A Gifted Rose: Can Stones Bloom

A Gifted Rose: Can Stones Bloom is the third part of the World Quest Series A Gifted Rose.
==Start Location==
Start the quest by talking to Affan after the daily reset.
NPC Location Affan.png|Starting Location
NPC Location Affan Context.png|Additional context
==Steps==
# Water the flowers
#* Apply to the flowers
# Talk to Affan
==Dialogue==
;(Talk to Affan)
:Affan: Oh, it's you.
: How are the seeds doing?
:Affan: None of them have sprouted yet.
:Affan: I've checked the surface of the seeds, and there's not even the slightest hint of germination.
:Affan: Why is that?
:Affan: I'm sure these are the right seeds. I found them in the storeroom based on the old ghost's notes.
:Affan: According to his notes, the seeds have a long shelf life, and they won't ever go bad so long as they're kept dry.
:Affan: And there shouldn't be any problems with the way I planted them either. I watered and fertilized them as I should... So why?
:Paimon: Don't worry. Why don't we wait a little longer, Grandpa Affan?
:Paimon: Every time the two of us go to pick fruits and flowers in the wild, we have to wait several days for them to grow back after we pick 'em up.
: Be patient.
: Keep watering them.
:Affan: Ah, I suppose I will just have to wait. Do you guys have time today? Can you help me water them again?
:Affan: It took me hours to loosen the soil in the nursery and I'm too tired to run back for water.
: Got it.
:Affan: Thank you.
;(Talk to Affan again, optional)
:Affan: Have I really been planting stones all along?
;(Use Nahida's All Schemes to Know on Affan, optional)
:Affan: (The dream he never got to fulfill when he was alive... Allow me to realize it for him.)
----
;(After watering the flowers)
:Affan: I'll keep watering them and feeding them fertilizer... But really, will it work out...?
:Affan: I don't know anymore. *sigh*
:Affan: After dawdling for so long, I've finally decided to do something, and yet I still can't do it.
:Affan: I failed to fulfill your wish, old ghost. I'm sorry.
:Paimon: Grandpa Affan...
:Affan: Thank you for the day, children.
----
;(Talk to Affan after the quest ends)
:Affan: I'm sorry, Uncle Shafaqat. I wasn't able to fulfill your last wish...
: Who's Shafaqat?
::Affan: Ah yes, you children were pestering me about the old ghost, weren't you? Well, that's not his real name. I mean, who would actually be called that?
::Affan: I heard from my elders that his name was Shafaqat. He left Sumeru City when he was young and came to our village.
::Affan: He built this house after arriving here and lived in it by himself, and for decades, he barely left.
::Affan: I've never seen him as a young man, but they say that he didn't really dislike children at that time.
::Affan: He grew many trees and flowers in the front and back yard of his house. Children liked to run over to his place and ask for Ajilenakh Nuts, and also to listen to him talk.
::Affan: But by the time I met him, he'd already become old and was called the old ghost, and he'd also come to dislike children.
: Why are you so obsessed with growing flowers?
::Affan: Once in a while, some outsiders would be forced to settle here in our village.
::Affan: Some people never got used to living here, even if they kept pushing themselves to do so, and so they ended up alone for the rest of their lives.
::Affan: That old geezer Uncle Shafaqat was probably one of them. Everyone just accepted this state of affairs over time.
::Affan: But no matter how many years passed, I refused to get used to such a thing. It's really such a pity, what happened to him...
::Affan: You would have loved his garden too if you ever saw it. Pretty flowers of all kinds of colors, and so many trees of varying heights...
::Affan: The person who cultivated such a great garden passed away so quietly. And the only thing people would remember about him now is that the old ghost would take away naughty children.
::Affan: I refused to accept this. He wrote in his notes that he wanted these roses to grow everywhere. And I want to fulfill his wish.
::Affan: I'm old anyway, so I don't care how others may see me. My life will be worth it if I can do this.
::Affan: I've cleaned up his house for him and sorted out the large pile of booklets he'd left behind.
::Affan: I can show you a volume or two if you're interested.
::Affan: I'll put these notes , just so he can see the sun for a bit through them.
: There must be another way.
:Affan: What other way can there be?
