CH 71

“Your Highness Nagi! Good morning!”

“Good morning, Patriel.”

It was a refreshing morning the following weekend.

The midterm events with the swordsmanship tournament, magic battle, and research presentation were over, and the trees were turning red and yellow. Although various events occurred this month, it is safe to say that things have settled down at the school for the time being.

For an extracurricular lesson of magic plant research, today I came to the forest adjacent to the royal capital Corliss to do some outdoor sampling on the weekend.

Patriel greeted me with a bright smile and made me feel warm.

His eyes lit up when he spotted several magic plants early on in the forest. The way he reported that he found this and that as he greeted me, is kind of…

(Like a squirrel happy to find so many nuts.)

He spoke to me with a smiling face, changing his expression here and there. Even though we were in the same grade, I somehow think that it would be like this if I had a younger brother. Mika, next to me on the other side, just said a simple “Good morning” and did not actively try to talk to Patriel.

It was also possible that he simply didn’t know much about magic plants.

But even in my mind, it’s hard to say what the right thing to do is.

—Patriel is already, for some reason or another, knee-deep in the Rubrum Empire side.

That was Mika and I’s perception for the time being. And we think it’s best to let him roam freely just like Baroness Tessier.

However, unlike Baroness Tessier who is visibly acting suspiciously, Patriel is maintaining his position of “Viscount Faure’s family is neutral” on the surface, and yet he is coming close to me, the first prince faction.

Since that time, Mika and I have reviewed every single report recently submitted by Gillian Faure.

Among them, there was one that was submitted in Patriel’s handwriting, which Mika is also investigating. But perhaps Gillian Faure doesn’t know what Patriel is doing.

And then, though it’s sad to admit this, perhaps the reason Patriel is approaching me like this is…

(Because he’s looking into something or trying to cozy up to me… That’s it.)

If that’s the case, then there is only one thing for the dull-witted slug prince to do.

I spoke, making my voice sound as happy as possible.

“That’s amazing, Patriel. I didn’t expect to find a walcone tree here.”

“That’s right! I thought they were found in the farther north.”

“Fufu, you look so mischievously happy.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I looked at the walcone that Patriel was holding.

It looks like a normal pinecone, but there are a few parts where the color is different and it looks like an angry face with its eyes fixed on the ground. If we are to believe the ancient sage story, I’m sure walcone wanted to make itself look evil, but its expression ended up somewhat comical and not hateful.

I asked as I watched him put a pile of those walcone in his basket.

“Do you believe the story of the ancient sage, Patriel?”

“Huh? Ahaha, You’re such a dreamer, Your Highness Nagi. I might be more interested in more practical things, like the benefits of magic plants.”

“I see. Even though walcone has such an angry face, it can be used to relieve fatigue after being roasted, after all.”

“Huh?! You really do know everything.”

Indeed, it is a variety that is rarely found in the royal capital. Few people may be aware of the benefits of walcone.

Since it’s not available in my greenhouse either, I thought I’d take the opportunity to pick it up, bring it back home, and plant it as well.

However, since he’s collecting a big pile of them to bring back with him…he’s probably-

(I’m sure he’s collecting for the tired Gillian Faure.)

I noticed this when I was going through the reports of the commoners’ department with Mika.

It seemed that Gillian Faure had written almost all of those extensive reports. Perhaps he realized that the others were not doing a proper job for the commoners to that extent, and advised Brother Seth to add more personnel.

His condition must be in such a bad shape that his son is collecting so much walcone, whether consciously or unconsciously. I told Patriel.

“In the autumn, the Datura that I grew bloomed beautifully. I’ll give it to you next time, Patriel.”

“Huh?! G-Gradual Datura! A-Are you really giving it to me?”

“Yes. It took a long time, but the flowers have finally bloomed since last year.”

“I can’t believe this. Your Highness Nagi is so loved by plants…”

That’s right. The only thing I’m proud of is that I’ve been dealing with plants for years and years without giving up.

But because of this, I succeeded in breeding the ultimate fatigue-relieving plant, Gradual Datura, which is considered difficult to grow. I think the effect is similar to ginger, but it is a magic plant that gradually relaxes the stiffness of the whole body, as if one were soaking in a hot spring.

The plant is only found in hot spring areas and is considered difficult to grow elsewhere.

They are few in number and are usually grown strictly in hot spring areas.

I decided not to ask him the details of who it was for or why he needed the plant.

I wasn’t fully sure yet if Patriel was collecting the walcone for Gillian Faure. I felt that it would be better to leave the question of why I bothered to choose Gradual Datura and tell him about it.

…However.

“G-Gradual Datura!”

“Y-Yes. Good morning, Gislette.”

“…Gasp! I-I am so sorry for what I did, Your Highness! Good morning.”

I heard a voice crack from behind me, and when I turned around, I was greeted by Gislette who looked very panicked.

Since we are in school hours and I already consider Gislette to be a friend, I don’t really care about the order in which we speak to each other, or about courtesy. I told her about the plant as well, though I don’t think Gislette has anyone who is suffering from fatigue.

