart.
My mother said that the lucky garland should be woven with the best flowers seen that day, so as to bring the best blessings to the person who receives the garland.
Maybe...if I could pick this flower on that day, weave it into a wreath, and let my mother wear it, she would be fine, right?
"Looks like it's for you."
When the young man saw the tree marten climb down and look towards the girl, he also knew who the flower was a gift to.
The value of the Tia ground flower is very high. It is easy to sell a flower seedling for thousands of Osadins. It is completely sufficient to use it as an apology.
Although there should be no idle people buying flowers now, and the mink should not know the value of the flowers in the human world, the intention is still there.
"Um……"
The girl responded softly and reached out to take the intact Tia ground flower, but she seemed a little absent-minded.
"Hey! It's my share too, right? I jumped into the water to save your life."
The young man spread his hands and asked for a gift from this humane tree marten.
The tree marten glared at the young man and climbed directly up the tree.
"It seems like it's not me... Oops!"
Seeing the tree marten's attitude, the young man who thought he would not get any benefits suddenly covered his head.
"Damn it! You actually hit me with a stone."
After another short while, the tree marten emerged from the canopy again.
It had something in its mouth again, but the boy couldn't enjoy the special treatment it brought there. The tree marten stood directly on the high tree crown and smashed the black thing towards the boy.
Even if it is a small stone, its lethality after falling from a height cannot be underestimated.
Fortunately, the young man was quick to respond. When the tree marten dropped the object, he subconsciously covered his head with his hands.
But this little thing that fell on the palm of my hand still hurt my finger bones.
"This is?"
The boy looked at the small black bead in his hand. It looked black overall, but actually a little transparent. Overall, it looked a bit like the colored glass beads he had played with in another world.
"It says this is for you."
Nia translated the call of the little mink in the tree.
"..."
Taking a look at the worthless Dia flower in the girl's hand, and then at the little ball in his hand, the boy chose... to remain silent.
Send flowers to girls and glass beads to boys.
What kind of department store holiday delivery logic is this?!
"If everything's okay, let's go."
When the young man saw that the little marten did not come out after returning to the tree, he urged the girl beside him to leave together.
He put the "glass bead" into his pocket. Although it didn't look like much, there was no harm in keeping it in his hand.
"Um……"
Nia nodded and left with the young man.
"Goodbye! Little Marten."
The girl did not forget to wave goodbye to the tree marten before leaving. The baby on her back also imitated her actions and waved towards the crown of the big tree.
What's there to say goodbye to...
The boy sighed and didn't understand the girls' behavior. The mink had caused them a lot of trouble, and it wasn't much of a friend. They wouldn't see each other in the future, right?
Why don't you just turn around and walk away? Why do you need to do such unnecessary things?
He now had to find the small river from before. Although he was not familiar with the paths in the forest, based on his experience as a teenager, he believed that they could return to the camp where they were stationed as long as they walked along the river.
However, things never go so smoothly.
Brush! Brush!
The surrounding plants were rustled by an unnatural wind.
"Verus?! Is this?"
Even a girl who rarely steps into the deep woods knows that something is obviously wrong around here.
"Hide behind me."
The young man drew his dagger and protected the girl behind him.
The palms of his hands were a little sweaty, and the young man's right hand holding the sword began to slowly turn the hilt to get himself into the state.
He held his breath and concentrated on feeling the breath of the creature moving nearby.
Don't know what it is yet.
But what the young man can be sure of is that the other party has bad intentions.
The young man found that the scene in his eyes had become dark without knowing it. He looked up at the sky and realized:
It turned out that the day had already gotten dark before I knew it.