New chapter of Plant Magic Lord is out (1/2 chapters)

 

 

Vroom

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)

A few days later, the festival ended in great success. Guests kept coming without pause, and every day was a huge crowd. It had been busy, but seeing the grass dumpling festival and the play made energy well up in me. The Dryad and Anaria. And Dia and the others… the children’s efforts were always enjoyable to watch. Every day, the action was a little different, after all.

The morning after the festival ended.

Today was a day off. The cleanup had finished faster than I thought… it would be more accurate to say the Nyaff tribe and the adventurers were astonishingly efficient. Even though it ended at night, the Nyaff tribe, who handled things skillfully, and the adventurers, who were used to Zanzas’s festivals, had wrapped it up quickly. Not only the setup but also the cleanup was done in no time. The small bits of tidying would be done after the break. This morning, I could relax.

A faint light came through the gap in the curtains. Between Stella and me, Dia and Marcosias were there. Unlike during the festival period, there was no early rising now.

“Suya, piyo…” (Dia)

“Wafu wafu.” (Marcosias)

Dia and the puppy-form Marcosias were hugging each other.

So fluffy…

*Pet pet*

“Piyo…” (Dia)

The Hold family also had headed to Zanzas. It seemed Dia had become very attached to Audrey and Clarissa. After all, they were close in age, and they had spent time together in the bath. If there could be another chance to reunite within the next year, that would be nice…

*Puni*

“Muh…” (Elt)

“Good morning, Elt-sama.” (Stella)

With her eyes closed, Stella squished my cheek.

Lately, my cheek really…! I wonder if it’s indeed flabby.

“You were awake… That’s early.” (Elt)

“Nn… yes. May I ask for a moment?” (Stella)

“Mm…? I don’t mind.” (Elt)

“Thank you. Let us slip out.” (Stella)

Stella released her hand from my cheek and quietly slipped out of the cotton bedding. She did so without any sound or shaking. I couldn’t do it as well as Stella.

When I got out, the cotton shifted a little.

“Piyo…?” (Dia)

Crap, did I wake them?

I thought so, but Marcosias gently fluffed Dia’s head.

“Don’t disturb.” (Marcosias)

“Piyo…” (Dia)

“Suyapiyo, wafu…” (Marcosias)

“Suya, piyo… suya…” (Dia)

Phew, Dia went back to sleeping soundly.

Together with Stella, I went down to the living room.

“…I almost ended up waking them.” (Elt)

“Maru-chan kindly kept her asleep. Although, her memories don’t seem to have returned…” (Stella)

“Her power had returned, though.” (Elt)

Just a little, but still. However, it was clearly progress.

“Here is herb tea. Please.” (Stella)

“Thank you.” (Elt)

Stella brewed her favorite herb tea. I had a whole ham, Stella had herb tea. Little by little, we had come to understand each other’s preferences. That was how long we had been together.

“So… what did you want to talk to me about?” (Elt)

While sipping the herb tea, I asked. Within the refreshing taste, there was just a bit of bitterness.

According to Stella, that was important.

“…In the near future, I wish to return to my home village once. Together with Maru-chan and Nana.” (Stella)

 

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I knew it. I had somehow been expecting this. After Stella heard the story from Clarissa, she had been different than usual. Even though she hardly ever spoke about her homeland while with me… She seemed preoccupied.

I remembered the very first time I rescued Stella from the wooden statue. At that time, Stella told me she would not return to her homeland. It must have been partly because hundreds of years had passed… but I somehow had guessed. That she did not have very good memories of her home.

“You will go to the Eastern Country?” (Elt)

“Yes, that’s right.” (Stella)

“That’s where your homeland is, Stella.” (Elt)

“Yes.” (Stella)

In a small voice, Stella nodded.

“…Why are you taking Marcosias and Nana along?” (Elt)

“For that… I must explain why I am returning home. To put it simply, there is a berserk magic tool in my homeland.” (Stella)

“Hmm… A magic tool.” (Elt)

I pictured the Lion Knight. I had heard there were quite a lot of those. When Stella had once delved into Zanzas’ dungeon, there were spheres that teleported you and golems, apparently.

