Chapter 83

“Only six mandrake roots in the Royal Academy’s botanical garden, and the one I can get won’t even be usable until next year? How does that make any sense?”

“I’m terribly sorry, but that’s how it is, sir. We could increase the number grown, but you know how mandrakes are. Not so much hard to cultivate as they are difficult to harvest and store. They’re so sensitive that once they’re pulled from the ground, they quickly become useless.”

Mandrakes had the peculiar trait of rapidly losing their vitality once harvested, and after death, their medicinal properties became worthless.

That’s why the usual practice was to keep them in their pots until the very moment of use.

But since they didn’t know when someone might need them, wasting soil on excess mandrakes wasn’t practical. The solution was to take advance reservations and grow only the necessary number.

That was the established convention of mandrake cultivation, as Manager Moose explained in great detail.

“So what I’m saying is…it’s not that I lack the skill or that the facility is inadequate.”

“I get it.”

But from the Thieves’ Guild prisoner, I had already learned that Longsoniere’s Caraphine transport would happen in just two weeks.

Waiting until next year was out of the question.

If only I could get my hands on a single usable root right now…

On a slim chance, I asked,

“Is there no way to accelerate the growth of a mandrake?”

“There’s no such thing, Professor.”

Moose replied with the certainty and bluntness of a man who had spent his life in one line of work.

“Plants are honest, you see. They take in one day’s worth of sunlight and grow exactly one day’s worth. No matter how great a mage you may be, Professor, you can’t just rush a plant into bearing fruit. Unless, of course, you’re some legendary druid.”

“A druid, huh. That’s another possibility I hadn’t considered.”

“Hmph, don’t take Moose’s words too seriously, Professor. He’s only teasing you. Druids don’t exist in this world.”

The woman who had been watching from behind cut in, and the old man flared up.

“Druids do exist! I saw it with my own eyes long ago. A bear turning into a man. And right here at this Academy!”

“You must have been drunk and seeing things. That’s enough out of you, Moose. Step aside.”

Pushing the old man away, the woman gave me a polite smile.

“My apologies for the manager’s rudeness. Please forgive him. Ah, I forgot to introduce myself….I’m Selim Divita, the administrator in charge of running the botanical garden. And Professor Winslet, you really are as handsome as the rumors say. If I had to compare you to a tree… I’d say a willow.”

It was an unusual metaphor.

Was it because of my long hair?

“Oh, forgive me. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Professor. It’s just that I noticed you seemed troubled, and I thought perhaps I could be of help.”

“You can help me?”

“As the garden’s director, I have a good deal of discretion here. You need a mandrake you can use right away, don’t you? I can arrange that for you.”

“Surely you’re not a druid yourself. So how exactly do you plan to get me a mandrake? From what I heard, the only one available is still immature.”

“No, there are five more. Fully grown ones, at that.”

Manager Moose cut in.

“Head Administrator, don’t tell me you’re planning to snatch up the stock that’s already been promised to other professors?”

“Snatch? I’d call it asking for a little concession. And really, if it’s for Professor Winslet, don’t you think they’d all understand?”

“Rules are rules, Head Administrator. In my twenty years here, I’ve never once allowed that kind of favoritism.”

“Oh, be quiet. Is this really the time to go on about regulations? Thanks to your mistake, both of us are on the verge of a serious problem. And besides, Professor Winslet is the only person at this Academy who can actually help us right now.”

The two locked eyes in a fierce glare.

I spoke to Selim.

“From the sound of it, you want something from me.”

She clasped her hands together in a fawning gesture with her eyes gleaming.

“You’re absolutely right. What we need right now is the aid of a great mage. And among all the mages I know, Professor Winslet, you’ve achieved the highest and most refined mastery.”

“Your flattery is excessive.”

“If you’d be willing to lend us your time and wisdom, I’d gladly go even further. For instance, I’d personally explain the unfortunate theft at the greenhouse to those who’ve been waiting years for a mandrake.”

After a brief moment of thought, I gave a nod.

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

Selim clapped her hands and beamed with joy.

“Wonderful! Then would you follow me right away? Moose, bring the key.”

“Ugh, do as you please. I’ll be the one getting blamed again anyway.”

Selim and Moose led me to the central greenhouse.

The central greenhouse was where the most expensive and rare plants in the botanical garden were cultivated.

The mandrakes would be grown here, too.

I asked,

“Is the help you need related to plants? The Academy must have a professor dedicated to botanical study, no?”

“We’ve already asked that professor. Not much help, unfortunately.”

