New chapter of Plant Magic Lord is out! (4/10 chapters)

 

 

The Cockatrice Sisters

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)

Dia relayed my words to the cockatrice.

“Piyo piyo, pipiyo!” (Dia)

“…Piyo! Pipiyo, piyo—?” (Cockatrice)

“We’re comrades, piyo—!” (Dia)

Hmm, did the cockatrice just say, “Why would you go that far…?” That was probably the intent. It’s easy to tell when it’s a question. I’ve also lived with Dia, so that helps.

“Piyo…” (Cockatrice)

The cockatrice stared fixedly at me and Stella in turn. Its round eyes were adorable.

“We’ll help your younger sister too. Please, will you guide us?” (Elt)

“Piyo piyo—… piyo piyo!” (Cockatrice)

“She said, ‘When you bring up my little sister… fine, piyo,’!” (Dia)

“Thank you! We’ll do our best…!” (Elt)

“Ugo ugo, I’ll do my best too!” (Stella)

“Funsu”, Stella snorted with determination.

Alright, the plan is set.

I turned back to Brown and the adventurers and explained the situation. They probably didn’t understand anything with all that “piyo piyo” talk.

“So that’s how it is. We’ll head to the cockatrice’s nest. Apparently, the nest is connected to the underground tunnel as well.” (Elt)

One of the veteran adventurers in his thirties gave a big nod at my words.

“The Flower Archer appeared, too. We want information. And it’s still part of our exploration into the forest.” (Adventurer)

“That’s true, nya. We can’t keep chatting here forever, nya.” (Adventurer)

“Right. Thank you.” (Elt)

“And… we’ve been helped by cockatrices in Zanzas, too. Turning our backs now wouldn’t sit right with us.” (Adventurer)

The adventurer scratched his nose as he said that. He really looked the part, holding that spear. He was the very image of an adventurer.

Tetetoka said…

“Nom nom… There’s no bad person who likes grass dumplings. Let’s help.” (Tetetoka)

…Yeah, a Dryad would say that.

In any case, everyone agreed. We set off for the nest, guided by the cockatrice.

 

—

 

From there, we proceeded in the direction the Flower Archer had come from. Originally, we were supposed to take the underground tunnel to reach the nest, but apparently that would be a detour. Now that we had already defeated the Flower Archer that blocked the surface route, continuing above ground was faster.

Thanks to [Forest Walker], we advanced smoothly through the woods. The trees grew even denser in this area. There were no signs of human presence at all. It would be extremely difficult to walk here under normal conditions. I also activated Forest Appraiser, but there was no sign of any Flower Archer. We encountered no battles and made steady progress toward the nest.

After about 30 minutes, we arrived at our destination. It was a clearing in the forest. There was a beautiful spring and a small stone hut. This was the first man-made structure we had seen since entering the forest. The Dryad’s old home was just a giant tree, after all. The spring was quite large.

Is it 50 meters in diameter…? It seems larger than two 25-meter pools. That is just a quick estimate, though.

The hut, on the other hand, was modest. It was about the size of a mountain cabin. It might enough for one person to live in. In any case, it was small. It looked like a temporary shelter or a storage shed.

“Piyo piyo!” (Cockatrice)

When the cockatrice cried out near the hut, another cockatrice came out from inside.

Hmm… I couldn’t tell them apart. They look exactly the same.

“Piyo!” (Little sister!) (Cockatrice)

“Pipiyo!” (Onee-chan!) (Younger Cockatrice)

“Piyo!” (I’m back!) (Cockatrice)

“Piyoyo!!” (Welcome back!) (Younger Cockatrice)

The two cockatrices suddenly dashed toward each other and embraced tightly.

“Piyo piyo” (So actually, the truth is…) (Cockatrice)

“Piyo! Pipiyo!” (Oh, that human over there!) (Younger Cockatrice)

“Pipiyo, piyoyo!” (Yes, I brought them with me!) (Cockatrice)

The two cockatrices continued chirping to each other for a little while. They were probably talking about what had just happened. One of the two, still wrapped in their embrace, walked over to us. That cockatrice bowed politely.

“Piyoyo, piyopiyopiyo!” (Thank you for bringing my Onee-chan here! Piyo!) (Younger Cockatrice)

“Piyo! Piyopiyo!” (There’s not much, but please relax inside… piyo!) (Cockatrice)

“Thank you for the welcome. I’m happy to be here.” (Elt)

However, there was no way all of us could fit inside that hut. The cockatrices were child-sized, so they were fine, but only a few others could fit in. It would be difficult to get everyone inside.

