Lullaby Beneath the Beards

That’s the senior from this morning. Where is she heading?

Annette was on her way to the library when she spotted a black-haired female student walking on the opposite side of the path. She was walking towards the Academic Building.

Earlier today, a third-year student had bumped into her after the incident. When she bowed to apologise, she caught a glimpse of the student’s slightly dirty hands. She was baffled.

However, the class would begin soon, leaving her with no time to do anything.

Hmmm…

After pondering for a while, Annette decided to follow the senior student before she lost sight of her.

The black-haired student entered the Academic Building, but she kept walking until she left the building through the other exit.

I wonder if she is going to the training ground?

This side of the exit was usually the one that led to the clock tower and the Combat Training Grounds. However, the senior student turned and headed towards the opposite side of the training ground.

This is… leading to the observatory and the conservatory area.

The black-haired senior student then turned towards the conservatory and pushed the door open.

The conservatory was a large cabin fully covered in glass. Inside, there was a lot of greenery on the tables, floor, and ceiling. They were all some kind of magical plants.

Annette stood far from the conservatory and cast her far-sighted spell to observe that senior. She noticed that her eyes were red, as though she had been crying.

That senior walked to a certain spot and started tending them.

Hmmm, so she is a botany club member, I assume? That’s why she had her hands dirty? I guess I was overthinking it.

Annette continued observing the conservatory. She had never been inside the conservatory before, and she grew curious.

There were a lot of plants and flowers inside. Using a far-sighted spell, she could get a pretty good look at them even from afar.

Those are…

Annette’s mind started to scan through the book about magical plants that she had once read. Her eyes sparkled with interest.

That must be the glowing Moondrop flower! The clawing fruit next to it is… Dragonclaw! They look exactly like the ones in the book! The flying one is…. Fairyscillia! They are so colourful! Um, but they look smaller than I imagined, that’s interesting!

Annette lost herself in her fascination with the variety of magical plants inside the big conservatory, not caring about the winter air that was getting colder as time passed.

Oh, that one is the burning Fireberry! They have the fragrant Moonthyme too! Um, the rustling Whispergrass is also interesting, they rustle all the time! Oh, that’s the Witch Hazel from the other day, so they grew it here!

Some time later, the black-haired senior student pushed the door open and left the conservatory, her eyes even redder than before. She had been tending to one specific corner that Annette couldn’t properly see from her spot. Judging by her reddened eyes, it seemed that she had been crying as she tended to the plants all this time.

She decided to end her pursuit here. However, she felt curious about the plants inside the conservatory and she sneakily entered the cabin full of glass once that senior was no longer in sight.

“Wow! This is amazing!” Annette talked to herself.

The moment she came inside, she could hear sounds coming from the plants. The temperature inside was warm with some glowing or flying plants that made the whole conservatory look pretty. More importantly, to Annette’s ears, they sounded slightly different. The rustling Whispergrass was actually humming a calming song and the flying Fairyscillia were in a good mood.

She then walked down the path in the middle until she reached the end of it. As she let her curious gaze wander around her surroundings, she noticed something.

Hmmm…? This is… the Azurebeard!

“Wow, they are really swaying!”

Near where she stood, there was a dense cluster of blue flowers. The cluster swayed to the right and left as though they were enjoying music. However, to her ears, they didn’t seem to be in a good mood.

“But why are they not in a good mood? Hmmm… this is the corner where that senior was. I wonder if she did something to this one.”

Annette leaned forward and closely stared at the flowers. The flowers had slender soft blue petals that gathered together in fluffy clusters at the tips of their stems. Beneath them grew dense clusters of narrow green leaves, covering much of the soil beneath the flowers.

Annette slowly swayed her body, following the flowers’ movements as she pondered what could make the flowers feel down. She then stopped after swaying to her left, as something caught her attention. Between the dense green leaves, one green leaf sprouted, looking just slightly different from the others.

To other people, they might look all the same, but to Annette’s observant eyes, the edges of the leaves looked slightly different. She then reached for it and gently separated it from the rest of the leaves.

