6. Disaster

After all of the officials other than the deer-eared and rabbit-eared ones were chased out, we sat down again at the table, this time at a distance from which we could actually see each other’s faces.

“Let me introduce them again. This is the younger brother of Chronowize’s King, and Appraiser, Prince Glenarnold. And this is Lady Chelsea, the one who saved my life.”

I stood briefly, giving a curtsey as Lord Royz explained.

“Honestly, I had given up on thinking you’d be saved. I’m shocked to see your mana levels the same as they were in your heyday. Thank you so much, Lady Chelsea.” The previously straight-faced deer-eared civil official broke out into a smile before bowing deeply.

“Due to the previous emperor believing in some strange foreign fortuneteller which ended up harming the country, I doubted the both of you,” said the rabbit-eared military official with a frown, apologizing with a bow so deep he smashed his head on the table in front of us.

Lord Glen and I looked at each other, both smiling a bit forcedly.

“Now, let’s get things started,” Lord Royz said, prompting all of us to straighten up. “Prince Glen and Lady Chelsea have prepared a Spirit Tree cutting for us. We’ll be going to plant it in a moment, but where should it go?”

The deerman official looked deep in thought, resting his hand on his mouth, while the rabbitman official just tilted his head.

“It would be best if it was somewhere close enough for you to protect it,” the deerman mused, standing and moving to look out the meeting room’s window. “Maybe between here and the are— Huh?!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh. I was just surprised to see the previous emperor Lord Bearsley grow so large, but he’s walked off towards the city.”

“We need to get him to tell us everything he’s had done over these three years. Send out an order to arrest him, his fake fortune teller, and anyone related to them.”

“Yes!” The rabbit-eared military official jumped to action, leaving the room.

After that, Lord Royz and the remaining official discussed things for a while, and it was decided the cutting would be planted between the castle and the stadium.

“Now that that’s settled, let’s get that thing planted!”

Hearing that, I looked around. Now that I think of it, none of the knights are here. They were the ones carrying the box with the cutting... Did we get separated somewhere on the way to the castle? Just as I was thinking that, the door opened again. In walked the rabbitman official and the knights.

“These people are claiming to be part of His Highness’ group, but...”

All of the knights’ clothing was in tatters, and their hair all messed up.

“Your Highness! I apologize... Both the box and the kitten have been taken by the former Emperor,” reported one knight, before collapsing on the ground.

“Ele’s been taken?!” I stood up, shocked. He’d said he couldn’t purify the miasma because he needed to protect the cutting. Wouldn’t that mean he couldn’t do anything against Lord Bearsley? “Oh no...” I whispered, gripping my hands together.

But when I did that, I noticed my thumbnail sparkle. That shining nail was proof of my contract with Ele. After looking at it for a moment, I felt as if I could somehow tell what direction Ele was in.

As I worried about everything, the guardian knights had explained what had happened to them.

Lord Royz’s expression turned grim. “It was my fault for leaving you when there was risk of a riot. I’m sorry,” he apologized, bowing to us. Then... “Start the search immediately!” He gave the order without giving Lord Glen or the knights a chance to interject.

“Um...” It was kind of awkward to say right after he ordered a search, but I raised my hand slightly.

“What’s wrong?” Lord Royz asked, looking down at me.

“I can tell where the cutting is. Or rather, where Ele is.”

Everyone looked at me, confused.

“It might be because I’m contracted to him, but it seems I can tell what direction he’s in,” I continued, closing my eyes and pointing where I felt him from.

“Ele said he couldn’t leave the box, right?”

“Yes,” I replied, giving a small nod.

Lord Glen gave a small sigh. “I don’t want to put you in any danger, but the only thing we can do is rely on you.”

“We’ve got no choice,” said Lord Royz, standing before scooping me up in his arms.

“Wha?!” While I was surprised, he started walking.

“Must be tough not realizing your feelings,” he muttered as we passed Lord Glen.

“...I’ve already noticed.”

I’d never seen that look on Lord Glen’s face before. I was carried off while I was still in shock.

＋＋＋

“That way,” I said, pointing towards where Ele was as I sat on Lord Royz’s arm.

The rabbit-eared official had already put the call out to arrest Bearsley, so there were lots of soldiers around the capital. They cleared our path so that we could go through quickly.

