Trouble in Magnolia Gardens (pt 1)

After a long day of work, Miho finally got home. In her kitchen, she was heating her kettle, and preparing some tea. Or at least something that looked like it, everything in this world was just a little different than what she used to. With the dungeon mission finished, Miho and Hanna returned to their regular cleaning jobs. She had saved the substantial payouts from the princess and dungeon missions in the bank to fund the growth of her business. Sadly, it wasn’t enough yet…

This world sure is expensive… Miho thought when taking a bite of a cookie she bought from the baker. She needed another high-paying job soon. Miho sat down in her comfy chair, opening a little book she borrowed. One for one she compared the letters with a piece of paper she made with the help of Hanna, translating the text into one she could understand. This country used about thirty different letters, which almost perfectly translated into the English alphabet. She tried her best to get familiar with this new language, by studying it every night. A business owner needs to know how to read and write after all.

Just after Miho drank the last sip of her tea, she got interrupted by something knocking on her door.

I told Hanna not to come here again this late… I need some rest, Miho thought while yawning. She got up from her chair and walked toward the door.

“I am coming!” Miho yelled after the person knocked again.

Her hand pulled the cold door handle and she opened the door. A man was standing in the darkness before her house. Even though he looked familiar, she couldn’t immediately recall his name.

“Are you Miss Miho from the Friendshain Cleanup Company?”

Miho nodded her head.

“That is correct, are you looking for someone to clean your house?”

The man shook his head.

“I am here on behalf of the Magnolia Princess, she has requested your assistance. I will give you a lift tomorrow morning, do these plans suit you? The princess told me to say that the payout will be grand.”

We have another cleaning job scheduled already, but I am certain that we can move that. I can use a big payout…

“No problem, Hanna and I will gather at the pickup spot tomorrow morning an hour past dawn. I will alert Hanna myself.”

Miho said the driver goodbye and arranged for a replacement cleaner at her other job, paying them extra out of her pocket. She then told Hanna and went to bed. Tomorrow was going to be another big, lucrative day.

X

In a shaking cart, the girls traveled all day, arriving at the entrance gate leading to Magnolia Gardens late in the evening. The palace looked completely different though… The sign was overgrown with thorny branches. In fact, the whole garden had been consumed by a dark forest Dark trees, covered with pointy vines had sprung up everywhere, replacing the beautiful garden that used to be there. The forest was so dense that it hid the palace completely. In shock, the girls stared at it in fear, overwhelmed by the rapid change.

This must be due to a powerful type of magic, a gigantic tree like that cannot grow this fast…

The driver lit an oil lamp, as they entered the dark driveway that was now a tunnel covered by a thick arch made of ominous-looking vegetation.

“What in the world happened here?” Miho asked the driver, while a scared Hanna clung to Miho’s arm.

“Nobody knows, we can only guess. Only thing I know is that it started growing just after you two left. The gardeners tried their best to keep it under control, but their attempts soon proved futile. In fact, the trees seemed to grow visibly when they were watching them.

How are we ever supposed to fix this situation? The dazzled Miho pondered.

Slowly, the end of the dark vine tunnel came into view. The group rode toward the palace’s stable where they dismounted and waved the driver goodbye. Unlike the last time they visited, the girls were greeted by a small delegation of staff members.

A maid with brown hair, neatly tied back in a long ponytail, escorted the girls through the main entrance. The palace looked clean, and most importantly, there were no glitters. All the staff members they met on their way bowed for them.

We seem like esteemed guests…

The maid knocked on the princess’s office room. She pulled open the door, revealing the princess’s radiant smile awaiting them.

“Greetings my dearest guests, you couldn’t have come any sooner,” the princess spoke while folding her hands.

“As you might have seen, my beautiful gardens have been consumed by this wretched forest of thorns! To make it even worse, this morning my cherished cat Silverbell went missing after her morning stroll. One of my trusted attendants glimpsed her wandering off into the forest's depths. Might I implore your assistance in restoring my beloved gardens and reuniting me with my dear Silverbell?"

How in the world could we clear an entire forest with some mops?

Miho stayed silent for a second, thinking of a solution to the complex scenario, and then responded.

“Miss Princess, you know that we are just a pair of cleaners right?”

The princess nodded.

“You claimed you could cleanse anything, so why not this cursed forest?” the princess responded with a playful smirk.

“Please impress me like you did last time with that horrific glitter,” she added.