Hmmm… This shape, this texture… I feel like I’ve seen it before…

Annette began to scan through the books she had read again in her head. When she finally remembered a page from the book, she blinked twice with a blank expression. She proceeded to move that leaf aside from the Azurebeard, revealing a group of leaves sprouting from the same spot. The expression on her face grew serious.

This is… But…

Annette gently pulled out the whole group of leaves, revealing the roots below. Despite the narrow green leaves, it had a bulbous root with some kind of face and limbs. It slowly moved like a sleeping infant and let out a very faint sob.

“A… mandrake?!” Annette’s eyes widened.

A mandrake is a poisonous magical plant, but Athenya didn’t teach anything related to poison-making or cursecraft. In other words, the existence of this particular plant here was incredibly odd.

“Why is it here?”

She shifted her gaze back to the spot where she pulled it from. Annette somehow had a bad feeling. She then began parting the Azurebeard flowers with her hands, then dug deeper into the soil beneath them.

After some time, she finally took a break and looked at what she had dug out on the floor next to her feet. She had found a dozen of them so far. Shortly after, she could hear that the mood of the Azurebeard flowers seemed to improve, and their voices finally sounded as though they were actually enjoying music.

Tap Tap!

Annette flinched the moment she heard a loud tapping sound coming from the outside of the glass door. It was a red bird pecking the glass wall of the conservatory.

She then opened the door for the bird to come inside.

“You, shorter human mage. What are you doing here?” Ferno—in his small bird form—said as he landed on Annette’s shoulder. Now that he was in his bird form, his voice wasn’t as loud.

“Um, I’m… trying to… help the Azurebeard?” said Annette as she walked back to the mandrakes she had dug out on the floor.

“Hmph! They don’t look tasty!”

“Why are you here, Fernoville?” asked Annette.

“Argh! Don’t get me started! I’m going insane because Aqua’s weeping! So I escaped.” Ferno flapped his wings in frustration.

Annette closed her eyes and flatly smiled. Of course he is, she thought.

“I need to call Miss Cynthia about this, but I can’t possibly leave these alone. Hmmm…”

As Annette pondered what to do, Ferno clapped his wings and said, “Oh! You mean the taller female human mage? Should I call her here?”

“Eh? But, um, if they see a bird in the faculty building, you’ll attract their attention.”

“I could go to Auvry then. Hah… I guess I have to go back to that chamber. Wait here, human mage.”

***

“Oh, good evening, Miss Becca! What a rare sight! What brings you here?”

It was almost dinner time and Mrs Spott, the cook, was in the middle of finishing up all of her cooking. Today's menu was beef stew with root vegetables and bread.

“I just thought I'd help you with the students’ dinner, Mrs Spott. You have been nice to me!”

“That is so kind of you!”

Both of them proceeded to move the food to the dining hall in the girls’ dormitory. Becca was in charge of moving the heavy pots of steaming hot stew with her wind magic while Mrs Spott took care of the breads.

The students slowly came as dinnertime approached. Standing next to Mrs Spott, Becca helped ladle the stew into bowls before handing them to the students.

After quite a while, out of the corner of her eye, Becca saw a girl with long black hair entering the hall, her head slightly down. It was Yolanda.

Becca’s gaze narrowed.

Finally, after two years of patiently waiting, I have permission to get rid of this worthless pest from Lord Luvan! This unsightly, disgusting disposable pawn! Lord Luvan is yours alone, you said?! Lord Luvan is not someone anyone can own!

She secretly poured a liquid from a small vial into the bowl under the serving table. As Yolanda’s turn came, she took that bowl and quickly poured much more stew into it than the others, filling it exceptionally full.

Yolanda looked up to Becca with a puzzled look.

Becca faked a sweet smile and said quietly, “It’s my consolation. Enjoy.”

Yolanda felt embarrassed. She merely thought it was because her swollen face was just that apparent. She bit her lower lip and slightly bowed before she left with a slight scowl on her face.

Becca secretly watched Yolanda as she took her seat and ate her meal.

At least I thank you for getting rid of the other pest. Enjoy your last proper dinner and good night…

Becca turned towards the next student in line in a better mood and smiled.

“The beef stew today is good! Have a great meal!”