Side Story

1. Mysterious Fog

About three days after leaving the Sargent manor...

The horses pulling our carriage, which had been driving down the main road, slowly came to a stop. It wasn’t very long since we’d left that day, so it was too soon for a break. The fact that we’d stopped meant that something was happening outside.

I looked to Lord Glen in worry, and he softly patted my back. A few moments later, we heard a knock with a predetermined rhythm and number of taps from outside. This was the sign that it was safe.

Just as I sighed in relief, we heard the coachman’s voice.

“Please excuse me. I have stopped due to thick fog in our path.”

Looking out the coachman’s podium window, things went completely white about fifty steps from where we were.

“That’s really thick... Let’s have a little break, then,” Lord Glen commanded. And so we took a rest break.

At typical traveling rest spots, there was usually a cabin nearby so that the coachman and the people riding in the carriage could rest, too. Since we weren’t at one, though, we would pitch a tent instead. The coachman couldn’t leave the horses, so they would tie them up near the carriage.

Stepping out of the carriage, the guardian knights had already finished pitching the tent.

“Thank you very much,” I said, getting the Knight Order’s characteristic grin in return.

“The weather’s beautiful, but heavy fog is present only around here. There has to be something up,” Lord Glen muttered, staring at the fog covering the road, his hand on his chin.

“I feel something weird~” Miss Micah said, standing with her arms crossed.

«Yes, something is strange,» Kitten Ele responded from his spot on my shoulder.

Unfortunately, Miss Micah couldn’t hear him in kitten form, but since he was nodding, she seemed to realize he was agreeing.

«I will go check,» he continued. With a gust of wind and the blink of an eye, Kitten Ele changed to his original Spirit form and flew off into the fog.

“What?! The cat turned into a person?!”

“That was no person... He was see-through...”

“I can’t take ghosts. Please, don’t.”

The knights and coachman’s eyes were widened in shock.

“That kitten is actually a Spirit. Make sure you don’t let that slip,” Lord Glen warned, getting nods back from the group.

＋＋＋

While we waited and ate Miss Micah’s specially made soup, Spirit Ele came drifting back out of the fog.

“There’s a large snake monster in the middle of all this. I returned because the fog blocked my vision too much to attack... It is more than ten times longer than the carriage, and the front of it was light green, and overall about this thick,” he told us, making a circle with his arms.

If someone walked into the thick white fog without knowing that there was a monster inside... They might have been eaten in one gulp! Just the thought made me start shaking.

“I know that monster~” Miss Micah piped up, pulling a book titled ‘Monster Encyclopedia’ from her Item Box and flipping through it. “It’s this one,” she said, pointing to a page with a huge snake drawn there.

“Oh! Yes, that was it!” Ele said with a nod the moment he saw it.

“It’s called a Fog Viper, and it makes thick fog, eating any being that wanders inside~ Its favorite food is liquorice, making it slightly sweet and delicious~ Plus, it’s super nutritional~!” she explained, eyes glowing, and a look of excitement on her face.

“We can’t leave it like it is, so let’s defeat it,” Lord Glen said.

All of the knights nodded. “Then let us prepare to enter the fog...” the youngest of them started, only to be interrupted by a shake of the head.

“We wouldn’t be able to see each other in fog that thick. Luckily, we know what the Fog Vipers eat, so we can lure it out with that.”

“Forgive my insolence, but...we have no liquorice root with us. It only grows in the warm regions to the south, so I doubt any nearby towns would have any...” This time, it was the oldest of the knights speaking up, shaking his head.

“That’s where Chronowize’s research fellow comes in,” Lord Glen said, looking over to me.

Liquorice was a plant, so I would be able to make seeds with my Skill. Plus, any seeds I made this way would definitely bud, regardless of region.

“I need to create quick-growing liquorice seeds with my Skill, correct?”

Lord Glen answered with a soft smile and a nod.

“Please give me back my plant encyclopedia,” I whispered to my Spirit Tree bracelet. It popped up before my eyes, so I caught it.

