New chapter of Plant Magic Lord is out! (2/10 chapters)

 

 

Rainbow Fish

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)

The fish tank sent by carriage from the Adventurer Guild was not very large. Its size was about the same as a vinyl pool found in a Japanese household. It was square and not very deep. That was roughly the scale. The tank was made from what looked like expensive wood and magical tools. The pump and other components were magical tools.

Right now, Naru and Anaria were checking various parts in front of me. When water was added, a current was formed inside the tank. Water swirled around inside the tank.

“This tank is used by rich people to keep fish, nya. It’s quite expensive, nya.” (Naru)

“Oh? How much does one of this size cost?” (Elt)

“Hmm… about twenty gold coins, nya. The wood here is still plain in decoration, nya… If you add decorations here too, the price will skyrocket, nya.” (Naru)

20 gold coins. That is about six million yen in Japanese currency. That price for a fish tank is out of reach for ordinary people. It is the price of a luxury item, without a doubt. In this world as well, there are people who keep fish as a hobby. Though it is a rather expensive hobby.

Anaria was inspecting the magical tools with great interest.

“Hmm-hmm. Magical tools for water purification and oxygen supply are included. It’s a brilliant structure. A device like this cannot be made in Zanzas.” (Anaria)

“So, it really can’t be made in Zanzas?” (Elt)

“Materials can be gathered from Zanzas’ dungeon, nya. But making it in Zanzas is impossible, nya.” (Naru)

Hmm, this must be thanks to our connection with the Adventurer Guild. There are some immigrants who are knowledgeable about fish, but it seems they don’t know how to raise them properly. The Rainbow Fish itself is a mysterious species.

“For now, we can use it temporarily to house the Rainbow Fish.” (Elt)

“Yes, for that use it should serve well.” (Anaria)

“The Heal Mango production is on schedule. Maybe I should head to the lake.” (Elt)

“I think that’s a good idea, Elt-sama.” (Anaria)

We can just have some idle adventurers carry the tank. Like that around-thirty adventurer who spends every day in a soil bath. Even if we spend half a day on this, it is more than worth it if the Rainbow Fish gives us any results. Besides, the Heal Mango production is going smoothly.

Hmm, maybe I should give the tank a test run. We got it after all. I want to try it out.

“I’ll go get some grass dumplings from Tetetoka. Once I have them, we’ll test raising the Rainbow Fish at the lake.” (Elt)

 

 

The tank could apparently be disassembled into parts, so as long as there were enough people, transporting it was easy. That was written in the included manual, actually.

“This tank can be installed easily anywhere. Set it on a rooftop terrace and enjoy elegant fish watching!” (Adventurer)

Hmm, very high-class. Well, I am not after aesthetics but only after the scales…

I walked slowly down the path to the lake with the adventurers. The air was slightly humid, but there were no clouds. If rain were to come, it would probably be at night. The one who came along as tank manager was Brown.

“So, we’re really going to raise that fish, nya… As expected of Elt-sama, your ideas are bold, nya.” (Brown)

“…You think so? If we can raise that fish, we’ll have a steady supply of scales.” (Elt)

“Still, it’s a costly endeavor, nya. The returns are big, but there’s also the risk of waste, nyan. We can’t make decisions like that so easily, nya.” (Brown)

“Is that so.? (Elt)

While walking, I glanced to the side. There, Tetetoka was cheerfully walking.

“Hafu, we’re going to the lake again, aren’t we~?” (Tetetoka)

“Sorry for dragging you along.” (Elt)

“No no~ I want to eat those scales again too~” (Tetetoka)

Tetetoka, loyal to his appetite.

Well… Heal Mango production is stable. For a Dryad, the scales should be quite motivating.

Like that, we arrived at the lake. The water was as clear as ever, offering a beautiful view.

Hmm, just by peeking into the water, I couldn’t spot any Rainbow Fish. As expected, they are cautious… Looks like it’s no good without grass dumplings.

I had the adventurers assemble the tank. Since we had assembled and disassembled it once already, preparation was quick.

“It’s done, nya.” (Brown)

“Thanks. Step back a bit, will you.” (Elt)

Now then… with this tank, we could catch fish without fishing.

I focused my mana and chanted. It was a new spell I had learned over the past few days.

“[Large Tree’s Arm].” (Elt)

This was a mid-tier plant magic spell. Unless one had aptitude for plant magic, no amount of mana would let them use it. As I chanted, thick wooden arms like those of a giant emerged from the ground.

“Whoa~ So big~!” (Tetetoka)

“Such an amazing spell, nya…!” (Brown)

Unlike earlier plant magic, this “[Large Tree’s Arm]” moved instantly at my will. It had a range of several meters, within which it could extend and contract freely. It consumed a fair amount of mana, but it had enough power for small-scale construction work.

“This tank’s fine even if it gets soaked, right?” (Elt)

“Yes, nya. It was written in the manual, nya!” (Brown)

“Alright. Then, let’s put the whole tank into the lake. Set the grass dumpling in the center.” (Elt)

The grass dumpling was placed in the center of the tank. That should attract plenty of Rainbow Fish. Once I confirmed the dumpling was set, I began to manipulate the [Large Tree’s Arm]. It gripped the tank’s rim. Slowly, the [Large Tree’s Arm] carried the tank toward the lake.

Good, this is going well.

*Splash…!*

The tank entered the lake. At the same time, Rainbow Fish swarmed in. Just like last time. They became excited and gathered quickly.

“Wow~ The fish are already here.” (Tetetoka)

“Nyann, they’re fighting to eat, nya. Should we pull it up already, nya?” (Brown)

“That’s one way, but… we don’t need that many. Let’s wait for now. Once there are only a few inside, we’ll pull it up.” (Elt)

I, then, paused the operation of the [Large Tree’s Arm]. That was the good part about this magic, unless fully canceled, the arm wouldn’t disappear. It could be moved again when needed.

“Haa… Even so, Elt-sama’s magic is truly amazing, nya…” (Brown)

“Plant magic is said not to be suited for combat, though.” (Elt)

“Even so, it can do this much, nya. We could never manage that, nya.” (Brown)

The adventurers nodded in agreement. Rather than being praised, it felt nice to be acknowledged like that. Even if it came from knowledge in my previous life, it was still something I had worked to learn.

Now then, we had to wait for the Rainbow Fish to calm down. It would probably settle down in about 30 minutes. Until then, it was standby time.

Tetetoka asked an adventurer to bury her in soft soil and was wriggling in.

So fast… If she has free time, Tetetoka would always go get buried. Well, we are idling too.

“Brown, let’s kill time with this.” (Elt)

“Nnya!? T-That’s…!” (Brown)

“That’s right, it’s the ball…!” (Elt)

I took out a small soft ball from my pocket. Just in case, I had brought it. Naturally, it was to play with Brown.

Here we go.

“NyaaAAAAAA!” (Brown)

Brown happily ran after it.

Nice, now neither of us would be bored. Plus, we’d get some exercise…

Then, 30 minutes later. Looking into the tank, I saw only a few Rainbow Fish remaining. Time to pull it up.

I used the [Large Tree’s Arm] to slowly lift the tank from the lake. I lowered it onto the ground, and we all gasped. While underwater, we hadn’t noticed, but there was one strange Rainbow Fish. A Rainbow Fish shimmering in gold and silver was in the tank.

 

—

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)