"No, no... This must be a joke, or there must be a mistake," Fern said with a trembling voice, her plant vines briefly contracting. "Are you sure this is for us?"
The messenger consulted his scroll again, running a finger down the ornate script. "Fern and Reed Patinder, residents in the Twisted Black Oak area, outer district 15. There's no mistake, ma'am."
"But... six hundred thousand crystals," Reed insisted, his mature plant's leaves rustling slightly. "Our Ren used to collect and save rain crystals, but... That's... it's an impossible fortune for a first-year child to gather in just six months."
The messenger shrugged, his professional demeanor unruffled by their disbelief. "We only deliver, sir. But if it helps, the sender spoke directly with the business owner. That's not something just anyone can do."
They spent the next few minutes bombarding the patient messengers with questions, most of which they couldn't answer.
