6 — 5

This time, too, the place Beth was dragged off to was the royal palace’s cold dungeon, which had already become all too familiar.

Carter, who had been the reason she had been brought to this dungeon before, had been persecuted by Amy and all the other girls in the village who were in love with love and had been looking forward to the Hundred-Day Grass blooming, and Carter’s mother had given him a hundred smacks on the rear with a laundry-beating stick for causing trouble by stealing medicinal herbs from Beth’s field, so he had gone through something rather terrible.

For a while, Carter probably would not go near Beth’s field.

Then what was it today?

Since that strange incident, Beth had been living her usual quiet life as a miller.

The only new thing was that the strawberries in her garden, which had started bearing fruit last week, had grown incredibly delicious.

Noel-sama had said something about a witch again and locked Beth up in a place like this, but no matter how things turned out, it had to be Noel-sama’s misunderstanding again, so she was not scared, but it was extremely troublesome.

With a loud knock, the wooden door leading to the stairs of the cell room opened.

From beyond the door, as expected, Noel swept his mantle behind him and approached Beth with sharp, clicking footsteps.

(He’s caused me this much trouble again, so this time I’ll have him repair not just the waterwheel, but also the roof of my house and clean the chimney.)

In her head, Beth thought over the poorly functioning parts of her house that she would ask Noel to repair with magic.

However, contrary to Beth’s expectation as she waited for words of apology, Noel approached her with his boots clicking loudly, then suddenly declared arrogantly to Beth,

“It was exactly as you said.”

“Huh?”

“The Laundry Grass bore fruit. When I took it out of the greenhouse, buried it in ash, and left it alone as you said, it bore fruit in exactly one month.”

(Ah, that white flower I looked after a month ago, right? Then that’s even better, isn’t it? So why am I locked up in this dungeon?)

For the time being, she kept the questions welling up inside her chest and decided to speak peacefully with the man in front of her.

“Ah, Noel-sama, so that was called Laundry Grass. It bore fruit, then. That’s good. By the way, why is that flower called Laundry Grass?”

Noel answered Beth’s question while clouding his beautiful face.

“The fruit of Laundry Grass has an extremely high cleansing effect on toxins inside the body. It is an exceedingly difficult plant to handle, but if it bears fruit, it becomes a very precious ingredient for antidote potions.”

“Ah, so it was the source of a precious antidote. I’m glad it bore fruit. Then could you let me out of here soon?”

If that plant bore fruit, he was supposed to show her the magic from the book as a reward.

It had been a little rough, but maybe that was why he had brought Beth here, the good-natured Beth thought leisurely.

However, Noel spat out his words.

“That is not all.”

Noel raised both hands toward the empty air, trembling, muttering something toward the wall and openly showing his anger.

“That withered Perennial Mushroom you advised me about just as an extra matter also revived splendidly. Just by giving its roots squeezed lemon juice and mixing cat hair into the soil, it immediately regained vitality and grew larger. Why?! The one in charge of caring for the Perennial Mushroom was that Ezra-sama. It was that mushroom that even Teacher Ezra could not properly restore vitality to, so why was it solved so easily?? Why can you understand the feelings of plants as if you were holding them in your hand?? You have no magic power, and as for learning, you only attended that boring country village schoolhouse, and the investigator said your grades were terrible. Your knowledge of magic comes only from descriptions in those worthless adventure novels from that worthless village library’s collection. Why?!”

Beth certainly had no knowledge of botany.

As for knowledge of magic, just as Noel said, all she knew were descriptions of magic written in the stories of adventure books from the library.

As for plants, she really only somehow understood them through experience.

Although none of it was wrong, this noble magician was being extremely rude toward both Beth and Beth’s village.

That schoolhouse had a fairly good reputation, and children even came from nearby villages to learn there, making it the pride of the village.

(What is with this rude man!)

Beth was extremely offended, but Noel apparently did not care about Beth’s feelings.

He continued muttering toward empty space.

“That Laundry Grass was something I personally tended with great care for three years, yet it never bore fruit at all. And yet such a delicate plant bore splendid fruit after being seen only briefly by a country girl like this…”

Then he spun back around toward Beth, pointed sharply at her, and said,

“Country girl, you will cooperate with me!”

“Um… With what?”

A bad feeling ran down Beth’s back with a shiver.

Noel grinned with an extremely wicked expression, like a predator that had caught its prey.

“I need your power. The Magic Institute is short-handed. I order you to work as a lowly assistant in the greenhouse.”

“Hey, wait, I don’t want that. I’m a miller. More importantly, send me home already. I have work I need to finish today!”

She had two promised jobs to finish grinding flour today.

If he did not quickly send her back to the mill by carriage, she would not make it in time.

“Understood. Regarding the milling work you have already accepted, I will dispatch subordinates. Do not worry. As for what comes after this, let us make a deal.”

Saying that, he held out a beautiful hand without a single callus for a handshake.

Beth became embarrassed by her own flour-covered, callus-covered hands and reflexively hid them behind her back.

Noel did not seem to care.

“You like books, do you not? While you are working here for me, I will give you the right to freely enter and leave the Royal Palace Library. From worthless magician adventure stories to even more worthless romance stories, the Royal Palace Library has everything. Well? Do you feel like cooperating with me now?”

Beth’s throat sounded with a small gulp.

Yes, Beth loved books. But the village library only had about twenty books at most. She read them over and over and over until they were worn out. Books were extremely expensive.

At the tempting offer, Beth wavered slightly.

“…Um, just to be safe, I’ll ask. If I don’t accept this offer…”

“You lose nothing. However, that adventurer named Carter, your childhood friend, will simply enter this cage in your place until he dies. For the crime of supplying strange medicinal herbs to the king’s army, he can also be charged with treason.”

He grinned with an evil smile. Yes. This was in no way a negotiation. It was a threat.

“That’s cowardly!”

Beth screamed. She realized that she had not been given the option of refusing in the first place.

“Do not say things that make me sound bad. I have not forced anything on you. I am merely giving you choices.”

“…You’re the worst.”

Beth trembled with frustration.

There was no way he could keep her childhood friend in here until he died over a mere three medicinal herb plants from Beth’s house. From the start, this man had thrown Beth into this cold cell intending to threaten her.

“Then that means the deal is settled.”

Clank, came the sound of the cell lock opening. He held out his pure white hand again. This time, Beth grasped that white hand with her callus-covered hand with all her strength.

“I hope someone like you falls into hell.”

Beth glared at this beautiful magician with all her might, but Noel only swung his gripped hand around, saying, “You country girl with brute strength,” and nothing seemed to reach him at all.

“Yes, perhaps so.”

Then, as if humming a tune, he continued.

“You start work tomorrow.”