5. Shining Grass

That evening, Lord Glen came to see me in my room. We sat across from each other on the sofas.

“Sorry for coming this late.”

He was apologizing, but since I usually didn’t do much more than read around this time before dinner, there was no problem at all. Really, I was just happy to see him!

“There’s something I need to tell you,” he said vaguely before sending all of my maids aside from Miss Micah, who was cooking dinner, out of the room. “I had Micah interrogate the men we caught this afternoon.”

I nodded. If I’m not mistaken, Miss Micah has a Sage-level [Interrogation] Skill, and could make anyone answer any question. I thought back to the time I’d seen her use the Skill back in the Radzuel Empire.

“Tonight, those men will be coming to attack both you and the Spirit Tree of Origin.”

After saying that, Lord Glen explained in detail what the men were aiming for, and how they were going to use strengthening herbs to make the monsters go berserk.

“I’ve put a barrier around the Spirit Tree of Origin, and you’ve got your ring with its defensive magic. Whatever happens, you won’t be hurt at all.”

I looked down at the engagement ring on my right ring finger. The magic tool had already protected me with defensive magic back in Lady Noel’s room.

“But just in case anything happens, I’d like for you to stay beside the tree for tonight.”

“Why?”

“If both of the things we’re protecting are in different places, it thins our defenses. There’s also the fact that if you’re in the same place, all the enemies will go there as well, so we can defeat them in one fell swoop.”

I nodded in understanding. “Um... So when should I go to the Spirit Tree?”

“As soon as possible,” said Lord Glen, putting his hands to his lips. “The men are supposed to wear black to blend in with the night.”

So when the sun goes down and it gets dark, they’ll be sneaking around... Since the Spirit Tree was beside the Royal Research Institute, the light coming from the lab window should stop it from being pitch black out, but the men’s clothes would still make it hard to see them.

“It seems it would be hard to catch them if they’re wearing black.”

“We’re planning on using the Light spell to light up the area, but...”

If only I could light up the area in an instant like with magic... But then I had an idea.

I immediately willed the Spirit Tree bracelet on my left wrist to give me back my plant book, and it popped into existence in my hand. I opened it up and flipped to the page for a type of moss called luminous moss, showing Lord Glen.

“What about planting seeds for grass that glows like this luminous moss?” Luminous moss was a special variety that only grew in specific caves, and lit up when touched. “If we planted grass around the Spirit Tree that lit up by the sound of my voice, rather than by touch...”

Lord Glen grinned like a child ready to make mischief as I explained my idea.

“That’s great. If we had constant light, it’d be easier for the knights and mages to move.”

“Instead of just around the Spirit Tree, why don’t we plant it along the entire south side of the Research Institute?” I said. “It would be easier to fight with more room.”

“And of course, it’d have to grow fast enough that we could use it tonight.”

As the two of us hammered out the details of the glowing grass, I thought of the result. “Make seeds for grass that lights up with my voice—[Seed Creation]!”

With a little pop, a small, thin seed fell into my palm.

＋＋＋

That night, I sat on a cushion up in the branches of the Spirit Tree. Apparently the top of the tree was within the limits of the barrier.

Ele was in his cat form on my lap, and the Communication Spirit was above my head, so I wasn’t lonely. Lord Glen had actually told me he’d stay with me until the men showed up, but...

«Lady Chelsea may sit in the Spirit Tree of Origin as its creator, but I could never allow anyone else to climb it,» declared Ele. And so, I alone was allowed up.

As the night wore on and most of the lights in the Research Institute went out, the Communication Spirit sparkled as it flew through the air. «Tha bad guys’re here!»

I looked down to the ground at its words. I could see shadows, if only barely. There were audible footsteps coming from the grass, so I knew they were close.

«This is your chance!» cried the Spirit.

I shouted, “Grass, light up!” The grass all around the Spirit Tree lit up at once.

“Wha?!” one of the men cried out. The other men looked towards where my voice had come from and saw me up in the tree.

“There’s the pink-haired girl!” yelled the tall man, pointing at me. I recognized him from the incident in Lady Noel’s room.

“This is great, having both our targets in the same place!” screamed the man closest to the Spirit Tree, who had a deep voice.

But then the tall man shook his head. “Nah, attacks won’t work on her.”

“No way that’s true,” the other man said, shooting an arrow at me. Since I was inside the Spirit Tree of Origin’s barrier, it was knocked back quite a distance from me. “Urgh, you’re right.”

“What do we do now?”

“If we can cut down the tree, she might fall out of it and hurt herself. Maybe even die,” said the deep-voiced man, getting nods from the rest. “Okay, so we go along with the plan.”

Seeming quite calm despite the shining grass, he threw something on the ground. It broke, and smoke started spreading around it.

“Time for you guys’ favorite snack: tree roots!”

At the same time as he screamed, the smoke disappeared, revealing lots of big rats the size of humans. After looking around for a moment, the rats rushed towards the Spirit Tree.

The men looked at the rats, then smirked up at me. But then the rats were stopped by an invisible wall a few steps away from the tree.

“Huh?”

Just as the men grunted in confusion, Lord Glen, the knights, and the mages appeared from where they were waiting.

“Shutdown!” screamed Lord Glen, casting a spell. The spell was to make it impossible to teleport or transfer anything, and was apparently only usable by Lord Glen himself. “We’ve put a strong barrier around the Spirit Tree of Origin. Be it monsters or fire, you can’t damage it at all.”

“That can’t be!” the same man who doubted the others’ words yelled again, shooting an arrow at the tree. It hit the invisible barrier with an odd-sounding ping before falling to the ground.

Panic began to set in on the men’s faces.

“Uraaaargh!” The tall man pulled a knife from his pocket and charged at a nearby knight. When the sound of metal on metal rang out, the other men ran at the knights and mages.

One of them aimed his bow at Lord Glen.

“No!” I screamed, throwing the big Venus flytrap seed I’d had on hand towards him. As soon as it hit the ground, it grew five leaves in a flash. The huge plant immediately caught the man with the bow between its leaves, keeping him still.

“...?!” The man seemed to be so shocked he couldn’t make a sound.

When I looked over to Lord Glen, he mouthed “thank you” up at me.

“That should be enough.”

At some point, Ele had turned into his Spirit form and was standing at the base of the tree.

“Lightning!” he cried, raining thunderbolts down on the huge rats and knocking them out.

“Dammit, retreat!” one of the men screamed, realizing that they were losing.

The other men immediately threw away their weapons and clutched their hands in front of their chest as if in prayer.

“Our Lady the Proxy, please lend us your power!”

But nothing happened.

“Why aren’t we teleporting?!”

“Has She abandoned us?!”

“She would never!”

The reason they couldn’t teleport was because of the spell Lord Glen had cast, but no one mentioned that. It was probably better for their later interrogations if they thought they’d been abandoned. While they were confused, all of the men were fitted with Mana Sealing bracelets and taken into custody.