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Chapter 49

「Of course it resembles her. It’s Witch-dono’s familiar, after all, and it’s probably imitating its master.」

「Well, that’s true… Though it can’t quite copy that witch’s endless composure. Mandrakes are timid by nature, so that part’s impossible.」

(Th… thank goodness… He didn’t figure it out… Thank you, Leonhart…)

I panicked thinking he’d realized I was synced with the sprout, but thanks to Leonhart’s smooth follow-up, it didn’t turn into suspicion.

As I quietly sighed in relief, Nikolaus took out a small bottle from inside his robe, opened the lid, and held it out toward me.

「Mage, what is that?」

「Plant nutrient. It used up body fluid just now, so it’s probably a bit drained. …Now we’re even.」

「You really are thorough… even toward monsters.」

So this bottle was some kind of nutrient, apparently. If that was the case, it should be good for the child sprout’s body, so I tried to drink, but for this little body, the bottle was kind of big. The size difference was like a baby with a milk bottle. Honestly, it’d probably be easier to just dump it over my root body, but that wouldn’t be cute… So I decided to sip it slowly. Also, it was pretty tasty.

「Um, Mage… Could you spare one for my Purple too?」

「One large copper coin.」

「Yes! Of course!」

「…………You’re kidding. That was a joke.」

Nikolaus looked at Ritter like he’d just witnessed something unbelievable when Ritter immediately pulled out a large copper coin, but he still accepted it and handed over a bottle identical to mine.

「This stuff is expensive for just nutrients, so I’ll explain things more thoroughly as a bonus. …If we just need to close the mana gap to nullify a mandrake’s absorption, then naturally there are a few ways to do it.」

「There are? Like a method to make up for an existing mana difference?」

「Well… a few.」

Nikolaus’s lecture resumed. I listened while sipping nutrients, still held in Leonhart’s arms, and Ritter listened seriously too while the purple sprout sat on his shoulder. …Calling this scene 「serious」 might sound strange, though.

「There are two main approaches: reduce the stronger side’s mana, or raise the weaker side’s mana. …For the first one, since a mandrake is a plant, you could weaken it with a specialized herbicide so it can’t absorb mana.」

(Hiiiii!! That’s a violation of… plant rights…!!)

I trembled. The purple sprout also clung tightly to Ritter’s head, clearly terrified.

What a horrifying idea. Using herbicide on a mandrake is abuse, violence. Even mandrakes struggle desperately to live in their own fragile way, so I’d really like people to treat them kindly.

「I could never do that to Purple…!? Look, it’s scared!」

「…I know. I only said it’s one theoretical method. Seriously, these things have such strong self-awareness. They apparently understand human speech too, fascinating.」

「Even if they’re monsters, teasing them like that isn’t exactly praiseworthy. …Look at it tremble, poor thing.」

「…I wasn’t teasing. It’s part of research.」

As I pressed trembling against Leonhart’s gauntlet hard enough to make a buzzing vibration, I spilled nutrient everywhere and ended up looking pitiful. Even while saying it was 「for research」 Nikolaus handed over a second fresh bottle to replace the one that spilled, so maybe he did feel a bit guilty. …It’s kind of unfair the child sprouts keep getting nutrients. He could give some to the real me too, honestly.

「Anyway, back to the point. If the weaker side boosts mana, then either training or temporarily amplifying it with drugs. But the latter is illegal, so I don’t recommend it. It’s harmful to the body too.」

「Then I just need to train, right!?」

「…Yeah, basically. It’s hard for humans to increase their maximum mana, but if you work hard I’ll compile some training methods for you later. And if you also reduce your mandrake’s mana a bit, you probably won’t get drained.」

「Um… That’s not going to involve something dangerous again, is it?」

When Ritter asked, Nikolaus tilted his head slightly, fingers against his chin.

「If you just exhaust it and force it to spend mana, that’s fine. Once your maximum surpasses it, as long as you don’t lose consciousness, it won’t drain you. …Though if you do lose consciousness, the difference no longer matters and you’ll get drained anyway, so don’t pass out in front of it. Mandrakes scream specifically to knock people out, after all.」

「…I don’t really like the idea of tiring out Purple.」

「Well, you wouldn’t want to use the simplest method…」

「The simplest method?」

「Yeah. Stick a needle in the mandrake’s root, drain out its body fluid, 」

The words were so horrifying I screamed internally in terror and covered my eyes, instantly cutting off synchronization with the child sprout. My awareness snapped back to my main body; I jerked upright in the chair, hands covering my face. The cup on my knees rolled to the floor with a clatter. …Stabbing a needle and draining body fluid, that’s just torture.

「Witch-sama… Are you alright? Did you have a bad dream…?」

Startled by the sound of the fallen cup, Noel hurriedly ran over. Panicking, I checked around; the corn soup was already empty, and nothing had spilled or broken, so I felt relieved.

(It’s fine. Sorry for scaring you… I just heard something really scary… Ughh, Nikolaus is terrifying.)

「…You don’t have to force yourself to smile, you know. Even Witch-sama… there must be things that hurt to remember. I’m not a child anymore, so you don’t have to worry that much about me.」

(…Huh?)

「…Even then, you still smile so I won’t worry. I know that about you, Witch-sama.」

Saying that, Noel crouched at my feet and picked up the fallen cup. He must have been talking about the 「witch」 backstory everyone believes I have.

As for me, the only thing even close to 「trauma」 would be being forced to film that educational-no-more-like-terror program 「Let’s Be with Zombies!」 in the Demonland, but memories from my previous life don’t really carry sadness or pain anymore.

Hanazono Misaki from my previous life and the current me are basically separate existences. …Well, considering mammals and plants don’t sense things the same way, it’d almost be stranger if they did feel the same.

「Beastkin may have short lifespans… but I’m going to live as long as I can. I want to stay with Witch-sama for as long as possible.」

He said that with a gentle smile, looking up at me from his crouched position. …So beastkin have short lifespans, huh?

I’d never really thought much about lifespans. I knew demonkind lives very long, but I guess other races vary.

(…Come to think of it, how long will I live?)

Plants don’t exactly have long-lifespan reputations, but mandrakes aren’t just regular plants, they’re monsters. …And technically I count as demonkind, so maybe I don’t need to worry too much. If I live quietly and die peacefully, whether that’s after a year, a hundred years, or more, it probably doesn’t matter. As long as people think I’m demonkind, no one will question it if I live long, and if I die early, even if my identity is revealed after, it won’t matter anymore.

「Should I warm up the soup? Or would you like some tea?」

(Hmm… tea then… Purifying Flower tea.)

Remembering how good Nikolaus’s nutrient solution tasted, I pointed at the basket filled with Purifying Flower petals. Noel nodded immediately just from that gesture.

「Understood! I’ll go brew some Purifying Flower tea!」

Watching his tail sway as he headed toward the kitchen, I thought again how remarkably good he was at reading my gestures… and how, because he fundamentally misunderstands what I truly am, he misreads me emotionally.

(…Still… It really is better this way. No one should find out I’m just a mandrake.)

Everyone believes I’m 「The Flower Witch.」 A non-human like me can only coexist with people within that misconception.

I’ll behave myself, being nice and helpful like a 「good monster」 so at the very least I’d wish I’ll be allowed to live quietly.