Chapter 122

Herbology 2 takes place in the same greenhouse as Herbology 1. Seeing that I had no open slots in my schedule, Professor Mathias gave me permission to take Herbology 2 during this period.

“Patience, you can harvest the low-grade herbs in your plot now. Do you want the seeds? If you do, leave the two plants on the end. If not, pull them all out.”

Wyatt had told me that low-grade herbs get cheaper in the spring when adventurers pick them in the forest, but it’s still winter now, and I want to cultivate them in the greenhouse.

“I would like the seeds, please.”

Leaving two plants behind, I pull out the rest of the low-grade herbs.

“Mm, they’ve grown well. I’ll buy these low-grade herbs from you.”

Oh! I managed to do a bit of side-work right here!

“Hey, don’t just stand there dazed! Work the fertilizer into your plot.”

Outside the greenhouse, there’s a box filled with fertilizer. Yeah, it stinks. I scooped some into a bucket with a shovel and carried it over to my plot.

“Professor Mathias, is this about the right amount?”

She took a quick glance and nodded, so this must be fine. Working this smelly fertilizer in with a shovel is hard labor—at least for Patience.

“Patience, should I give you a hand?”

Bryce kindly offered to help, but it wasn’t necessary.

“Thank you, Lord Bryce. But I’ll be fine.”

Picturing the fertilizer being evenly worked into my plot, I felt a little embarrassed but spoke out loud, “Fertilizer, be worked into my plot!” as I cast my household magic. In the blink of an eye, the fertilizer was mixed into the soil. The surrounding students were left dumbfounded.

“You really should have chosen the Mage Course. Just because it’s household magic doesn’t mean you can’t use attack magic—probably.”

Professor Mathias recommended the Mage Course to me, but I really don’t feel like using attack magic. Yeah, since my household magic is a bit strange, I feel like I could even chop firewood with it. But turning that on a person is a strict no-go.

“Look, these are high-grade herb seeds. This won’t go as easily as the low-grade ones. First, you soak the seeds in water. And it has to be purified water, too. That’s right, the water you give them later must be purified, as well.”

High-grade herbs sound difficult to cultivate. I grab a beaker from the shelf outside the greenhouse and wash it with water. Then I fill it with water, purify it, and soak the seeds.

“Professor Mathias, how long should I keep them soaked?”

Professor Mathias let out a cackling laugh. She’s really operating at full witch-grotto energy.

“That depends on your effort! Once the seeds are filled with enough mana, it’ll be fine to plant them.”

Does this teacher just enjoy being mean?

“Professor Mathias, how do I judge whether the seeds have enough mana stored in them?”

Is there going to be some kind of change in these black, triangular seeds? Like puffing up?

“It’s fine when the seeds can’t take in any more mana. You don’t even know that? That’s why you’re such a softie, watering other students’ plots. Don’t go doing that again.”

Ah, I got caught watering Benjamin’s and the others’ plots. Is she clairvoyant or something?

“I do the rounds in the greenhouse every morning. Even though only you had come by, the soil in the other plots was rich and dark with water, so I knew right away. Come on, hurry up and pour mana into those seeds! If you take your sweet time, it’ll be summer. In the summer, we do classroom lectures!”

Ah, the greenhouse would be way too hot in the summer, wouldn’t it? I thought carefree thoughts like that.

“Alright, everyone listen up! Even if your low-grade herbs wither, you can start over. Old man Maverick gets noisy if I fail a lot of students. But May is the deadline. From then on, it’s classroom lectures. Any student who hasn’t grown them by then fails. You can decide for yourselves whether to give up on Herbology or try again in the autumn term.”

Ah, now I understand why Caesar can’t get his Herbology credits. It’s because he gets so absorbed in alchemy that he forgets to water his plants.

Gathering my composure, I pour mana into the black, triangular seeds inside the beaker. They look just like morning glory seeds from my past life.

I pictured the mana spreading throughout the black triangular seeds, making them swell up just a tiny bit. Back in elementary school, I grew morning glories, after all. Seeds soaked in water overnight used to swell up a little.

“May enough mana be stored in the seeds!” I made sure to chant properly this time, too.

Just as I pictured, the seeds swelled up a little. I wonder if this is enough? Since I can’t make that judgment on my own, that’s why I asked the teacher in the first place… Can the other students really understand with that explanation? Well, since they’re taking the Mage Course, maybe they can.

“That’s plenty. You’re using longer chants than before, aren’t you? I think they were shorter before—why is that?”

She’s surprisingly observant. I’m impressed.

“My father told me to avoid chantless magic as much as possible during my growth period so my magic doesn’t run wild.”

Professor Mathias took on a serious expression.

“What did you mess up?” she asked.

“I wished the greenhouse were bigger, and even though I didn’t mean to cast a spell, it somehow got larger on its own.”

Realizing it wasn’t a dangerous magical rampage, Professor Mathias laughed.

“So you’re 11 years old? That’s right, your mana will keep increasing until your growth period ends. Until then, follow your father’s advice. But try to learn some cooler chants and spell names, will you?”

Personally, I think those chants are uncool. We just have a difference of opinion. But without saying that out loud, I quietly planted the seeds.

“Once you’ve planted them, water them! Don’t forget to purify it!”

I washed out the watering can just to be safe, filled it with water, purified it with “Become clean!”, and watered the plot.

Dear me, from now on, it’s daily watering. While I’m at it, I cast “Become clean!” on myself, too. I’d hate to smell like fertilizer.

The dorm dining hall was in a complete uproar. High-ranking nobles don’t basicallly stay in the dorms. Princess Margaret, Prince Keith, Ralph, and Hugo are the exceptions. The students who entered in Class C and lower-ranking nobles who don’t own townhouses in Romano stay in the dorms, but there are also many students from the knight class.

Ah, several students are getting all worked up with Prince Keith at the center. I quickly headed up the stairs to the girls’ dorms. Once inside my room, I let out a breath of relief. I have to go to Princess Margaret’s room.

“Patience, something terrible has happened! Keith is completely hot-headed right now.”

I sensed that in the dining hall, too.

“Yes, members of the Knight Club were gathered around Prince Keith.”

It would be fine if they didn’t do anything foolish, but that heat in the air feels somewhat dangerous.

“I even heard voices saying they should storm the Student Council… surely they won’t actually do that, right?”

Princess Margaret looks worried, too. It really hurts that Prince Richard graduated. If it were Prince Richard, he would have shut them down with a single shout. Besides, before the problem got this big, he would have summoned Captain Hammond of the Knight Club and given him a strict warning.

“Student Council President Rufus has his flaws, too, but if they storm in there, the commotion will only grow larger.”

Princess Margaret smiles. I have nothing but a bad feeling about this.

“Say, Patience. Brother Richard’s idea was to gather a petition asking for the Knight Club to continue, wasn’t it? Along with Captain Hammond’s resignation, he intended to settle the Knight Club issue with that.”

I heard about that, but things aren’t going according to plan. What is Percival doing? I wish he would reason with Prince Keith.

“Indeed, the members of the Knight Club are burning with anger even more than Percival anticipated. The atmosphere is definitely not one where anyone can bring up a petition. It would be better to have Keith bring it up himself.”

Princess Margaret, that smile is scary. It’s a good idea, but who’s going to bell the cat? Since she’s his older sister, I’d like to ask Princess Margaret to do it.

“Keith is definitely skipping lunch. He must be hungry. Come on, once the bell rings, let’s head to the dining hall.”

Does that mean… we’re eating dinner together? I really want to decline sitting with a hot-headed Prince Keith, but I guess I can’t.