A Plant Geek, Not a Botanist
Nydrian.
A High Elf archer from the Elven Forest.
Excluding large-scale destructive power, she surprisingly possessed the greatest combat strength in the Hero's party next to Lucy.
Arciel stood out because she was a Saint—a healer—who used boxing, but Nydrian's style of maintaining exquisite distance and calmly cornering and finishing off opponents with arrows flying from their blind spots whenever they showed an opening made her highly efficient in terms of in-game performance.
The reason she lagged behind in the popularity rankings was her lack of presence, rooted in a shyness that bordered on a communication disorder unless she was with someone she was truly close to.
While the porter was a character designed to be openly ignored, Nydrian was a character tinged with an innocent sadness—her words were usually ignored when she spoke, but otherwise, her companions took good care of her.
Furthermore, due to her scholarly nature, she thought needlessly deeply, often causing misunderstandings or being treated as a boring person because her remarks were always two steps ahead of the conversation.
It was the same now.
The reason she kept clearing her throat at Rin was to let him know someone was there so he wouldn't be startled by a sudden call, and telling him to be quiet because it was a place for reading and research was a warning that walls had ears.
Of course, only Rin—the reincarnator formerly known as Lee, who had played the original version of Arrogant Saga countless times to clear it as a porter—could understand this.
"What did you say?"
"No, Lucy. She's just telling us that since it's exceptionally quiet here, there's a risk of our conversation spreading."
Rin explained gently, soothing the flaring Lucy.
Nydrian was greatly surprised when his explanation perfectly matched her intentions.
However, rather than being impressed, she cast a highly wary look at Rin.
That look grated heavily on Lucy's nerves.
Should I kill her?
She couldn't do that because of the prayer she had offered to the Goddess in Epaltelga.
The prayer that she would not seek revenge on anyone except Rheinfold, as long as Rin was spared.
Of course, that only meant she wouldn't strike first.
If they kept provoking her like this, she was fully prepared to snap their necks without even needing to draw the temporary holy sword.
Killing is a bit much, so maybe I'll just slap her?
If half her face caves in, she'll behave.
When dealing with anyone other than Rin and Labin, Lucy was a tyrant through and through.
There was a reason why even Rin acknowledged that Lucy's behavior leading up to the Demon King's subjugation made her the number one target for elimination.
Even so, stabbing Lucy in the back was unforgivable.
"Are you studying plants?"
Rin brought up the topic, pretending not to know, but Nydrian openly raised an eyebrow and stared intently at him.
He felt genuinely displeased.
Rin was annoyed by Nydrian, but he was also startled by his own irritation.
Lately, though very rarely, he found himself experiencing intense emotions.
And those emotions were mostly centered around anger or annoyance.
"By any chance, do you know where the mage is? I wanted to thank her for what happened on the archipelago last time."
"..."
Lucy's mood had soured just as much.
She rested her hand on the hilt of the temporary holy sword and tapped it audibly with her thumb. Only then did Nydrian begin to mumble.
"Do you really think the mage would meet with you?"
This remark was also condensed, skipping several steps, but Rin understood it instantly.
She must be clinging to Rheinfold's side to study affection.
That's why she's saying Tigria has no time to meet me.
Well, he had all the information he needed then.
It didn't seem like she would give proper answers even if he asked further.
Just as he was about to leave the imperial library without any lingering regrets, Labin walked in, fanning herself with her hand.
"Ugh, it's so hot!"
"This is a place for reading and research. Could you please be quiet?"
"Oh? Look who it is. If it isn't the archer?"
Labin casually approached Nydrian and began browsing through the books she had gathered for her research.
The archer made her discomfort glaringly obvious, but Labin paid it no mind at all.
That was just how the Thief class was.
They won favor or pried for information with their carefree speech, and if things went south, they simply stole something from the target.
Showing tricky plays outside of combat as well, it was only natural that the class boasted an overwhelming pick rate, leaving the porter far behind.
That was why Rin planned to use Labin to set the stage in this episode.
He tapped the thief on the shoulder to signal that they should leave, but Labin spoke to Rin instead.
"Is this about plants? Trees and forests? Porter, didn't you say you researched farming too?"
"...I failed at it."
"Why? Aren't plants just things you bury in the dirt, water, and they grow on their own?"
Twitch.
Nydrian's ears twitched slightly.
Labin's thoughtlessness had successfully triggered the botanist.
"The soil was too barren for anything to grow. There were too many weeds, too."
"Come on, it's not like you planted them in a desert. Oh! If you plant them right next to a river, the water flows naturally, so they'll grow great!"
"While being next to a river is good for ordinary trees, I hear crops are a bit of a different story."
"No way. You've got dirt and you've got water. I planted an apple seed from one I ate, and it grew just fine."
Unable to hold back any longer, Nydrian stood up from her seat.
"*Ahem*, what variety of apple was that?"
"Huh? Are you interested too, Archer? Well, I don't really remember, except that it was a Jonathan apple."
"In that case, it might have been a Mount Banas apple, which naturally grows well in barren soil... Anyway! Plants, especially trees, don't just grow well simply because there is soil and water. Every species requires a completely different environment. And the soil must be of high quality, possessing nutrients, moisture, organic matter, aeration, and so on!"
