25.

When we left the place, Irene took the kids to tour the place while she gave me a map with the appropriate markers as she shooed me away.

'What is this difference in treatment that I got? She took them on a tour while I'm left alone to explore this place on my own.' I thought as I followed the map to buy some grape seeds and malt to make wine and maybe other kinds of liquor.

After a few hours of exploring, stumbling here to there, and being lost. I finally found the shop that sells the seeds I need. Its a small shop and thought that maybe Irene pointed me to this shop because of its hard to find spot.

When I entered the shop, I was welcomed by the strong aroma of nature assaulted my nose as I saw the plants in the side emitting different kinds of aroma, some are bad, some are good for the nose.

'Must be Irene's way of getting her revenge.' I thought before walking to the counter.

When I got close, I didn't see any person behind the counter, so I rang the bell. A few minutes later, the old man came out of the back and was surprised to see a customer. Usually, it was thugs that would come and pester him about 'protection' money.

"What would you like to purchase?" He asked me with an amiable smile.

"I need a few seeds of Malt, and grapes." I said as he nodded.

While I am waiting for the seeds, I started inspecting the different aromatic plants placed in the shop. Plants such as mint, lavender, cinnamon, and the likes.

I am inspecting different kinds of plant that I might need for cooking when a man opened the door followed by his underlings. When he saw me, he immediately tried to intimidate me with his huge height and body.

"Leave this place if you don't want to leave this place as a cripple." He said but I ignored him. I'm here to buy seeds not to entertain buffoons.

Seeing me not giving him face, he motioned one of his goons to 'deal' with me. The goon threw his fist to me as I casually flicked it without looking, mixed with Knocking, the man's arm felt numb. He threw his other fist towards me which I flicked once again as both of the man's arms turned numb.

Seeing the goon who's not attacking anymore, He motioned for the other goons to deal with me.

"You know, you're annoying. I'm just here to get some seeds. Why are you pestering me?" I said as I skillfully dodged the two before sending a blow to their solar plexus. They felt air leaving their stomach and their diaphragm destroyed as they keeled over clutching their stomach.

The leader thought that I'm a wizard so he used his magic and turned his arm big and punched me. Seeing his punch, I countered it with my own punch. When our punch connected, the leader's arms was destroyed thoroughly with my punch.

The leader shouted in pain when he saw his arm ripped into pieces. The owner hearing screams of pain immediately rushed back with the seeds in his hand and was shocked to see the thugs coming to get protection money lying down in the floor with a broken arm.

He thought of paying them to let his customer go but seeing the scene in front of him, it was satisfying.... to him at least.

Soon the leader's screams attracted attention and the guards immediately stepped in and questioned what happened in the place.

"What? I'm just here to buy some seeds and these buffoons kept on pestering me and attacked me first." I said and the old shopkeeper verified that I'm just there to buy some seeds. They have an artifact that could tell whether I am telling the truth or not and it didn't react meaning all I've said is true.

When the guards interrogated the leader the artifact kept on reacting to their statement and the guards have him arrested.

The Old Shopkeeper thanked me and gave me the seeds for free but I declined and insisted on paying.

I grabbed the seeds and left the money in his desk when the old shopkeeper ran back inside and came out holding a tiny little box.

"Please accept this as thanks for helping this old man out. I don't know what seed this is because I cannot grow it even when I paid a high price for someone to help me grow it. This seed, it is passed down from every generation in my family and I felt like if I give it to you, you would be able to grow it." He said and I was about to decline when the system told me to take it to which the old man felt happy.

When I got out of the store I asked the system what kind of seed is inside the box.

[Host, today is your lucky day. That seed is a legendary seed and would take years to grow. It is a tree full of vitality and magical power. It is also called as Tree of Life.]

My eyes widen in shock when I heard the name of the seed.

'You mean the Sacred Tree of the elves? Are there even elves in this world?' I thought as the system answered.

[Yes, they exist. Though their numbers don't go past 20, pair that with their low gestation period and hardness to impregnate, then they would have really low in numbers. Also they are deep in hiding. In the eyes of the people, Elves are an extinct species. Their sacred tree was cut down a long time ago. The old man's ancestor might've chanced upon the seed a long time ago and treated it as a family heirloom.]

'Then what are the conditions of growing this tree? Wouldn't it be useless to be planted in my house or my private farming space?' I asked.

[Host needs to plant it in a highly concentrated magic-filled land and the private farming space could hold it for a few years. Host would need to upgrade the soil and transfer the Tree of Life to the soil outside the space so that the surrounding land would also benefit from it.]

'I see. Then this seed is not bad at all. Though its gonna need some work, its worth it.' I thought before placing the box and the seeds in my back before going to the meeting place where Irene said we'll have our lunch.

In the way, I have bought some instrument like Violin and guitar.

Of course, because i'm not well versed in the place, and the map that Irene gave only helped me a little, I got a little lost here and there before arriving at Irene's courtyard. She got it from the King after subduing a huge riot and was nicknamed the Scarlet Despair after.

When I got through the door, the guards were about to block me when Heine and Juliet came to my rescue.

When we got inside the two apologized to me.

"We're sorry for causing trouble. Its just a big shock for the two of us." Heine said as they both bowed down.

"A-anooooo..... can you convince, Mada'am Irene to lighten our punishment?" Juliet asked with a hopeful face.

"Its fine. Raise your head. As for the punishment... brace yourselves." I said as they shivered about the punishment they will receive from Irene.

When we arrived at the living room, I saw the chipmunks in beautiful dress and bunch of clothes in the bag while Irene had a smug smile on her face.

"My love, what took you so long? The kids are already hungry you know?" Irene said as she flashed a winning grin to me.

'What a petty woman, but this ain't over.' I thought as I chuckled in my mind.

The kids then took out their boxed lunches and immediately started eating. Juliet and Heine were staring at the chipmunks' food as the aroma wafted into their nose and their stomachs rumbled and their mouth started watering. The chipmunks' faces are filled with joy as they keep munching on their food like the chipmunks they are.

After eating, Irene asked me about my adventure. As I simply told her that I got what I came for.

She seemed uninterested when I told her that as she continued playing with the children before heading back to facilitate the training of the soldiers.

Overall, our experience in Alvares is not bad as we waited for Irene to finish her work so that we could go home.

When the sky slowly turned dark, Irene finally got back as we hurried home but this time with Juliet and Heine with us.