Next, I flipped to the page on liquorice and checked what kind of plant it was. Liquorice was a plant that grew leaves bigger than the palm of your hand. The seeds were brown, and bigger than my thumbnail. The leaves were also very sweet, and in warm regions to the south, it was boiled into syrup.

After memorizing the details from the encyclopedia, I whispered, “I’ll make a liquorice seed that grows faster than normal that will only grow for one generation — [Seed Creation].”

With a pop, a green seed the size of my thumbnail appeared. Since normal liquorice seeds were brown, I knew that it was a similar, but different seed.

Lord Glen immediately used his [Appraisal] Skill on it. “It’s a liquorice seed that’ll grow immediately after being planted, wither in half a day, and not leave any seeds behind.”

I was relieved that I’d made the seed properly.

“I’ll take this,” he said, picking the seed out of my hands and squeezing it lightly. “The knights and I will take care of the rest of it, so make sure not to leave the tent.”

I nodded obediently.

“I’ll go with you~!”

“Then I will stay with Lady Chelsea,” Ele announced, transforming back to his kitten form in another gust of wind and hopping on my shoulder.

“Do your best.” Even though they would be fighting at the edge of the fog where I could still see them, I still wished them well. All of the knights gave me big grins back.

“See you in a bit,” Lord Glen replied, looking happy as he walked towards the fog.

Interlude: Glen

Trying hard to stop grinning like a fool because Chelsea told me to do my best, I walked towards the fog. It had a definite edge, and I stood three steps away from it.

“I’m planting the liquorice here. Our battle will begin as soon as I do, so get ready!”

After telling that to the knights from the Second Order that had come with me from the capital, I dropped the seed to the ground with a plop. It immediately buried itself into the ground and began to sprout. From bud to leaf, it grew even larger, leaves bigger than our heads sprouting thickly.

Between those leaves were white flowers which were even bigger, and a sweet smell started wafting from them. It wasn’t too strong or too sweet, and before even a minute had passed, a huge snake came slithering out of the fog towards them. At that size, it’d be able to eat a human in a single bite. I reflexively gulped.

Taking a closer look, there was fog still pouring from the Fog Viper’s body.

Beside me, Micah the foxwoman stood with her kitchen knives ready, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. She’s probably wiping the drool off...

“Simple steak, grind it up into hamburger, stuff it into green peppers, even cabbage rolls would be nice~ Ah... There’s also the shabu-shabu option...”

The food names she was mumbling made me start drooling too. “...Add karaage and gyoza to that too, okay?” I muttered in a tone so low I was worried she wouldn’t hear, but her eyes lit up as she looked over to me.

“Leave it to Micah~ Chelsea loves karaage too, so let’s go with that~!”

While we were chatting about that, the Fog Viper was ignoring us, focusing on chomping down the liquorice plant in front of it. I quickly used my [Appraisal] Skill.

[Fog Viper (Unique): A massive snake monster. Constantly spews fog, eating anything that wanders in. Unique skill: can mix mana draining poison into its fog. Loves liquorice plants.]

Next, I checked the fog itself and saw that the mana draining poison was indeed mixed in.

“Careful! This Fog Viper is unique! The fog has poison in it, so do your best not to touch it!” I yelled, raising a hand.

The knights all charged in at my signal, but the Fog Viper just used its tail to sweep them away before continuing to eat the liquorice plant. The youngest knight was knocked back into the plant, tearing through a few leaves.

«What are you doing to my precious liquorice?!» the Viper screeched. Since I was a Reincarnator, I could understand any language, so of course I understood what it was screaming about, but... Just how much does it love liquorice?

I could feel the tension running through the knights at the monster’s cry.

«You’re all in the waaaaaaaay!» The Fog Viper screeched again, spewing out more thick fog that made me lose sight of the others.

Dammit...! I need to get rid of this fog or it’ll drain all of our mana!

“...Gust of Wind.”

I rushed to cast the spell. It was wind magic near useless for attacking, but it pushed the fog up into the sky. After it faded, we could see our surroundings again, and everyone started moving.