:Affan: Uncle Shafaqat... That old geezer's already passed away in peace. If he was still alive, I could ask him what special methods could be used to cultivate these roses.
:Affan: Who can I ask now?
: I know an Amurta researcher named Sabbah.
:Affan: Oh you mean that outsider girl. Can she help?
:Affan: Besides, she came by here before and I drove her away. Will she be willing to help?
: I'll give it a shot.
:Affan: You're a good kid. It's alright if you can't find anyone to help. The thought is enough for me.
----
;(Read Old Notes in front of the house)
:Old Notes: (On the title page is a name in big letters: Shafaqat.)
: Flip to the front.
::Old Notes: "In the past, when I was in the Akademiya, everyone would politely call me 'Teacher' or 'Sir.' After I got here, none visited my hut save for the children, and they all called me Uncle Shafaqat."
::Old Notes: "Heh. Titles change with circumstances, I suppose. Since no one knows me here in this village, why don't I leave my life as a researcher behind and dedicate myself to farming instead?"
:: Next page.
::Old Notes: "I have no regrets in following my own beliefs, nor did I keep a diary out of introspection."
::Old Notes: "I recall peeking at my daughter's diary before my exile. She said angrily that whoever read her diary would turn into a frog. Ribbit, ribbit... I rather miss her."
: Flip to the middle.
::Old Notes: "I resumed growing crops, as I did back when I was a student. In the past, I made lab assistants do all the menial work, but now I have to do it all myself, and to be honest, it isn't too bad."
::Old Notes: "To grow fruits and plants, I plowed vacant plots and made some fertilizer myself. They are, of course, not as good as the fine goods sold in Sumeru City, but well, these cost no Mora."
::Old Notes: "The children love to come visit, and I'm delighted to have company. No research goals, no meetings, and just eating what you grow... I'm really turning into a certified farmer."
::Old Notes: "Whether I want it to or not, my old life won't come back."
:: Next page.
::Old Notes: "To researchers, exile is truly a cruel punishment that renders decades of hard work meaningless. I can never return to Sumeru City, my labs, or my books again. Only endless labor awaits me."
::Old Notes: "The environment here is harsh, and while Sumeru Roses would cover every inch of Sumeru City during the Sabzeruz Festival, not a single petal can be seen here. It's just sand and more sand, as far as the eye can see."
: Flip to the back.
::Old Notes: "I never fulfilled any of my youthful aspirations. I wished to realize projects that would be remembered for generations, but everything has been lost to the sands."
::Old Notes: "I also don't know what's become of my family. Decades have gone by. My child is now probably a wife or mother."
::Old Notes: "In my only memories of my daughter, she is as cute as the children in the village, but what does she look like now? I can't picture it at all. I can't help but think of her when I see other children, and it brings me great sorrow."
::Old Notes: "I hate children."
::Old Notes: "My work was discredited, and my name became a family taboo... This is how they punish exiles. Other than a physical body doomed to rot, all I've got is the Golden Rose I spent so much time and effort cultivating."
::Old Notes: "And when I'm gone, there shall be no one left to take care of them."
:: Next page.
::Old Notes: "Everyone dies... And I wish, before I depart, to do a final meaningful deed, which is to scatter Golden Rose seeds in the desert. The shifting sands and animals will whisk them away, even to the furthest corners of the desert."
::Old Notes: "I hope they will have a chance to take root and bloom in these endless sands. My selfish wish is for them to leave a mark upon this world on my behalf."
::Old Notes: "Even if my body and all memories of me were to disappear, I'll continue to live on as long as the roses remain. Too bad I didn't have the time or opportunity to ask the villagers to grow these roses on a large scale."
::Old Notes: "Fortunately the hard shells should suffice to protect the seeds in their slumber. Then, they shall sleep. Yes, they shall begin their slumber alongside me."
::Old Notes: "Roses, oh roses, grant me my wish."
::Old Notes: "Blooming from the stone, the Golden Rose sang to me."
::Old Notes: "She sang:"
::Old Notes: "No land but folk songs bore my spirit."
::Old Notes: "Songs shall defy my fate, and overcome my destiny."
::Old Notes: "They will surpass me, surpass time. They will surpass the ever-lasting withering of life."
==Other Languages==
==Change History==
es:Una rosa a modo de obsequio: piedras que florecen