New chapter of Plant Magic Lord is out! (3/10)

 

 

Fish and Piyo

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)

After making a fuss for a while, Dia seemed tired and fell asleep.

She is energetic, but she still hasn’t fully grasped her own stamina. Well, she is a chick after all.

Right now, she has come back to my house, and I have her sleeping in a basket. By the way, Jessica is here too. There are various things we need to talk about.

So, while drinking tea, we were talking… Jessica was still wearing the Cockatrice hat.

“Isn’t it okay to take off the hat?” (Elt)

“If it’s come to this, I’ll wear it until the end… I’ve made up my mind to be a Cockatrice too.” (Jessica)

“…You’re serious.” (Elt)

“Well, Dia suddenly wakes up sometimes, so it’s better if I keep wearing it.” (Jessica)

Since coming to my house, Jessica has not once complained or grumbled about the hat. That kind of professionalism might be the pride of an A-rank adventurer. Or maybe it’s her comedian spirit… especially with the Kansai dialect.

“But since coming to this village, I’ve been surprised the whole time. The entire village is made with plant magic, and on top of that, there’s even a talking Cockatrice.” (Jessica)

“Hmm, are there no other villages like this?” (Elt)

Now that I think about it, she might be the first person born abroad to come here…? Naru is also from the northern part of the kingdom. Merchants often pass through, but I don’t think anyone based overseas had come before.

It’s the same for adventurers. Only a very small number of adventurers work across countries.

“I’ve never heard of anything like it. Honestly, it’s unbelievable to have such magical power.” (Jessica)

“I see… so that’s surprisingly true.” (Elt)

“Even in the old world, there was nothing like it. Building a village with just magic. It’s almost numbing to think about.” (Jessica)

“Even if it’s not plant magic, I don’t think it’s impossible with earth magic or iron magic…” (Elt)

When I said that, Jessica looked at Stella with a genuinely surprised face.

This is bad, it’s way too surreal… Stop being surprised while still wearing that hat. Ah, there was a similar comedian in my past life too. Big head, big hat… ugh, I can’t remember clearly, but…

“I understand why that Leia holds Elt-sama in such high regard. Normal nobles wouldn’t think that way.” (Jessica)

“…Eh, hehe.” (Stella)

This is bad, Stella looks like she’s about to laugh. Usually, Stella doesn’t laugh that much… Apparently, the Cockatrice hat is incredibly funny. Her laughter threshold has lowered.

Noticing Stella’s reaction, Jessica moved her face closer.

And with the Cockatrice hat right in front… she knows what she’s doing, right, Jessica? Her comedian talent is way too high.

“It’s okay, you can laugh…” (Jessica)

“N-no… heh heh… um, um…” (Stella)

“If I can make that Stella-sama happy, I’m content. Leia and the hat will be happy too. By the way, that person wore this hat too.” (Jessica)

“S-stop…” (Stella)

At that, Jessica mercilessly pulled the hat’s string. Repeatedly.

Piyo piyo piyo!

“Ahahaha…!” (Stella)

“Ku ku ku…” (Elt)

No, I can’t hold it…!

Just then, Dia, who was sleeping in the basket, woke up.

“Piyo! I’m awake! Ah, it’s a comrade!” (Dia)

“That’s right.” (Jessica)

That’s not right.

Jessica made a strong pull on the Cockatrice hat’s string to show off.

Piyo piyo~!

“The strength of the string pull changes the chirping a bit.” (Jessica)

“Surprise attacks are unfair, ahaha…!!” (Stella)

Stella laughed happily while rolling around.

…What a terrible person has come. As expected of an A-rank adventurer, I guess…

 

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Several days passed again. Jessica’s move-in had settled down.

Today, we came to the fish pens regarding the Rainbow Fish. The number of fish pens was increasing, and now five fish pens were in operation. It was me, Naru, Jessica… and Dia.

Dia is growing bigger and bigger. She’s no longer something you can hold with just two hands, you have to carry her.

Dia watched the Rainbow Fish swimming with great interest.

“Piyo, they’re swimming.” (Dia)

“These are fish.” (Elt)

“These are… fish, piyo.” (Dia)

“The Rainbow Fish are all fine, nya.” (Naru)

I brought Dia here for two reasons. One was for her education. The other was to see if she had any reaction when seeing fish. Jessica didn’t have any information about the Cockatrice Queen either. At this point, we had no choice but to observe Dia’s reactions one by one.

