"No, I am alright. And if there is any problem, I can ask for help. It's not like, in this state, you can help me much either."
"Alright, if you insist. But if you have any problems, signal us, okay."
"Yeah, we may be in bad shape right now, but we can still fight!"
Suddenly feeling kind of emotional, I hurried them to go quickly.
The reason I wanted to stay longer was because this forest sheltered a very rare flower named Annerula.
It was known for its fantastical medical properties as a miracle plant capable of giving vitality to any life.
I had been searching for it a few years ago, when Ricardo was still in bad health, and I had only recently found some clues from my recent "family" mission.
It was during one of my missions as an assassin, under my work name, The Ababominable.
A name I wasn't proud of.
I had just finished taking care of my target, which brought me a hell of a lot of money, when I heard some noises from the back room, behind the curtains.
I stepped forward, prepared to take action if necessary, when I stumbled upon a big grimoire.
It was full of dust, ripped from part to part, and had a horrible stench attached to it. But it didn't stop me from opening it. I was strangely attracted.
But when I opened it, there was nothing written on it. Only in the middle of the book stood a ripped piece of paper, slightly burned, with a map within, and above it was inscribed: Annerula.
After years of searching and despairing at the idea of utter loss, I finally had some kind of lead.
Only I was years too late. Between the people I needed it for, the first was dead, and the second didn't need it anymore.
After all, to save my dear brother, I couldn't put all my hope on a sweet illusion. I searched for all kinds of remedies to get him back in shape and keep him alive.
I used every magic spell on the hook, went to all the medical shops, and tried to concoct every remedy. He was my only family left; I needed him to stay alive.
We needed each other to be.
We are the same part of a soul.
We were twins.
For me, even though I wasn't originally part of this world, Ricardo was my soulmate. Before I had recovered my memory at six, I only ever knew him as that.
He was my home and my salvation. He was my twin.
So there was no way I could ever let him die.
And even though I didn't need that plant as much as before, I would still try to get it if any problems were to arise in the future.
"You were never ready enough." My mother used to say: And she was right—I was never ready for anything that happened to me.
Just as I wasn't ready for her death, and just as I am not ready for any more losses.
As soon as my teammates were gone, I took out the map and used magic to find my position on it.
From what I knew, Annerula bloomed once every thousand years. It was so rare that people thought it was only a legend. Something someone created from pure imagination.
But they weren't right, it existed.
After years of searching and studying this case, I found out that eventually they would reappear in my century, but exactly when? I didn't know.
And from my target's work, after rummaging through the rubble, I discovered an inventory indicating the exact next blooming season, and it was this month.
Which is why I only had the chance.
It was said that I could find four of them who would appear at different spots at the exact same time.
They would sustain themselves alive for a total of nine hours before dying and disappearing for the next thousand years.
It's no wonder people thought it didn't exist.
It was basically impossible to find them.
Before I went looking for Annerula, I didn't forget my duty.
I took my free space cub, a magic container hugely priced on the market, and I put the beasts in it, making sure they had enough space for each other.
This space was immensely expensive because it allowed animated objects and living things to stay in it without dying due to a lack of oxygen. It was a subspace that existed in another dimension, taking the form of a ring.
It was difficult to create and needed an insane amount of magic, usually taking three to four years just to create one.
It was one of the few gifts offered to the heirs of the Permeson family that had begun the family training.
Walking even farther in the forest, I steadily made my way while paying particular attention to my surroundings.
I darted my eyes around, not letting pass even a tiny bit of grass under my nose. I had visions of everything, picturing them in my mind.
"A useless flower."
"Another one."
"Oh!...a useless one again. Well, at least, it's pretty." I mumbled aloud, not caring about being heard.
It's not like there was anyone else either way.
"It will take a long time to find this damn flower at this rate," I continued to mumble under my breath, whispering to myself, "but what is a few hours in the face of so many years?"
I continued to walk further and further, stopping from time to time to inspect more closely.
Sometimes, I would even go to the foot of a tree and look around it.
You never knew; it was still good to try.
But unfortunately for me, luck was never at my side.
I walked straight for three hours but still found no flowers.
I knew it was a mysterious-looking flower, quite distinguishable from other kinds, with blue petals as dark as the night sky. And during his blooming time, it opened and took the shape of a bell, pointing to the sky.
Moreover, it sparkled with green luminescent light at its extremities. Was described as being of breathtaking beauty.
"What I am going to do, at this rate, I'll never find it." I said, sighing.
"Find what?"
I heard a voice behind me, startling me. I didn't feel anyone coming.