The Sharshar Kingdom.
The Royal Capital.
Two weeks have passed since McGillis and most of his forces departed for the eastern battlefield.
Vegeta, uninterested in the battlefield, was in his secret base, calmly creating plant-type monsters, his familiars. The materials were obtained from the graveyard within the church facility: half-rotted corpses and skeletal remains. Of course, pulverized bones were unusable.
The Church.
The graveyard at midnight.
Tonight, Vegeta was once again grave robbing.
He examined the ages inscribed next to the names on the gravestones. From his arm, he extended ultra-fine tendrils into the ground to assess the condition of the corpses.
“Alright, you’ve been chosen for my plan. Serve me faithfully as my hands and feet. Then, you can become a servant of Hapichu, the God of Harvest and Gourmet.
A seed, a replacement for the lost heart of the corpse or remains, entwined with the material. In place of muscles. If there was a head, it would let out a moan. If not, or in the case of a skull, the seed would bloom into a single, large, multi-colored flower.
“……”
The tendrils transformed into four-fingered hands, granting new life as they crawled out of the ground.
“Well, just two… or three more to make…”
Piyopiyopiyo!
Vegeta’s grave robbing had become a problem for the church. As a night guard, a request had been posted at the Adventurer’s Guild. Tonight, an adventurer who had accepted the request happened to discover Vegeta. He blew the whistle given to him by a church official.
“Grave robber! Soldiers!”
The night patrol soldiers also heard the whistle.
Pee! Pee pee pee!
The sounds of footsteps and voices approaching the graveyard, one after another, grew closer.
“…Follow me.”
“……”
Vegeta gave his first order to the newly created familiars.
“Waittttttttttttttttttt!!!”
Piyiiiii!! Biiyi!!
It was the middle of the night. The whistles and shouts of “Stop!” drew the attention of the people in the bustling night streets, who gathered to gossip over their drinks. Vegeta and the plant monsters decided to move across the rooftops. Extending tendrils from his body, he leaped from rooftop to rooftop with sharp thwacks.
“What is that movement!?”
“A monster… no, it’s a person! Catch them!”
Vegeta and his creations roamed throughout the Royal Capital, skillfully evading their pursuers.
The Secret Base.
The underground artificial labyrinth.
The skill
Using this to its fullest, Vegeta had recreated a landscape indistinguishable from the surface.
Wriggling wriggling… rustling…
As the creator and administrator of this world (the large room), the plant-type monsters nuzzled against Vegeta, jostling for position. Eventually, their roots and vines became hopelessly entangled, and they cried out for Vegeta’s help.
Rustling, rustling.
“I’ve told you many times, don’t play around so much that you get tangled.”
“Gwaaa…♪ Shaan♪”
The fact that they didn’t reply in human language seemed to indicate they had no intention of obeying.
“Where are the elders?”
“Shaashaa♪ Over there, over there♪”
McGillis was evolving monsters through蠱毒 (koto, a type of poison or venom used for magical manipulation or evolution). Vegeta also wanted to quickly eliminate the humans on the surface who lacked sufficient love for plants. Therefore, though his heart ached, he forcibly promoted their existence evolution through 蠱毒. And the few who survived evolved into the giant magic trees, called the elders, by merging into one through a skill called
“U, ububu… Creator.”
“Ooooooh… Creator♪”
“Please pollinate with me♪”
“GIVEMEABIT…”
The tree bark bore human-like faces. Four of these faces primarily spoke, while the others activated minor magic. The roots, by default, defended against approaching prey or incoming physical attacks. If the four faces decided on a direction, movement was possible. However, their pace was as slow as a turtle’s.
“Were there any problems while I was away?”
This world was a secret from McGillis and the others. It was clear they would eventually part ways. Vegeta wanted to keep his trump cards hidden for as long as possible.
“Ububu… Actually…”
“Banzai, Creator♪!”
“My pistil is here///♪”
“MEAT.”
“Hmph! Don’t interrupt my report to the Creator!?”
“Banzai♪ Banzai♪”
“My pollination… you’re interrupting that over there!?”
“OOOOOH… IFIT’SAFIGHT, I’LLHANDLEIT.”
The four faces began speaking freely, each with their own agenda, leading to chaos.
“Stop it, all of you! What you’re saying is completely incoherent!”
Gyaagyaagyaaa!! Garuruu!?
Just as they were about to unleash magic from their commandable faces and descend into self-destruction, Vegeta apologized to the god Hapichu—the God of Harvest and Gourmet—and smacked the giant magic tree (the elders) in the face with his tendrils.
“Gnu.”
“─♪!”
“Kya♪”
“Nnn.”
“You’ve calmed down. Report.”
Vegeta listened to the events that had transpired during his absence.
According to them, several small monsters kept by McGillis (as bait) had wandered into this world (the large room).
“Don’t cause a commotion. You are my trump cards. It would be troublesome for me if you were discovered.”
“We wouldn’t cause trouble for the Creator…”
“Gratitude♪ Gratitude♪”
“We wouldn’t♪ More importantly, pollination…”
“ENEMY. GIVEME MORE ENEMIES. MORE ENEMIES!”
“Stop talking all at once.”
He listened to the elders’ stories in order and granted those that could be fulfilled. Pollination and statues were postponed.
“Shame… Shame…”
“Sniffle… It’s your fault for surrounding me!?”
“I will be prepared to fulfill them someday, so don’t cry so much? The others are also having trouble.”
“…Gratitude. Gratitude to the Creator♪”
“We eagerly await your prompt return♪///”
He entrusted them with the task of recreating the passages leading to this world and headed towards the small room McGillis had given him.
A bookshelf filled with experiment equipment and books related to plants.
“There isn’t much greenery here.”
Illuminated by a crystal light, potted, unknown flowers stretched their buds upwards.
“What kind of flowers will bloom♪”
These were not created by his skill; he was carefully tending to them from the seeds of flowers that originally grew in abundance in this world. He prided himself on pouring as much affection into them as he did for the elders.
“Hurry and show me your blooming forms♪”
The buds swayed even though there was no wind. Perhaps they reacted to Vegeta’s words. That would be a surprise to look forward to after the flowers bloomed.