“We’re having karaage for lunch~!” Micah cheered, bringing down her kitchen knife to slice through the Viper’s tail. The sliced tail stopped moving, and she quickly touched it and put it in her Item Box. Now it wouldn’t be able to use it to brush us off anymore.

The knights charged in again all at once while I used magic off to the side to make their weapons sharper. The Fog Viper was sliced into round chunks, unable to screech again.

I used my [Appraisal] Skill again.

“Death confirmed,” I reported, getting a cheer from the group of knights.

2. Mana Drained

I watched everyone fight from the tent. The Fog Viper had been eating the liquorice right until it was defeated. It really must have loved it. When they’d been covered by the thick fog, my heart was thumping in worry.

After the monster was defeated, Miss Micah wagged her tail as she collected it. I guess she plans on cooking it, huh? The fog covering the road started fading. Just as I was relieved that it was all over, Lord Glen and the knights came back to where I was waiting.

“Welcome back.”

He gave me a clumsy smile back before collapsing to his knees.

“Lord Glen?!” I ran over to him. He was breathing heavily, facing down.

“The Fog Viper’s poison...got me...”

“What kind of poison?!”

If it wasn’t an illness, Lord Glen could heal it with his [Cure] Skill. But he wasn’t even trying, which meant that it was something he couldn’t cure. My seeds might be able to do something, though. Once I knew what kind of poison it was, I could counter it!

“...It’s a weird poison that drains your mana,” he replied to my question slowly before falling on his back. “We’ll all be fine...after resting and having our mana restore a bit...”

The knights around him started falling to the ground. Even Miss Micah collapsed.

I stood there in shock. I’d collapsed twice from using my Skill too much and running out of mana. This made me realize how the people around me felt, even after I told them I was alright.

«We cannot leave them like this,» Ele said as I fluttered around with worry.

Now that I thought of it, Ele had gone into the fog once to see what was inside. Was he alright?

“Are you okay, Ele?”

He gave me as arrogant a smile as a kitten could, replying, «As long as we are in this world, Spirits cannot be harmed.»

Still while in his kitten form, he used something not magic, but unique to Spirits to carry everyone inside the tent.

＋＋＋

«Their mana will be fully restored after sleeping through the night.»

“Then we just have to let them sleep,” I replied, only for him to shake his head.

«That would leave you without protection, Lady Chelsea. Furthermore, I cannot have you stay here when there is neither food nor a place to sleep.»

He was right. Ele and I couldn’t do anything alone. Most of our food was in Miss Micah’s Item Box. There might be some stuff to eat in our packs, but I wouldn’t know where... And if I went to find any, I’d have to leave the others. Going to a nearby town or forest would mean one of us would have to stay back, since we couldn’t leave the sleeping group alone.

I heaved a big sigh, and Ele looked at me curiously.

«What is wrong?»

“I was just thinking of how useless I am...” I replied, telling him how I felt. He just looked even more curious.

«They were only able to defeat the monster due to the seed you created, were they not? Would that not count as being useful?»

“I made the seed, but I didn’t actually do anything...”

«Then you can do something now.»

“Like what...”

As I thought over Ele’s words, I suddenly remembered the Elixir Seed. Since it had healed Lord Royz’s illness, it should be able to recover their mana.

I immediately spoke to the bracelet on my left wrist. “Please give me back the Elixir Seed I put in before.”

A round orange seed with a little cork appeared. This was the Elixir Seed I’d made long ago in case it was ever needed. Now was probably a good time to use it.

«You will need to have them drink it slowly or else they’ll cough it up,» Ele advised, and I nodded back.

I lifted Lord Glen’s head up onto my lap and pulled the cork out of the Elixir Seed. Then, I poured just a little bit inside his mouth. It was only about a spoonful, but it was enough to wake him up.

“Lord Glen... Are you alright?”

He didn’t respond, so I poured a bit more into his mouth and saw him swallow. His hand reached up to the seed, and he chugged it the moment it was in his grasp. Once he was finished, he looked a lot more lively than he had been before.

“This orange seed is the Elixir Seed you made for Royz back then, huh... We really need to keep its existence secret,” he said with a strained smile, having experienced it for himself, finally.

