Leave a comment

Come afternoon, Lyell and Maria came to Maxwell’s mansion. Michelle and Letina also came with them. Since the kidnappers were handled just yesterday, Lyell and Maria decided to walk them here.

“Thanks to that, mommy ended up fainting.”
“I can see that happening.”

You would normally never consider that heroes who saved the world would appear at your doorstep as guides for your kids. Much less when the kid in question was Letina who was anything but timid. It was natural for them to assume their daughter caused some mess.

“Moreover, after Lady Maria forcefully woke her up with Awake spell, she fainted again.”
“She used the Awake spell? Well, if someone fainted before your eyes, you’d end up using it.”
“She did it three times.”
“You should just give up at that point.”

Well, such uprightness was Maria’s nature.

“W-Well, there were a bit problems before we departed, but let’s just pretend there weren’t.”
“Maria… keeping up appearances wouldn’t erase the facts.”
“Ugh, I’m sorry.”

It was rare to see her so dejected.

After a while, Tricia arrived and we once again headed for Mount Nord.

We put scarves on our mouths and climbed the mountain. We had no specific destination, we just aimed for the summit. After climbing far enough, the other party would approach us themselves, so there was no need to look for them.

“Ah, there they are.”

I muttered from the top of the carriage. I could see the wriggling shadows in the corner of my smoky field of view.

“Nicole, you noticed it first again. Your eyes are really are sharp.”
“I was being vigilant, but this is making me lose confidence.”
“That’s because you are inattentive to details. But I couldn’t notice it either.”
“All of you are the same… I am Gadius! Tell Queen Blossom that we brought the requested items.”

Hearing Gadius’ voice, the surroundings Treants started rustling and slowly withdrew. After a while, a familiar youthful voice greeted us.

“You returned so fast. Did you find my seeds?”

A giant flower with a girl enshrined in its center—the Queen Blossom pushed her way through the Treants and approached us. Her voice seemed to lack any kind of expectations for us, but the reality wasn’t what she expected.

“Indeed, here they are.”
“What!? You really found them in a single day?”

Lyell put the bag of seeds a little away from us, then the Treants went to recover them. Receiving the bag, the Queen Blossom excitedly opened it and started counting the number. That reminds me, I never checked their number.

“One, two… Hmm, indeed there’s everything here.”
“Good to know.”
“But still, for it to take just one day… How did you find them?”
“About that… The robbers that came to sell those got caught in a fire. Moreover, someone else seemed to have dealt with them before we got to them.”
“Who was that someone?”

I killed all of the kidnappers. The only reason Lyell knew that was because Matisse saw me. But I had soot on my face, my hair was hidden under a scarf along with my peculiar right eye, so she didn’t know it was me.

“It was a black-faced Gnome clad in black from head to toe. That’s the only conclusion we have reached based on what the witness told us. Oh, and they possessed tremendous physical strength. We found bisected bodies everywhere.”

That wasn’t due to my strength but because I used the anchor’s weight, but it was quite convenient for me if they misunderstood it like that. Because I was recognized to have an extreme lack in the strength department, no one would think that I was the culprit.

“Hmm, were they unable to find the seeds? They should’ve been right before their eyes. That’s quite a good fortune.”
“No, they found it all right. And they entrusted them to the kidnapped child. It must’ve been someone who was aware of the circumstances.”
“Do you have any leads?”
“I thought about it… but nothing comes up. No, maybe…?”
“Is there anything?”
“No, nevermind.”

Lyell seemed to have thought of something, but he shook his head and denied once more. I didn’t know what he thought, but it was no time for that now.

“Rather than that…”
“I know, this was the bargain. Wait for a bit.”

Saying that, the Queen Blossom ordered the Treants to bring a rough-looking wooden bucket. She then pushed that bucket at the heart of her own petals. After a bit, she raised the bucket once again, but it was now full of nectar.

It had such a rich fragrance it even reached my nose.

“So this is the Queen Blossom’s…”
“Indeed. When my seeds hatch and become Alraune, they feed on this nectar. It’s a concentration of my power… A precious article.”
“Yeah, I know. With this, this girl can be saved. Thanks for your cooperation.”
“It is us who have been saved. I thank the Great Tree for this fated encounter.”
“Okay, looks like it’s finally my turn now!”

Lyell took the nectar from the Queen Blossom and exchanged the words of gratitude. Then Tricia destroyed the atmosphere between them and started rolling up her sleeves.

It seemed that the medical effect vaporized soon after the nectar was drained from the petals. If she didn’t make the medicine here and preserved it, we would only be left with simply a sweet nectar.

Unfortunately, I had to agree that it was time for her to show her skill.