Chapter 565: Under the Great Cedar Tree

The indoor training hall had gained yet another installation: a newly set automatic magic stone crusher.

With this, the total now stood at four machines.

Depending on how much powdered magic stone they could produce in a single day, it might even become possible to reduce the number of workers stationed here. I knew full well that things across the Kingdom of Raven were in a dire state. If even a handful of personnel could be reassigned elsewhere, it would make a difference.

“The installation is complete. I’ll leave the rest in your hands.”

“Please leave it to us. If anything arises, we’ll notify you immediately.”

“Thank you. I’m counting on you.”

Proper reporting, communication, and consultation were essential. The assurance that they would contact me at once if there were any issues brought a quiet sense of relief. Now I could focus on fertilizer production without distraction.

As for how much magic stone powder could be produced in a day, I could simply return tomorrow morning to check. With that decided, we headed straight toward the sapling testing grounds.

“Julius-sama… look over there…”

“Ah… so you can see it too, Fabienne. Good. That means it’s not a hallucination.”

“There seems to be quite a crowd gathered. Isn’t that the area where you spread the fertilizer yesterday?”

“Nero, you think so too? I had the same feeling…”

If only the scene before us had been a mirage.

The gathered figures appeared to be the gardeners. It seemed they had grown curious about the effects of the fertilizer I’d used and had come to observe before beginning their own duties.

And judging by the fact that they were clustered together like that… something must have happened to the sapling.

Don’t tell me—

Did I fail?

Impossible. Me? Fail?

As that indignant thought flashed through my mind, something soft pressed firmly against my arm.

Fabienne.

“Julius-sama, please don’t avert your eyes. Look carefully.”

Look carefully?

At what? Her chest?

No, that couldn’t be right.

Though… things did appear to be growing far more smoothly than anticipated.

Still, that wasn’t what she meant.

“Julius-sama,” Nero murmured gravely, “I can see what appears to be a large tree. That is undoubtedly cedarwood. It is almost certainly the sapling to which you applied fertilizer yesterday.”

“That’s a lie! There’s no way!”

“Please face reality, Julius-sama.”

Fabienne’s voice carried the faintest hint of exasperation.

Tell me it’s a lie, Fabienne.

There was no way it could have grown this much overnight. I had assumed the fertilizer’s effect would be mild—safe.

Apparently, I had overapplied it.

“Fabienne… what do you think I should do?”

“At this point, there is no concealing it. We must accept reality and discuss with everyone how to proceed.”

“You’re right. As always.” I exhaled slowly. “What’s done is done. At the very least, we’ve learned that even a small quantity of fertilizer produces sufficient results.”

Reframed that way, it wasn’t entirely disastrous.

If such minimal amounts were effective, then there would be no need to produce mountains of fertilizer. In other words, we had narrowly avoided creating a second black workplace under the guise of fertilizer production.

Yes. I would choose to see it that way.

With Fabienne clinging to my arm, I cautiously approached the scene.

One of the gardener women—who always treated us with gentle consideration—noticed us first.

“Julius-sama! Look! It’s grown into such a magnificent cedarwood! The test is a complete success!”

“It certainly appears so. I didn’t expect it to grow this large in a single day, though… It seems I gave it slightly too much fertilizer. At this rate, perhaps one-tenth of yesterday’s amount will suffice.”

From there, chaos erupted.

Apparently, most of the gardeners had been keeping a close eye on my sapling experiment. Nearly all of them had gathered here. Questions flew from every direction, and as I responded, I carefully maintained that what I had used was simply a newly developed fertilizer.

Nothing more.

“A new fertilizer means… we can make it as well, correct?”

“That’s right. In fact, if this trial proved successful, I intended to ask for your help in producing it.”

“That’s no issue at all—but can we truly make it ourselves?”

“Of course. Every ingredient used is something you’re already familiar with.”

The commotion intensified again.

It was understandable. No one would expect that combining existing fertilizers could produce such dramatic results.

Ordinarily, it wouldn’t. It wasn’t merely mixing them together. Extraction, heating—precise processes had been required to refine the final product.

Ah—if this went on any longer, their actual work would fall behind. And if that happened, the ones whose evaluations would suffer would be the gardeners.

That would be unacceptable.

So I instructed them to return to their duties first and dismissed the gathering.

That should buy us time.

Though… I had a feeling word would already be reaching Sophia-sama.

“Let’s head to the gardeners’ break area,” I said quietly. “We need to prepare to teach fertilizer production before everyone returns.”

“It would be wise to inform Sophia-sama,” Fabienne advised. “There is a difference between hearing it from us and hearing it from someone else.”

“You’re right. I’ll write her a letter immediately. Fabienne, please prepare the tools in the meantime. Nero, gather the necessary materials. Lionel, your duty is to guard Fabienne.”

That should be sufficient.

If my letter reached Sophia-sama promptly, neither she nor Erwin-sama would cause an uproar. I must emphasize clearly that this is merely fertilizer—not a magic potion.

If all went smoothly, we could avoid unnecessary complications.

I finished writing the letter and handed it to Nero upon his return. Without delay, he departed for the castle.

In his absence, I began gathering materials myself. Lionel, wearing an expression that suggested he had something to say, quietly stepped in to help.

It’s fine, really.

I’m using magic to carry most of the weight. It’s nowhere near as heavy as it looks.

Rather than assisting me, I’d prefer Lionel to focus fully on his role as guard. Though, truthfully, within this building—and in the surrounding area—there wasn’t a trace of hostile intent.

Lionel had surely noticed that as well.