“Um... I’m sorry for forcing you to drink it.”

Even though it was to restore his mana, it probably didn’t feel very good to have someone force you to drink something. I lowered my head, only for him to shake his.

“No, thank you for having me drink it. It was a big help.”

A wave of relief washed over me at his words.

“Should we have the others drink Elixir Seeds, too?” I asked, getting another head shake in reply.

“It would be okay if it was just Micah, but we need to hide it from the knights. Oh! Why don’t you try making a weaker version?”

«A wonderful idea,» Ele agreed, nodding.

“Then how about I make it taste the same, but only restore their mana by half? Should we add any other effects?”

“No, that’ll be fine,” Lord Glen shook his head again.

Taking a deep breath, I clutched my hands together before casting, “I’ll make a seed that restores the drinker’s mana by half — [Seed Creation].”

With a pop, a little round, green-colored seed with a cork appeared. It was about half the size of an Elixir Seed.

“So you can make seeds without a blueprint now?” Lord Glen asked, eyes widened in shock as he blinked.

“I’ve learned that a new blueprint is unnecessary if I’m making a seed based off of one I already know. I’ve verified it by using my Skill repeatedly over this half-year.”

“You’ve been working hard.”

“Yes,” I said, smiling, while he looked at me as if he was dazzled.

After that, he looked over to the green seed. “It’s called an Aopo Seed. Its effect is to restore the drinker’s mana by half. It withers when planted.”

Since I had used the Elixir Seed as a base and only changed the effect, it also kept the part where it would wither if it was planted.

After that, I made enough Aopo Seeds for everyone who was sleeping. While Lord Glen took care of the knights, I had Miss Micah drink it.

“Mmm... Mmm?” After drinking the entire thing, she woke up, rubbing her eyes.

“How do you feel, Miss Micah?”

“Nothing feels off~ But I taste something really yummy in my mouth. Why~?”

I explained everything that had happened after she fainted.

“It really is delicious~! You could take away all of the effects and sell it as a normal drink~!” she said, flipping the Aopo Seed upside down to get the remaining drops.

After waking up all of the guardian knights with the seeds, Lord Glen came back over to me.

“I used [Appraisal], and they’re all back to half mana...”

I was happy to know that I’d made the seed just as I wanted, but he gave me a bitter smile.

“I’m sorry, but we’re gonna have to hide the existence of this one, too...”

“Why?” I asked.

Miss Micah responded, eyes sparkling and tail wagging, “The mana potions on the market now only restore a set amount~ But your seeds bring everyone back up to half mana~ They’d be a steal for anyone with a big mana pool~”

“So, basically, anyone with a large mana pool would want them badly.”

“If you were ever kidnapped, they might just make you endlessly create Aopo Seeds~ We can’t have that happening~!” Miss Micah punched her fist out as if she was attacking someone.

I really didn’t want that to happen, so I swore to myself that I’d hide the existence of the Aopo Seeds, too.

“Your Highness, thank you for saving us,” the highest-ranked knight said, speaking for the group.

Lord Glen forced a smile onto his face at their thanks. “I was the one to get you to drink them, but Chelsea is the one who made them in the first place,” he told them, holding out an Aopo Seed.

We’d just talked about keeping them a secret, and you’re telling them all?! I looked between him and the knights. For some reason, he kept going on, explaining in detail.

“To think that her Skill is nothing less than miraculous...!” one of the knights cried, clasping their hands together and praying in my direction.

“Then please, allow us to thank Lady Chelsea again.”

“Thank you!” They all spoke up at once.

While I stood there flustered, not knowing what to do, Lord Glen laughed cheekily. “They’re all going to be your personal guards. One of the reasons I brought them was to introduce you.”

“I’m going to have personal guards?”

He nodded. “Personal guardian knights and maids come with becoming the King’s brother’s fiancée.”

Embarrassed by the mention of our engagement, I looked downwards. Since my hands had been placed together, I saw the engagement ring on my right hand. Not only did I get a defensive ring, but guards... I realized just how much I was treasured.

“I look forward to having you along,” I said to the knights with a bow, and they saluted back.