Chapter 59: New Power

The dead sand were blown up and the miasma that swirled around the sacred tree cleared up –the barks of the sacred tree that has turned black were peeled off and it regenerated from below. The fresh barks now have a wool-like color.

The miasma that covered the entire abandoned garden disappears all at once due to the clean air emitted by the sacred tree –the blue sky becomes visible and the dazzling sunlight pours in between the white clouds that float above.

The gray land that continued to spread had stopped and it returned to its original color –in the blink of an eye, the soil of the entire garden returned to life, and the plants that had turned into monsters stopped moving.

Not all of the parts of the sacred tree have been restored. However, it regenerated much faster than I had imagined. Green buds can be seen on the branches without any leaves. Many young buds have already opened and new leaves were born.

“…Grass-nii… You formed a contract…?”

“Yes… that’s right. I was chosen by a “Plant Spirit” so I was able to make a contract with Yuserish. I never expected this to happen either.”

Her Highness’ gently separates her hand holding mine. Turning around, Her Highness fixed her dishevelled hair and after that, she also fixes my hair.

“Y-Your Highness…. I’m greatly honoured but, doing this is…”

“It’s okay. You have done so much that I can’t put it into words… At this moment, this is the only way to express my appreciation for your hard work.”

The magnificence that she always carried on her makes her look great. However, the woman in front of me is shorter than me and she is a delicate woman after all.

If she doesn’t wear armor –No. Because she has such dazzling appearance and since she was wearing a metal armor made for battle, everyone would call her as “Saint”.

“…Lendl…No, Leslie. I was impressed by your courage. For you, Grass is more important than anything right?”

“…It’s just that I’m always running around following Grass-nii. Just watching what he does gives me courage.”

Those words without pretension directly penetrated my heart. Leslie, who just referred to me as “he”, suddenly looked mature than ever. I knew that she would never remain childish. Leslie decided to follow me on her own –And at important times, she is here beside me like this.This is translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

“I am the same. Thanks to Grass, I was able to stop feeling that sense of loss that I had always felt. It’s been a long time since I felt this refreshed… No.  Since I was born, this may not have happened.”

“Your Highness’ magical power has stopped flowing out. As you are connected to the sacred tree as the “shrine maiden”, it is used for her rebirth. But…, I never thought that her rebirth would be this fast.”

“…I understand. Sacred Tree Yuserish regains divinity through “faith”. However it is not necessary that faith should be directed to Yuserish “firsthand”.”

Being a shrine maiden of the sacred tree, Her Highness is rapidly gaining knowledge of the sacred tree –Since she said that, I can think of it as a fact.

“…Grass-nii has healed many people. Everyone’s feelings towards him are the same as “faith”, which is the power of the sacred tree… Is that something like that?”

“Yes. The loyalty of the soldiers and the people to me is similar to “faith”…. But, their gratitude directed to Grass who tend and treated those injured is more precious. As much as Grass had healed everyone, the Sacred Tree is now healed as well.”

As a military doctor, I worked diligently to treat the patients in front of me –if everyone were grateful for that, nothing else would be more rewarding then.

Furthermore, if healing can lead to gaining faith for the sacred tree, by acting as a doctor, everything goes in a good track. But that alone is not a fundamental solution. In order to end the battle, we must break General Alejandro’s fighting spirit.

“…Astina-denka. If you will sneak into the enemy’s base, I…”

“Take me too. We’re not trained in combat… but if the enemy has a magician, we have to stop them.”

Leslie’s identity –Her Highness, who knows that she is an illegitimate child of Duke Lenklus, could not be able to easily give out her permission.

I can’t and shouldn’t take Leslie to the enemy’s territory. However, I couldn’t say it was no good either, remembering her firm determination and the fact that she reached out to the sacred with me…Translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

“My magic will definitely work when we sneak into the enemy’s territory. I will never be a hindrance.”

“…I would like to ask Grass to make the decision. Since the three of us arrived before the sacred tree, there is no doubt that her power is of great help.”

Even if she wore glasses, I can see that Leslie is about to cry.

―Still, she didn’t cry, I think she became stronger. However, until the mission is completed safely, I cannot pamper this younger sister of mine.

“The magic of the air can be used to cut off signs of our presence… That being the case, Leslie’s power is essential.”

“……With that said……”

“Don’t overdo it. Follow Her Highness instructions and those who accompany you… If you can do that, let’s go together.”

“Y-Yes… thank you, Grass-nii…”

Though I have a contract with the sacred tree, it would still be difficult to fight against a court magician trained in combat. I need new power. Right now, I don’t have an effective way to attack with magic –although I can stop them and seal their bows, there is no way to attack a magician.

I can just use magic for defence, and attacking is left to the magic warriors like Her Highness and Raquel-san. I thought about that approach too but, when they wield their weapons, it was almost inevitable for Noin to die.

I want to hear the truth…whether she had betrayed our country or not. If there is something invoking Noin to do so… If I could just “incapacitate them without killing”…

The moment I thought about it,

The sacred tree emits a faint light, and the light gathers on the ground. A plant that did not exist until now grows out of the heaped up soil, extended a stem and produced four large leaves.This is translated by Yume Neiji (yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com)

“This is… is this a familiar of the sacred tree…?”

It’s not one of the plants that turned into monsters –I haven’t seen it even on those picture books. Did the sacred tree summon a plant from the spirit world?

When I touch the leaf, one name comes to my mind.

“…Mandrake… is this plant for me?”

The sacred tree does not respond. As if to tell me to find the answer myself.

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