Uprooted and Nursed Back to Life

Unlike her elegant voice during the selection, her words sounded like complete alien gibberish. Ignoring whether I could understand or not, she continued murmuring to herself.

"Blah blah blah Michael blah blah?"

'Whoa! Lady Michael!?'

It was a string of incomprehensible sounds, but I clearly caught the word Michael in there.

'Ahh... Lady Michael, it's you again...? I just worship you...'

Another moment where I owed my life to Lady Michael. Was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it really okay to receive this much divine love? Shouldn't I change the trait name from Michael's Cheer to Michael's Favor?

"Blah Frostia. Blah Sia Kalt blah."

'Huh? Self-introduction...?'

I recognized Frostia, the ice dragon's name from the status window, and Sia Kalt, the name of this place. Frostia, presumed ruler of the Sia Kalt Labyrinth. She must have been introducing herself.

She was probably going to take me in, right?

'As expected! You're going to be my butler!'

Becoming the pet... no, the companion plant of a labyrinth lord would be a position anyone in this world would dream of. Everyone wants to be reborn as a rich family's cat in their next life, don't they?

"Blah blah blah."

Her eyes gleamed as if she'd made some resolve.

How obvious.

'Yes! Master! Take good care of me!'

That was when it happened.

Her pale fingers wrapped around my stem.

Was she going to yank me out just like that?

'Uh... uh? Wait a sec!'

Of course, she couldn't hear me. There was no way a flower like me could speak.

"Blah blah blah."

Frostia smiled softly as she spoke. It was a natural motion, like transplanting a potted plant.

'Aaaah! It hurts!'

The moment she tugged gently, a sharp pain pierced through my entire body. My roots, deeply embedded in the soil, clung desperately to the earth in resistance.

"Blah...?"

Her expression turned slightly puzzled. She pulled a bit harder once more.

'Gaaaaah! Butler! No! Mistress!!!'

Butler and cat? No way. A future of absolute master and slave flashed before my eyes. I couldn't afford to mess around.

The suddenly acquired skill was utterly useless.

Her pure white eyes gleamed with surprise.

"Blah... blah blah blah."

This time, she muttered with a serious expression. Then, as she extended her hand, a blue glow gathered at her pale fingertips.

'Mistress...? You're really taking me in, right...?'

Fierce mana overflowed from the blue light brimming with immense power.

'Eek!?'

In an instant, the earth around my roots froze solid, then shattered like glass.

'Kiyaaaaaaaaaah!'

Unbearable agony overwhelmed my entire body. Pain tolerance, my ass! What was it even doing!?

My deeply rooted tendrils lost their hold in an instant and floated into the air.

"Blah!"

Frostia smiled in satisfaction, lifting me up with one hand. It was an elegant motion, like plucking a single flower from a vase, but for me, it was the worst pain of my life.

'Hah... I feel like I'm dying...'

My consciousness faded. My HP must have hit rock bottom, even draining the auxiliary battery.

'She wasn't really trying to kill me, was she...?'

The last thing I saw was Frostia's serene smile and her starlit eyes.

Then, my vision went completely black.

Gazing at the flower losing its vitality, Frostia's brow furrowed slightly. The crimson petals that had shimmered brilliantly just moments ago now hung limp and lifeless, and the purple stamen no longer moved with the grace of a serpent's tongue.

"Did I pull too hard?"

She tilted her head, lost in thought for a moment. But soon, she shrugged it off as no big deal. This wasn't some ordinary plant—it was a powerful monster hunter from the mid-layers. A damaged root wouldn't kill it.

Returning to the deepest layer, Frostia planted the flower in one corner of her lair. As she gently buried the black stem into the ice-crystal-covered cave floor, a pleased smile curved her lips. She was delighted to add such a beautiful ornament to her domain. To avoid crushing it with her massive true form, she'd have to live in human shape for a while.

"Hmm... your name..."

"Ricoris. Yes, let's call you Ricoris."

But that joy was short-lived.

'...Huh?'

The petals began to tremble as if shaken by the wind. The purple stamen drooped completely, brushing the icy floor, and the red petals grew ever paler.

"What's wrong with you?"

