Moonrise Flower (1)
After finishing the entire cake, Rodeban and Luce slipped out through the back door of Roselupi.
Elise had already left halfway through, claiming she had business to attend to.
Luce gazed up at the bakery building and offered her overall impression.
"It wasn't that bad."
Rodeban asked, "Compared to going places with your friends, was it really?"
"Yeah."
He tilted his head.
'Her palate is unusually picky.'
It had seemed perfectly fine to eat.
'Wonder how the princess and her crew eat out all the time...'
As they slowly returned to the estate, Luce suddenly remembered something and spoke up.
"Right. Look at this."
She handed him a crumpled sheet of paper from her pocket.
Rodeban unfolded the memo and began reading it aloud.
"A list of ten must-visit spots in the north... "
It was exactly a memo listing the landmarks of the northern region.
"Arfria wrote it before I came."
"...Now it's May. Isn't it almost time for exams? You don't have to go, do you?"
Luce said this with a defiant expression.
"Arfria is busy in the second semester. She says she'll take care of the first semester herself."
"..."
Rodeban closed his eyes for a moment, then reopened them.
'Actually, Luce probably just wanted to come sightseeing, regardless of my absence.'
As he continued reading the list, a word caught his eye.
"Moonrise Hill?"
Luce answered his question.
"It's the place from the fairy tale . The hero receives moonlight and becomes a Holy Knight. According to legend, the Moonrise Flower blooms once every few years, absorbing the moonlight."
She explained at an unusually long length.
'Just how badly does he want to go?'
Rodeban muttered, "The Moonrise Flower... "
In reality, the Moonrise Flower wasn't a myth—it bloomed on a fixed date every three years.
Eating it would boost resistance to magic.
For Rodeban, who possessed the Magic Eye, mana resistance was a truly valuable stat.
'Last time I went, I missed it by the skin of my teeth...'
While rummaging through his memory for the exact date, Rodeban's eyebrows lifted.
It just so happened that the date lined up perfectly.
He said, "Then shall we go there tomorrow?"
Luce's eyes widened in delight.
"Oh! Awesome."
After all, it would take some time for the cure to be developed.
At the very least, a couple of months.
It wasn't just about making the potion—it also required testing on actual patients.
If things went wrong, it could take even longer.
And the worst-case scenario was that the Holy Fluid might be taken up to the imperial palace in the meantime.
In that case, it would be better to just go to the Magic Sword headquarters with Luce and charge in.
After briefly picturing that vicious scenario, Rodeban's consciousness returned to reality.
The moment he saw Luce, a mysterious sigh escaped him.
"Haa..."
Thinking about it, he had worked hard for three months battling the Magic Sword, only to have to ride a carriage to Moonrise Hill starting tomorrow.
'Since staying at the estate would only make Luce pester me again, it might be best to go and harvest the Moonrise Flower at the same time.'
'Actually, I had no intention of going to the bakery today. I was dragged along.'
Luce hummed a cheerful tune with light footsteps.
***
The next day, Rodeban departed in the duke's carriage.
Naturally, several knights followed.
The destination was Moonrise Hill, located near the small town of Ferngrad.
Inside the moving carriage, Rodeban asked with an innocent face, "Luce, haven't you ever wanted to go to the academy?"
After all, it was necessary to build social skills and manners.
He figured the academy would be better than his company.
Of course, this was just Rodeban's personal opinion.
"Yeah. Not happening."
She firmly shook her head.
It seemed the academy didn't suit her as much as adventuring.
"Sigh..."
While he wore a disappointed expression, Luce changed the subject.
"Have you read ?"
Rodeban nodded.
"Yeah. I read it."
The plot was simple.
A knight born on Moonrise Hill who was absurdly strong defeated the villains—classic isekai fantasy.
The key point was that the Moonrise Knight in this story was a Holy Knight who used divine power.
"Why does that matter?"
Luce tilted her head.
Rodeban explained the reason.
"It doesn't. It just means Moonrise Hill is a place where divine power gathers."
"Ah, I see."
"Thanks to that, the Moonrise Flower that blooms there absorbs divine power. Eating it raises the consumer's resistance to magic."
"Then we're going to pick that flower?"
"Yeah."
"Interesting."
Luce added a unique interjection before asking something else.
"What if the flower hasn't bloomed yet?"
Rodeban answered as if it were obvious.
"Just wait."
"Until when?"
"Until the flower blooms."
"When does it bloom?"
"It's a flower that blooms every three years. When I was here last time, I was unlucky and couldn't eat it. This time I got the right date, so it should bloom soon."
