“If you accidentally go deeper into the forest, you’ll meet terrifying monsters, right?”
“There’s a reason the guards are watching over it!”
“I heard if you get lost there, you can never come out!”
Esme, hearing the chatter, felt a shiver run down her spine and rubbed her arms.
“By the way, it’s unexpected, Citrine. I thought you’d be disappointed not to be in the same group as Murmur.”
Trying to escape the small fear, Esme struck up a conversation with Citrine, who was casually collecting herbs.
“Nicasia and Monica took the initiative first… It couldn’t be helped.”
“You’re still disappointed, aren’t you?”
“Oh~hohoho! I can do anything for Murmur-sama.”
Citrine skillfully collected honeydew grass and packed it into her pouch.
“Even if I had asked, Murmur-sama would have made a group with Nicasia and Monica.”
“Well, both of them would obviously fail without Murmur’s help, right?”
“I think so too. Ah! Torlin! Be careful with the grass over there!”
Just as Murmur helps her friends in her own way, Citrine was doing her best in what she could do.
“But you’re still worried about Murmur, right? They say there are monsters deep in the forest.”
Citrine showed a faint smile.
Unlike the students who were spreading random rumors, Citrine, being the adopted daughter of the target, had special information.
“Murmur-sama will be fine.”
“Well… It’s true, if it’s Murmur, even if she gets lost in the forest, she’ll definitely walk her way out.”
“She might even collect rare herbs that even the guilds covet.”
Citrine examined the herbs Torlin had dug up.
“Eh? There are herbs like that?”
“It’s said that a very rare herb grows in the Star Shadow Forest, coveted by both our guild and the Astral Emporium.”
“Wow…! If we could collect that, we’d be incredibly rich, right?”
“If we can collect it, that is~”
Citrine gave a small, knowing smile.
Unlike Esme, she knew that Murmur had a small, cute plan.
After all, Citrine had lent her a magically enchanted bag that could hold a lot of things.
There was no way she wouldn’t know that Murmur planned to collect herbs ‘in bulk’.
‘As expected, Murmur-sama is destined to become the Demon King someday!’
* * *
“It looks incredibly delicious…”
“Yeah, it does. It looks like a strawberry, but the scent is as sweet as a peach…”
Monica and Nicasia were drooling over the fruit in front of them.
Even to me, Murmur, the fruit looked incredibly delicious.
It was round like an apple, red like a strawberry, and dripping with juice, so it was only natural.
“You both want to eat it, right?”
“Ehehe…”
“To be honest, it looks really rare too.”
Unable to leave their sparkling eyes alone, I skillfully picked the fruit and handed it to them.
“Murmur thinks Nicasia can eat it.”
“Eat it…?”
Nicasia hesitated but eventually pushed the fruit into her mouth.
“Huh…? Hmm… Mmm… Ugh!?”
“Nicasia!?”
Our princess urgently spat out the fruit she had been chewing.
“Ugh… This… It’s not just tasteless!”
“It’s like chewing mud with sugar sprinkled on it, right?”
“Exactly! It feels even worse than that!”
Nicasia, even after drinking the water I handed her, was in great distress.
“Is it really that bad?”
Monica, saying this, took the fruit from Nicasia’s palm and pushed it into her mouth.
“Mmm… Hmm…? So sweet…”
“Huh…? Monica? It, it’s delicious? How can it be delicious!?”
Nicasia screamed in shock, but Monica, with a happy expression, rubbed her cheeks.
“It’s a taste that makes you feel incredibly happy.”
“That can’t be…”
“Murmur wants to say that Nicasia isn’t wrong.”
“So that’s it? But why does Monica say it’s delicious?”
Monica isn’t the type of saintess to lie in such a situation.
She wouldn’t play a prank by saying something tasteless is delicious to make Nicasia take another bite.
“The dream fruit grass has the power to make people happy.”
“Does it cause hallucinations or illusions?”
“It distorts the sense of taste.”
Nicasia tilted her head.
“Is that… helpful?”
“Yeah, because animals will eat a lot of the fruit and spread the seeds everywhere.”
“Hmm… Then this dream fruit grass could be used as a seasoning, right?”
“Murmur wants to say that’s absolutely impossible.”
Nicasia looked at the fruit with a face full of regret.
“It can’t be used as a seasoning?”
“No, the happy taste of the dream fruit changes over time or when cooked, turning into the taste Nicasia experienced.”
“Ugh… It’s definitely not going to work.”
Nicasia shook her head, and by this point, Monica realized her future and took a sip of water to clean her mouth.
“That was close…”
“If it weren’t for Murmur, I might have eaten a lot of dream fruit grass.”
“Really? But why did Nicasia feel it was tasteless from the start?”
“Murmur thinks… it’s because Nicasia is a royal.”
Since the dream fruit grass was eventually going to be used, I packed as much as I could see into my bag.
“Ah… It must be a fruit imbued with a bit of magical power.”
“If that’s the case, I understand now.”
Nicasia, following me with regret, suddenly poked my cheek.
“Murmur, Murmur. What’s that?”
Where Nicasia pointed, there were jewels decorating a vine as if someone had carefully arranged them.
The colorful jewels sparkled in the sunlight, showing off a dazzling appearance reminiscent of a chandelier.
“That’s a jewel vine.”
“I get it now. That’s a very dangerous plant, right?”
“I think I know too. It’s a terrifying plant that lures people with shiny jewels!”
Nicasia and Monica said with sparkling eyes.
It’s kind of cute.
“Murmur wants to say no.”
“Ah, no? But those are shiny jewels, right?”
