Chapter 131: Flower Arrangement Club (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 131: Flower Arrangement Club (3)
Daisy #1 — Ah, no!
Skill in flower arranging could be developed later.
For now, a crime had to be stopped.
Since she already knew who had brought the flowers, Daisy secretly called out the person involved in their source after the club activities ended.
“Ahem, hmph.”
“...”
Looking at the culprit, whose face was overtly flushed with excitement, Daisy felt her mind go blank.
Furthermore, thanks to the various incidents she’d endured, Daisy’s senses had sharpened to the point where she could detect several presences tailing her.
And as a bonus...
They’re so bad at hiding!
Where would princes of various nations or those with equivalent power ever have had to hide?
The level of hide-and-seek Daisy had played with Violet as a child was higher than this. Even if she hadn't sensed them, she probably would have noticed them anyway.
I-I’m so embarrassed.
Knowing exactly what kind of misunderstanding led to their behavior, Daisy felt her own face burning.
“...”
However, seeing the culprit’s expression—which seemed to be full of expectation upon seeing her face—Daisy couldn't help but let out a small sigh.
“Whew.”
Then, she carefully pulled out a flower.
“D-Daisy?”
...I’m not giving this to you.
Those words almost burst out of her, but Daisy suppressed them and asked through gritted teeth.
“This. Hedrick, you brought this, didn't you?”
“Huh? Oh. Yeah. That’s right.”
Since the last Founding Festival, a massive number of flowers had been delivered to the Flower Arrangement Club.
They claimed it was a reward for resolving a major crisis for the merchant guild, but although their other intentions were glaringly obvious...
It had been a huge help to the club.
So she was going to let it slide, but!
“Do you like that flower?”
“...!”
At his cautious words, cold sweat trickled down Daisy’s spine.
Are you trying to turn me into a drug addict?!
“It’s not like that!”
“Wh-what?”
Daisy, who had intended to break it to him gently, squeezed her eyes shut. She decided that beating around the bush might only cause more problems.
“Th-this is a drug...”
“...Huh?”
As expected, he seemed to have had no idea.
Well, it was possible. They had brought in countless flowers from all over the continent. It was possible that a flower used as a raw material for drugs had been mixed in by mistake.
“That can’t be. If this were a drug, there’s no way five carriages worth of it would have been delivered so casually, right?”
“...?”
Five carriages worth.
At those words, Daisy looked at the flower, wondering if she had been mistaken. She even took a cautious sniff of its scent.
“...”
It... it is a drug...
But he said five carriages worth had been brought in.
Daisy snapped out of it and took the flower to the person she trusted most.
“Daisy, you...”
A look of horror.
Pupils shaking violently.
As if he couldn't even bring himself to finish his sentence. Seeing Bellian looking like he had so much to say despite his tightly shut lips, Daisy closed her eyes and screamed.
“It’s not me!”
I headed to the club room after training.
For some reason, not only Prince Ellen but even that Minor Sword Emperor punk were absent, so I had to work like a dog all by myself. I was craving something sweet.
“Why is it so empty?”
Unlike usual, there was only one person in the club room, so I asked.
“Ah, well...”
The freshman... no, enough time had passed that she was starting to shed the "newbie" tag—Irene Seya—gave an awkward smile and explained what had happened while I was gone.
“Ah, so. They were doing flower arrangements in the Flower Arrangement Club, and a few members were happily using narcotic plants?”
“Yes...”
Well, that could happen. The members there aren't exactly experts. They didn't even seem to have much will to learn about flowers in the first place.
I told the Minor Sword Emperor to learn a bit about flowers as a way to woo Daisy, but seeing how he quit shortly after, it was obvious.
“So. You checked, and it really was a flower used as a primary ingredient for drugs. And the club confirmed that the Ilias Merchant Guild had brought in five super-sized carriages worth of them?”
“Yes... They said that depending on how it's refined, it's enough for everyone living in the Academy to use for ten years...”
“So they rushed to the warehouse and ran into the people trying to transport it. Daisy felt something was off and used Holy Magic, which broke their disguise and revealed they were dark mages?”
“That’s right.”
“And then the flower-heads... I mean, the members of the Flower Arrangement Club started a pursuit. Because of that, an emergency was declared and everyone bolted out.”
“Yes. It sounds like a lie, but it’s all true...”
“Sounds plausible.”
“...Pardon?”
Irene looked at me with a bewildered expression. This girl still doesn't seem to understand how the Academy system works.
“No, Senior! I’m saying dark mages infiltrated the Academy!”
“It’s happened a few times before.”
“W-well, that’s true! But this time, they were transporting a massive amount of drug ingredients into the Academy!”
“Is it any more logical that they infiltrated an Academy-managed dungeon to remodel it, or that a horde of dark mages and even demons appeared at the cathedral right in front of the Academy?”
“Uh... W-well, when you put it that way!”
“Drugs are a common item even for ordinary criminals to smuggle. I’m sure dark mages could bring them in too.”
“...”
Her face said that wasn't what she meant, but I decided to let it go.
“So, how is it progressing now?”
“Ah, well...”
I figured Daisy would be finishing them all off by now. That’s why I asked, but...
