Villainess and the Stalker - Chapter 29
Chapter 29 : Reminiscence of a Certain Girl 4[GIRL A POV]
My name is Joze Recall. It turned out that transferring the Dragon Call Flower into a potted plant wasn’t a simple matter.
「… This plant? It’s not that simple, you know. Since it usually blooms only on cliffs… It takes a lot effort to nurture it elsewhere.」
That was the answer from my childhood friend, who worked as a gardener, when I tried to ask him.
Even so, I promised Maria-sama.
It was still too early to give up, so I kept pestering my childhood friend.
「It’s only difficult, right? Which mean it’s not impossible, right?!」
「Your attentiveness never fails to surprise me. Well, it’s exactly as you guessed. There’ve been a few successful examples in the past.. Though, it’s not very common. That flower’s habitat is dangerously near a dragon. Naturally, making it into a potted plant is an even crazier suggestion. That’s why the method to nurture it like that isn’t widely known. Though the knowledge has been passed down in the gardener community, I can’t share it.」
He rejected my request.
Sure enough, it was a flower that could summon a dragon after all.
It had the potential to be a terrifying weapon, even more so in potted plant form.
I mean, the fact that this flower existed in the academy’s flower field itself was the greatest proof that it could be done.
But, my childhood friend didn’t seem willing to teach me the method to do so.
「Is it really impossible?」
「Yes. Honestly speaking, the fact that the Dragon Call Flower is growing in the academy itself is already a problem.」
「S-Seriously, it’s that bad?」
「It’s the previous gardener who planted it there. It seems that particular garden is that gardener’s personal space. And now it has become a public place for everyone… Or should I say, it became a public place since none of my colleagues stepped up after the former gardener’s death.」
「Such a detailed story is…」
「You might not realize it, but there are many other rare plants in that particular place. That’s the only reason I’m willing to take care of that place. Feel free to visit that place anytime you want, but you absolutely must not vandalize anything.」
Thus, my childhood friend left after giving me that warning.
Although I failed to learn the method to grow the Dragon Call Flower in a pot from my childhood friend, it was still too early to give up.
It was a promise, after all…
Thus, my struggle began from that day.
The first thing I did was gather as many references as possible pertaining to the Dragon Call Flower from the library.
I expected that the academy’s library had sufficient resources for me.
Though my childhood friend didn’t tell me about the method, he provided enough information to sift through, some of which included the method to make a potted plant of the Dragon Call Flower.
It even included a detailed process on how to utilize the Dragon Call Flower’s characteristics.
As for the references from the academy’s library, the majority of them were about how to utilize the effect of medicinal plants. Rather, they emphasized the Dragon Call Flower’s property to summon a dragon.
Another passage detailed a tragedy that occured in the past due to the Dragon Call Flower, emphasizing the danger of it.
Naturally, I had no intention of making it into some sort of weapon. I just wanted to turn it into a potted plant.
The one thing I understood from my research was my childhood friend’s statement. He mentioned the things needed in order to raise Dragon Call Flower: parts of its natural habitat’s soil and a supply of mana.
In its natural habitat, it sucked mana from the soil bit by bit over many years, until it fully matured. If it were placed in a pot, it would wither immediately without a mana source.
This was the biggest reason it was so hard to grow it in a pot.
The main requirement for turning it in a pot was having a sorcerer to raise it.
But it was not going to be a problem for me and Maria-sama to raise it since both of us were sorcerers.
Thus, I made it into a potted plant immediately since its biggest problem had been resolved by itself.
But, even if I understood the process up to that point, I already lost count of how many times I failed to put it into practice.
Through much trial and error, changing the soil composition and the amount of mana fed into it, I persevered.
I tried numerous alterations: when I fed it, how much mana I gave, and how often I provided mana.
Finally, thanks to those experiments, not only did I become more proficient with earth-attribute sorcery, it also increased my mana capacity and my grade.
I was extremely surprised when the professor in charge of earth sorcery suddenly asked me to become a teaching assistant after I graduated from the academy.
I mean it was rare for a commoner like me to get a job offer to become an assistant professor.
If that was true, I guess I need to reconsider my career path.
After all, I felt that I was more suited for research when I was investigating the method to raise the Dragon Call Flower as a potted plant.
Although I felt like the amount of work I did during that research period was overwhelming, never once did I feel it was boring or annoying.
In the end, I found out some sense of accomplishment when I discovered new things during my research.
And then, when my hard work could finally bear fruit….
「It’s… Not withered.」
Usually, the Dragon Call Flower would wither in less than three days, but the one I was currently raising inside the pot remained as healthy as before.
I did it.
I brought it closer to my nose and sniffed its aroma,
「It… Smells good. Maria-sama will be pleased with this for sure….」
I felt reassured from the bottom of my heart.
And then, I recalled something.
I remembered that at the morning assembly next week, Maria-sama would be officially introduced as the newest member of the student council.
For this very reason, everyone was currently brainstorming, thinking about a present for her.
I thought she might be pleased if I presented this Dragon Call Flower during that time.
Yes, I was almost convinced of that.
Elated, I had no doubt that she would love my present for sure…
If only the me from that time realized the biggest flaw of this plan.
I failed to notice one simple fact.
The reason I overlooked it was because the me from that time was consumed with images of Maria-sama’s delighted voice upon seeing this potted plant.