“Huh? It’s here...” Apparently, Ele and the box were still being carried off somewhere. “It feels like it’s under us,” I clarified, pointing to the ground.

“He’s in the tunnels. That’s a pain,” Lord Royz grumbled, putting his free hand to his chin as he thought. “They exit outside the city. He’s probably going that way.”

And so, we headed for the exit to the tunnels with a group of soldiers. As we waited quite a far bit away, Lord Bearsley appeared, holding the wooden box.

“Damn! You could’ve meowed a bit more,” he said, complaining at Ele, who was sitting on the box.

Oh no, did he do something to Ele...?! I was about to jump out, but Lord Royz stopped me.

“I shouldn’t have just mindlessly thrown him. Gotta rake Bearsley over the coals properly this time,” he muttered, before looking over to Lord Glen. “You wanna do it?”

For some reason, Lord Glen was staring at Lord Royz angrily. “Yeah...I will,” he replied, his voice very low.

Ele’s important to Lord Glen too, huh! Glad, I nodded to him.

“I’ll keep her safe, don’t worry~ I’m Lord Royz’s pupil, after all!” Miss Micah said, hugging me tight as we hid and watched them all. We were a bit far away from Lord Bearsley, but the area was surrounded by soldiers to keep him from running. The door to the tunnels was locked from the inside. He seemed to finally notice both Lord Royz and Lord Glen when he heard the lock click.

“W-What are you doing here?!” he cried, eyes wide.

«You’re finally here,» said Ele, before plopping down from on top of the box, clearly exhausted.

Oh no! Is he okay? We need to do something for him, quick!

Lord Glen began, as if he heard my wish. “...Icicle Lance.”

Spears of ice came into being around him, before flying quickly towards Lord Bearsley’s feet. The beastman managed to dodge them all, but ended up throwing the box as he did. Lord Royz jumped in, catching both the wooden box and the Spirit kitten.

“I’ll [Cure] you if you live through this.”

“W-What did I even do to you?!” screeched Lord Bearsley in fear.

“I’m just...taking my anger out on you! ...Ice Wall.”

This time, three walls of ice grew from the ground, surrounding the bearman. Only his path to Lord Glen remained unblocked.

“Uooooooaaaarrgh!” Lord Bearsley roared, charging to tackle Lord Glen, still humanoid.

“...Barrier.”

An invisible wall appeared around Lord Glen, repelling Lord Bearsley with a strange ‘ping’ sound. The former emperor’s back hit one of the ice walls. It sounded the same as the barrier back in Chronowize.

Lord Bearsley shakily rose to his feet, drawing the sword from his hip. “I went easy on you because you’re unarmed, but not anymore!”

“Hmm. Since you got your weapon out, I’ll be thorough in my beating.”

After that, Lord Glen apparently used a lot of different magic to beat him up. Miss Micah covered my eyes partway through, so I only saw a bit, but she said it was really amazing.

“Glen’s really great with magic. He might even be on my level if we fought,” commented Lord Royz.

“Cure only his external wounds, leaving the pain from any bruises — [Cure].”

It was only after Lord Glen used his [Cure] Skill on Lord Bearsley that Miss Micah stopped hugging me and let go. Bearsley was collapsed on his knees, head hanging. His clothes were ripped up here and there, and his hair was a mess, but all of his wounds were healed. He was taken away by some soldiers.

At the same time, Lord Glen, Lord Royz, and Ele with his box came back over to me. The little kitten lay collapsed, sleeping.

“Is Ele okay?” I asked.

Lord Glen used his [Appraisal] Skill for me, checking him over. “His mana is really low, but he’s just sleeping. He’s not hurt. Since he was awake when he’d usually be sleeping, he just wasn’t able to regenerate his mana.”

I was finally able to relax a bit when I heard that. “Thank goodness...”

“We need to get that cutting planted and let him off the hook as soon as possible.”

I nodded at his words.

＋＋＋

On the way back to the castle, Lord Glen insisted on carrying me, for some reason. “I can walk on my own...!” I protested, but he didn’t let me down. Lord Royz, who was carrying the box, and Miss Micah, who was walking beside him, only laughed at us. I had to give up and let myself be carried, only for Ele to wake up at the same time.

