Apparently, today was a good day for herb gathering. Not only were there 2 E Lvl 3 herbs, but there was also a rare E Lvl 6: The 6 Petal Daisy. I idly wondered if you could paste another petal on and upgrade it to Lvl 7.

Anyways, it turned out that 3 individuals, Tortua, Madam Shellton, and Derek Shelley all were at an important point in their cultivation, and the use of the 6 Petal Daisy was critical to all of them.

Well, all of them had slightly different ways of saying it. Madam Shellton demanded it by name, arrogantly stating that her many contributions to the sect deserved to be rewarded.

Upon closer reading of Tortua, I realized that she didn’t really even ask for that specific herbs, just that she stated herbs would help her gain insights into an area that she was experimenting with.

I was almost 100% sure that Derek Shelley was going to sell the traders when they arrived. Honestly, I would be interested to see what the traders could bring to the sect, what they could buy and sell, but before I knew the benefits, it didn’t seem like saving this higher ranked herb would benefit me at all.

Although I hated it, I was leaning towards giving the herb to Madam Shellton, if just to avoid the hassle of having to cleverly handle her. At first it was amusing, but now I was realizing that it was becoming increasingly unsustainable. Of course, there wasn’t a single blip on the relationship screen for giving Madam Shellton all of the wood for this income period. No, my small kindnesses weren’t rewarded, and she had the nerve to demand the greatest treasure my turtles had ever brought me.

The irony being that the treasure in question was a daisy.

Still…

My mouth curled into a smile. I wasn’t the type to give things away simply. Coughing lightly, I looked around the screen until I found what I was looking for: A small input box in the bottom center of my screen.

Clicking quickly, a small warning came up that making an announcement to the entire sect would require 1 Face. I paused, but not really because I was unwilling to spend 1 of my 100 face. Rather because I wondered at the arbitrariness of this cost. My turtle minions could freely approach me with their issues, yet I was unable to speak to them general without losing face?

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Ugh, it was tough being king.

I began to type, considering the type of sect that I wished my turtles to become.

“Fellow Red-Eyed Turtles… as I’m sure you have heard, a great boon has been acquired by our sect… the 6 Petal’d Daisy. This rare flower is powerful enough to accomplish much… and I wish for the individual who can utilize it most efficiently to possess it… therefore...only one choice is available to me.”

I paused for effect.

“We will have a race to determine the Daisy’s new owner.”

The next few minutes passed in a blur as I had several light blue notifications to deal with, as people came forward, both offering to help with the race and offering criticisms of the methods. Sadly, when I checked the relationship screen, everyone’s opinion of me took a hit, Madam Shellton’s even sinking back to 0 after I had made her both instructor and in charge of resources.

Just proved that there was no way I was handing the Daisy over to her willingly. She needed to dance a bit for me first.

Tortua was surprisingly helpful, or perhaps not surprisingly, during the whole process, suggesting the route and possible obstacles. I axed a lot of her ideas, mostly because I wanted to finish the race before the next round of income occurred. But I did decide some toppled trees would be a nice touch.

With about 15 minutes before income would occur again, all of my turtles were gathered, waiting by the lake. The course was a small loop, following the river for a bit before coming around through the forest and returning to my lodge.

Dr. Slowand, Derek Shelley, and Madam Shellton were participating in the race, as well as Peebles, Snapper, and the 3 other turtles that were Outer Sect Disciples. Altogether, there would be 8 contestants. A respectable race.

Still....

I couldn’t help but giggle at the thought of Dr. Slowand winning the race. And his posture seemed to lend credence to that theory, as he narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, seemingly prepared to leap off to a rapid start a moment’s notice.

Solmenly, Tortua walked out to the starting line, the crowd of turtles parting for her. With all the gazes on her, she slowly raised her staff, on the tip of which the Stone of New Spring glowed brightly, even during the day.

Come to think of it, was it ever night here….? The turtles just seemed to nap around the lake.

Dun.

I was startled as Tortua brought the staff down, and the turtles were off to the races.