We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
Our family of four lives in poverty, playing in a flower garden.
The Miko can use healing magic. For the injured, healing magic is truly a miraculous technique. It can heal broken bones, and with high-level magic, it’s said to rejoin severed limbs without leaving a scar.
However, the temple doesn’t often offer healing magic services by the Miko.
There are several reasons for this, but one of the most significant is the side effect explained by Ruiseine.
It weakens the protection of the heart.
For those who have suffered severe injuries, this might seem like a trivial problem.
But there are many bad people in the world.
What would happen if people whose hearts’ defenses are weakened by powerful healing magic were easily manipulated by curses or magic?
What would evil people do when they control others?
Even I can easily understand. They would undoubtedly force their victims to commit robbery, murder, and various other wicked deeds.
However, in most cases, there is no evidence of manipulation by curses or magic. Then, the manipulated person cannot prove their innocence and ends up bearing the guilt of crimes for unimagined reasons.
It’s meaningless to be imprisoned for an unexpected crime after barely surviving.
Knowing this, the temple doesn’t easily allow the Miko to use healing magic.
So, you might think, “Why not just offer protective gear at a low price?”
Protective gear. The gems used in it.
Specifically, the gems imbued with the protective magic of the Miko are the same as those used in cursed weapons and armor.
Being the same as gems imbued with curse power means that it takes the same amount of time and effort to create them.
Therefore, there are few of them, and they are correspondingly expensive. This is one of the major reasons why the temple tries to treat patients even if it means using slightly more expensive medicinal herbs.
Lyra’s shoulders slump upon hearing that protective gear is expensive and valuable.
Lyra, who was on the verge of starving to death in Dragon Peak with no proper equipment, has no way of possessing a large amount of money. I, who was not wealthy, of course, only had a meager amount of money, and even Miko Ruiseine only possessed the minimum necessary. Mistral probably doesn’t have much either, and Priscilla-chan has none at all.
Come to think of it, we haven’t lived a life where we spend money until now. That’s why we were unaware of our cash on hand.
However, if we don’t prepare money, we can’t buy Lyra protective gear.
I’m troubled, wondering what to do.
“Everything people do requires money, doesn’t it?”
Old Man Sleigsta sighs, “Ah, well.”
“Hmm,” I mutter, truly troubled, and my gaze drifts to Ruiseine, when I suddenly remember something.
“Ah!”
Everyone turns their attention to my sudden voice.
“Ruiseine, it’s for an errand!”
“An errand?”
Ruiseine tilts her head at my joyful voice.
“Yes. Do you remember last year’s errand?”
Ruiseine and Mistral look at each other, pondering, and then simultaneously exclaim “Ah!” as if they’ve remembered something.
“I believe the medicinal herbs Ruiseine carried on her errand were very expensive, and they can be found on Dragon Peak, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. Those leaves are very precious and very expensive.”
“And, I know the location of their colony.”
“Everyone!”
Lyra looks down at us, her eyes welling up.
And so, we immediately set out to earn money.
We bid farewell to Old Man Sleigsta and were sent back to the village. We once again passed by Mistral’s village without stopping and headed out to collect medicinal herbs.
During the errand, Mistral mentioned that the white, faintly glowing leaves grow in colonies in dangerous places on Dragon Peak. However, we now have Nimia. We headed to the dangerous colony on the back of the giant Nimia, but no reckless wyverns or magic beasts dared to attack a creature larger than a tyrant.
And so, we easily reached the colony of flowers bearing expensive leaves. For a moment, a doubt arose: perhaps it wasn’t the season for plants to grow. But that worry proved unnecessary. While the flowers were indeed still buds and hadn’t bloomed, they had leaves.
“Oh my, oh my.”
“This is amazing!”
“Whoa, it’s beautiful!”
Seeing the scenery of the colony for the first time, we all let out sighs of admiration.
On the summit of a certain steep mountain range, a colony of herbaceous plants bearing white, faintly glowing leaves stretched as far as the eye could see. Instead of a carpet of snow, it was a carpet of soft, pale white light, incredibly beautiful. A slightly strong wind whipped the leaves, sending them dancing into the sky, shimmering and fantastical.
However, looking out at the fantastical landscape, Ruiseine collapsed to her knees.
“Th-they’re expensive…”
Ruiseine, who knows the specific price of the leaves, grimaces at the surrounding scenery.
Of course, it makes sense. Because they are precious and, therefore, expensive, a Miko herself would personally transport even just a few leaves to another temple. To see so many that they couldn’t possibly pick them all, Ruiseine’s dejection is understandable.
“Don’t be too discouraged. It’s not easy to come here in the first place. Few can manage even the round trip properly. Since we can’t increase our baggage, we can only take a small amount back,” Zan, who somehow accompanied us from the village on Nimia’s back, added.
“Yes. I will accept that.”
Ruiseine forces a bitter smile.
“Um, but from now on, we can pick them whenever we want.”
However, with Priscilla-chan’s beaming smile, Ruiseine was utterly defeated.
