(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 12)

[Hello Purvis]

>Readjust grip on the precious bittercress.
>"Then let's get moving!"

[DracoOmega]

>Readjust grip on the precious bittercress.
>"Then let's get moving!"

>"Let's get moving!" Kyouko agrees emphatically, then marches off down the road without further delay. You get a good grip on your plant, then follow after her.

>As implied, it is only a short walk before the two of you are in front of a large greenhouse complex - one of the ones you visited yesterday, in fact. Despite the size, they didn't actually have any bittercress for sale when you visited, though you suppose that wouldn't prevent them from knowing its growth cycle.
>"Here we are!" Kyouko declares.

[Oldmansour]

>Venture within and track us known someone with some know-how to grill.

[DracoOmega]

>Venture within and track us known someone with some know-how to grill.

>You enter the nursery and scan about for someone knowledge-looking. Kyouko's eyes flit back and forth among the rows of flowers as you walk, lingering a while on the more colorful specimins; your own are focused strictly on business. Amid the forest of vibrant greens and a dozen other hues, you soon spot a young woman in a brown garden smock, her sandy hair tied back in a simple white band. She puts down the tray of orchids in her hands as you approach and gives you a friendly smile.
>"Is there something I can help you with?" You notice her eyes alight upon your bittercress briefly.

[Oldmansour]

>Did we see her here yesterday, or vice versa?

[DracoOmega]

>Did we see her here yesterday, or vice versa?

>While you can't say for certain that she didn't see you, you have not previously seen her; you spoke with someone different here yesterday.

[Oldmansour]

>"I need a bit of information, on Bittercress, specifically. How much sunlight it needs, if any, how much water... General care things like that."

[DracoOmega]

>"I need a bit of information, on Bittercress, specifically. How much sunlight it needs, if any, how much water... General care things like that."

>"Oh!" She takes another look at your plant. "Well, the one you have there looks really nice and healthy to me. Have you just recently purchased it?"

[Oldmansour]

>Nod. "And I'm hoping to keep it healthy, but botany isn't my forte. So, here I am."
>It IS technically true, after all.

[DracoOmega]

>Nod. "And I'm hoping to keep it healthy, but botany isn't my forte. So, here I am."
>It IS technically true, after all.

>She smiles at you. "It's always nice to see someone take an interest in taking good care of their plants. But you're in luck, I think - bittercress can be hard to get started, but once it's that big, it's pretty hardy." She leans towards your plant. "I'd say that one's, oh... six or seven years old, maybe? You will want to make sure it gets plenty of water and has a nice peaty soil - it's a marshland plant, after all. And it tends to prefer shady areas with only a moderate amount of sunlight, so try not to keep it anywhere too bright."
>"Oh." Kyouko says in a dispirited tone. The gardener gives her a curious glance for a moment.
>"This looks like a really healthy specimen, though," she continues, "so I don't think you'll have to work too hard to keep it nice and green now."

[Oldmansour]

>If her estimation is correct, that would mean the flower should bloom sometime soon, correct?
>"So I should water it.... twice a day?"

[DracoOmega]

>If her estimation is correct, that would mean the flower should bloom sometime soon, correct?
>"So I should water it.... twice a day?"

>You have no idea how the plant's current growth correlates with its natural life cycle, though Professor Bosqueverde implied that bittercress tended to bloom on a closely synchronized schedule, regardless of where it was found.
>"Well, it's not so much that you need to water it frequently," she says, "but that the soil should be kept fairly damp at all times - more than with most houseplants. You shouldn't need to worry about drowning it unless you really overdo it."

[Oldmansour]

>"Not much risk of that. I consider myself much less overdo-y than other Seekers."
>"So about when do you think the flower on this one will bloom?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Not much risk of that. I consider myself much less overdo-y than other Seekers."
>"So about when do you think the flower on this one will bloom?"

>The woman takes another look at your plant. "Don't think I could tell you for sure. Quite a few years go by between flowerings. But they would have already bloomed by now if they were going to this year; it happens around mid-spring, I think."
>"What are the flowers like?" Kyouko asks. "Are they pretty?"
>"They're kind of small, actually," the woman replies. "About... this big." She holds her fingers an inch or so apart. "Sort of a pale purply-blue. They're not really that spectacular, but I think they're still kinda pretty. You don't get to see them very often, though."

[Hello Purvis]

>"How can you tell how old this one is? Is it just the height?"

[DracoOmega]

>"How can you tell how old this one is? Is it just the height?"

