Chapter 84

I looked at the thread-thin string hanging from the branch of the Frosthorn Crown Tree and asked,

“What’s that hanging from the branch?”

“Oh, that’s a necklace.”

Selim, who had approached the tree, brought over a pendant with a dark red gem attached and showed it to me.

“It’s an artifact that checks the tree’s health. We paid a hefty price to the mages of Karaf for it.”

“The mages of Karaf?”

“Yes. There are people who come to study this tree regularly. They said they’re members of the Karaf’s Magical Horticultural Society. According to them, if the gem in the center loses its glow, it means something’s wrong with the tree’s health. And although it looks black now, it used to be red.”

Upon hearing that, I immediately filled my palm with mana and crushed the gem hanging from the pendant.

Crack.

“Huh?”

“Just watch.”

Stopping Selim, who was flustered, I focused on sensing the nature of the mana flowing out from the shattered gem.

“Fire and heat. A warm-natured mana. That’s in direct conflict with the Frosthorn Crown Tree’s nature.”

“Wait, does that mean…?”

“That necklace isn’t an item that checks the tree’s health. It’s something that’s been draining it.”

“That can’t be,”

Selim muttered, as if denying my words.

“We paid a lot of money for that item…”

“The Frosthorn Crown Tree is originally a species born in another world. It grows in a dimension of ice and cold. The scholars who study dimensional theory call it ‘Albedo’. What we’re looking at is a version that happened to cross into this world and adapted to survive.”

And a tree that grows in a dimension of ice and cold naturally holds mana of that element.

It’s a natural phenomenon. Just like animals breathe air, and plants gain energy from sunlight.

“But this tree has lost almost all of its innate cold. Probably because of the necklace I just destroyed. That’s the reason it’s withering.”

“Then what should we do now?”

“It’s simple. We just need to replenish it with cold-type mana.”

“Cold-type mana…?”

“That’s my specialty.”

I expanded my mana field like an inflating balloon.

It was just large enough to envelop the tree.

Then I filled the field with cold-element mana.

The temperature in the greenhouse dropped instantly, and Selim rubbed her arms as if she felt a chill.

But this was just right.

As the surrounding air filled with cold mana, the tree began to absorb it like a thirsty person gulping down water.

The change could be heard.

Tap, tick. Tap.

A faint sound. Like the noise of roots soaking up water or the grain of bark cracking open

.

Once the tree’s absorption of the cold mana slowed significantly, I withdrew the mana field and dusted off my hands.

“Emergency treatment is done. This alone should be enough for the tree to start recovering on its own.”

“Really?”

“But it would be best to transplant the tree as soon as possible. This tree isn’t suited to being kept in a greenhouse. The warmth might weaken its vitality.”

“I knew it!”

Moose, the manager of the botanical garden, chimed in enthusiastically at my words.

“Those with white bark usually come from cold places. That pale bark helps them withstand big temperature swings. That’s why I was against bringing this tree into the greenhouse in the first place. But the director pushed it through anyway.”

“I was just following orders. According to the manual, I mean.”

“The manual, the manual… always with that cursed manual.”

Moose even started singing the word as if mocking Selim, the garden’s director.

I asked him,

“What manual?”

Moose answered,

“Oh, I suppose you wouldn’t know, Professor. Those so-called mages from the Magical Horticulture Society left us a booklet. Said it explained exactly how to raise this tree. But I thought from the start it was garbage. I’m too smart to fall for hacks like that! Hahaha!”

“A capable caretaker you’ve got there.”

At my words, Moose’s nose lifted with pride, while Selim crossed her arms with a displeased look.

“Calling them scammers is a bit much, don’t you think? Why would mages from Karaf try to deceive us?”

“To take advantage of you, of course. Didn’t you pay good money for that manual, too?”

“…That’s true. Haah. Between the pendant and everything else, I’ve been completely played by a bunch of quacks.”

“Hmm.”

Something about their conversation didn’t sit right with me.

I didn’t believe the mages from Karaf had damaged the tree simply for money.

No, this smelled of something larger and far more insidious.

A conspiracy: perhaps one involving both the Empire and Karaf together.

But I didn’t voice that suspicion aloud.

It wasn’t my concern to meddle in.

Instead, I asked Moose,

“Have you ever cut this tree’s branches?”

“Never. Those swindlers made the biggest fuss about not so much as touching a single leaf. So I’ve never laid a blade on it.”

“Right now it has almost no branches, but once it recovers, new shoots will begin sprouting from the very top. They’ll split rapidly, forming shapes like a stag’s antlers. That’s why it’s called the Frosthorn Crown Tree.”

