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Chapter 32

When I returned home, I found Noel anxiously looking around. Leonhart, who had come back with me, explained the situation. It had been Nikolaus, the royal court magician usually stationed at the castle, and formerly believed to be the last surviving demon. He had already returned to the castle.

After hearing all that, Noel seemed to accept it.

「Then, Witch-sama, I’ll be heading back. …If you ever need anything, please don’t hesitate to call. I’ll help however I can.」

(That’s nice of you, but… Leonhart is just so endlessly kind.)

He was well-liked by the villagers too. Apparently, he carried a curse that caused people to dislike him, which he masked by working even harder to be liked. Knowing that, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of sympathy, and maybe even a small sense of kinship.

…If people found out I was a monster, they’d probably hate me too. So, I also made an effort to be likable. That made us the same, didn’t it?

Right now, thanks to the mandragoras and their efforts to seem harmless, the villagers were starting to believe that not all monsters were dangerous. If things went well, even when my true identity was exposed, they might say something like 「but the Flower Witch is harmless.」 That would be the ideal outcome.

「That person was a magician, wasn’t he…? That’s why he came to see you, Witch-sama…」

(I’m not actually a demon though… Please don’t come again…)

Nikolaus still suspected I was a fraud. He would probably keep visiting. And every time he did, I’d probably end up screaming inside.

「Um, Witch-sama… are you going to marry the magician?」

(Absolutely not!?!?)

Noel suddenly asked something outrageous, and I shook my head furiously in my mind. I was a mandragora. He was a human. Marriage was out of the question. I could form a bulb, but I couldn’t get married.

「I see… Well, I want to keep serving you, Witch-sama. I’ll do my very best, so please don’t throw me away.」

(I’d never do that. Having you here helps so much.)

There was no one else who understood my intentions so well and could convey them to others so perfectly. If he wanted to stay, I definitely wanted him to. …Though he did occasionally misinterpret things, and I had to be careful not to let him touch my face, his ability to act as an intermediary with humans was invaluable.

When I patted Noel’s head, he smiled happily and wagged his tail.

(Alright… I’m tired today. Let’s do something relaxing. Maybe gather some Pureblooms and make a planter out of them.)

Since Pureblooms served as food for mandragoras, we kept a basket filled with petals in the house. The villagers brought them regularly, so the basket was always overflowing.

「I see, Witch-sama. What are you going to do with the Purebloom petals?」

(Well… I just want to be buried in them for a bit…)

I glanced around, looking for a large enough container. Through the window, I spotted Noel’s usual bath bucket, a huge tub big enough for a human to bathe in. I pointed to it to say I’d like to borrow it today.

「Got it! I’ll get it ready! Please wait here, Witch-sama!」

Noel took the basket from me and cheerfully ran outside. It seemed he’d understood what I wanted. He even lifted the big tub effortlessly and carried it down to the riverside.

Beastkin really were strong. If I had to move the tub myself, I’d have to use plant manipulation. But waving vines and leaves around might scare people. It was a relief that Noel could handle it.

I was planning to add petals and soil and bury myself like a potted plant, but, when I came around the back of the house, I found the tub filled with water and flower petals floating on top.

Noel stood nearby, beaming.

「Since you’re in training, you always bathe in cold water, right? Usually in the river, but today I thought you might want to try something different. A floral water bath, it’s ready!」

So close, but not quite. I hadn’t intended to take a stylish bath. I just wanted to play with dirt and petals like potting soil.

「I’ll stand guard out front so no one comes near. Please, take your time…!」

He left with a smile. Since he had prepared it with good intentions, I figured… why not? I’d bathe in it.

I created a screen of plants around the tub, forming a natural partition, just in case someone showed up unexpectedly. That way, no one would see my incomplete body.

Then I stepped into the unexpectedly fancy water bath, and…

(Oh, it’s delicious. …This might actually be nice…)

The water, enriched by the nutrients of the Pureblooms, tasted sweet. Come to think of it, watercress and other plants could be grown with hydroponics, just water and nutrients. This wasn’t soil, but maybe it wasn’t a bad substitute.

The petals wilted a little when I touched them, and the water seemed to slowly decrease, but still.

(Yeah… maybe I’ll do this sometimes. …Since I’ve got some time, maybe I’ll check on the village. See how things are going.)

As I soaked in the water, I decided to synchronize my awareness with one of the mandragora saplings, like watching TV, to see how the village was doing.

What I was most curious about was the knights. With Nikolaus showing up, Leonhart might be fine, but what about the others? Had it rekindled their suspicion?

(The purple one’s probably there. Let’s take a peek.)

I closed my eyes and synchronized with the purple mandragora.

What I saw was, Ritter striking a bizarrely sexy pose.

I was so shocked I wanted to scream, but both I and the mandragora had 「sealed「 voices, so no sound escaped.

Panicking, I immediately cut the link, but the mandragora’s memory flowed into me.

And with that, one mystery was solved.

(So Ritter is the one teaching Purple weird stuff!!)

Apparently, when I synced with a sapling, I also gained access to its past memories. And now I understood exactly how Ritter had been treating Purple, and I had mixed feelings about it.

(Is it really okay for someone to be this obsessed with a mandragora…?)

Still, Purple didn’t seem to mind. Being constantly praised seemed to feel good, and it was trying to live up to his preferences. From the mandragora’s perspective, this was the best way to appear 「harmless.」

(Yeah, but it’s draining him…! What if it gets labeled a threat!?)

Based on the memories, Ritter had nuzzled against Purple so much that its cloth had slipped, and an energy-draining accident occurred.

The sapling didn’t seem to have my level of absorption, so no major harm was done, but it was still alarming. …Ritter, oddly enough, seemed happy to be drained, but this couldn’t continue.

(I’ll tell Leonhart later. We need to keep Ritter from getting too close to Purple, it’s dangerous.)

Since I could safely speak to Leonhart, I’d explain the details and have him step in.

For now, I decided to check on the other saplings, just in case any other accidents were happening.

As I watched their memories unfold like surveillance footage, I realized something.

…These were basically recording-enabled security cameras.