LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 96
Winterhome, Greenhouse.
Although it wasn’t exactly a concern of his, Corvus had a ton of tasks to handle inside the greenhouse since his access outside was restricted.
Managing the internal facilities of the greenhouse, which could be handled by an ordinary person.
Taking care of the numerous flora and fauna growing in the greenhouse and regulating their populations.
Watering the plants and pulling weeds, among other things.
If someone threw all that work at him alone, even the Duke of Iceland would have nothing to say, but still, Corvus had no complaints whatsoever.
He didn’t have to worry about meals like in the wild.
After all, high-quality groceries were supplied promptly.
Moreover, thanks to the overflowing stamina typical of a monster, if he lacked this much work, it would be a struggle to sleep at night.
On top of that, being cooped up in the greenhouse all day gave him plenty of time.
Corvus longed for a daily life more satisfying than anyone else in Winterhome.
It was truly a dog’s life, or rather, a monster’s life.
Aside from that, he simply had to carry out tasks assigned by his master Alfred, occasionally receiving guests who entered the greenhouse.
Just like right now.
Crash bang bang!
“Hmm, that must be Lady Alicia.”
While pulling weeds, Corvus immediately dusted off his hands and got up at the loud noise in the distance.
Having already pulled out about half of the weeds in the garden where the Fire Witch Finger grew lustfully, he figured it was about time for a break.
As he walked toward the source of the noise, Alicia, running at full speed, suddenly halted in her tracks.
“Corvus! Alicia is here!”
“Greetings, Lady Alicia. It’s good to see you again, Karem.”
Corvus scratched his beak.
Alicia’s disheveled appearance, clearly the result of her hurried run, was obvious.
Karem looked flustered, and Alicia’s hand tightly gripped something.
There was no point in saying anything.
“Lady Alicia, are you skipping your studies again?”
“Gasp! How did you know?”
“Well, just don’t take too long to return. Lady Poppins will be worried.”
After all, Corvus was not in charge of Alicia’s education, so he figured it was no concern of his and guided both of them to his nest, inviting them to sit at the table.
*
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*
Just as Alicia said, Corvus, almost as soon as Karem opened his mouth, began observing diligently with a professional air about him.
“Hmm, um. Oh. This stripe is…”
It was just a rare bright green bean with a black border that stood out.
However, contrary to Karem’s thoughts, Corvus seemed to know something, expressing interesting exclamations continuously.
Corvus rolled the bean with his claws, his dark eyes shimmering.
“May I ask how you obtained this?”
He couldn’t be completely honest, like in the case with Alicia.
After all, this was practically an item gifted by a god, and Karem couldn’t even imagine what would happen if he said that outright.
Most would probably think he was a looney. Karem knew that.
Yet, with Corvus’s urging gaze, he had no choice but to speak.
“I happened to acquire this item while visiting the estate with Sir Atanitas. Just looking at it, it clearly seemed extraordinary.”
“Oh, as expected of a cook, your eye for detail is quite remarkable.”
Fortunately, Corvus didn’t seem too curious about the specifics and understood Karem’s vague explanation perfectly.
“I never thought I’d see this like this.”
“Are you saying this is a remarkable bean?”
“Remarkable, indeed. It’s a remarkable item.”
“But how remarkable can a bean be?”
“Oh, it was a plant that was completely extinguished after the Demon King’s army destroyed the Ancient Palatino Empire, burning all of Europa and leaving behind only a few records.”
Suddenly, the stakes grew higher.
Karem blinked, hardly able to grasp the reality of Corvus’s words, and pressed for more.
“So, it was something that was significant enough to leave records?”
“Certainly, some remnants of records were found in the ruins of the Palatino Imperial Library, so it must be quite an extraordinary item.”
“Wait, is this something even more incredible than I thought?” Karem felt increasingly detached from reality.
“So, Corvus, what does this strange bean do?”
With its unusual history and records, Alicia watched the bean held at Corvus’s claw tip with great anticipation.
“I don’t know.”
Corvus boldly opened his beak.
It’s a given that the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment when they fall.
Karem and Alicia gave Corvus a cold glare as he dramatically dropped the atmosphere.
“But I really don’t know.”
“Seriously? After making us expect that much?”
“Not only me, but anyone from Europa brought here wouldn’t know either.”
“That sounds a bit exaggerated.”
“Really. The remaining records didn’t even have a name, just the appearance. It just so happened that it remained exactly like this for us to recognize.”
“Well, you could have mentioned that first.”
Why was he dragging out the explanation this much?
Karem vehemently agreed with Alicia’s words.
“This is fine here, but it lacks a bit of stimulation. Caw! Caw! Caw!”
Corvus let out a loud caw, seemingly overflowing with joy.
Karem and Alicia’s gazes turned as cold as ice, yet Corvus delighted in their reaction, cawing for some time longer.
Eventually, Corvus stopped his cawing dramatically and brought out a snack, his face full of amusement.
It was the same date and walnut roll as before.
“However, I’m serious about this. Other wizards have tried to research it, but they quickly gave up.”
While Alicia indulged in furious eating, Corvus continued with his explanations as if in defense.
“Well, that’s only natural because to study a plant, you ultimately need the actual plant, and this one is completely extinct, so how could anyone study it in Europa?”