Priscilla-chan, you’re cruel to sink Ruiseine’s heart when she was starting to recover.
Everyone, with a wry smile at Ruiseine’s dejection, lands on the white, faintly glowing grassland.
“Now, let’s get started and pick what we need.”
Mistral, rallying herself, gives the order, but our group includes little Priscilla-chan. We can’t just accomplish our objective and head back.
Priscilla-chan, impressed by the beautiful grassland, runs around gleefully with Nimia and Lyra.
Lyra, you too! Mistral, who undoubtedly anticipated this, resignedly begins to entertain Priscilla-chan and the others, saying, “What can you do?” Ruiseine, who had finally started to recover, also joins in, and in an instant, a “flower garden” of girls is complete.
It’s healing to watch girls enjoy themselves in the grassland.
But I groan.
“Why did Zan come too?”
I look up at Zan, who is standing nearby as if it’s natural, and question him.
“I was off duty and had nothing to do.”
Zan smirks, lifting one side of his mouth.
“Lately, you all seemed busy. I was curious about what you were doing.”
Ah, I see. Zan doesn’t know the details of the demon race’s attack yet. I tell Zan everything from being taken away by the tyrant to the present.
“Ruilala, huh?”
After listening to my story, Zan snorts.
“You know her?”
“Ah. We’ve met. But I can tell just by looking. She was no ordinary person.”
“Yes. If she hadn’t insisted on a sword fight, I think it would have been dangerous.”
I agreed honestly because it was a sword fight, but the thought of what would have happened if it had been a full-blown battle sent a chill down my spine.
“I don’t know the specifics, but Ruilala is one of the Demon Lord’s close aides. There’s no way a close aide of the Demon Lord would be trash.”
“She did say she was a Viscount, but she was a close aide, huh?”
Mistral had mentioned before that she had some interaction with the Giant Demon Lord. Through that interaction, she became acquainted with other Dragon Kings and Zan. That’s why Ruilala recognized the person who rushed to the scene right away at that time. I realize this now.
Hm? But with this thought, I stumble upon an even more belated realization. The Giant Demon Lord? The Demon Lord who appeared before us was terrifying, but also had a very beautiful appearance. But she was definitely not a giant. So why is she called the Giant Demon Lord? Thinking Zan might know, I ask him.
“It’s a legend.”
“A legend?”
“Ah, that’s right. The Giant Demon Lord was originally the Demon Lord who ruled a central country among the demon races’ nations. However, during the era when the conflict between the Dragon Race and the demon race intensified, she moved her country to this side. It is said that the Dragon Race was trampled by the Giant Demon Lord, who was larger than a mountain, in the battle at that time.”
“Larger than a mountain?! And that’s the beautiful Demon Lord?”
“Ah, that’s what the tales say.”
I am astonished by Zan’s explanation. That makes even Old Man Sleigsta seem small! It sounds too outlandish to believe.
“Don’t judge demons by their appearance. There are monsters among them who are stronger than Demon Lords and look just like Priscilla playing there happily.”
“Uwah, I didn’t want to know that.”
Stronger than a Demon Lord? What kind of being is that?! I absolutely don’t want to meet such a monster. I shake my head, trying to erase the memory immediately. Then, Priscilla-chan runs up and places a faintly glowing grass crown on my head.
“Whoa, did Priscilla-chan make this?”
“Yes. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Yes, it’s more beautiful than a crown of jewels.”
When I praise her, Priscilla-chan smiles happily and returns to Ruiseine and the others.
“Whether it’s more beautiful than jewels, I don’t know, but it’s certainly a more expensive crown than jewels.”
Zan’s unnecessary remark makes my face twitch.
Right. Of course. Even a single leaf is expensive. This grass crown, made from several stalks of the flower and grass plant, each adorned with their leaves. How much would this cost? I can’t even imagine.
Lyra carelessly plucks leaves and scatters them to the wind, while Ruiseine diligently makes another grass crown with Priscilla-chan. Mistral, watching them gently, has her lap filled with plucked leaves.
It’s enough to make me dizzy.
To me, it looks like the women are playing, buried in gold coins.
“Meow, these leaves are delicious, meow.”
“Fufufu, shall we take some home for eating too?”
Ahhhhhh.
Nimia, you are truly sinful. To think of eating precious, expensive leaves.
“Hmph. If we pick and take home as many as we can carry, we’ll easily become millionaires.”
“Forget millionaires, we’d be set for life, for generations.”
“Then shall we do that?”
When Zan asks, I shake my head.
“But still, it’s not right. We should only take what we need. Because there are people who risk their lives to pick them here. It wouldn’t be right for us to earn money so easily. So, we’ll only take enough to buy Lyra’s protective gear.”
“I see.”
Zan replies perfunctorily, seemingly uninterested in my thoughts, and gazes at the scenery absently.
“Is it all right to take some for Nyanko to eat, meow?”
“Since Nimia worked hard this time, I think that much is fine.”
“Yay, meow!”
Nimia jumps up and down joyfully with Priscilla-chan, expressing her happiness with her entire body.
