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Chapter 62: Nikolaus

When he submitted his report about the base, the reply that arrived from the royal capital via a falcon-shaped magic device included an additional request. They wished to ask the Flower Witch to take on other work as well.

Seeing that, Nikolaus loudly clicked his tongue, making the Green Sprout beside him tremble.

「…I’m not angry at you.」

Watching the Green Sprout shiver while covering its mouth with its short hands left him with a complicated feeling. Even if he hadn’t meant it seriously, perhaps threatening it a few days ago had been a mistake. He couldn’t shake the sense that this Green Sprout was afraid of him.

The Pink Sprout came by occasionally, but the one who mainly stayed near Nikolaus was still the Green Sprout. Lately, though, he had started to notice it peeking at him from behind objects, so it was probably wary of him.

(…I did use unpleasant wording with the Witch too. …Well, still, the fact that she hasn’t dismissed her familiars… means she’s concerned about me. She doesn’t… hate me. Probably.)

After that, he had sent this Green Sprout to deliver the nutrient tonic. When it returned without the vial, he assumed the Witch had accepted it. …Whether she had actually drunk it, he did not know.

In the first place, judging by that utterly composed attitude of hers, the Witch must be absurdly long-lived. Something trivial wouldn’t shake her. …A slight lapse in his language wouldn’t be enough to make her look down on him, he thought.

(I have business now anyway. I’ll go check on her… Better to tell her sooner rather than later.)

Clutching the letter from the royal capital, he left the house. Naturally, the Green Sprout followed him. Since it was desperately moving its short legs to keep up, he reluctantly slowed his pace.

「Ah, it’s the magician-sama. Hello!」

「…Hm. …What are you doing?」

Before he could pass through the village, a village girl called out to him. He had no intention of getting deeply involved with humans and meant to pass with only a nod, but something beside the girl caught his interest.

It was a mandragora, dressed in what looked like a dress layered with excessive frills, worn over a yellow cloth that completely wrapped its root portion.

The Green Sprout wore nothing extra, but the Pink Sprout had been dressed in something like a maid’s outfit. Could it be that dressing mandragoras was becoming a trend?

「We’re practicing dancing!」

「…Dancing?」

「Yes! Watch!」

It was common for children to want adults to see what they were doing. Normally he would have paid no mind and walked past, but he found himself curious about the Yellow Sprout at his feet, so Nikolaus remained where he was.

The girl began singing what was likely a song of her own creation, and in time with it, the Yellow Sprout started to dance. Its frilled clothes swayed sharply as it performed passionate, vigorous steps.

(This is far too funny. What is this?)

Without realizing it, Nikolaus watched through the entire song. Then he looked in turn at the child shining with eyes that seemed to ask 「How was it?」, the Yellow Sprout frozen in its final pose, and the Green Sprout clapping its short hands together as if applauding, though no sound came from them. He nodded.

「It’s good, isn’t it?」

「Yay! The magician-sama praised you, Hikari-chan!」

It seemed this Yellow Sprout had been given the nickname 「Hikari」 As expected, the Witch’s familiars each appeared to be acquiring their own individuality.

Bidding farewell to the girl and the Yellow Sprout as they resumed practicing their song and dance, Nikolaus finally set off toward the Witch’s house. When he passed the fence at the village exit, he stopped upon noticing yet another mandragora in a pot there.

(…What is this one doing? Does it think it’s hiding?)

The mandragora exchanging salutes with the Green Sprout was wearing something like a hooded cloak, with its flower tucked inside the hood as it sat within the pot. But there was no way that truly concealed it. Apparently, it was bad at stealth.

(Looking at them like this, only Green is unchanged… I mean… normal. …No, is this normal?)

A mandragora walking around with awareness at all was a bizarre sight. He realized he had nearly accepted the strange scenery created by the Flower Witch as 「normal,」 his sense of normality being rewritten.

That was the side effect of witnessing too many things beyond the norm. In any case, every mandragora here was strange. If he returned to the royal castle, he might even find stationary mandragoras lacking.

Leaving the village entrance behind, he moved to pass by the teleportation magic circle when something tugged at the hem of his coat. Looking down, he saw the Green Sprout gripping it and pointing insistently at the location of the teleportation circle with its other hand.

(Does it mean… why not use the magic circle?)

It seemed that after spending so much time with the Green Sprout, he had grown accustomed to their wordless communication and could now understand what they wanted to say.

Though they had no language, their emotions and intentions were strong, and he could somehow sense them. Ritter seemed to understand the Purple Sprout well too; even without speech, communication was possible.

(The Witch doesn’t speak either. …Well, that woman can at least write, and her motivations are easier to read than the mandragoras’.)

Devoted, unafraid of self-sacrifice. Always concerned with others, a meddlesome caretaker. If one knew those aspects of her, even without her voice, it was possible to understand what the Flower Witch wanted to do and what she wished to say.

「I’m not using that to move today. The one I have business with is the Witch.」

Answering the Green Sprout’s unspoken question, he resumed walking toward the Witch’s house. Before long, as the house came into view, the wolf-beastman boy appeared to greet him.

「Magician-sama, welcome. Witch-sama is waiting for you!」

Hearing that said with a bright smile, Nikolaus felt slightly relieved. …So he wasn’t hated after all.