New chapter of Plant Magic Lord is out! (6/10)

 

 

Piyo!

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)

After that, I was selecting a place inside the village for the Cockatrice Queen to live. Since it was five meters long, it needed to be quite spacious. Fortunately, the sky was clear outdoors. It was good weather to do various things outside.

The three of us, me, Brown, and the adventurer in his thirties, were looking around the village. And now, we had come to the back of the Large Tree Tower. Here, the tower’s shadow made the sunlight poor. So, no buildings had been made here yet.

“If we’re making a coop for the cockatrice, this place seems good. Cockatrices are probably weak against heat.” (Adventurer)

“Hmm… is that so?” (Elt)

That wasn’t touched on much in the game either. The best was to ask an adventurer from Zanzas about their detailed ecology.

“They bathe quite often and rest in the shade of trees.” (Adventurer)

“I’ve heard they’re pretty laid-back, nya.” (Brown)

“I see. So, the coop can be inside the village…? Oh, but they come close to people to eat, right?” (Elt)

“Yes, cockatrices rather cling to people. That part should be fine.” (Adventurer)

In that case, this place would do for now. If they grew bigger than expected or the numbers increased, I’d have to think about expanding it…

I focused mana into my arm.

“[Large Tree House].” (Elt)

A house made of large trees sprouted from the ground with a creaking sound. Since I made it with an image like a stable, it was quite wide horizontally. It was about three times the size of a normal house. It used more mana as a result, but I could easily manage that now.

“Whoa… as usual, your mana is on another level. A cockatrice house was made in no time.” (Adventurer)

“It’s breathtaking every time, nya!” (Brown)

“The inside is empty, though. How does it look, fitting?” (Elt)

“Perfect, I’d say… We’ll handle the finer details inside. Among the adventurers, some have experience with livestock at home.” (Adventurer)

“We can procure the necessary things on this side too, nya.” (Brown)

“Thanks, that helps a lot.” (Elt)

“No problem… By the way, Elt-sama, I have a small favor to ask.” (Adventurer)

The adventurer in his thirties was pretty sharp here. It was the wisdom of age, after all.

“What is it?” (Elt)

“There’s still unused land over there, right? I want to make that a second square…” (Adventurer)

He pointed to a grassy plain. There were no houses or anything yet.

“That’s fine… but why? Is the current square too small?” (Elt)

“Yes… it’s a bit cramped for playing or practicing that ball-hitting game…” (Adventurer)

Could that be… baseball?

“Nyan, that looks fun, nya.” (Brown)

“I’m thinking of teaching it to adventurers coming from Zanzas next time… So, I want a place where we can play it with full force.” (Adventurer)

“I see…” (Elt)

I never thought the pitching and batting I taught would start to catch on… Baseball really is great! But I should stop spreading baseball too easily. The rules are complicated if you take them seriously, and sports can cause injuries if you let your guard down. First, they should just enjoy hitting and throwing the ball. This kind of thing requires a long-term perspective…

 

—

 

Then, for several days, I listened to adventurers who knew cockatrices well and gathered various necessary equipment. After that was daily work. Traffic with Zanzas increased, and the items coming in grew.

Now, I was inspecting those goods in Naru’s warehouse. Yeah… the rainbow fish were swimming energetically. Anaria was also participating as the Zanzas citizen representative, but the delivered items were piling up quite a lot. All the senders were from the Adventurer Guild.

“A lot has arrived from the Adventurer Guild.” (Elt)

In the letter from Guild Master Leia, it said this…

‘Thank you very much for your cooperation in conquering the unexplored area. All the citizens of Zanzas deeply appreciate it. Therefore, we have prepared some commemorative items. As the first batch, we are sending a special cloak. Please check it, and if there are no problems, we would like to start selling it.’

“It said the partnership conditions included making and selling various things… but this is pretty fast. It’s been less than a week.” (Elt)

“Leia is a businessperson too. She’s planning and pushing sales.” (Anaria)

“Well, she did offer to partner with me… I see, this must be part of that sales push.” (Elt)

Naru spread out a small cloak. The fabric and making were ordinary. However, it had gold embroidery on the fabric.

‘It is human nature to delve into dungeons.’

‘There are so many, they’re cute, aren’t they?’