Luce nodded.
"I see. You really think things through."
"Exactly. Oh, right. Can you wrap a bandage around my head? This morning one of the servants saw my face and fainted."
"That's a bit too much, isn't it?"
"No."
The carriage rolled for a long time.
The distance from Rosefren to Ferngrad was considerable, so they would need to move for several more days.
After three days had passed, the carriage finally arrived in Ferngrad.
It was closer to a village than a proper city.
Rodeban stopped briefly there, then instructed several of the escorts to purchase food.
They would be waiting at Moonrise Hill until the flower bloomed, and they didn't know how long that would take.
While waiting outside the carriage, one knight approached and asked, "There's a large building that looks like the market hall in the center of the village. Should I go and inform them that Lord Rodeban has arrived? It might come in handy later..."
"No. It's not that far away, so there's no need."
Rodeban shook his head vigorously.
'Please don't do that.'
He swallowed the rest of the sentence.
If they went to the market hall, they wouldn't even meet the mayor.
After all, they had already fought a chase scene through the streets of Rosefren.
They wanted to move as quietly as possible.
After all, they had only come to restock supplies.
Rodeban took a moment to breathe, then looked around at the escorts standing nearby.
'Now that I think about it, there are quite a few of them.'
Far more knights were escorting them than when he had first come north.
Over twenty in total.
It was probably due to the attacks that had happened recently.
A thought suddenly occurred to him.
'One day I'll gather enough escorts to form my own knight order.'
Was this the big picture behind the duke's proposal at the victory party?
While he was lost in such musings, the knights who had gone to buy food returned laden with abundant supplies.
"Lord Rodeban! We have returned!"
Rodeban said as he climbed back into the carriage.
"Let's depart again. To Moonrise Hill."
"Understood!"
With that, they left Ferngrad and headed toward Moonrise Hill.
It wasn't too far, so they arrived before sunset.
In truth, it had been a long time since their last visit, so he had almost forgotten how the hill looked.
"Arrived, Lord Rodeban."
At the coachman's words, Rodeban stepped down from the carriage.
The moment his foot touched the snowy ground, the rugged silhouette of the mountain range came into view.
He frowned.
"...Is this a famous landmark? Now that I think about it, Moonrise Hill requires climbing quite a ways."
The difficult mountain path he had forgotten from the storybook came to mind, and a natural question arose.
Rodeban asked the young knight beside him, "Is Moonrise Hill really a northern landmark?"
The knight shook his head with a troubled expression.
"Ah, no. It's the first time I've heard of it. Until you told me, I didn't even know Moonrise Hill was real."
"..."
Rodeban turned his head and saw Luce with her eyes tightly shut.
She looked properly deceived.
Watching her, Rodeban's lips twitched into a smile.
After all, since they had come this far, it was only right to take the Moonrise Flower.
After all, mana resistance was an important stat for him.
Rodeban said, "Let's climb."
The escorts answered in unison, "Yes!"
They climbed for a long time.
Ever since obtaining the Magic Sword, the depletion of mana had subsided, so the hike itself wasn't particularly difficult.
However, as the altitude increased and the terrain grew steeper, Luce's expression gradually darkened.
'This is why you should make more friends.'
At last, they reached the summit.
A breathtaking view spread out before them.
The familiar mountain range appeared, and it was the Lepiere Mountains that Rodeban had ascended not long ago.
One of the escorts said, "The view isn't bad, is it?"
Rodeban nodded.
"Agreed."
They walked a little further, and a cliff appeared.
At the end of the cliff stood a single flower.
"The Moonrise Flower."
It was a bud tightly closed, just before blooming.
Rodeban smiled as he gazed at it.
'It's in perfect condition.'
Last time, someone had already taken it and the stem had been neatly cut in half. This time it was completely untouched.
He nodded and said, "Good. It should bloom in a few days. Let's prepare for camping."
"Understood!"
Upon Rodeban's words, the escorts began setting up camp.
They erected tents and lit a fire while Rodeban did nothing.
In fact, he had wanted to help, but Luce had stopped him.
"Lord Rodeban, you've worked hard enough. Don't do anything. Don't train while waiting. Just rest. Don't do anything."
Her firm words caused Rodeban to sigh inwardly.
'If you've worked hard, you should get to rest at home.'
In truth, he hadn't planned to train anyway. She was really thorough.
Luce looked at the tents being erected and declared with a sparkling face, "Tonight's dinner is a meat party!"