I guess the goddess told me, so there must be a possibility, Miho thought while looking at Clarice.

Miho heard a girl sopping in the chair next to her.

“Hanna, what’s going on?” she asked with compassion.

“Poor Silverbell… all alone in that evil forest… I am sorry… I can’t keep it dry,” she muttered while wiping away her tears.

“Alright, okay, we will accept the job,” Miho told the princess after she stood up from her chair.

“Let’s start brainstorming some solution,” she said while looking at Hanna, signing her to get up.

“Wait one second…”, Hanna mumbled.

“What is Silverbell’s favorite type of food, your majesty?”

The princess looked annoyed.

“What difference does that make now? Please make her return first, then we can provide her with food afterward.”

“But princess.. eh… majesty…” the humbled Hanna responded.

“I want to try to make a lure using her favorite food so we can find her back.”

The princess moved her head closer and whispered in Hanna’s ear.

“Smelly fish,” she said while her head turned red.

“Embarrassing is it not? I tried my hardest to educate her… but my attempts proved futile,” the princess added with a sigh.

Hanna smiled and got up out of her chair.

“Thank you, princess, that will be helpful,” she responded in a cheerful voice.

X

Miho and Hanna were appointed to a small meeting room equipped with a wide backboard. With a stick of white chalk, Miho started writing down some ideas: brush the trees with Clarice, transform Clarice into a saw, use some kind of magic…

Hanna lifted her hand in the air.

“Hanna?” Miho asked while continuing with writing.

“I can’t read those letters…”

Miho rubbed the back of her head.

“Alright, let me give it a shot,” Miho said after which she wiped away the text she had written. With great effort, she tried to rewrite the list in this country's letters Hanna had learned her.

“I am so proud of you Miho, you’re getting better at this, although-” Hanna paused and started laughing.

“-why would you transform Clarice into a shoe?”

“Shoe? I wrote ‘saw’, right?” Miho said while inspecting the letters with a questioning look.

“Let’s continue, what was your plan with the food for Silverbell, Hanna?”

Hanna started telling with big gestures about the lures she wanted to make to get Silverbell back.

“I will cook the smelliest of fish, trying to concentrate it by evaporating the water, and then place the lures surrounding the forest. Silverbell must smell that and come back won’t she?”

"Possibly… but I see that we might have to venture to the epicenter of this evil growth ourselves."

Hanna looked startled.

“We need to enter… that forest?”

“Yes… maybe…” Miho mumbled, she wasn’t looking forward to entering either. She had already spent a day in a dungeon the other day, enough for the coming while…

“I gather that there might be something at the center, the origin of all of this. Something that could have lured Silverbell toward it.”

“Mmm, that makes sense. An indoor cat like Silverbell wouldn’t enter a forest like that on her own. There must have been something that attracted her,” Hanna responded.

“Let’s try making the lures and putting them around the perimeter first. It will be too late to venture into the forest today, I will write a letter to arrange some reinforcements who will come to help us tomorrow.” Miho said while laying down the chalk.

The girls split, Miho went outside while Hanna entered the kitchen to start making the lures. After transforming Clarice into her brushform, she rubbed one of the thorny branches. After a couple of wipes, the branch retracted a bit.

I won’t finish this in a lifetime.

The crystal still had a bit of energy left after cleaning up the dungeon. Miho used it to transform Clarice into a gardening tool. The broom started glowing and soon changed into a magic-powered hedge trimmer. She touched the crystal and it activated, cutting away a few branches with ease.

This is fun!

But clearing an entire forest this way would take ages, assuming that the branches won’t grow back. Miho could already see small green sprouts appearing on the branches she just severed.

Meanwhile, Hanna went to the kitchen, asking the chef for some old, stinky pieces of fish. Luckily, he had just cooked a majestic fish buffet the other day, so Hanna had plenty of choice. She put the fish remains in a pot and boiled it until a concentrated broth appeared. After that, she added onions and garlic in order to enhance the smell.

Miho entered the kitchen, pinching her nose.

“I have never smelled something so terrible…” she said while coughing.

“Great, that means it works!” Hanna said while clapping her hands.

The two of them prepared a line of small plates and distributed the mixture over them. They went outside and spread the plates in a circle surrounding the palace. As the darkness settled in, the girls went inside and carefully watched the plates from the palace’s tower. Until they fell asleep…