‘I can see…!!’

What are these?

“There’s an explanatory flyer, nya. It says it’s a mantle embroidered with the famous lines of hero Stella, nya.” (Naru)

Anaria glanced at the flyer lightly.

“Um… the first one is a phrase showing the spirit to challenge dungeons. It is planned to be adopted as the Adventurer Guild slogan next year… The second one is a phrase expressing love for Zanzas’ mascot, the cockatrice. A painting of Stella-sama, who was even rejected by the cockatrice, is planned to be made later. The third one is a brave phrase for intercepting moving lightning. It is a famous line that is becoming popular in Zanzas…” (Anaria)

Stella is like an idol. Even idols don’t usually have such phrases embroidered… Will this sell?

“I want one too…” (Anaria)

“I want to display it, nya…” (Naru)

It seems like it will sell well. The two are already enchanted.

I tilted my head while looking at the cloak.

Hmm, I don’t quite understand what’s so good about it. It just looks like some weird souvenir bought on a school trip… Or rather, is that the point? Is that the secret to its appeal?

…Well, it’s no use thinking too much. It’s Zanzas’ side that takes the risk by making it. I just have to check it and give the go-ahead if there are no problems. The contract states that the more it sells, the more margin I receive.

“If Stella confirms and there are no issues, it should be fine. I’ll also reserve some for selling in the village.” (Elt)

“That’s good, nya. I’m sure it will sell, nya!” (Naru)

I briefly pictured Stella going “Fuueeh…”. But she has never once said she disliked something. Maybe it’s because there are so many statues of her in Zanzas that her sense of things is warped. When you’re in the spotlight too much, it starts to feel normal. Next time, I’ll try asking her if there’s something she wants…

 

—

 

Two days later, the incubation preparations were complete.

Stella and I were in the coop. There was high-quality straw laid down, and the mana lamps were fully installed, so it was nicely finished. The solution was ready. I just had to lightly coat it. When coated, it activated and incubation began.

I poured mana into it. It took roughly the mana equivalent to ten Large Tree Towers. Normally, it wasn’t something one person should do, but… well, this should be fine. Now, the rainbow-colored egg was emitting a faint light.

And the final step was a person with the skill [Cockatrice Tamer] warms it… wearing cockatrice feathers. Before me was Stella, wearing fluffy cockatrice feather pajamas.

“This is really nice…!!” (Stella)

Naru had prepared these pajamas made from cockatrice feathers.

They cost two gold coins, about 600,000 yen… expensive. However, this is essential to meet the cockatrice queen’s incubation conditions. The reaction between the solution and mana is no different from the game. This last condition should also be correct.

“…Sorry. You’ll have to stay here for a while. We don’t know how things will go…” (Elt)

“Not at all! If I can sleep wearing these wonderful pajamas, I don’t mind anywhere!” (Stella)

Her spirits were high. She really loved cockatrices.

“Ah, wonderful…! So, I just hold the egg while wearing these?” (Stella)

“Yes, the egg hasn’t softened… so it’s okay as is.” (Elt)

“I see! Understood…!” (Stella)

She, then, flopped down on the straw.

From the window, the stars were faintly visible. The starlight illuminated the fluffy Stella.

“…My dream has come true.” (Stella)

“Hm?” (Elt)

“I’ve wanted to raise a cockatrice for a long time.” (Stella)

I hadn’t known that. I had wondered why she was so enthusiastic and lively.

“Your dream is about to come true.” (Elt)

“Yes… thank you very much. I’m really glad to live here.” (Stella)

Stella smiled gently.

…Wait, I can’t ask what she wants now. Or rather, hasn’t her wish already come true? Hmm… I’ll have to think about a good time to talk to her again. Timing is important for these things.

While I was thinking, Stella suddenly raised her voice.

“Ah, the egg is cracking…!” (Stella)

“Piyo!” (Cockatrice)

The rainbow stone cracked with a snap, and a small cockatrice appeared. Or rather, it looked just like a chick. But I could feel the mana. It really was a cockatrice. It was fluffy and cute.

“Tou-sama! Kaa-sama! Piyo!” (Cockatrice)

““It spoke!?”” (Elt/Stella)

 

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(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)