CH 352.2

Several days have passed and it is currently nighttime in the royal capital.

「I’m home~」

I greeted the 20-centimeter-long fifth instar larva of the swallowtail butterfly, who was crawling toward me on the wooden floor. It was the first of my dependents, the Imosuke, a spirit animal.

By the way, the 15-centimeter-long dung beetle that follows behind him is Dangorou, a spirit animal and also a member of my familiars.

「Ohh Zaratan is here too today huh? This is perfect.」

I carried them with the palm of my hand into the living room and placed them on a bath towel on the floor.

The 20-centimeter-long turtle was already there and he raised his head when he noticed me. Judging from his appearance, he must have been sleeping.

「Actually, the guild master spoke to me about something.」

I sat down on the floor and told the three animals.

「He asked me if I want to move out.」

After hearing that, Imosuke and Dangorou start to circle around the turtle. From the waves of thoughts scattering about, it seems that they were bewildered and in a mild panic.

By the way, the old knowledgeable turtle remains calm as usual.

『Are we going to get chased out?』

『What should we do?』

They understood what I said, but seemed to have misunderstood what I meant. Seeing them like that, I hurriedly added.

「No, that’s not it. After he thanked me for all the fruits and veggies, he recommended the idea to me. He said that If I’m interested in gardening, it might be better if I move to a much larger place.」

I, who live in a place with a garden and sometimes share the harvest. It’s actually Imosuke and the others who are doing the gardening, but from the outsider’s perspective, they must have thought I have gardening as a hobby.

「And so he handed these to me.」

I took a dozen sheets of paper out of my bag and placed them on a bath towel. They were about the size of a flier, with pictures describing the location and size of the land, as well as the buildings on the property.

I pointed to a picture of a stone building with a pointy roof on a green hillside.

「This is what he recommends. It’s a privately owned wine farm on the outskirts of royal capital.」

Apparently, it’s up for sale. If I’m okay with it, the merchant guild will buy it and rent it from there.

「It’s nice that it’s not so visible to the public.」

The problem is that although it’s close, it’s still outside of the royal capital.

If one owns a private golem carriage, it takes only ten minutes one way to the nearest gate. Since it’s within the guarded area of the royal capital, there is little worry of being attacked by magic beasts.

「But, hmm….」

For me who likes to visit brothels on a daily basis, it’s a bit of a hassle.

With this in mind, I look at the other residents and see that they are apparently not interested in making wine. The flier is sent off to the back by the caterpillars’ many warty legs then he and Dangorou went off to the other flyers.

(As expected of Zaratan.)

I nodded, impressed by the waves of thoughts exchanged between the three animals. Apparently, the turtle can understand human writing.

The two younger seniors asked him to read it for them and then begin to examine the contents.

『How about this place?』

『Isn’t that too expensive?』

Imosuke shakes his head from side to side in response to Dangorou’s suggestion.

What he meant 『expensive』 was, of course, the rental fee. When I asked him about it, he said 『Zaratan told me!』.

It seems that the great spirit beast, whose name has been known throughout the world, was even concerned about the state of my wallet.

(I heard there was a time when a human magician lived on his back.)

Perhaps that is why he is so dignified, yet strangely commonplace in certain parts.

However, I don’t think he knows the market price, so he must have compared the conditions with other fliers.

(Since he’s being considerate, I guess there’s no need to say 『don’t worry about the price』 here.)

And besides, it’s true that I’ve spent quite a lot of money investing in 『Uniform Specialized Store』.

Zaratan, who takes a step back and occasionally offers advice, and Imosuke and Dangoro, who are staring intently at the pictures on the flier. As I watched, I thought about the guild master.

(I can sense his intention to keep me in the royal capital.)

Somehow, I feel that way. And I don’t feel any displeasure or ill will about it.

The guild master and vice guild master have approved my request to go on a trip, and they have decided to purchase a C-class Knight and hire a pilot in the near future. But even so, I know that the merchant guild would prefer that I stay.

(And when I said I was going on a trip, I didn’t mean I will go soon.)

On the other hand, it is true that the garden forest is becoming too small.

(Even if I have to keep Zaratan at home when I go out, it’s still better than the rooftop garden.)

At least there should be less damage no matter what happens as there are no other people living on the lower floor.

As I was thinking about this, it seemed they had come to a conclusion. A caterpillar, the leader of my familiars, came crawling toward me.

『Beans.』

「Beans?」

The fifth instar larva of a swallowtail butterfly lifts the front half of its body and waves its head up and down.

I can understand the words he said. But I literally don’t know what it means.

『He wants to plant beans at the proposed place.』

With a vertical crease between his brows, the old turtle explained with a hint of a wry smile.

A certain kind of bean grows in the garden forest. If it sprouts and takes root where it is sown, Imosuke seems to be able to understand the land to some extent.

「I can’t make a decision based on a flyer alone, so I want more information, is what you’re trying to say, huh?」

The turtle, caterpillar, and dung beetle nodded.

『This one can also grasp the flow of the earth’s veins.』

In other words, they can determine if the land is suitable for transplanting the medicinal tree, or rather, the World Tree.

If the land is good, Imosuke and Dangorou will go there and set up a protective barrier. Incidentally, I will be the one to carry them, so they will be hidden in my pocket.

『Boooom!』

『Kaboooooooom!』

According to Imosuke, the rest will be handled by Zaratan’s transfer magic, which is powered up after eating the Pomelos and the medicinal tree, and all the other trees in the whole garden forest will be relocated to the new location.

Incidentally, Dangoro’s 『Boooom!』 is not a good thing, because it means that the turtle fails to maintain the barrier that makes him smaller, and he will appear in his original 200 meters length.

「Okay, let’s go with that plan.」

Tomorrow, when I wake up, we’ll be picking beans in the morning. After the plan for tomorrow is decided, we started chatting in front of the flier again.