3

Rodney’s lonely struggle continued for three days and three nights.

During that time, he could hardly eat, let alone sleep, so even young Rodney’s under-eyes had turned pitch-black with dark circles.

Without sleep or rest, he continued compressing delicate ice magic and releasing it at a constant pressure.

His magical power, of course, but also his physical strength and mental strength must have been driven to the very limit.

On the morning of the third day after he began giving magical power to the seed, a faint white glow like moonlight was confirmed from the black pill-like seed.

With the magical power of ice as a catalyst, the magical power possessed by the seed itself had awakened.

“Rodney. Thank you for your hard work. You fulfilled your duty splendidly.”

Released from the heavy responsibility after finishing the major task, Rodney sobbed and fell asleep on the spot as though collapsing.

Rodney’s work had been perfect.

The seed had no missing parts at all, and magical awakening was recognized in every portion of it. In this state, once the moonlight at high tide shone on it, germination would begin.

The true battle began from here.

Leaving Rodney, who had fallen asleep on the ground like mud, to the other magicians, Noel said to Naranda with a tense expression,

“Naranda. Call Beth. Everything depends on Beth.”

After a while, Naranda with a solemn face and Beth, who had baked a basket full of muffins, entered the greenhouse while giving off a sweet aroma.

Beth said she had been baking muffins to feed the exhausted Rodney.

A sweet, nostalgic fragrance, out of place in the tense greenhouse, drifted through the air.

The tension melted away in the sweet scent.

The instant Beth’s small braid entered his field of vision, a numbing sweet pain ran through Noel’s chest.

(This is terminal.)

Even though the situation should have been this tense, Noel entrusted his body to that numbing sweet pain and mocked his foolish self.

“It finally germinated, didn’t it?”

The great sinner who had brought pain to Noel had no way of knowing that.

While everyone’s heart had been taken by the state of the seed, it seemed Beth alone had been worrying about Rodney’s physical condition for these three days.

Apparently, she had put warmed stones into his shoes and prepared compresses soaked in mint-scented water in the morning. The small muffins she had prepared because they could be eaten with one hand were still warm.

Noel lived in the world of magicians, so he was surrounded only by grim people who prioritized magic above all else, but the world seen through Beth’s eyes seemed to be a much gentler one.

Recognizing a change in the seed inside the bottle Ezra held, Beth silently pressed the basket of freshly baked muffins she was holding into Naranda’s hands beside her.

For Beth, who was always reserved and gentle, it was quite unusual.

“What is it, Beth? Is something bothering you?”

Without reacting to Noel’s words, Beth stared intently at the contents of the bottle and murmured as though talking to herself.

“…What a troublesome child. Ezra-sama, please open the bottle’s lid right now. It says it wants fresh air.”

At Beth’s suddenly serious tone, Ezra, who was holding the bottle, flusteredly opened the lid.

Then, without even catching her breath, Beth appealed to Eloise, who was beside Ezra.

“Eloise-sama, bring black pine needles right away! The new young leaves. Hurry!”

“Eh? Yes?”

For a moment, Eloise was bewildered, unable to understand what Beth had said to her.

Noel understood Beth’s words and told Eloise, who was still confused,

“Eloise, there was a black pine in front of the knights’ lodgings behind the palace, was there not? Sorry, but go there right now and gather as many new leaves as you can.”

“Eh? Me? You’re joking, right? Why?”

“Questions later. Hurry and go!”

Eloise, the duke’s daughter who had extremely little experience being ordered around by others, ran off to search for black pine needles, her whole face full of question marks and her luxurious golden curls fluttering.

“…Beth. It has begun, has it not?”

At Noel’s words, Beth again did not answer, but without taking her eyes off the contents of the bottle, she only nodded vertically.

It had not germinated yet.

Tonight, under the moonlight of the full moon at high tide, it would finally germinate.

(I understood that management after germination would be extremely strict, but…)

However, this seed before germination had already begun the activities of life and seemed to be crying out its wishes to Beth at full strength in a loud voice.

Beth did not take her eyes off it, as if she had been enchanted by the seed.

“It seems our understanding was naive. I cannot see anything that Beth’s eyes can see, and I cannot hear anything that Beth’s ears can hear. Just what is this girl…”

Naranda let out a small sigh.

During the previous failed attempt to cultivate the Divine Lily, the ones in charge of cultivation together with Noel had been Ezra and Naranda.

Both were this country’s sage and a highest-ranking magician.

Beth remained staring intently at the bottle, almost entering a state of intoxication.

Naranda quietly took off his own robe and placed it over Beth’s shoulders as she stayed motionless, enchanted by the contents of the bottle. Then, still smiling slightly, he suddenly unfolded magic on Beth without warning.

“Hey, Naranda!”

Noel shouted in panic.

What Naranda had unfolded was a type of complex confession magic in which the thoughts of the person placed under the spell transferred over for an instant.

Magicians had extremely strong curiosity and a thirst for the pursuit of magic.

Among lower-class magicians, many people still had a poor balance between reason and resistance to the fascination of magic, and there existed many kinds of people who could be called selfish.

At times, throughout history, there had often been magicians who prioritized their thirst for the pursuit of magic even to the point of violating the law.

In the midst of that, it was truly rare for Naranda, who lacked nothing in status or intellect and was regarded as very rational among magicians, to resort to such violence.

“…Splendid.”

Murmuring only that, Naranda’s magic was undone in an instant.

“What on earth were you thinking at such an important time?”

Noel flew over to Naranda, grabbed him by the neck, shook him, and shouted at him for this outrage, but,

“My apologies. I have no words with which to defend myself. I will accept any punishment.”

Naranda said that and let Noel shake him, looking satisfied. He had been unable to resist his curiosity as a magician.

“…Answer me. What exactly did you see?”

What passed through Beth’s mind. Even someone like Naranda had wished to know so badly that he impulsively unfolded confession magic. Magicians were truly creatures burdened with deep karma.

“Nothing. This girl was thinking nothing. Not a single thing. Her head was empty.”

Naranda’s beautiful face was flushed red with joy.

“She has surrendered her heart, surrendered her consciousness, and surrendered the boundary between herself and life, becoming one with the existence called this seed in the world of consciousness. This girl may now be touching the truth of life.”

The essence of magic was the truth of life.

This miller’s daughter, who did not possess even magical power, was said to be touching the truth of life by surrendering herself.

“…By not having, she has. By not knowing, she knows. Hey, is that how it is, Beth?”

He recalled the famous words of Horkle, the great magician and founder of magicians. Horkle was a real sage who reached the realm of immortality for the first time in history.

Noel irritably stripped away Naranda’s robe that had been draped over Beth’s shoulders, then strongly embraced Beth from behind.

Beth was still intoxicated, enchanted by the seed.

When Noel buried his face in Beth’s slender shoulder, the faint scent of Naranda transferred from the robe reached him and irritated Noel.

In one corner of the greenhouse, yarrow began to rustle in the cold morning wind.

This grass normally bore lovely white flowers, but one bud had become a mutation and bore red flowers. It was the bud Ezra had been pleased about, saying its medicinal effect would change.

As usual, the banana slug slowly crossed the greenhouse in search of red berries.

When Noel learned that the red berries this slug liked to eat were precious goji berries, he had gone beyond exasperation and burst into laughter.

The stray cat was showing its belly in the sunlight, and the squirrels were chasing one another in search of nuts.

The newt looked suspiciously at the human on the sofa, then disappeared somewhere.

Morning light filled the greenhouse, and both plants and animals were truly free and beautiful.

The greenhouse, unaware of the fierce torrent of fate occurring in human affairs, had its usual peaceful morning.