"Really? I had no idea. You know so much about plants, Archer. I didn't know soil was that important."
"Not only that, but drainage is also..."
Rin and Lucy watched in silence.
Nydrian had been completely reeled in by Labin.
It was a pity, but she was an easy target.
It is only human nature to want to talk more when the other person reacts enthusiastically to your words.
Naturally, the speech patterns of Nydrian, who was both timid and a plant geek, were highly unlikely to lead to smooth communication.
Yet Labin was reacting.
She was fascinated by what Nydrian said.
Nydrian had pointed out Labin's thoughtless remarks, but Labin only grew more curious and asked more questions.
Nydrian was thrilled.
"Recently, forest areas have been shrinking worldwide. Indiscriminate logging is a major problem. That's why I'm researching tree seeds that can grow large and fast even in barren environments. Actually, it's almost complete."
"That's amazing! You're creating a new species of tree? Let's go out and plant it right away."
"This is the imperial palace, so we can't plant it without permission. Still, I've managed to produce about one sack's worth in my room. Someday, I'm going to travel the world and plant them."
"But you already traveled the world, didn't you?"
"Ugh... A year ago, I released the initial experimental species to the market, but I couldn't track where they were sold or planted. I put them up for sale in the market of Waltercroix, which is famous for commerce, and they were supposedly sold out instantly..."
Labin's eyes gleamed.
After making a quick gesture to Rin and Lucy to wait a moment, Labin continued the conversation.
"Developing a new tree sounds like it would cost an astronomical amount of money."
"It does. It requires an astronomical sum."
"Are you rich, Archer? Because you're a scholar?"
Nydrian smiled without realizing it.
She definitely preferred being called a scholar rather than an archer.
"My personal wealth is negligible. Although the Hero's party receives a decent amount of funding, it falls far short compared to the cost of researching a new tree. Fortunately, I found an investor. Thanks to them, I was able to come this far."
"They must be incredibly wealthy."
"However, because the research costs were so high, the investor recently ran into cash flow issues and asked me to wait a little while."
"That's a shame. I hope their funds clear up soon."
"Yes, truly."
Nydrian smiled faintly.
"It won't be long now. Once it's finished, I want to send the very first seed to them."
This High Elf would never know in her wildest dreams.
That the very investor she spoke of was standing right in front of her, wearing a mask.
He wasn't actually that rich, but instead, he had possessed the ownership and disposal rights to all the miscellaneous items obtained from the Hero's party's battles.
Since he could make a decent amount of money by selling them well depending on market prices and regions, he had been able to invest in Nydrian's research.
Since he hadn't even laid eyes on any loot since the Demon King's subjugation, he had no money now.
Even in the Zramun Archipelago, he had barely managed to work odd jobs to get quick cash...
Wait, I passed out and left back then, so I didn't even get paid, did I?
He was truly penniless.
Rin felt a wave of bitterness.
Still, it was a relief that he had purchased all the seeds released in Waltercroix a year ago.
"I heard the mage does a lot of research too. Is that all covered by the funding?"
"Mmh... probably? She never steps outside unless it's strictly related to her research, so there wouldn't have been any other way without the funding."
"I want to see the mage's research too. Where is her room?"
"It's right next to mine."
"Great! I can take turns looking at both of your research."
"My research too?!"
"Of course."
Nydrian, growing even more excited, readily spilled the location of her room.
Perfect. With this, Rin would be able to seek out Tigria directly in case of an emergency.
Had they really done all this build-up just to get this one piece of information?
It might have seemed trivial once they knew it, but it was highly valuable.
"Come to think of it, Luciena? I heard your funding is piling up in the national treasury. Make sure to collect it before you set off on your journey."
"...What about the porter's?"
"Pardon?"
"I don't know about that."
There was no way she wouldn't know about the porter's funding when she had heard about the Hero's.
Her flat denial grated on Lucy's nerves, but Nydrian remained cold toward the porter.
Yet, surprisingly, Nydrian's words were true.
The Elven archer could never have known about the porter's funding details.
Because Rin had been excluded from the Hero's party funding entirely.
It was the result of him being perceived as a mere non-combatant who only carried luggage.
Because of this, Rin had to earn money by selling miscellaneous items every time the Hero's party visited a city, and ninety percent of it had gone toward Nydrian's research costs.
Strange.
In the original game, Nydrian and the porter had been indifferent to each other, never crossing paths.
Yet, starting from a certain point during the journey to subjugate the Demon King, Nydrian had begun to treat Rin like an eyesore.
Something must have gone wrong.
However, Nydrian was a low priority for now.
Right now, he had instructions to give to Labin and Lucy.
At Rin's nod, Labin bid farewell to the archer, and Lucy snorted as they slipped out of the library.
In the end, putting Nydrian on the back burner proved to be a misstep.
If possible, Rin should have cleared up the misunderstanding with her right then.
"Noooooooo!!!!!"
"Burn it all to ashes!"
...?
An image suddenly played out in Lucy's mind.
Nydrian, forced to her knees before the Elven elders, screaming in despair.
And sacks of seeds burning in the flames set by the Empire's soldiers.
What was that just now?
The voice of the temporary holy sword had appeared after a long time.
Shaking her head at the excuse that it was because of the sword, Lucy caught up to Rin.
The temporary holy sword wore a rapturous expression.