Chapter 39: The Second Home Garden – Part 1
“Did the lord actually give you rights to use some land?”
My younger sister had just returned from the lord’s castle, yet somehow, she wasn’t alone. She’d brought along Shifa-san, Anii-san, and even Lilcarlia-san, all of them stepping into our home as if it were entirely natural.
I couldn’t help but think—I wish she had told me Shifa-san would be coming. I had just finished cleaning, making sure the house looked presentable.
But that aside, it seemed that her exploits as an adventurer had caught the lord’s attention. As a reward, he was apparently willing to grant them anything they desired. And yet… somehow, the one thing they had asked for was rights to a plot of land.
“Land… what are you planning to do with it?” I asked, bewildered.
“Of course, it’s to expand Onii-chan’s garden!” my sister answered brightly.
“Wha—!?”
Panic bubbled up in me.
“Wait, wait! This was supposed to be a reward from the lord, right? Didn’t anyone have something they actually wanted? Why would you spend it on something like that!?”
Shifa-san shook her head gently.
“No. None of this would have been possible without Geo. That’s why Geo should be the one receiving the reward. Because of the herbs he cultivated, we were able to make new potions, explore high-difficulty areas, and even Dad’s workshop was saved.”
“Well, thanks to you, my store didn’t go under either,” Lilcarlia added with a faint smile.
“Th-That still doesn’t…”
I was at a loss. After all, it had been them doing all the actual adventuring.
“Geo-san… you really should accept this honestly,” Anii said, nudging me gently.
“Y-Yes… you’re right,” I admitted, sighing.
Lilcarlia-san was right. Everyone had gone to the lord on my behalf; I had to at least accept their gift with gratitude.
In truth, I had long wished for more land. What I had now was sufficient, but as my level increased, the amount of area I could dedicate to my garden kept expanding—and it felt almost wasteful not to use it.
“Thank you,” I said sincerely.
“With land, Geo’s gifts can be even more effective… hopefully,” Shifa added with a nod.
“Yes,” I agreed.
And then—
“Meow.”
Milk had slipped into the room. I had hurriedly sent him to another room when Shifa and the others arrived, telling him to stay put for a while. Apparently, he had lost patience.
“W-What? A cat?”
“A little… big for a cat?”
“Th-This isn’t a cat! It’s a Snow Panther—a proper magical creature!”
““What!?””
Shifa and the others immediately braced themselves.
“Wait! This is our pet, Milk! He’s not dangerous!”
I scooped him up. He was heavy. Much heavier than before—almost the same size as petite Sena now.
“Meow…”
Milk nuzzled and licked my face affectionately.
“He’s so attached…”
“But… he’s a magical beast, right?”
Anii glanced nervously at Sena.
“I did think he seemed too big for a cat…”
“A cat that big doesn’t exist! He’s practically a tiger now! Where did you even find him?”
“I didn’t find him—he did, Geo did!” my sister replied.
“Well… it’s more like I cultivated him from a magical creature egg in the garden…”
“““Wait, what?”””
I explained how I had grown the magical creature from an egg harvested in my garden.
“Wait… is it really okay to expand something like this any further? You’re essentially mass-producing magical beasts, right?”
“I’m… a bit concerned too,” Anii and Lilcarlia admitted, their faces taut with worry.
“It’s fine. Geo wouldn’t use them for anything bad,” Shifa said confidently.
Shifa-san… I thought to myself, slightly relieved.
“Well, I suppose in the world there are trainers who tame and command magical beasts, so… it’s not impossible,” Lilcarlia added hesitantly.
So here I was, now outside the city with Shifa and the others, checking out the land granted to us by the lord.
As someone who couldn’t fight, I rarely left the city, especially because the wilderness could be dangerous. But with adventurers like Shifa and the others around, I had nothing to fear.
Of course, Milk stayed behind.
“With a bigger area, Milk will be able to run around freely,” I murmured.
Currently, her roaming space was limited to the house and the garden. Once she grew larger, it would surely feel cramped.
…Now I had to figure out how to bring her to the new land. Moving her through the town would be impossible unless it was in the dead of night.
“Also… it’s going to be a detached plot. I hope that’s okay,” I added, unsure.
Could I really maintain two separate gardens in different locations?
“It should be fine. From what I’ve seen, Geo’s gifts tend to adapt conveniently to situations like this,” Lilcarlia said cheerfully.
“Conveniently…?”
I frowned slightly. Was that a subtle jab at me?
“Here we are,” Lilcarlia announced, stopping in her tracks.
About a thirty-minute journey from Arcel City lay a vast stretch of marshland.
“Well, you did say it didn’t need to be usable land…” I murmured.
“Indeed. But on the bright side, it’s quite spacious!” she replied, scanning the area.
Dark shapes that looked like magical creatures could be seen moving here and there. Could this really be turned into a garden?
〈Designate as garden?〉
…Apparently, yes.
The moment I nodded, the vast marshland before us vanished in an instant. In its place appeared a perfectly cultivated, flat plot of land, identical to the layout of my home garden. The creatures that had been wandering in the marsh now looked around in confusion at the sudden transformation.
“““…”””
Everyone was left speechless, standing frozen, and I let out a wry smile.
“Yeah… well, it’s definitely easier this way,” I said, shrugging.