“Really? They’re incredibly shiny, right?”
“But no. In fact, if you pick or touch those jewels, something terrible will happen.”
Monica blinked and covered her mouth with both hands.
“Something really terrible…”
“What kind of thing?”
“Those jewels are actually fruits? If you eat them, you’ll get poisoned, and even if you carry them around for a long time, the hard shell will melt and release poison.”
Nicasia trembled and shook her head.
“Now I understand why Murmur said never to pick them…!”
“Yeah, so if you really want to… collect the fruits of this jewel vine, it’s better to put them in a glass bottle like this.”
I showed Nicasia and Monica how to pack the jewels into a glass bottle.
They clapped cutely.
“Murmur really knows a lot. If you put them in a glass bottle, the poison won’t seep out, right?”
“Murmur-sama is always amazing!”
“Some people freeze them to collect, but if the poison itself is the goal, packing them in a glass bottle is enough.”
I naturally packed enough jewel vine fruits to fill the glass bottle.
If I can collect herbs like this, I can make enough potions for the Empress.
I don’t feel like time is running out, as Monica and Nicasia are quietly following me.
“But… I didn’t know there were so many dangerous plants deep in the Star Shadow Forest.”
“It’s hard to think of it as a forest where you can play hide and seek with friends.”
“Right? I used to enjoy picnics with Riola in this forest during my first and second years.”
Nicasia’s old story made Monica’s eyes sparkle.
Thanks to that, I could secretly collect herbs hidden under rocks or on the backs of palm-sized bugs.
“I also played on a picnic blanket with Anna in the Star Shadow Forest once.”
“Right? I think everyone has similar experiences. But with so many dangerous plants…”
Nicasia looked anxiously at the sparkling jewel vine and expulsion flowers in the distance.
“Thanks to Murmur’s help, we’re safe… but other students might not be.”
“That’s why the guards are watching over it.”
“Wait… There aren’t any adults guarding this area, right? So we should tell Headmaster Cosmos…”
As Nicasia spoke, she suddenly grabbed my and Monica’s shoulders and hid behind her.
“Murmur! Is there a plant that smells like melted sugar? And it’s a bit fishy too!”
While talking, we ended up deep in the forest.
“Huh? Hmm…?”
Monica, blinking her golden eyes, quickly placed her hand on Nicasia’s back.
A holy light, like morning sunlight, rose from Monica’s palm.
The light gathered on Nicasia’s hand and instantly transformed into a sword made of divine power.
The fact that Monica could act so naturally meant the situation was serious.
“Murmur wants to say it’s okay.”
“O-okay? The smell is too… Ugh!”
Nicasia urgently covered her mouth with a handkerchief and looked around.
Clearly, our princess was panicking.
Suddenly, the forest air changed.
The peaceful atmosphere vanished in an instant, and the grass around us began to sway as if moved by someone’s breath.
Then, a sound like snakes slithering echoed from all directions, and the jewel vine jingled as if shaken by someone’s hand.
“Murmur knows, right?!”
“Yeah, no need to be so tense, Nicasia. I actually recommend not holding a weapon.”
“I can’t…! I have to protect Murmur and Monica!”
As soon as Nicasia’s brave words ended, a vine shot out from the ground.
By now, even Monica and I could feel the air becoming sweet and heavy.
“Gasp…!”
Nicasia, being a royal, skillfully dodged the attack. At the same time, she swung her sword and cut the vine.
Before she could even blink, another vine hanging from a tree whipped towards her arm like a whip.
Nicasia dodged this too by moving her body sharply.
“…Another wild child is disturbing the forest.”
With a voice as sweet as dripping honey, Nicasia’s arm was wrapped in a thick plant vine.
“Ugh, ugh…?!”
Nicasia suddenly couldn’t use her right arm, and as the vine wrapped around several branches, her body was half lifted into the air.
“Ah… It seems okay?”
“What, what do you mean it seems okay?! Murmur, you too! Monica, you too! If it’s okay, tell me what’s okay!”
“There’s nothing to worry about~”
Nicasia screamed pitifully, but when she saw the monster slowly walking out from the depths of the forest, her face turned pale.
“That… that thing! How is it okay!?”
“It’s okay?”
“Murmur really wants to say it’s okay.”
“Ah, how is Alraune okay!?”
Nicasia struggled to tear off the vine wrapped around her arm with her left hand.
That won’t work. It grows back as much as you tear it off.
“Sigh… This forest never has a quiet day.”
Alraune sighed and looked at us, muttering.
I, Murmur, took out a flower I had prepared for this moment from Citrine’s bag and immediately offered it.
“Murmur has a gift for you.”
“Uh… Murmur, what did you just say?”
“Hmm…?”
Nicasia and Monica were bewildered.
“Descendant of nectar… Are you speaking to me now?”
Alraune, with her emerald-green, shiny skin, covered her mouth with her rose-like hand in shock.
I, Murmur, know.
If you can just start a conversation, no one will get hurt in this event.
That’s why I asked Citrine to prepare a very common flower.
“Murmur doesn’t want to fight with Alraune. Murmur wants to be friends.”
A white freesia.
That small, cute flower was now placed on my, Murmur’s, palm.
“Oh my…”
Alraune made a strange snorting sound and released Nicasia’s arm.
“It’s a miracle to meet a humble descendant of nectar, and you can even speak our language…”
Alraune looked down at me, Murmur, with dewy eyes.
“It reminds me of the time when the first dew fell from the time dew plant…”
I, Murmur, have no intention of becoming that Demon King.
Fortunately, Alraune accepted the white freesia I offered and decorated her shoulder with it.