“Yes. My family possessed a powerful magic tool. A combat-use magic tool called [Swallow].” (Stella)

“Swallow…” (Elt)

In my previous life’s game, I think it was an event item…? It was not something the player could use. Hmm, I remember. There was something like that. It certainly had the shape of a swallow, but… ah, it was coming back to me. Even in the game, it went berserk, and the flow was to subjugate it.

So, it existed here in the same way…

“It requires an enormous amount of mana, but if used properly, it can mow down hordes of monsters. The problem is that if the mana runs out, it goes berserk and indiscriminately destroys everything around it.” (Stella)

“That is troublesome…” (Elt)

“…My elder sister, Tara, modified this [Swallow]. To make it more powerful and easier to use.” (Stella)

“…” (Elt)

I see. She tried to improve it and failed.

“It’s because of [Swallow], my homeland was destroyed. I did seal it once. Though… it was only a temporary measure. As long as mana is supplied, it should not cause harm…” (Stella)

“Clarissa’s ancestor was Tara, right? So, to take responsibility, her descendants are still supplying mana?” (Elt)

“That is incorrect. Tara had no children. There should be no noteworthy survivors… except me.” (Stella)

“Hm? But… ah, so it was a false claim.” (Elt)

Stella nodded to my words.

This sort of thing had happened even in the Warring States era. In this world too, bloodlines were not so clearly known. In a sense, whoever claimed it first won. In other words, Clarissa’s ancestors had taken Tara’s family name to use it for authority.

If the true descendant existed, it would cause disputes, but if not, there was no reason for conflict. If the homeland was in chaos, no one could confirm the truth. If it united the people, then it was a wise measure.

That explained why Stella’s reaction to hearing Tara’s name was slightly odd. A supposed descendant of her sister who could not have existed. Yet Clarissa’s family probably had kept taking responsibility all this time. I do not know exactly how that came to be… but it is hard not to feel pained by it.

“I understand Clarissa’s story. So, you need Nana because she is a magic tool specialist.” (Elt)

“Yes. She is probably the best suited. I could only suppress [Swallow] but not destroy it.” (Stella)

“And Marcosias?” (Elt)

“The technology used for the modifications was of demonic origin. Tara boasted about it… The Demon King who summoned Marcosias had arranged it.” (Stella)

As she said that much, I glimpsed flames and darkness in Stella’s eyes.

The lines from the play during the festival—that her homeland was destroyed by the Demon King—were not entirely fiction.

“Maru-chan herself is not directly necessary. But… she may have a stimulating effect.” (Stella)

“So, you mean bringing her along is not strictly required.” (Elt)

I more or less understand the situation. She is going to settle things. Essentially, that is what she means. It can also be called finishing unfinished business. Of course, I have no objection.

If Stella wishes to do so, I have no reason to stop her. I, too, decide to seek the house’s succession. It might become troublesome, but Stella supports me. For me to then bind Stella in place would not be fair.

“Still… the Eastern Country… It will be a long journey.” (Elt)

From the sense of distance I knew on the map, it should take about a month one-way to the Eastern Countries. Round trip, two months. I had no idea how long local activity would take, but at the fastest, they would probably be absent for about three months.

In that case, Dia would also become lonely, and would Nana even agree in the first place?

“No… I will return in about a week.” (Stella)

“Eh?” (Elt)

“Maru-chan’s super acceleration. If we can use that, we can go and come back quickly…” (Stella)

“I don’t think that is such a convenient power.” (Elt)

Marcosias’s super acceleration should not be able to avoid obstacles. It could only be used in a straight line. Even when I watched her use it in the living room, she always stopped before hitting something.

“If I hold Maru-chan, and I jump while she uses super acceleration… we can vroom across the sky.” (Stella)

“V-vroom… What about Nana?” (Elt)

“I will carry her on my back!” (Stella)

Stella puffed out her chest.

In my mind, I pictured Stella carrying Marcosias in her arms, with Nana on her back. She would surely bring her two bats, as well.

Hmm? Is she sane?

“I-is that really okay?” (Elt)

“We used it to charge into the Demon King’s castle too. It is perfectly safe. I also have my bats to use at full power. We will go and come back immediately…!” (Stella)

“O-oh…” (Elt)

She had been waiting until Marcosias could use super acceleration again. And she must have been waiting for a specialist like Nana as well. The logic make sense… but… That expedition plan… is incredibly worrisome…

 

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