Chapter 60
Chapter 60
8. The Beast in the Storage Shed
We stayed at an inn on the Seldoche Plain for three full days.
Only after seeing the sprouts come up did I finally relax.
'Hah...'
I had drawn on every bit of knowledge and memory from my previous life, so I had been confident, but I was still anxious that something might have gone wrong.
The farmers of Seldoche weren't the only ones moved by the first sprouts.
"Whoa."
There was one more person who had come to see the long boxes and waterwheels spread out across the plain.
"This is... this is really something."
It was the Magic Tower Master herself.
The Magic Tower Master had the appearance of a prim little girl with pink hair.
But her age was the same as Hilbury's. I had heard that she had dabbled in forbidden ancient magic and ended up with the body of a child for the rest of her life.
"This is exactly the Magic Tower's style. Magic works this way."
She murmured in an enraptured voice.
I desperately pretended it had nothing to do with me.
"A beautiful result built entirely on repeated labor!"
The mage dispatched three days earlier had reported the hydroponic cultivation to the Magic Tower. After supplying the materials, the Magic Tower had grown curious about the whole project.
The Magic Tower Master asked with sparkling eyes.
"Would it be all right if I used this place as a field-study site for the slaves—no, the mages?"
Hilbury refused flatly.
"No, you damned old hag."
He and the Magic Tower Master had been academy classmates. So the two of them treated each other casually.
"Why don't you go inspect the Warp? You must have heard there was a Warp incident in the east."
"That Warp anomaly is because of the mana stones from the tomato field! Anyway, yes!"
The Magic Tower Master grinned.
"And I hear this young lady came up with that too? Thanks to it, we've secured an enormous supply of mana stones!"
Her pink eyes stared straight at me.
I gave the girl, who barely reached my shoulder, an awkward smile.
If I made a wrong move, I could end up dragged off to the Magic Tower. So while I was at it, I quickly shifted the credit to Alpheus, the marquess.
"In the end, it was Alpheus who did the digging. No matter how much you think about something, it's useless if you don't work."
To my surprise, the Magic Tower Master agreed.
"Right. The Magic Tower can't run without its slaves—no, its mages either. You're absolutely right."
My attempt to build Alpheus up failed, and he was demoted to slave.
The Magic Tower Master wiped the smile from her face, looked at me, and said.
"Young lady of Sears, thank you for the mana stones, in any case. The east sold them to us right away. The Magic Tower has never secured that many mana stones at once. They'll be a tremendous help in restoring the Warp."
At that, Hilbury cut in seriously.
"Restoring the Warp? Didn't you just say the Warp anomaly was because of the mana stones from the tomato field? So it really is strange?"
"No, I can't say anything officially to outsiders! We're just preparing for the tiny, tiny possibility that there might be a very minor problem in the south, just in case!"
We all understood what she meant.
'So there's already a major problem with the southern Warp that they've noticed internally.'
Still, it was a relief that the Magic Tower Master knew about the Warp anomaly.
The Magic Tower Master smoothed one of her pink pigtails and continued.
"Anyway, I came to thank this young lady and to look at the hydroponic facility Pepe mentioned. Growing plants in water instead of soil—it looks like it could increase the herb yields at the Magic Tower."
"Wow, then will the price of Awakening Herb go down?"
Magical herbs with special properties could only be cultivated at the Magic Tower.
When I asked in admiration, the Magic Tower Master shook her head.
"No, we won't cut the price by a single penny. It sells incredibly well in the south. We'll just make more money ourselves and be done with it."
The Magic Tower Master was firm. But soon she smiled softly and said.
"However, as payment for your idea, I'll make sure you're provided with Awakening Herb at a discounted price for life."
"Ah... thank you."
"Is there anything else you need? I'm asking because I'm grateful. Don't hold back."
In truth, I had been waiting for this.
From the moment the Magic Tower mage arrived, I had thought the Magic Tower Master herself might come to the site, especially once word got out that the sprouts had appeared.
The Magic Tower was in the capital and had very little land, so its magical herbs were grown in a garden patch no bigger than the palm of a hand.
They couldn't be grown elsewhere because the herbs needed the dense ambient mana produced by the many mages at the Magic Tower.
So hydroponic cultivation was naturally bound to catch her interest. And she would surely want to give me something in return.
They were scrupulously conscientious about intellectual property.
