Chapter 44: CH 44

Kontos-san’s house was across town from the guild and our house. All three places were near the town limits and their distances from the forest were about the same, however, Kontos-san’s area to the west was more or less uninhabited. Nature had begun to reclaim what was hers and weeds crowded the cobblestone paths, though to the contrary, portions of the forest looked like there were obliterated by experimental magic.

“Welcome!! Gifts, charms, curses, you name it, we have it!”

Knocking on the pitch-black door that marked the magician’s house, a child in a gray robe jumped out, His orange hair was trimmed to a smidge above his shoulders and his beaming face was covered in freckles. His innocent smile was missing the two upper front teeth, but new ones would probably grow in soon.

“Is Kontos-san here? I want to talk to him about this child.”

“Whoa!! It bloomed! Master-samaaa!”1

The kid dashing across the room while shouting loudly seemed so normal that it was hard to believe he was the magician’s apprentice. For his part, Kontos-san looked like an ordinary uncle without his robe, giving a much friendlier image than you’d imagine. The nobleman/magician Kilris-san from the royal capital wore a black robe, too, but they could wear any color if they wanted to. Though, when he wore pink, it suddenly felt like Kontos-san was a poser…

“Hey, welcome. It bloomed nicely, I see.”

“Let’s see,” Kontos-san said, taking the anemone from my hands. The anemone, whose roots were soaking in a new pool of water in the vase, went wild, and a few water droplets managed to fly out and over the edge of the vase.

“Mhm, mhm, it’s quite the success.”

“Show me! Let me see, master-sama!”

“Hold out your palm and look. Gently, because if you crush it, you’ll die.”

If you crush it, you’ll die…

Even the anemone, who calmed down on the child’s little palm, seemed a little uneasy. The apprentice studied it all over with sparkling eyes.

“You know, I’m surprised. I wasn’t expecting it to actually move.”

“Me too, I didn’t expect it to move like this either.”

“Yeah…”

It was apparently a plant created by Kontos-san, grown with magic power. Until now, the flowers he’d created were long-lasting or color-changing and so he thought that this flower would just be a unique little present.

“I wonder if perversity mushrooms’ magic power did something to it… Well, I’ve been aiming for a plant that I could have a chat with, so I’m happy with the progress I’ve made.”

“Um… What should I do with this child?”

“Hm? You gave it a name, didn’t you? I hope you’ll love it well. As long as you keep it in water, it won’t wither, so please, be good friends.”

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“Hey, hey, onee-san, what did you name it?”

A name… Did I give it one?

I stared at the anemone for a while and realized that I hadn’t given it a name. According to Kontos-san, there were no anemones in this world, so maybe he thought its name was “Anemone” itself?

“Let’s see… A–, Anemone-chan?…”

Anemone-chan bounced cheerfully on the kid’s palm. It looked like she wanted to express her joy, waving her leaf-hands in the air.

“Mm, its magic power should be stable, and you’ve given it a nice name.”

“Is there such a thing as good or bad naming?”

“Of course there is. There are names and nicknames that fit nicely, aren’t there? Magically speaking, they can affect the stability of the recipient’s magic power.”

When a magician gave a name to something, it seemed that they would also measure its magic capacity.

I wondered if ‘Anemone’ was a stable name because it looked so similar to the anemones I knew. I scooped up Anemone-chan, who was extending her hands – err, leaves – towards me, and put her back in her vase.

“Well, if you ever feel like something is wrong with Anemone-chan, do come and consult with us.”2

And so, leaving a burlap sack full of perversity mushrooms for the magician and his apprentice, Fikar and I decided to head back home.

When going out on a rainy day in Tortea, especially windy ones, it was common to wear a long raincoat that covered everything from the ankles up since umbrellas were a little pricey. Anemone-chan seemed to enjoy catching the drops of water that landed on her flower and leaves, and Su, who volunteered to become our umbrella, spread her wings as soon as she saw us, so our jackets didn’t get too wet.

I introduced Anemone-chan to Su, whose scales were a darker shade of red than usual under the cloudy sky, and reminded Su that she couldn’t eat Anemone-chan. At that, she looked disappointed for some reason. Anemone-chan was terrified of Su, whose mouth could spell doom for her in a flash, but she moved her flower up and down nonetheless.

On a side note, we decided that Anemone-chan would be kept inside to prevent her from being hunted by wild birds and cats.

As I was bouncing ideas off of Fikar to create some water dish spots where Anemone-chan could rehydrate herself, I noticed someone waiting at our door. They were wearing a bright green raincoat and, when they took off their hood, long, silky, light peach hair spilled out.

Coupled with the rainy landscape, the daughter of Gartis-san and the most beautiful woman in Tortea, Cecile-san wore an ethereal beauty.

TL Notes:

1: I used “master” for お師匠 (o-shishou), meaning teacher — you might recognize 師匠/shishou from other texts — but to a higher degree of respect compared to sensei.

2: The kid says「おしごともぼしゅーちゅーだよー！」after this, but I have no idea what this could mean in a way that fits nicely with the rest of the text.

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