On the veranda of the inn, Nic was daydreaming, when suddenly Aurelia, Hinata's older sister, approached him.
"Hello, is it true you are Nic?" Aurelia said politely.
Nic was surprised and nodded slowly. "Yes, I am Nic. What is it?"
Aurelia asked about their garden. Hinata said that when the two of them gardened together, the plants in the garden had already grown, even though it wasn't the harvest season yet.
"Isn't this strange? You didn't use any chemicals or anything to speed up the growth, did you?" Aurelia asked curiously.
"No, I didn't. Maybe it's because of the rain that appears every night? Maybe that's what accelerated the growth," Nic replied.
Aurelia didn't believe it because the plants had often been exposed to rain before, but nothing unusual happened.
Finally, Nic was pulled by Aurelia to the garden to explain this. Hinata was also there, overjoyed because her garden was harvesting quickly without having to wait long.
Hinata saw her sister and Nic arrive. "Ah Nic! Look at this!"
Hinata looked enthusiastic. Nic also saw how fast the effect of the God of Gardening was.
Inwardly, Nic was a bit surprised. "I only planted in that section... but why did all of it get affected?"
[ That's because God of Gardening immediately channeled power into the soil area where Master Nic used to cultivate. ]
"I see... how should I explain this?"
[ Remember, Master Nic, they believe in nature and divine protection. ]
Nic understood, and sure enough, Aurelia questioned him again about whether Nic was the one who did it.
Hinata was also curious. Nic, resigned, explained. "I truly don't know, I just did normal gardening... maybe this is a blessing from the gods? Or perhaps nature is simply making things easier for you."
Aurelia bit her lip. "Ugh... even so, this is still confusing..."
Hinata immediately pinched her sister's waist. "Sister, don't worry about it. This is a good thing, not a bad thing... so this is just our luck right now! No need to overthink it!"
"Hinata is right, she's a kind person, perhaps nature favors her and is providing this," Nic added.
Hinata blushed shyly and hid behind her sister.
Since the atmosphere became awkward, Nic changed the topic.
"Speaking of which, I heard something, why were you dismissed from your botany job?" Nic asked Aurelia.
Aurelia paused for a moment then explained that she was researching 3 rare flowers, but for some reason, they didn't want it, considering the flowers being researched unimportant since they already had the 7 beautiful flowers.
"That's strange, right? I only want to research and find them! They must exist in this country... and wouldn't it be great if these rare flowers were found? It could add beauty and diversity to Eastern's nature!" Aurelia said, annoyed.
"It seems they know those flowers are important, but they did that because their current government, if they knew there was a new territory with these rare flowers, would know that place would be hated by the government because that area should be turned into land for them to build factories," Nic explained.
Aurelia finally understood upon hearing that. She forgot that the current government no longer supported this 100%, as well as some Eastern citizens who were tired of things always revolving around nature.
Aurelia was frustrated and truly angry. "Why was he even elected to make the country like this!?"
Hinata calmed Aurelia down, then they excused themselves to Nic to go home.
Nic returned to the inn, pondering something.
---
At a fishing spot near the border area between the most powerful regions in Eastern, Kyushin.
Marin was in the middle of the fishermen between the two regions, but she was very calm. While fishing, she listened to the commotion between the fishermen from the two regions.
A fisherman from the Kyu region said, "Tch... as if the neighboring region can fish."
A fisherman from the Shin region replied, "Huh? It sounds like a cat that can only eat fish but can't catch one itself."
Marin smiled. "Ugh, the debate between these two regions is coming back to my ears."
And sure enough, they immediately started arguing very boisterously.
"HEY, DON'T YOU GUYS KNOW THE NUMBER ONE TREE IN THE NATURAL TREE OF HEAVEN? THE CHERRY BLOSSOM IS THE FIRST!!" The Kyu region shouted.
"NUMBER ONE, MY FOOT! THAT'S BECAUSE YOUR VISITORS ARE DOMINATED BY YOUR OWN RESIDENTS! CLEARLY THE WISTERIA IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND NUMBER 1!" The Shin region retorted.
"DAMN YOU, DO YOU WANT ME TO SLICE YOU WITH MY KATANA, HUH?" The Kyu region threatened.
"TCH, YOUR KATANA IS RUSTY, IT WON'T BE ABLE TO PENETRATE OUR DEFENSE TECHNIQUES! BEFORE YOU CAN SLICE, YOU WILL BE DESTROYED BY OUR COMBAT TECHNIQUES!" The Shin region challenged.
They kept arguing until the Kyu region, who was initially holding a fishing rod, started holding a katana.
Meanwhile, the Shin region fishermen immediately threw their rods and took a fighting stance, ready to attack.
Marin panicked. Usually, it was just a verbal debate, but why was it so heated and serious now?
"Whoa, this isn't like before! I have to run away!!"
Marin immediately ran but forgot the expensive fishing rod Nic had bought her earlier. "AHH DAMN IT!! UGH, I HAVE TO GET IT!!"
She returned to grab the rod but instead ran into both regions and was almost hit by an attack, but suddenly... Whooosh!!
The tip of the Kyu region's katana was cut off, and they were thrown back, while the Shin region people all fell down immediately.
In front of the Kyu region people appeared a female figure holding a katana. She was Kazumi, also known as Kana no Hayate (Storm Wind Sword).
In front of the Shin region people stood a woman with a magnificent appearance with a red cloth cord in her hair. She was Meilin, also known as Jinzhi (God of Steel).
They shouted simultaneously, "STOP DOING SOMETHING STUPID!"
They immediately ordered their citizens to return to their respective regions and not cause any more trouble at this border.
Kazumi briefly looked at Meilin. "Tsk."
She immediately left quickly.
Meanwhile, Meilin looked very annoyed by Kazumi's behavior. "Tch, acting all great."
Meilin also left immediately with heavy, trembling steps.
Marin just sat silently, hugging her fishing rod. She was shocked to have met the two most terrifying girls in the Kyushin region.
"L-luckily, she didn't see me... My goodness, we're safe, my favorite fishing rod!" Marin said, stroking her rod.
After that, she immediately ran home because she was scared.
On the way, she ran into Nic, who was out for a walk.
"Uh... ah, you're Nic... I'm sorry I left you last time, I heard from Hinata that you're fine... hehe," Marin said, still panicked.
"Huh? Relax, why are you sweating so much?" Nic asked.
Since Marin hadn't caught any fish and Nic happened to be there, whom Hinata said was quite unique and reliable, Marin had an idea.
"Um, can you accompany me fishing? I'm scared because there was a commotion earlier," Marin said shyly.
Nic was silent, but hearing the word 'commotion,' he was curious and finally agreed to accompany Marin fishing.
Marin was happy and no longer panicked because Nic was by her side.
To be continued...