CH 191.2

The head of the blacksmith guild, who was in dire need of materials, had been complaining about the lack of materials from now and then.

「Start mobilizing the knight order. I’d better show the black smith guild what’s there. And for the arrangement of the transportation unitー」

「Please wait a minute」

The Prime Minister began to give orders in rapid succession in a state of excitement, but a stout man stopped him mid-sentence.

「There is also something I would like to inform you in regard to this matter」

This man is the head of the 『Imperial Store』, a large merchant with a big store in the royal capital.

He is a merchant of the kingdom, but as his name suggests, he mainly trades with the Empire.

「What is it?」

The Prime Minister replied with an irritated tone.

He has been using the Imperial Store as a source of information on the inner workings of the Empire.

The news of the great cave-in in the south of Awoke had also come from the Imperial Store.

「From what we’ve heard, the Empire is already aware of this matter」

The Prime Minister frowned deeply and turned his face to the knight commander.

「Can you send out a Knight immediately? The ones that are quick on his legs. I’d like to get ahead of them at all costs and claim that we found it first」

Now that they have signed a truce, they can’t use force to resolve disputes.

The place where the golems are located is an uncharted land that belongs to no nation. The key to negotiations will be whether or not they can assert the legal rights of prior occupation.

But the stout man shook his chin and shook his face from side to side.

「This is a valuable piece of information that I just got」

He said this as if it’s a very important piece of information to make a fortune. It was a way to get the Prime Minister indebted to him in his mental ledger.

「Several Knights have already marched out of Landbarn. They are expected to have reached the great hole by now」

The Prime Minister groaned. The words “I can’t give up” were clearly written all over his face.

「And they were led by the Grim Reaper」

After a moment of silence, the Prime Minister squeezed out his voice.

「The Grim Reaper, you say?」

It felt like cold water had been splashed on his feverish thoughts.

The water was so cold that the expectations the Prime Minister had built in his mind made a loud noise as it cracked right in the middle.

「Damn it!」

Curses burst out of his mouth.

If that man comes into the area with his Knight, the kingdom Knights will not be able to drive him out.

Even if they were to put pressure on him by surrounding him, he wouldn’t even be bothered by it.

「This will be tough」

The face of the Knight commander standing beside him was also grim.

Even if a B-class Knight flicked the trigger to scare him, it would be of no use.

Instead, there was a fear that he would swing his death scythe at them under the guise of self-protection.

「We won’t be able to intimidate them without sending in several A-class Knights. And even if we do that, I still don’t know how effective it is」

The Prime Minister drops back in his seat while groaning like a threatened dog.

「Even though we’re in the middle of a truce, we can’t pull a large force out from our defense. We can’t show any opening to the Empire」

The sound of teeth chattering leaked out along with those words, reaching the ears of those around him.

「Damn it!」

The sound of the Prime Minister and the sound of the desk being hit.

The Kingdom had given up on dispatching Knights to the great hole after agonizing over it.

***

The next morning.

Midtown is located in the southeast from the royal capital square.

There is a high-class apartment complex there. A young and beautiful woman appeared at the window of one of the rooms there.

「Oh my」

She noticed something as she opened the curtain. She let out a voice that contained surprise.

Her gaze landed on a small flower pot by the window. There was a single bud peeking out of it.

The sprout had not opened yet and its waist was bent deeply. It had a little bit of soil on its back.

「……」

It was the Explosive onee-san, still in her pajamas. She is staring at the bud in silence.

(It came out. The Ambrosia bud)

She had planted a few seeds thinking that one of them might grow.

However, there was no change even after a certain amount of time, and she had more than half given up. But now, the buds have popped up on the surface of the earth.

(I’m glad it sprouted. But as expected I have to keep this one a secret)

The materials she handed over to Professor Termano. Naturally, that included seeds.

Some of them were used to make elixirs. The rest went to the professor who specializes in medicinal herbs.

And now, they are being grown under strict control.

(I-It can’t be helped now, can it? I planted this one when I was still experimenting on it)

The voice in her heart is a little shaking.

She felt guilty that she hadn’t handed over everything. But that’s not all.

(I wonder how they would react if they knew that I still had the seeds and had planted them without permission)

She thinks about her teacher, Termano, who is a potionologist. And then she thought of another professor who specializes in herbal medicine.

He is a stocky, quiet man of age. His palms, trained by working in the fields, are as thick as the vertical fists of Explosive onee-san.

He was known to be gentle with plants, but extremely strict with students.

(There’s no way I can tell that professor about this at this late)

Explosive onee-san shook her head which still got bed hair on it.

He would definitely be furious. If he got his hand on this flowerpot, he might even break it with his palm.

(Uwaa…)

Shiver runs down her spine at the scene that she can easily imagine.

(But that’s to be expected)

Now that I think about it, I just buried it in the ground and poured water on it.

The legendary fruit, Ambrosia. The way I handled its seeds was not so proper, if I do say so myself.

(This one is a present, a present for myself)

So she said to herself and calmed herself down.

(No one should know about this Ambrosia sprout)

Exploding onee-san made up her mind right at this moment. Then she put her face close to the flower pot by the window and sighed heavily.

(I want to see it, the flower of Ambrosia)

She then rested her chin on her crossed hands and gently looked at the sprout.

***

The stage moves further west from midtown, crossing the main street to the north of downtown.

A partially three-story building with a garden on the roof.

At the edge of a pond in the garden, three spirit beasts were gathering.

『Thank you for the food』

A turtle about 20 centimeters long stretched out its neck. It had a forest and ruins on top of its shell.

He grabbed an acorn that was placed in front of him and crunched it with his strong jaws. It then turned its head upward and swallowed it down.

『Delicious!』

The turtle squints, expressing his honest thought.

『Every fruit of this forest tastes just as good as any other. The manager must be skillful』

The caterpillar and the dung beetle looked at each other and nodded.

Tauro’s family members, Imosuke and Dangorou, as well as his tenant, Zaratan, were getting along very well.

『This forest garden is better than the forest spirit』

They share the same opinion in this matter.

Zaratan, a powerful spirit beast of the water attribute, had broken through the wards and invaded. The caution against it was already gone.

Speaking of which, Imosuke was now without his eye patch, and Dangorou was without his chestnut burr. This is because it is time for the spirit beasts to have their break.

『Won’t you become part of his kin?』

Imosuke’s question made Zaratan’s expression darken.

(I’m happy that they invite me, but…)

It can’t take the step forward even now.

It had no complaints about the person who owned the forest garden. In fact, the management of the pond is completely entrusted to it.

(Trust)

He wants to live up to it as much as he can.

If that is the case, becoming his family member would be more suitable. It would allow them to talk to each other without having Imosuke relay it.

But, Zaratan thought.

(Being left behind when they’re gone will be painful)

The land owner, who was just a human, will die long before the long-lived Zaratan.

The human magician that he used to carry on his back. He couldn’t help but be reminded of his existence.

Seeing that he was having trouble answering, Imosuke changed the subject.

About the disposal of nuts and fallen leaves in the pond. Now that it is autumn, the amount of fallen leaves is rapidly increasing.

『….Shall I summon some shrimp and crabs?』

To those words, Dangorou replied, asking him to summon a big and cool one.

Zaratan looks at the two as if looking at his grandchildren. He then began to think about what to summon.