“In that case, I’m even more curious. I’m no expert on plants.”

“That’s fine, even if it’s not your field. We just need you to take a look and tell us what you feel. That’s how desperate we are right now. We’re at the point of clutching at straws….because of that damn white tree.”

“The white tree?”

“Yes. It was a gift from the Emperor of the Empire to Laurencia two years ago. Have you heard of the Black Lion Duke by any chance?”

“Carl Gosling. He’s the Imperial ambassador, isn’t he?”

“That’s right. When he was appointed as the new ambassador, he brought a tree from the Empire. The royal family gratefully accepted the gift and then shoved it in here. As you know, the Academy’s botanical garden is basically a storage room for the royal family’s valuable odds and ends, right? And I’m the one in charge of that storage.”

“True enough.”

“But now, that tree is withering. And of course it had to happen while I’m the director of the garden. It’s cast a dark shadow over what was once a promising career.”

Selim let out a heavy sigh before continuing.

“Now, Professor Winslet, you’re our only hope.”

“I’ll have to see it for myself to make a judgment.”

“There it is.”

Selim pointed with her hand.

It was a place marked as Central Greenhouse: Special Maintenance Zone 2.

When Moose unlocked the door with the key he’d brought, a wave of humid air brushed past my cheek.

In the center of a glass-walled room stood a small, slender tree.

But unlike what Selim had described, it wasn’t purely white. It was a mottled tree, stained in places with sooty black blotches, like snow melted into mud.

Even so, I couldn’t help but be impressed.

“This is remarkable.”

Who would’ve thought something like this was in the Academy?

***

The trunk stood a little more than two spans taller than me, with a slim enough girth to wrap both arms around it.

What stood out was how it had almost no branches or leaves and how its bark was so pale. It could easily be mistaken for metal.

But across the bark were patches that had turned black.

“It’s dying.”

“Of course, Professor Winslet! Did you notice something the moment you saw it?”

“Even with my eyes closed, I could tell the tree’s in trouble, director.”

“Don’t be rude. Are you really going to rain on the moment while the professor’s helping us?”

Director Selim waved her fingers in a ripple of anticipation, hopeful that they might finally uncover the cause of the tree’s decline.

“Do you perhaps know how to heal it as well?”

“Possibly.”

“Wow! That’s our Professor Winslet.”

“You must’ve sweet-talked your way into the director’s seat.”

Moose muttered sourly as he chimed in.

“This old man’s never seen a tree like that in his life. What even is this thing?”

“It’s a plant known as the Frosthorn Crown Tree. Some call it the Tree of Revelation.”

“The Tree of Revelation?”

“That’s what the Church calls it. There’s a legend that long ago, Saint Feio, who set off on a pilgrimage to light the beacon at the end of the world, lost his way in the northern blizzards. This is the tree said to have guided him, shifting its horns to show the path.”

Selim spoke with awe.

“Saint Feio! I’ve heard that story before too. But… the tree in that tale actually exists?”

“It’s not something you come across easily, so most people assume it only exists in legends. Even in Holy Ephe, the central seat of the Church, there are barely three or four of them. Its natural habitat lies in the treacherous lands at the northern edge of the Empire, so the average person would never have a chance to see one…”

“Is it that rare?”

“Extremely.”

“Well, of course. There’s no way a gift from the Emperor of the Empire would be anything ordinary. Ugh… and I let that kind of tree wither… I’m doomed…”

As Director Selim groaned in distress, a faint doubt crept into my mind.

Even considering that the tree was a gift from the Emperor, the Frosthorn Crown Tree seemed excessively valuable.

The Frosthorn Crown Tree was a divine object.

It holds a sacred energy in and of itself, and its byproducts like well-dried branches, leaves, or fruit were treated as the most powerful crafting materials in the original Candelabra of Judgment.

They could be used as ingredients in elixirs imbued with ice energy, as catalysts for high-level magic, or in forging unique magical artifacts.

And even those byproducts were rare drops. Only a handful appeared throughout the entire game.

I can’t believe such a rare tree was at the Laurencia Royal Academy.

Even I, a seasoned veteran of Candelabra of Judgment, didn’t know that.

In the original game, the player doesn’t start getting involved in events in the capital until summer, so it’s possible the tree disappeared from the academy before then.

Maybe it got sick and died?

It’s not like I know everything that happens in this world.

Still, there’s something oddly fun about discovering things I never knew before.

While examining the tree, I noticed something unusual and asked,

“What’s that?”