“Considering all that, you’ve been quite specific.”
“As I mentioned earlier, if there hadn’t been an illustration that looked exactly like the real thing, I wouldn’t even have recognized it.”
“Really? It looked that identical?”
“If you’re curious, I can show you.”
“Please do.”
And with that, Corvus immediately got up from the table and went to a storage-cabin at one side of his nest, quickly returning with a large, thick tome.
“Europa Plant Encyclopedia (Tentative), Seophon Er.”
The elegant calligraphy on the cover flipped open, and Corvus silently flipped through the pages until he reached about halfway, poking it with a claw.
Then, he turned the book toward Karem and Alicia, as if to say look.
“…Huh? Is this what a picture looks like?”
Alicia gazed back and forth between the illustration and Corvus.
Karem shared the same sentiment.
What Corvus pointed to with his claw was an enlarged drawing of the bean taking up a quarter of a large page.
However, this was not just a normal picture; it looked more real than a photograph.
The painting was so lifelike that it seemed he could reach out and grab it right away.
If anything, it was odd that he wouldn’t recognize it.
Moreover, in one corner of the picture was a regular-sized drawing of the bean for size comparison.
Yet, unlike the other plant drawings that had various short notes, this bean illustration had no name, and the description box was blank.
“It’s hard to believe it’s just a simple drawing.”
“Of course, since the Druid school had been painstakingly trying to find undiscovered or extinct plants through multiple revisions of this encyclopedia, it’s only natural. I hear they replicate the original illustrations using replication magic.”
Druids.
A sub-class of wizards who cultivate nature and harness its power by communicating with plants and animals, in contrast to the Ancients.
If they are such individuals, it’s only natural they would search for such plants tirelessly.
However.
“Hmm, I still don’t feel very comfortable flipping through it.”
“Caw? The reward offered by the main school should be considerable.”
“I’m not particularly keen on money.”
As the saying goes, excessive wealth brings disaster; as mentioned earlier, Karem had no need for money at all.
In fact, with time, money only continued to pile up for him.
What he was more curious about was how he could use the bean given by the god in his cooking.
What if he could even make some fermented soybeans?
“Oh, Karem. That expression.”
“What’s wrong with my expression?”
“Your expression right now is exactly the same as when you’re having suspicious thoughts.”
“Suspicious thoughts? What are you talking about?”
“A similar expression to when you’re making that super spicy and delectably savory cabbage pickle. I can show you.”
Alicia immediately rummaged through the pocket of her dress and pulled out a smooth, neat hand mirror and held it up to Karem.
Just as the princess had said.
Karem’s face reflected in the mirror was full of anticipation.
“By the way, it’s not just spicy cabbage pickle; it’s called kimchi.”
“Kimchi. Hmm, that sounds a bit off. I’d prefer to call it cabbage pickle.”
“It’s called kimchi.”
“I’m more familiar with sauerkraut, though.”
“Ugh. Anyway, Corvus.”
If Alicia kept referring to it as spicy pickles or sauerkraut, it would clearly be something that would gnaw at his nerves each time he heard it, but that wasn’t the purpose of today’s visit.
Karem decided to push that matter aside for another time and shook his head.
“Could you please grow this bean for me?”
“Huh? You’re asking me to grow this bean with no knowledge of what season it sprouts in or what soil is suitable, aside from its appearance?”
While snapping his beak, Corvus clicked his claws.
“Why shouldn’t I? Just leave it to me.”
“Wow, you’re accepting this?”
“It just so happens that I need less work with the breeding of the Fire Witch Fingers, so I might as well try growing this in my free time.”
“Oh, is the breeding of the Fire Witch Fingers already underway?”
How long has it been since he’d already made progress?
“Well, as long as it grows a bit, all I need to do until it flowers is to remove weeds and pests, so I’m not busy yet. Crops take time to grow, after all.”
Corvus reassured Karem, who was getting ahead of himself.
“Fair enough, Corvus. Just like Lady Alicia will need plenty of time to finish studying today.”
“Studying takes time, doesn’t it…? Huh?”
A voice, high-pitched and imposing, called from behind.
Before the words ended, Karem could see Alicia jump like a rabbit spotting a tiger.
“L-Lady Poppins!”
“Indeed, Lady Alicia. You know what I’m supposed to do, don’t you?”
“W-Well, just let me finish eating this!”
Before Alicia could even scurry away like a squirrel, a tall, slender middle-aged woman emerged from behind Karem and swiftly lifted Alicia into her arms and turned toward Karem.
“Ah, could that be His Grace’s personal chef, Sir Karem?”
“Sir? That’s a bit too much praise for me.”
“Then, Sir Karem. Corvus. My apologies for the interruption.”
The atmosphere brooked no argument.
With a slight bow, Lady Poppins fluttered her dress as she moved with precise motion, flowing out of Corvus’s nest.
As Corvus watched her disappear like the wind, he soon lowered his beak toward Karem.
“I still have some regular Fire Witch Fingers and a variant that we harvested. Would you need them?”
“Oh, I would be grateful if you did.”
“I still haven’t succeeded in isolating that savory flavor. It’s quite tricky.”
“Take your time; there’s no rush. Take it slow.”
Karem gladly accepted Corvus’s gift.
By the way, where are the tomatoes? Karem felt a bit disappointed.