“Next time, I’ll show it to you as well, Gislette. we could all roast the plant together and make them into a medicine.”

“W-What a wonderful suggestion!”

“That sounds like fun. I want to try doing it too.”

As the three of us walked together, I thought.

After all, it is fun to talk with people who like the same things. The truth is, I’d like to do something about Patriel, too.

(But I know that my knight who has not participated in any of the conversations will probably oppose it.)

As we were walking along, wondering what to do, we saw Professor Fellman moving past us gently.

He seemed to be using a magical tool that uses wind magic, and he was riding on a subtly levitating vehicle.

It was only a vehicle that can only be properly described as “subtly floating” and not something that goes fast or anything like that. However, remembering Professor Fellman’s trembling legs, I thought that this was indeed the best vehicle for someone as old as him who has to come to the outdoor site to collect samples.

As I watched while thinking I’d like to try riding it a bit, Patriel raised the same thought.

“I want to try riding that vehicle too!”

“Yes. I’d like to try riding that too. It seems to be fun.”

All the students looked a little envious as they watched Professor Fellman maneuver the little handle on his one-person vehicle.

“Ho ho ho ho.”

***

“Yeah…This is the first time I’m eating together with friends on the same picnic blanket.”

“A friend! It’s an honor! By the way, Your Highness Nagi. You usually use ‘ore’ for first-person pronoun, huh? It’s a little unexpected.”

“N-N-N-N-No way, a friend? I cannot believe I’m friends with the god of magic plants, haa, what am I going to do? I-I also feel honored.”

“Huh, wait. What do you mean by God, Gislette?”

It was lunchtime and I was spreading out the sandwiches I had brought with Patriel, Gislette, and Mika.

Even though it was an extracurricular lesson, it was the first time for me to do something like a picnic like this. It was also refreshing to spread out a picnic blanket and talk with each other in the autumn forest with its autumn leaves. Eating a meal together with friends who are interested in the same things, surrounded by things you like, and in a good atmosphere.

(What should I do…this is a lot of fun.)

Renalge was also here, but he had been mostly asleep since a few minutes ago and didn’t participate in the conversation at all. Even now, he is skillfully sleeping on a tree.

As the three of us were still chattering away about magic plants, I heard an annoyed voice coming from Mika.

“Hey. What is my position to you when we have lunch together every day?”

“You’re my knight.”

“…I thought we had some sort of connection before that.”

Eating meals together with Mika was so natural by now that I had never given it that much thought. I mean, if I keep thinking something like “It’s still like a picnic to eat in the courtyard together with Mika!” every day, it would be a little awkward.

Hearing Mika’s voice, Patriel spoke.

“Ah, could it be that it was Mika’s influence for Your Highness to say ‘ore’? You two are childhood friends, aren’t you?”

“…Ah. Right, now that you mentioned it, that may be true. After all, he’s the one I spend the most time with.”

“Like His Highness Seth, it is wonderful to have a childhood friend to be your knight, is it not? It is like a tight-knit friendship.”

“Come to think of it, you used to say ‘boku’ wasn’t it Nagi? And it’s ‘watashi’ in public, of course.”

I had never seen Gislette speak in front of other people before, but she seemed to have already opened up to us and began to talk about many things with unexpected eloquence.

Even just now, she said her opinion that it was “wonderful”.

“Still, I’m really glad I took this class, because I could freely collect whatever I wanted.”

“What are you going to do by collecting all those walcone, Partriel?”

“Huh? Doesn’t it look so cute? The face on it.”

“It is cute!”

I heard Gislette’s voice rising, and I agreed with her.

Patriel seemed to be collecting the walcone only for the cute face on it.

Gislette’s basket is filled to the brim with a variety of magic plants. But among them, there was one that stood out, a dream-colored mushroom that caught my eye.

“Wait, where did you find that?”

“Fufufu, I found only one of them. The light purple is fancy-looking! Cute polka-dot pattern!　Undoubtedly, this is Tokimekidake! I never thought that this mushroom, which is said to be thirty times more effective than the Powan grass, could be found in the forests near the royal capital!”

“Gislette, please trade it with me. I’ll give you some Gradual Datura along with Patriel, so please.”

“Wha-”

Beside me, Mika said, “Tokimeki…what’s that?” and raised an annoyed voice. I began to negotiate the rarely-found Tokimekidake. Patriel stared at me and said, “Huh, who are you going to use it on?” He asked curiously, but I told him that it was just because I had never grown them.

Gislette, biting her lip, furrowed her brows deeply and, as if in agony, held the mushroom out to me.

“Yes! Thank you, Gislette.”

“I-I want the Gradual Datura. I want to try it…”

“I get you. I have a longing for it too.”

Mika, who had been subjected to the madness of the three magic plant nerds since the morning, already had a blank stare on his face, but I was so happy I could almost dance around. As Mika looked at the light purple mushroom, he asked me what effects it has.

I guess he didn’t hear Gislette earlier when she said it was thirty times more effective than Powan grass.

That is, in other words…

“Well…it’s for love potion.”

“You…were you still working on that plan?”