«Thank goodness that annoying man is gone,» he said, stretching out on top of the wooden box.

“What do you mean?”

«The man was terrified the entire time we were in the tunnels, and wouldn’t stop singing! It was hell listening to his tone-deaf song that close!» the Spirit answered, shrugging his little shoulders.

“That must’ve been tough,” I mumbled.

Ele looked at both Lord Glen and me before shrugging again. «Yes, it was. But I’m at my limit. Please, plant the cutting soon,» he replied, bowing his head.

“...So cute!” I leaned out towards him, forgetting I was in Lord Glen’s arms.

“I don’t want to drop you, so hold on tight,” said Lord Glen, hugging me close. He did it so intensely that I squeaked a bit.

“Let’s go back to the castle after planting the cutting,” said Lord Royz, struggling to stop himself from laughing.

Once we got to just about the middle point between the castle and stadium, he stopped.

“I’d like it somewhere around here.”

It was a wide plaza, empty aside from some food carts a bit away. The Spirit Tree that I planted outside the Royal Research Institute grew really big, so the resulting one from the cutting would definitely grow big, too.

I nodded to Lord Royz in agreement, and he had the soldiers herd the citizens away from the immediate area. They watched us from a distance, seemingly very interested in what was going on.

Lord Glen put me down, and Lord Royz handed me the box with the cutting. Ele, who had still been on top of it, moved to my shoulder. I set the box on the ground and took the lid off.

“Wow~ It’s so pretty!” I heard Miss Micah cry from behind me.

As I took the sparkling glass-like cutting branch (which was honestly more like a mace) out of the wooden box, Ele whispered to me, «You should use your bracelet’s storage function on the box.»

I did as he said, wishing for the Spirits to hold it for me, and it vanished.

“Should I make a hole for it?” I asked, only for Ele to shake his head.

«Just plunge it into the earth.»

I sat down, holding the cutting in both hands before stabbing it into the ground. The moment I did, it shined so brightly that I couldn’t keep my eyes open. When I slowly opened them again, the cutting was spreading its branches, rapidly growing.

“Wow...” I looked up, watching as it grew taller and taller, only to nearly fall backwards myself.

“That’s dangerous,” Lord Glen chided me, catching me before I fell.

“Thank you.”

While I was thanking him, the Spirit Tree had grown up to about the height of the Institute’s second floor. Looking closely, the tree was emitting a soft light, repelling the miasma.

«It seems that the miasma has been pushed away to the surrounding mountains,» Ele commented, leaning forward from his perch on my shoulder.

“It’s not hard to breathe anymore... Did the miasma disappear?”

“I think it just can’t get close anymore.”

“Whatever the case, it was wrong to cut down the Spirit Trees!”

Lord Royz grinned at his citizen’s conversations.

«It should grow slowly from now on. Make sure to protect it,» Ele ordered, acting quite high and mighty.

After I backed up a few steps to look up at the tree, something rained down from above. It was red, translucent, and falling like some sort of down.

I heard the crowd begin to buzz.

There was a very large-chested woman with bright red hair and scarlet eyes, more beautiful than any being could ever be, and wearing a bright red mermaid dress that was long enough to hide her feet.

“Hello. My name is Irene. I’m the Spirit of Fire. Please, call me Rene.” The translucent red Fire Spirit, Rene, gave us an elegant mid-air greeting. It was different from a curtsey, but it still looked really sophisticated. Her hair was the same kind of bright red as my stepmother and half-sister had, but maybe because of her drooping eyes, she wasn’t scary in the least.

As I stared at her, enchanted, she smiled brightly at me. “Oh my! This generation’s Creator of the Spirit Trees is so small and cute!” she cried, floating over to me and clinging to me. But of course, since she was see-through, she went right through me.

While I was paralyzed in shock, Ele shouted at Rene from his spot on my shoulder, «Stop that! You’re bothering Lady Chelsea!» He floated up away from me, trying to scratch her. But a tiny kitten trying his best to scratch someone was just adorable instead of his intended threat. When I giggled, he stopped. «Get with the contracting!»

“Alright, alright. I know. I’ll contract with our cute little Creator... Wait, you’re already contracted to Lord Element? I can’t believe it!”