“Haah… they really are swimming! To be keeping Rainbow Fish…!!” (Jessica)

When she first saw the swimming Rainbow Fish, Jessica almost collapsed. Since then, she has been constantly impressed. Apparently, fish pens for Rainbow Fish are quite rare. I haven’t shown her the golden Rainbow Fish yet. It’s still hidden…

Since Dia was here, Jessica was wearing the Cockatrice hat. Moreover, she had a yellow scarf wrapped around her neck, which increased her Cockatrice level.

Strong. She must have a steel mentality.

By the way, Jessica and Naru had their first meeting on the first day. At that time, Naru didn’t really comment on the hat. Later, she quietly said that many adventurers are eccentric.

Is that so…? When I think of memorable adventurers, there’s Stella, Leia, Jessica, and the around-thirty adventurer. That might be true…

Not making fun of adventurers could be a survival tactic from being a merchant. Therefore, Jessica with the Cockatrice hat simply participated normally.

“…We’ve been trying to farm Rainbow Fish even in the Hundred Islands. We’ve done it for a hundred years, but it still doesn’t go well.” (Jessica)

“Was it that difficult…?” (Elt)

“Rather, how is it possible here in this village? That’s even more amazing.” (Jessica)

Thanks to the Dryad and the grass dumplings. Without those two, it probably would have been impossible. Even now, they don’t eat anything except the grass dumplings infused with skill power. If you don’t realize that, it really wouldn’t go well no matter how much you try. We were lucky.

For a while, Jessica peered down into the fish pens and leaned her face close to the water surface… We silently watched her.

“…By the way, why did you bring me here? Isn’t this confidential?” (Jessica)

“Hmm… I wanted to borrow your wisdom. I want to scale up this fish pen project, but it’s quite difficult. Both knowledge-wise and practically, raising a large number of fish is a high hurdle.” (Elt)

Since then, I asked various people who came to the village, but there is still little information about Rainbow Fish. Also, raising a large number of fish itself is very rare in this world. With my memories from my previous life, I associated it with aquariums and tuna, so I didn’t think too deeply. However, after talking with merchants and former fisher adventurers, I reconsidered.

In this world, at most, people raise a few dozen ornamental fish. It’s like only making enough to feed a few dozen people. Moreover, only a few fish species have farming knowledge, mostly those that sell at high prices. As for edible fish, farming is almost never done. It’s far more efficient to catch them.

Also, fish farming isn’t popular in this kingdom. Even if you recruit people in Zansas, no one capable of large-scale fish farming would probably come. Jessica’s arrival was truly a godsend.

“So, this is cooperation… It’s very appealing, and I appreciate the trust, but…” (Jessica)

“You don’t have to answer immediately. If you need someone’s permission, wait for that reply too. For now, this is just a proposal.” (Elt)

“…I know it’s rude to say, but you’re quite eccentric.” (Jessica)

“I’m aware. But I think there are benefits for both sides.” (Elt)

I guided Jessica further inside. It was the fish pen with the golden Rainbow Fish.

For now, we don’t fully understand it either. I want that information too…

The golden Rainbow Fish seemed a little bigger.
It swam smoothly and was as lively as ever.

“Piyo, so pretty!” (Dia)

“It’s always beautiful, nya…” (Naru)

“Wha!? Golden…! Impossible!” (Jessica)

Jessica looked into the fish pen vigorously, surprised. It seemed to be that much of a thing.

…Ah, the Cockatrice hat slipped down.

Plop.

The hat fell into the fish pen.

…It came off.

Jessica’s movement stopped for a moment. Then, Dia raised her voice when she saw the hat in the water.

“Piyo! It’s dead!” (Dia)

“Ah, shoot!” (Elt)

“Hurry and pick it up!” (Jessica)

However, the Cockatrice hat in the water… The golden Rainbow Fish nimbly picked it up.

“Ah…” (Elt)

The golden Rainbow Fish swam away… Still holding the Cockatrice hat…

“Piyo! The fish ate it!” (Dia)

“It’s alive! It’s right here!” (Elt)

“Piyo! Help her now!” (Dia)

“No, a scarf won’t work!?” (Jessica)

“More importantly, hurry and get the hat…” (Elt)

“Call it over with the grass dumplings, nya!” (Naru)

So, with a lot of commotion, we managed to retrieve the hat. In any case, we ended up able to cooperate with Jessica. Also, I realized that when the hat is taken, it counted as being eaten…

 

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(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)