>"Well, I'm really just guessing," she says, "but bittercress is pretty slow-growing, so one this large is definitely a nice few years old. It might be even older than that, actually. Where'd you come by it, anyhow?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"It's a long story. Let's just say the university and leave it at that. Do you know where it would flower at? How do they bud, do you know?"

[DracoOmega]

>"It's a long story. Let's just say the university and leave it at that. Do you know where it would flower at? How do they bud, do you know?"

>"I don't think I've actually seen one while it's budding, but the flowers bloom at the juncture of these leaf clusters, like here or here." She points to a couple spots on the plant, though there are many dozen such ones spread evenly across its leafy volume. "They're held very close to the plant's body."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Ah, I see. Do they have any visible signs when they're getting ready to flower? Like coloration changes? Oh, and do you think the soil is most enough?"
>What's Kyouko up to at the moment?

[DracoOmega]

>"Ah, I see. Do they have any visible signs when they're getting ready to flower? Like coloration changes? Oh, and do you think the soil is most enough?"
>What's Kyouko up to at the moment?

>The gardener leans in and takes another look at your plant, then pokes the soil with her finger. "I think you should keep it wetter than than this, but they're pretty hardy once they're this old. And I don't think there are any coloration changes or anything like that." Then she grins at you. "Antsy to see it bloom?"
>Kyouko is still in your general vicinity, though her gaze seems to be wandering around the nearby plants and flowers.

[Hello Purvis]

>"I'm that obvious, huh?"
>Give a self depreciating smile and a shrug.
>"Yeah, just a bit. You know how it is."


So, think we can give it another day?

[Oldmansour]

I don't like the idea of just dicking around town waiting for a flower that we can't be sure will bloom before we run out of time.

That said, however, if we can find something useful to do while in town to improve our odds, then that's a different story. Perhaps we could visit another shrine to see if they know anything more about the Hakurei's, see if we can find out if they can use the power of Kumokirimaru to heal us. Alternatively, we ask around a bit more about Yuuka, maybe see if we can get better details on where her garden is.

[DracoOmega]

>"I'm that obvious, huh?"
>Give a self depreciating smile and a shrug.
>"Yeah, just a bit. You know how it is."

>The woman smiles warmly at you. "Well, you didn't pick the quickest-blooming plant in the world there, but if you give it a little love and care, I'm sure you'll see them sooner or later, and many more years after that."
>"Excuse me," Kyouko interjects, holding up a small plant with droopy magenta blossoms. "How much is this?"
>"10 guilders," the gardener replies smoothly.
>Your companion makes a note of thoughtful contemplation, then sets the plant back down where she found it and lets her eyes wander among its neighbours.

[Hello Purvis]

I think the best we'll in terms of finding Yuuka's garden is maybe find somewhere else that used to live in Isir's Cross. Nazrin's probably smart enough to know that she's not going to find anyone who knows the way to the garden, the best we can hope for is eliminating another vector or two. Essentially the choice comes down to a gamble, do we throw the dice in town and hope for a bloom, do we go hunting a bloom we may never find, or do we hope a shrine maiden is better at drawing out something useful from the sword than an actual deity was.  At this point, if the person who knows plants says it looks like it has a few years on it, that suggests a bloom isn't too many hours off.

My thoughts are we use the time to secure more funding via seeker jobs, make some contacts along the way, and maybe catch wind of something useful. Also, thinking on it, if we're looking for someone who's visited Isir's Cross and the surrounding regions, the Guild is not a bad place to look. Seekers seem among the most likely to have been asked to range out around there.

[Oldmansour]

There's something else we could do as well. Go back to the library and look up Yuuka and her garden. Since we're gonna be around town anyway waiting for the flower to bloom, it would seem we have time for research. And if that place is the knowledge capital of the universe, then we might be able to find something there. After all, we did before.

[Hanzo K.]

That's true. As for the whole Yuuka thing, I'd say that's our next best bet after picking over the libraries again.

[Oldmansour]

Checking the guild first though is a good idea. Not hard to imagine that all kinds of info flows through there.

>Are we in the habit of buying flowers for girls?

[DracoOmega]

>Are we in the habit of buying flowers for girls?

>No, you are not. In fact, unless you count that time Ichirin sent you to town to pick up some pansies for a window box, you have never done such a thing.

[Oldmansour]

>Well, she DID give us a free room. And breakfast....
>Money check.

[DracoOmega]

>Well, she DID give us a free room. And breakfast....
>Money check.

>You find yourself pondering how much money Kyouko has effectively saved you now, as you tally up your remaining funds.
>You presently have 350 and 1/2 guilders.