Kays Translations

 Chapter 22: Plant Thief

Huh?... What? Who is this guy? If he's not wearing a uniform, then he's not a student at Frügel Academy, is he? So it can't be… a plant thief! They really existed! 5

I couldn't hide my surprise at the fact that the plant thief I had half thought of as an urban legend was right in front of me.

As I opened my eyes and froze, His Highness put his arm around my waist and hugged me tightly.

As I settled quietly in his strong arms, he flicked away the thief's sword with only the strength of one hand.

As you'd expect from a swordmaster, his strength is unbelievable.

Well, the thief himself, who was blown away, took a light step to escape the impact, so he seemed okay ...

The plant thief that came to Frügel was certainly tough...

His Highness Grayson, who took his hand off my body, stepped forward.

His sword, as black as his hair, glinted in the sunlight.

"This is your first and last warning. Drop your weapons and surrender quietly. "

Following the procedures of the Disciplinary Committee, His Highness the Grayson politely recommended surrender, but the ...... plant thief only smirked in response...

Well, if you're the kind of person who surrenders, you wouldn't do this from the beginning.

"You're not going to surrender huh? Then we'll have to take you by force. ──── Miss Charlotte, cover me. I'll take the vanguard. "

"What? Ah, yes! I got it!"

I was standing there in a daze, but I hurriedly pulled myself together and faced the plant thief.

The man with the strange turban on his head was dressed like a bandit and had a dagger and a small knife in his hand.

As the two sides began to stare at each other──── His Highness Grayson took a step forward with a blank expression on his face.

The plant thief throws the small knife in his left hand with great force.

However, it was easily knocked down by the beautiful young man with black hair.

"────, I'll finish you off in a minute."

He slid his sword into the air in a sideways slashing motion, and the man in the turban took a panicked step back, but it seemed he hadn't been able to avoid it completely, and his clothes were cut, leaving a small cut on his chest.

Maybe it's because the other party is an outsider, but he was relentless…

Though I’m sure we were told to capture as much as possible…

"Ice Wall."

To limit the movement of the opponent, for now, I created a wall of ice right behind him.

The man in the turban, unable to move back any further, was sandwiched between the ice wall and His Highness Grayson, completely unable to escape.

If I could freeze him, I could get rid of him right away, but then I'd kill him…

I'll leave the rest to His Highness Grayson.

"No way…! I've never heard of a first-year so strong..! I was supposed to just beat up the newcomers around and steal the Flame Spirit Grass…! What the hell is this…! "

The man in the turban, who had become unusually talkative due to being cornered, repeated, "I never heard of this!”.

I see… So he thought he could handle us because we're freshmen. Moreover, I didn't know that the flame spirit plant was the target… Since Silas sensei carries it around, the information must have leaked out from somewhere.

"Isn't the flame spirit grass a poisonous grass?"

With that said, His Highness Grayson, looking back, said as if thinking "Why do you want such a thing?” It seemed strange.

He tilted his head as if he could not see the value in something that had no practical use.

"The flame spirit plant is indeed poisonous, but it's a subspecies of the spirit grass, and it's very rare and valuable. In addition, it is a tasteless and odorless poison, it is popular among a certain segment of the population… or rather, it’s worth using "

"Oh, that’s right, Silas sensei said it's a great plant for poisoning.”

Perhaps remembering what we had talked about in class, His Highness Grayson nodded and said, "I see."

But he didn't seem to be convinced, as if he wasn't interested in the insidious act of poisoning, just understanding it.

After showing some thoughtful movements, the beautiful young man with black hair turned his attention to the man with the turban again.

Perhaps he knew that the plant thief couldn't escape anymore, he didn't seem to resist ... he was just scared of His Highness.

"Did you intend to kill someone with the Flame Spirit?"

"No, no! I was only trying to steal it because I could sell it for a good price! "

"I see."

His Highness Grayson nodded to the turban man, who declared the poisoning with the flame spirit grass was a luxury and hit the opponent's neck with the hilt of his sword.

The man, unable to avoid the suddenness of the blow, turned white and fainted.

His Highness Grayson avoided his body by stepping to the side as he fell forward and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck in a familiar manner.

Thanks to this, the man in the turban was able to avoid hitting his face hard.

You may feel it's a little rough, but…well, the other party is a trespassing plant thief. This level of retribution should be expected.

"IFor the time being, let’s tie him up in case he wakes up. If he suddenly starts rioting, we'll be in trouble."

With that, I activated the magic circle for capture that I had been holding in my hand.

The magic that was activated with a slight sparkle created an elongated string-like object that tied up the man in the turban.

The plant thief held around his neck was a little pitiful.

"As a committee member, we can hand him over to the knights waiting at the main gate."

"The main gate is far away, so why not give him to the knights at the back gate? We can't leave our posts for too long ..."

"You're right. Then let's head to the back gate."

The young black-haired man, who nodded at my suggestion lightly, carried the man in a turban wrapped in a slender string on his shoulder.

I turned my foot towards the back gate while thinking "He is a powerful man," but a noise was heard from behind.

Huh, maybe there are still remnants…!?

I was wary and hurriedly turned back, but ... there was a person, who was worse than a thief in a sense.

"──── Hi, Miss Charlotte. It's strange to meet in a place like this."

Having said that, what emerged from the bush was Silas sensei, who had a potted plant of flame spirit grass in his hand.

He was smiling, but for some reason, he was drenched in water, which was dripping from his hair and clothes.

"Oh, what happened?” I couldn't help but sigh despite his terrible appearance.

It looks like the potted flame plant was safe. That's just like Silas sensei.

"Good morning, Silas-sensei I'm sorry to bother you, but what's with the ...... outfit?"

"Did you get caught in the rain?" The green-haired man laughed happily when I joked with him.

"Hahaha! It's nothing like that. It's just that I was watering the plants and my hands got a little crazy. That's how I got drenched, but I managed to save the flame spirit grass!"

" I see… So, are you going to take a shower now?"

When I asked Silas sensei, who proudly said that he had protected the flame spirit grass, he responded with a stern look on his face before saying.

"No? No. I just came to get the fertilizer. I'll be back in the botanical garden soon."

"What......?"

"The water isn’t harmful, and it will dry out soon. It's just like going to the shower."

"......?"

Silas sensei's convincing yet unconvincing theory left me speechless.

"Isn't he too careless except for plants ..."

I turned my gaze to His Royal Highness Grayson, who shook his head silently.

I feel like I was told "that's no good anymore" ......or rather, I think that's absolutely what it means.

I'm sure there's no point in saying "You're gonna catch a cold here…"

It's not like he’s going to die. it's not worth it…

"Hmm ... it can't be helped."

With my palm pointing upwards, I pulled out a thread of magic power from my fingertips and hurriedly assembled a magic circle.

I'm not sure if it's going to work or not because it was improvised, but I'm going to try to activate it anyway.

A slight sparkle of purple magic circles unfolded at the feet of Silas sensei ──── separating water from his clothes and hair.

Countless large drops of water float in the air and gather in my hands.

As the teacher's body dried, the water at hand grew larger ──── before long, it became about the size of a puppy.

"Flame Fire."

I uttered a chant that was intermediate level flame magic from the palm of my hand and a red flame blew out with great force.

The high-temperature flame I had summoned evaporated the water collected from Silas sensei and disappeared in a flash.

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