"In that case, Magic Tower Master, there is something else I want."
I smiled gently.
It was something only the Magic Tower Master, the greatest magic user in the world, could do.
"Could you cast a defensive spell on these fields?"
"Hm? A defensive spell? Who's going to... invade here? I'm sorry, but it's a bit difficult for the Magic Tower to get involved in territorial disputes."
"No. That's not it."
I raised an eyebrow and said.
"A few days ago, there was a smear campaign in the west trying to frame us. There's no way they'll simply sit back and watch us succeed. They'll definitely try to ruin these fields."
That was obvious.
The rumor that House Sears had brought a curse down on the western land and that we had to be driven out immediately had spread through the city within a single day. There had clearly been a deliberate effort to shape public opinion.
Then they would certainly try to ruin the hydroponic cultivation.
It would be far too easy. All they had to do was poison the water or the nutrient solution.
And since this wasn't even our land, we couldn't post knights across such a vast area. It was on a completely different scale from guarding the potato fields back in the marquisate.
"That much isn't difficult."
Sure enough, the Magic Tower Master nodded readily.
"We just make it so only authorized people can enter, right? For how long?"
"About a month should be enough. The first harvest will all be done within that time."
If we had the Magic Tower Master's barrier, we could leave the Seldoche Plain with peace of mind.
If it were up to me, I would have liked to stay here until the first harvest. But because of us, Hilbury couldn't return to the grand duke's residence either.
The Grand Duke of Nozen surely had many other matters to deal with, but he couldn't bring himself to leave us alone.
And in any case, Alpheus was a marquess.
If it were just me, someone of no particular rank, that would be one thing. But leaving a marquess in the middle of Nozen territory and making him stay there was absurd.
Alpheus said he would stay by my side for now, until word came from the Second Imperial Prince.
It was arranged that if the Second Imperial Prince returned to the imperial palace, or if urgent business arose in the territory, Rangsi would come by Warp.
"Then how about staying at the grand duke's residence for the time being?"
Sure enough, Baron Forman, who had been staying in Seldoche, made the suggestion with perfect timing.
"There's no need for you to remain here. The herbs and leafy vegetables will be well looked after by reliable workers."
"That would be best."
Hilbury nodded.
"I owe a great debt to the guests of Sears. You need only stop by Seldoche from time to time, so for now, please rest comfortably at the grand duke's residence."
And so Alpheus and I returned to the grand duke's residence.
That naturally ruled out the Forman Baronial Residence.
"The grand duke's residence will be far more comfortable for you than our cramped baronial residence."
That was because Baron Forman had once again worked hard to promote the grand duke's residence.
'Baron Forman...'
I looked at the seasoned intelligence operative in his sixties and thought.
'He knows that if you're going to catch someone's eye, it might as well be the highest-ranking person's.'
His skill at navigating the world really was impressive.
As we boarded the Sears carriage, the look in the eyes of the people on the plain was clearly different from three days before. There was even a child who smiled shyly at me.
"It's a relief the sprouts came up."
I noticed that the people's hostility had vanished and let out a sigh of relief.
"Now they just need to grow well."
At that, Alpheus, who was beside me, shook his head.
"No, Brisa."
"Hm?"
"Those people didn't accept us because of the sprouts."
What was he talking about?
I looked up at him in confusion.
"Over those three days, the pure sincerity we showed reached them."
He said with shining eyes.
"I checked the boxes and waterwheels every single day, and you were always checking whether the growing medium was moist. Those hours of our own hard work planted the sprouts of affection in their hearts too. Brisa, do you know what's stronger than magic? It's sincerity that seeps out no matter how hard you try to hide it. In the end, our sincerity reached them."
I quickly looked around. Fortunately, no one but me had heard Alpheus's head-in-the-clouds speech.
"No, Alpheus. If my sincerity reaches them, we're in big trouble."
I whispered, keeping my voice down.
"I want to take all those leafy vegetables and herbs back to the Sears Marquisate and feed them to our own people. That's my sincerity."
Maybe because they were western seeds, the quality was excellent. But since that would be stealing, I held myself back.
It was just as we were climbing back into the Sears carriage.
'Ah!'
As I sat down, something flashed through my mind like lightning.
'The handkerchief!'
"You can sit here."
I had been so busy talking about 'El' that I forgot to bring it!