“Piyo?” (Younger Cockatrice)

The younger cockatrice tilted her head.

Adorable… Wait, no. She can’t understand my words. It would be a lot of work for Dia to do all the translating.

“Shall I handle the talking?” (Stella)

“That would help.” (Elt)

“It’s too much to make my daughter do everything… Thank you for the warm welcome. I’m very happy.” (Stella)

“Piyo, piyo!” (You’re very welcome, piyo!) (Younger Cockatrice)

Through Stella and Dia, we began speaking with the younger cockatrice.

“I see. So, there’s a Flower Archer stronghold to the west from here…” (Elt)

“Piyo piyo, pipiyo.” (Younger Cockatrice)

“She said she’s sure there are about a thousand of them, piyo.” (Dia)

“A thousand, huh. That’s a bigger colony than I thought.” (Elt)

Flower Archers increase rapidly if no enemies are present. Their territory also expands quickly. They’re supposed to multiply slowly, but it seems there are no predators in this forest… If left unchecked, they’ll steadily increase. Hmm. We could try to take them down bit by bit… But with a colony this large, there’s almost certainly a boss-type. Without defeating that, we can’t wipe them out. And the boss would be deep in the stronghold.

Stella murmured quietly.

“…If we had more recovery potions and time, we might be able to defeat them with this group.” (Stella)

“We brought minimal supplies since we were just collecting materials. Maybe we should retreat and regroup?” (Elt)

That’s right. Taking on over a thousand Flower Archers is usually a job for nobles or the Adventurer Guild. It’s not something you just deal with while exploring. Alternatively, we could report both the underground tunnel and the Flower Archers to Leia. She would likely dispatch reinforcements. If the Flower Archers multiplied enough to overrun the forest, investigation would no longer be possible. They’re not unbeatable if we’re fully prepared. The best option is to plan carefully and return later.

I nodded at Stella and the veteran adventurer.

“Let’s report this to the Zanzas’ Adventurer Guild and handle it jointly. That will be faster and more reliable in the end.” (Elt)

“The forest is vast, nya. We should split up, nya.” (Brown)

“Yeah. At least we made contact with the cockatrices and gathered some intel.” (Elt)

At that moment, I noticed the cockatrices had gone quiet. Looking over, I saw the two cockatrices staring at Tetetoka. Or rather, they were staring at the grass dumpling she was holding.

“Piyo…” (Looks tasty…) (Younger Cockatrice)

“Piyo! Piyopiyo.” (I just had one, but it’s really good!) (Cockatrice)

“…Piyo, piyopiyo.” (Onee-chan, I told you not to eat unknown food…) (Younger Cockatrice)

“Piyo! Piyopiyo, piyo!” (Ack! That’s not it. She ate it in front of us, see! It’s safe!) (Cockatrice)

“…Mogumogu. Want to try some?” (Tetetoka)

“Piyo, piyo!!” (See? It’s totally fine!!) (Cockatrice)

“Piyo… piyo.” (True…) (Younger Cockatrice)

“Here, try one first. It’s delicious!” (Tetetoka)

Tetetoka handed a grass dumpling to the younger cockatrice.

“…Piyo.” (…She gave it to me.) (Younger Cockatrice)

“Piyo, piyo!” (I’m telling you, it’s really good!) (Cockatrice)

“Piyopiyo…” (Munch munch…) (Younger Cockatrice)

“Piyo! Piyo!” (Well? Well?) (Cockatrice)

“…Piyoyo!” (So good!) (Younger Cockatrice)

“There’s plenty more, too.” (Tetetoka)
“Piyoyo!” (I want more!) (Younger Cockatrice)

I could more or less understand what they were saying.

More than that, their reaction to the grass dumpling was incredible.

“Ahh… What a heartwarming sight…” (Stella)

“Yeah. Makes you want to protect them…” (Elt)

So cute I almost wanted to take them home.

Hmm? That thought struck me. If they were okay with it, wouldn’t it be fine to bring them back? The village is safe, and we have grass dumplings. No need to fear the Flower Archers anymore. We even built a structure behind the Large Tree Tower specifically for cockatrices…

So, I told that to the cockatrice sisters. They apparently really loved the grass dumplings.

They agreed immediately.

 

Territory Information

Name: Healberry Village

Special Facilities: Large Tree Tower (with soil bath)

New Residents: +2 (Cockatrice Sisters)

Total Population: 155

Tourism Level: D (Soil bath)

Fishing Level: D (Rainbow fish Farming)

Ranching Level: D (Cockatrice Sisters)

Demon Lord Level: F (Protect a Demon)

 

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