As soon as I arrived in the unknown village, I was greeted by Edna, who wore a frail smile.

This village didn't fare as well as the previous ones I passed. I estimated that it would only be a matter of time before the land succumbed to rot and decay. With the soil dead, nothing would grow here.

"Have you met my daughter?" she asked. She looked so weak that it seemed like she would fall over at any moment.

I nodded and passed [Eunice's Earrings] to her. "She wants me to tell you that she's alive and faring well and that you don't have to look for her because she's happy wherever she is."

". . . I-is that so?" A tear escaped Edna's eye, and it was immediately followed by another. In the end, tears streamed down her cheeks as she hugged the only memento left by her daughter.

With a satisfied smile on her face, she muttered, "I'm glad . . ."

[Congratulations on completing the side quest, FIND EUNICE!

REWARDS:

Potato Seeds x4 ]

What crappy rewards. I sighed internally. But I guess it's better than nothing.

"Thank you so much . . . ," Edna said as she looked at me with glistening eyes. "Thank you so very much."

She even tried to give me a hug, but I was dead set on not receiving it. I evaded. Luckily, I succeeded, but she almost fell down when she moved.

"Old bones . . ." she laughed a little.

That's what happens when you're over eighty years old! I thought to myself. She was unable to even walk properly without stopping after every few steps.

"Well . . . I have to go now," I said before she could think of something else to convey her gratitude.

"Wait . . ." she panted and held onto the wagon.

Great.

"I'm a little bit embarrassed that it's all I could give you," she said breathlessly. "I have nothing more to offer, but . . . I have lived for many years and know a lot of things. You can ask me anything."

Although that was what she said . . . there was only one option that was flashing on my screen.

Wow. I sure could ask anything.

[What happened to this land?]

I was not interested to know the history, but there was neither an escape nor cancel button here, so I was forced to press that annoying box that wouldn't stop blinking.

"This is a sad story," she started.

Oh, aren't they all? I mused to myself.

"The land we are in now used to be called Tristia. Fifty years ago, it was thriving and abundant. The soil was rich and fertile, and the animals were happy and well-fed. Although the village was poor, no one was hungry. All families had enough food to eat every day, from children to elders.

"There was plenty of work, but no one worked harder than anyone else. Everyone respected each other and looked out for one another. No one suffered from disease or sickness because the land provided everything needed to sustain life.

"People lived in peace and harmony with nature, not against it as we do today. With the help of the Gods, people were able to thrive without having to destroy the lands . . . But that was then . . ." Crying tears of sadness while smiling, Edna wiped her tears and shook her head in dismay.

". . ." I felt nothing but boredom.

"It all started with greed like in every tale. When everyone waged war to covet this abundant soil for themselves, not a day since then had there been no war in this place. Corpses littered the grounds. Blood soaked the earth. Vultures, wild beasts, and all kinds of pests came in numbers and ravaged the crops and corpses.

"The villagers were either killed or moved away, and soon, the place decayed. Some said that the amount of blood that soaked the earth cursed the soil. We tried our best to restore the fertility of the lands after the war. From crop rotation and planting seeds that could return the soil's nutrients to extreme ones, like offering dead animals to appease the spirits. But none lifted the curse . . ."

Edna took a deep breath. "And that was why we moved to towns and became slaves to the Lords. There was nothing left for us here."

She then laughed with no mirth. "But still . . . here I am again. Back to the place from where it all started."

[New Information Acquired!]

"Well . . . that's informative," I hurriedly said. "But I need to go."

"Wait." Edna's grip on my wagon tightened. "You're a player, right? Maybe you can do something about this land."

My eyebrow raised.

"There is a rumor," she croaked, eyes shifting left and right, "about a soil that would never lose its nutrients. Even in different seasons, any plant would thrive in abundance when planted on that soil."

[New Information Acquired!]

I sighed through the heavens. She could have told me that right away instead of wasting a hundred words on history.

"I see. What's the name of this soil, and where can I get it?"

Edna was silent for a whole ten seconds, and I feared she had lost her breath from speaking too much and died on the spot.

"I don't know its true name, but the common folks called it [Eternal Soil]," she finally uttered. "Some said that it is found in coastlines."

[New Information Acquired!]

After giving her my thanks, I didn't waste any more time and proceeded onward. Though the name was stuck in my head because I felt like I had seen it somewhere before. Using [Evil Eyes], I checked my map.

On the Coastline near my territory, a peculiar foraging spot piqued my interest. Upon pressing it, the list of the random items I could get on that day if I foraged on that spot was listed. Naturally, that was depending on what my LCK permitted.

[Grass, Broken Glass, Driftwood, Seashells, Corals, Stone, Lumber, Asphodel, Banyan, Black Bryony, Boneset, Henbane, Oak, Ocotillo, Seaweed, Eternal Sand]

Eternal Sand?

I wonder if it's the same.

I pulled the reins of my horse and decided to make a detour to the Coastline. It was near the property anyway, so I might as well check it out.

I woke Florin to guard the wagon since the cart wouldn't be able to journey on the narrow banks of the fields. 𝚋𝚎𝚍𝚗𝚘𝚟ｅｌ.ｃ𝚘𝚖

"Huh?" Florin rubbed her eyes, still half-asleep.

"I said, I'm going to check the Coastline first. You stay here and guard the wagon, and don't ever let even a single animal escape or get stolen."

I then summoned Minion 0. "Stay here, too, and make sure she doesn't slack off from her job, okay?"

Minion 0 nodded before it released a low growl in Florin's way.

Florin stuck out her tongue and replied with a growl of her own, with fingers taking the form of a tigress that was about to pounce.

She seemed to have realized that I was going away as I heard her shout.

"My Lord, I'll come with you!"

"Stay there, or I'll leave you behind. I don't need someone who can't follow simple orders!"

The sound of Florin's footsteps halted, and I knew that she heeded my command without even taking a look back.