Element Muscat

“First, this here is the Element Muscat. The one I used back when I trapped those bandits.”

“The Wind Muscat is the tastiest of them all!”

I wasn’t asking about the taste, Simurg-san.

Element Muscat was basically used to restrain or confine opponents.

Its vines had extremely high durability, packed with fibers so dense that even an iron sword could barely cut through.

And as long as it remained connected to the ground, the tree, vines, and fruit all continued to exert magical effects.

Fire Muscat produced fire, Water Muscat produced water, Wind Muscat produced wind, and Earth Muscat produced soil.

Essentially, all Element Fruits came with such magical effects as their basic feature.

And since they constantly emitted magic, they were dangerous enough that ordinary people couldn’t get near them.

It was only fine because it was Simurg-san, but if villagers tried harvesting them, they’d end up covered in wounds.

Thus, the only people in the village who could harvest Element Fruits were the three of us: me, unaffected by the trees; Aira, who could defend herself with magic; and Nadja, who could cut through magic with her sword.

“How long do these magical effects last?”

“As long as this is designated as a Sanctuary—forever.”

“…Woody, forgive me, but my ears must have suddenly gone bad. Could you repeat that?”

“Yeah, they produce it forever. If I take them out of the ground using a flowerpot, it’ll stop after a while, though.”

“F-forever…? Could Woody possibly hold the potential to solve not just food shortages, but even the energy crisis…?”

Because Element Fruits could absorb mana from the Sanctuary, they endlessly emitted magic.

Used correctly, they could function like stationary turrets… but as of now, they only scattered uncontrolled magic all around, so they were far too dangerous to use.

“Speaking of which, Nadja, want to try eating an Element Muscat?”

“Huh, I thought you said they weren’t edible?”

“It turns out that if you leave them for a while, you can eat them.”

At first, I thought Element Fruits were inedible.

But after plucking them, about three days later, once the magic dissipated, they became perfectly edible.

“This one here is a Fire Muscat. The one that looks like a charred raisin.”

When I nodded, Nadja popped a Fire Muscat into her mouth.

“Hmm… this is… a raisin. But it has a bit of a strong aftertaste, huh…?”

As Nadja chewed, I put one in my mouth as well.

The flavor was exactly as she said—slightly strong in character.

But it was sweet, with fruit flavor still remaining, so it was edible enough.

“So do we just sell these as dried fruits?”

“That’s not possible. Look, like this…”

I took a Fire Muscat grape and brought it close to the nearby Fire Muscat tree.

At once, fire leapt to it… and continued to burn.

“When exposed to nearby mana, it just sucks it up and ignites on its own. Once lit, it’ll stay burning for about three days.”

“T-three days!?”

Even in their dried state, Element Fruits reacted to mana and unleashed their magical effects.

So if someone with mana carried them, or if they were taken to a place dense with mana, accidents could happen and people could get hurt.

Most likely, Element Fruits were a kind of magical tool, activating their effects when imbued with mana.

If they were to be sold, it would have to be restricted to magic-tool merchants or magicians experienced in handling such things.