Rene floated away from me, flying around the Spirit Tree. The audience cried out in delight. It seemed that they’d heard the Fire Spirit’s introduction.

After flying for a bit, she stopped before me once again, looking quite meek. “I was shocked to see that Lord Element was contracted to anyone other than Her Ladyship the Proxy...”

Ele looked away as she said that.

“There’s nothing I can do with her, then. I’ll have to contract with someone else. Who to pick?”

“Would I work?” Lord Royz said, raising his hand. Rene looked him up and down, thinking. “I’m this here Radzuel Empire’s Emperor, Royz.”

“Oh, so you’re an emperor? And a member of the longest living race in the world!”

Lord Royz gave her a confident smile. She’d never be able to guess that he’d been suffering from an illness up until yesterday.

“Okay! I’ll make a contract with you,” she said, before snapping her fingers.

The buzzing crowd suddenly froze completely. Oh, that’s right. Back when I contracted with Ele, he stopped time like this, too. It seemed that since I was contracted with a Spirit already, I got to watch.

“I am the Spirit who rules over fire, Irene. I will form a contract with you here,” she said with a smile, caressing his ring fingernail. As she did, it turned the same scarlet as her eyes. “Done!”

With another snap of her fingers, she vanished. The sounds of the crowd came back, signaling the end of the contract ceremony.

Lord Royz spent a while staring at his right ring fingernail, now scarlet.

«Call her name and summon her,» Ele suggested, still floating.

“Spirit of Fire, Rene,” the dragonman called, with no hesitation. As he did, a large red bird flew down from between the leaves of the Spirit Tree, landing on his shoulder.

«You called, Lord Royz?»

“I’m gonna be rebuilding the Radzuel Empire. I’d like for you to help me.”

«As you wish.»

It looked like Rene’s temporary form was that of a large, bright red bird. Her wingspan was about the same as Lord Royz’s height. That’s different from how Ele looks, huh?

«Our temporary form changes based on our contractor’s mana pool. The reason my form is a small kitten is because your mana pool is also small, Lady Chelsea.»

My shoulders sagged dejectedly when he said that.

“It’s okay. You’re eating lots of delicious food, and your mana pool is growing slowly but steadily,” Lord Glen comforted me with his usual gentle smile, patting me on the head.

＋＋＋

This time, we were led to a parlor on our return to the castle.

“I thank you for planting the Spirit Tree,” Lord Royz said from across the low table after we sat down on comfy sofas. “The Empire should be safe for now. I want to be relieved, but the miasma is still spreading rampant throughout places in the country other than the capital. I’d like for you to plant more cuttings.”

«We cannot,» Ele refused before Lord Glen or I had a chance to open our mouths. «As I told you before, branches for cuttings are not so easily made.»

“You said it would take a few years to make a large number. I still think it’s the best idea.”

Ele shook his head again. «Back when Lady Chelsea planted the second Origin Spirit Tree, I had also considered planting more Spirit Trees. I thought it would be best to plant them and call for more high-ranking Spirits to purify the miasma. But if there is another way, we should not increase the number of trees.»

After saying that, Ele asked for Lord Royz to clear the room.

«You may already know this, being a long-lived dragonman, but...» After giving his preamble, he took a deep breath before saying, «With the Spirit’s permission, travel between Spirit Trees is possible.»

“Eh?”

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock. Lord Royz was surprised too, so he must not have known after all.

“You mean like a Teleportation Circle...?” I asked, thinking back to the one I’d used back at the Royal Research Institute.

Ele nodded. «If I was to explain it in-depth, it would be someone entering the Spirit World through a tree and exiting from a different one, allowing for instantaneous travel over long distances.»

“Wouldn’t planting more and allowing for free travel be a good thing?” Lord Royz asked, putting a hand to his chin as he thought.

Ele in his kitten form drooped dejectedly, shaking his head but not giving an explanation. Rene stepped in to do it for him.

«Back in the times of the First Origin Spirit Tree, trees had been planted all over the continent. The people were able to live in convenient abundance, but they also forgot to give thanks,» she said with a sigh. «Having forgotten to give thanks to the Spirits and Spirit Trees, humanity became arrogant and even tried to oppress us. The Proxy became angry and burned the Origin Spirit Tree down. With the loss of the First tree, Lord Origin was forced to return to the Spirit World, and the other Spirits gradually returned as well.»