“Is that so?”

“When the tree regains its original color, could you give me the very first branch cut from it?”

“You mean… a branch?”

“Yes.”

The very first branch to break away from the tree.

A piece that emerges only once from a single tree.

Among all the byproducts of the Frosthorn Crown Tree, it held the most potent mystical power.

Moose glanced at the director, as if waiting for the answer. Selim replied without hesitation.

“Of course. We can certainly give you that. It’s just a branch, after all.”

Selim still didn’t seem to understand the true value of the Frosthorn Crown Tree.

“Thank you for your help, Professor Winslet. Thanks to you, a great burden has been lifted. Now then, Moose, hurry up and fetch a mandrake. For the professor.”

“Quite eager to work me to the bone, aren’t you?”

Moose turned toward me and asked,

“Do you plan to use the mandrake right away? If so, I’ll pot it for you.”

“No, I’m thinking of planting it for a few more days.”

The mandrake is already a highly potent medicinal herb, but I knew a secret method to enhance its effects even further.

Selim spoke.

“Then, Professor, please head over to your cultivation room first. I’ll tell Moose to transplant the mandrake there.”

“Where is my cultivation room?”

“You didn’t know? You’ve rented out an entire greenhouse. Greenhouse No. 4, to the left of the central one. It’s reserved exclusively for you, Professor Winslet.”

“Got it.”

The fact that I had a private greenhouse was good news.

Mandrakes are highly aggressive. The moment they’re pulled from the ground, they emit a scream filled with a curse, attacking whoever tries to harvest them.

If you’re lucky, it’ll just knock you out. But if not, it could be fatal. A private cultivation room, off-limits to others, was ideal for growing such a dangerous plant.

The only concern was the lack of manpower for the labor involved in enhancing the mandrake’s potency.

[Personality Trait]

[Always Elegant]

– Elegant even in death. Restraint is the true mark of nobility.

– Permanently increases Dexterity and Charisma by one level.

– When engaging in rigorous activity that causes shortness of breath or sweating, Health and Willpower temporarily drops significantly.

Tasks like planting seeds, tending them, and harvesting are entirely at odds with Winter Winslet.

And on top of that, fertilizer would be needed.

Even if it’s been thoroughly processed, could Winter Winslet ever bring himself to handle feces?

To offset the penalty from my personality, I needed to craft an elixir.

But to craft the elixir, I had to overcome the penalty from my personality.

A contradiction.

Wondering what to do, I arrived at Greenhouse No. 4 and opened the thick glass door.

And came face-to-face with an unexpected guest.

“Uh… Professor?”

“Jacqueline Dogwood.”

Jacqueline had entered before me.

And now, she was holding a hoe, sweating profusely.

“Why are you here…?”

“That’s what I should be asking. What are you doing in someone else’s cultivation room?”

“Oh, well. I’m, uh… planting some potatoes, I guess? Haha.”

…Potatoes?

I stared at her, dumbfounded. Jacqueline’s gaze darted around, then dropped to the object in her hand.

She held out her right hand and said,

“W-Would you like some? Seed potatoes…”

I was so stunned, I couldn’t even speak.

***

Students are always hungry beings.

In that sense, Jacqueline could be called the most student-like student at the academy.

Until now, she’d relied on the allowance and decorum stipend provided by the school to fund her snacking habits, but the real problem began with her midterm grades.

After placing second-to-last, her academy allowance had been severely reduced.

It was the moment a dark cloud cast its shadow over Jacqueline’s cheerful eating habits.

But like a bolt of lightning from a stormy sky, a genius idea struck Jacqueline’s frontal lobe.

If I don’t have money, can’t I just grow the food myself?

Looking back on it, it wasn’t such a bad plan.

At least, not until she ran into Professor Winslet.

“So, you were trying to grow potatoes in the academy greenhouse?”

Jacqueline nodded like a prisoner awaiting judgment.

“Yes… Potatoes, I guess. Though cucumbers, tomatoes, and eggplants wouldn’t be bad either. Oh, and pumpkins are easy to grow, but I’m not a huge fan personally…”

“Don’t ramble.”

“Ugh.”

“The important thing is, this is my private cultivation room.”

“W-Was it? I saw a greenhouse no one was using, so I thought… it was just an empty plot…”

Jacqueline’s dream of becoming an ambitious urban farmer had already been crushed in the botanical office.

Her application to use a greenhouse had been rejected with a scolding that it was absurd to grow crops in a facility so expensive to maintain.

But on her way back, dragging her feet, Jacqueline had spotted it.

A greenhouse no one was using.