Confusion flickered in Frostia's pure white eyes. As an ice dragon native to the Sia Kalt Labyrinth's frozen caves, she never imagined a plant here would suffer from the cold. Unlike the local monsters born with extreme cold resistance, this flower—with only Freeze Block to fend off mid-layer chill—found the deepest layer's subzero temperatures freezing even its lost consciousness solid.

She stared at the flower for a long while before her eyes widened in realization.

'Ah! Right, this child...'

Images flashed: the mid-layer deathscape and the lone flower thriving unscathed amid it. Ricoris, this flower, must have grown by absorbing monster blood there.

She rose hurriedly. The hem of her silver dress sliced through the frigid air.

As she headed to the depths, Frostia's steps lost their usual grace in her haste. Frost flowers bloomed and faded in her wake.

Soon, she returned to her lair with an ice bowl filled with monster blood. Each source was a mighty beast humans called S-rank. This precious blood, coveted by alchemists willing to sacrifice souls, was carefully poured around the flower.

As it absorbed the blood through its roots, the flower regained a bit of vigor—but not the brilliant luster it had shown in the mid-layers.

Frostia eyed it curiously. She couldn't fathom why it wilted in her perfect lair.

Each time it absorbed monster blood, the flower mustered just enough life to avoid withering. Frostia hunted deep-layer monsters daily for their blood, but the petals' iridescence never returned.

...And so, three years passed.

'Already three years...'

Frostia suddenly realized the flow of time. To her, who had lived millennia, three years was fleeting—like yesterday. The encounter with the flower felt recent, yet three years had slipped by. She was taken aback.

"Rico, how do I make you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠healthy again?"

'If it's a plant...'

Only then did she realize: plants need light. No amount ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of monster blood could sustain it without sunlight.

Frostia hurriedly lifted the flower. This time, unlike before, she handled it with exquisite care, like fragile glasswork.

The cold winds of the Sia Kalt mountains whipped her silver hair. She ascended toward the peak, stopping at a suitable height amid the eternal snows.

"This should do..."

She planted it carefully. Tough enough to survive in ice, it should thrive here.

As time passed, the flower revived bit by bit. The purple stamen began wriggling like a serpent's tongue again, and the red petals slowly regained their sheen.

But a question lingered in Frostia's heart.

'There was no sunlight in the mid-layers either...'

She gazed at the flower with cold eyes, deep in thought.

'What could it be?'

The ice dragon never dreamed its escape from the depths' chill had restored its vigor—and consciousness.

'Where...'

A warm sensation I'd never felt caressed my petals. Unlike the blue glow of the ice cave, something golden poured down from above.

'This... must be sunlight.'

To me, born and raised in the cave, it was utterly alien. Each petal soaked in the warmth, and my pitch-black stem gleamed softly.

As I tried to extend my sensing ability to its max, a gentle presence appeared nearby.

It was Frostia. She stood beside me, watching the scene. Her silver dress fluttered elegantly in the mountain breeze, her endless silver hair shimmering more brilliantly under the sun. Her pure white eyes coldly observed me taking in the view.

'Eek! M-Mistress...'

Memories before blacking out resurfaced.

'No! She's giving sunlight to a plant like me! Don't you dare doubt her!'

Calming down, I extended my sensing again—and gasped at the breathtaking sight.

Endless white mountains stretched forever. Under the sun, the snowy ridges sparkled like a colossal dragon's spine piercing the sky. Beneath the crystal-clear blue, dazzling snowfields filled every vista.

'A world like this existed...'

A crisp freshness, worlds apart from the labyrinth's icy chill, enveloped me. Distant peaks peeked through clouds like carved white gems.

I was rooted high in these mountains. Looking down revealed dizzying depths. The labyrinth entrance was somewhere far below.

'Have I ever been this close to the sky...'

My stamen quivered at this overwhelming first vista—a vast world unimaginable in the labyrinth. Each gust of frigid mountain wind birthed elegant sparkling blizzards.

A faint smile graced Frostia's lips, as if beholding a long-awaited moment.

'Thank you, Mistress...'

Then the status window chimed.

'Oho! Levels up right away!'

With Photosynthesis leveled, something must have changed. Inspecting myself, I sensed a discrepancy.

'Huh? Is this me? Why do I feel so much stronger?'

What the heck? In confusion, I opened my status window.

At that moment, it felt like time itself stopped.