“I heard they’re struggling a bit?”
“...?”
For the first time, an unexpected response came out.
Daisy #2 — Very Big and Beautiful.
After getting confirmation from the Senior, we rushed to the Ilias warehouse.
There, we encountered employees trying to move the flowers.
“Wait. Something’s strange.”
“Huh?”
Violet narrowed her eyes, looking at the employees. And then...
“Daisy. Holy Beam!”
“Wh-what is that?!”
She suddenly shouted out a skill name.
“Use your Divine Power!”
“Say that from the start!”
It wasn't exactly a beam, but I gathered Divine Power in my hands and let out a burst of light.
The light that brightly illuminated the warehouse was filled with the Goddess’s power, so it would give strength to good people, but...
“Aaargh!”
“It’s the Goddess’s filthy lapdog!”
“...Eh?”
Impure beings would be purified. Just like the employees in front of us.
“...Wait?”
Why are the employees...?
“Why else? They’re obviously dark mages!”
“Again?!”
Violet, who had already prepared her magic, relentlessly fired spells at the people. If they weren't dark mages, this could be a huge problem. How can she be so hesitant!
“Even if they aren't dark mages, they’re drug dealers caught in the act!”
“I-is that so?”
Right. The Empire strictly cracks down on drugs.
“B-but!”
Even so, attacking without confirmation like this...
“If we don't catch those guys, we’re accomplices too!”
“That makes sense!”
I immediately drew my sword. To prove our innocence, we needed to capture them alive.
“Run!”
And so the chase began.
In the process, it was clearly proven that the opponents were dark mages, and we realized there were more of them than expected, but...
Well, that was a common occurrence.
So, the important thing now was to prove the innocence of the Flower Arrangement Club.
“Urgh!”
However, the enemy’s resistance was fierce.
They began to spray not only dark magic but all sorts of poisons and drugs, likely manufactured from the previous flowers.
“Watch your breathing! You’ll really get hauled off by the Narcotics Bureau!”
At Violet’s shout from the front, Arwen muttered in a voice full of doubt.
“How does she know so much about drugs?”
“...”
N-no way, right?
When I looked at Violet with that suspicion, she barked back.
“It’s common sense I learned a long time ago!”
“...”
“...”
Doubt appeared on everyone’s faces at those words.
Was that... common sense?
It was a statement that somehow raised even more suspicion, but...
“Daisy, I’ll see you later.”
“I-I’m sorry! I was joking!”
I had no choice but to tuck my tail at that somehow chilling remark. Because when Violet gets angry, she’s truly terrifying.
As the chase continued...
“Ah! Flower arrangement!”
A familiar insectivorous plant we had seen with the drugs grew massive and blocked our path.
“Wh-what is this now!”
“Ugh, my eyes...”
Suddenly, tree roots sprouted and attacked us like tentacles.
“Tsk, to think they’d follow us this far.”
“Truly persistent bastards...”
“But for us,”
“A trump card remains.”
“Come forth, Big Tree!”
“Are you the Power Rangers or something...?!”
Unlike typical dark mages, strange individuals wearing skin-tight leggings in red, blue, green, yellow, and pink appeared.
“What is that...”
They went as far as summoning a giant wood golem.
“H-how am I supposed to cut something like that!”
Asran drew his sword in panic, but...
“Go, Daisy!”
“Violet?!”
Violet was telling me to cut that monster down without hesitation.
I-I mean, even so. Isn't this a bit much? I thought, but...
“You did it once in the Holy Kingdom!”
“Uh...?”
“Just use that Sword of Condemnation or whatever that splits the sky!”
“...”
No, that’s not a technique I can just use whenever I want...
“Or just suck up all that mana and crush it with raw power!”
“...”
W-well, there is that way. But to do that, I have to absorb that much mana first!
“Don't compress the mana like you were taught. Just crush it with your sheer weight class!”
“Easier said than done...”
How am I supposed to fight that thing, which is at least a hundred times bigger than me?
I looked at Violet with a tearful face, but...
“Then, first, Asran. You fight Daisy!”
“What?”
“...?”
“Just be a mana shuttle!”
“...Eh?”
Apparently, the one I was supposed to fight wasn't the giant wood golem.
“What the hell is that?”
On the outskirts of the Academy, a super-sized wooden giant appeared, making the Academy’s barrier look like a joke.
That alone suddenly changed the genre of the situation, but...
“What are those guys doing?”
Leaving that robot alone, Daisy was swinging her sword at her allies.
“...”
Seeing that, I wondered if Daisy or the other RoFan male leads had been brainwashed by the enemy.
Since Prince Ellen had done something similar last summer break, I was on high alert, but...
“Ah.”
Watching a bit longer, I realized it wasn't UFC, but WWE, and I understood what they were doing.
“A mana funnel, huh...”
It was an absurd sight, but at the same time, its efficiency was top-notch.
If the members of the Flower Arrangement Club—who were born with mana capacities that were second to none—acted as mana tanks for the magic sword that endlessly sucked up mana...
“...Crazy.”
A big and beautiful sword, capable of cutting down even a super-sized wooden giant, would be born.