“So to avoid that happening again, you want to use another method than planting more Spirit Trees, if one exists,” Lord Glen confirmed, summarizing what she said. Ele gave him a nod.

“It’s true that people forget to give thanks once they’re used to something. I spent my first hundred years as Emperor being a peaceful idiot, after all... So...what’s this other method?” Lord Royz asked.

Ele turned, looking at me. «We could use the seeds that Lady Chelsea creates.»

After that, we told them about the Blue Lily seeds I’d made back in the Sargent Margraviate.

“You mean those bright blue flowers that were growing in those wastelands we passed~?” Miss Micah asked, getting a nod back from Lord Glen.

I had made the seeds, but since no one else had seen what happened once they were planted, Lord Glen explained in detail for the rest of us.

«They bloom into bright blue flowers? And then once they absorb the miasma, they turn into fertilizer... What a revolutionary idea!» Rene, in her bird form, was about to fly off in excitement, but she suddenly froze. The parlor was a big room, but she’d break a vase or something if she spread her wings out.

“So you can make seeds like that, too... You’re really amazing, Lady Chelsea. Please, make some of those seeds for us!” Lord Royz said, bowing to me once again.

“Wait.” This time, it was Lord Glen who spoke before I had a chance to. “If we go with the blueprint we made back in the margraviate, Chelsea would be making Blue Lily seeds every day for a year.”

“That’s a bit...” No, a lot of a problem... If I spent years making the same seed, my Skill research would be stopped. What should we do?

«You just need to improve the seeds. My Mistress Lady Chelsea can make any seed she wishes for,» Ele said, as if he’d read my mind. He’d been so sad before, but now he was puffing out his chest proudly.

“We’ve improved on existing seeds before, but it’ll be a first for us to improve on a new seed she’d made.”

I nodded. “We’ll need to tell Lord Tris the results of our study...”

“Yep. He’ll probably pout about not being here to see it, though.”

Imagining Lord Tris pouting because he missed it made me break out into a grin.

And so, we wrote up an improved blueprint. Blue Lilies currently bloomed as soon as they were planted, absorbed any miasma in the area, and left one seed as they withered and became fertilizer. Our new and improved seeds would also bud as soon as they were planted, but wouldn’t bloom into a flower unless they absorbed miasma. In the event that they hadn’t bloomed in three days, they would wither and become fertilizer. Once they absorbed miasma and bloomed, they’d drop ten more seeds, wither, and again, become fertilizer.

“Since the Blue Lilies in the margraviate didn’t wither until they sucked up miasma, we made it so they’d only leave one seed. If they multiplied too much, they’d be bad for the ecosystem.”

“So the improved version won’t bloom unless it sucks in some miasma, and they’ll wither within a few days otherwise, huh?”

“We have to think about what they could do to the other wildlife.”

Lord Glen and Lord Royz were discussing the seeds, while I read the finished and improved blueprint over and over again to memorize the contents. Giving the others a little nod, I cast my Skill. “I’ll make an improved Blue Lily following the blueprint exactly — [Seed Creation].”

A pale blue seed appeared with a light pop.

“It’s apparently called a Sky Lily. The effects are exactly what we put in the blueprint.”

“Damn, it’s neat seeing Lady Chelsea’s Skill at work. All of the seeds she makes are all so weird, there’s no term for it but amazing.”

Embarrassed from getting praised by Lord Royz, I made as many Sky Lily seeds as I could without fainting.

Lord Glen, Lord Royz, Miss Micah, and I headed outside of the imperial capital with some soldiers. Since the miasma dispersed when I was near due to my Spirit Tree bracelet, I had to watch them plant the seeds from far away. They planted them in a wasteland outside of the city’s Spirit Tree’s area of effect, and they bloomed the moment they were in the ground. In the next moment, they’d wither, dropping more seeds, which then bloomed into even more flowers.

As the process happened over and over and over again, the wasteland was transformed into a pale blue flower field.

After that, we all got on the carriage for Lord Royz to bring us back in his dragon form.

“It’s like we’re above the sky...” I whispered, thinking back to the sky I’d seen as we flew. Miss Micah, who was standing beside me as my guard, started wagging her tail.