Chapter 59
“Huh? This one?”
Sierra tilted her head in confusion.
But from the moment she’d mentioned summoning magic, I hadn’t been able to tear my eyes away from the rosary.
“It’s not like it’d be useful to you, Rodellia. Unless you’re a believer?”
“You said you got tricked into buying it anyway. I’ll give you back exactly what you paid.”
“I don’t mind, but…”
Sierra eyed me suspiciously.
“No take-backs later, okay?”
“Of course not.”
I sealed the deal right then and there, cradling the box with the rosary inside as if it were precious.
Sierra seemed to think I was quite the devout believer.
“But are there still items for tamers left around?”
“You can spot them occasionally at auctions or general stores. But since hardly anyone knows how to use them, recognizing their value is tough to begin with.”
“That Fairy Bloom you mentioned earlier—is that a tamer item too?”
“Ah, that’s a flower said to birth fairies. It’s the item I won at auction even while moving the hideout to the outskirts. Thanks to Glaster and me tending it diligently these past few days, we’ve gotten it to bud, but there’s no sign of growth after that.”
“Don’t tell me all that whispering between you and Glaster lately was about the Fairy Bloom?”
“Yep. Honestly, it’s basically just torturing ourselves with false hope. We managed to get it to bud with mana, but that’s as far as it goes.”
“Hmm.”
“I originally wanted to make it bloom and show it off to you, Rodellia…”
Sierra pounded her chest with her fist, looking frustrated.
“Like you said, it’s a magic flora and fauna club in name only—we don’t even have a single proper magic plant or animal. I feel so ashamed in front of our benefactor.”
She must have been pretty hurt by my earlier comment about only having Wind.
‘So I was the one who caused this after all.’
No wonder Glaster and Sierra had looked so exhausted lately—it was from pouring mana into that Fairy Bloom thing.
What am I supposed to do with these brilliant idiots?
“I never expected that much to begin with. Hoping for magic flora and fauna to thrive properly in that old hideout was greedy anyway.”
“Urgh.”
“Now that we have a new hideout, and we can get advice from the Magic Tower, let’s build it up step by step.”
I gripped her shoulder and flashed a grin, and Sierra sniffled.
“Rodelliaaa.”
The tall woman grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously.
She seems so composed at first glance, but her mental fortitude is like glass.
From what I’d heard, she’d been duped into buying quite a few items.
‘She has this sophisticated-looking face, but she gives off total pushover vibes.’
When I first saw her, her height and fierce features had intimidated me.
But once we talked, she turned out to be completely harmless, obsessed only with magic flora and fauna.
That was exactly what made her an easy target for scammers.
But now that I’m in Mazia, I won’t let her get scammed anymore!
If I solve Mazia’s headaches, Edwin’s chances of going dark should decrease too.
“So where did you put the Fairy Bloom?”
“It’s stored at our house for now. Should I bring it?”
“Were you planning to keep it all to yourself? I was thinking of filling that empty mini-house with magic plants.”
I gestured toward the mini-house taking up one whole wall.
I’d already arranged with Eden to get magic plant seedlings if things went well.
Of course, since it wasn’t certain yet if I had talent as a tamer, I hadn’t told Sierra separately.
I didn’t want to see her get her hopes up only to be disappointed—that would break my heart.
“And it might be fake anyway. It’s weird that it hasn’t grown despite devouring all that mana.”
“But it came with an authenticity certificate…”
“You said the rosary had one too.”
“W-Well, yeah… but this time it’s really real! I looked into it, and to fully bloom a Fairy Bloom, you need something called the Tamer’s Stone.”
“…What? You need what?”
As I suddenly showed interest, Sierra pulled up the corners of her mouth and declared triumphantly.
“The Tamer’s Stone! With that, couldn’t we even make a fairy be born?”
Her bold momentum gradually deflated. From her expression, even she wasn’t entirely sure.
She had no idea why I’d been so startled.
‘Wait, why is that coming up here?’
An unexpected clue.
But it was one I absolutely couldn’t let slip away, so I grabbed Sierra’s shoulders firmly.
“Where’s the Fairy Bloom?”
Hand it over right now!
At my ferocious glare, Sierra’s face turned pale with fright.
“Uh, uh, I can’t take it out right now. It’s absorbing a mana orb—if I pull it out midway, it might wilt.”
“A mana orb?”
“It’s a mana-charging sphere, but I modified the magic formula to apply it to plants, so I have to wait until it’s fully absorbed. I fed it this morning, so it’ll be at least ten days…”
Cold sweat beaded on Sierra’s forehead.
She must have been thrown off by my intense reaction. I pressed her pointedly, enunciating each word.
“So in ten days, you can take it out?”
“Y-Yes! Why would I lie! I’ll definitely bring it then! Pinky promise!”
Sierra extended her pinky finger with a relieved expression.
She’d probably panicked, thinking I might quit.
I relaxed my frown and leaned back against the sofa.
‘Right. I can wait ten days.’
Honestly, just getting a lead was something to be grateful for.
If, thanks to this, I could make something bloom from the Tamer’s Stone.
Then I could help Daven, who’s fallen into an eternal sleep he might never wake from.
And Alferen wouldn’t have to suffer anymore.
That thought somehow filled me with energy.
“So tell me everything you know about the Tamer’s Stone.”
At my enthusiastic response, Sierra lit up and chattered away.
“I don’t know it all precisely, but I learned about it while researching Fairy Blooms. A Fairy Bloom is like a pot used when a tamer first awakens and makes a contract. In short, it’s like fertile soil for summoning a fairy.”
“If the Fairy Bloom is the good soil, then the Tamer’s Stone is the seed?”
“Exactly! Once it accumulates a certain amount of mana and the bud fully opens, a space forms inside where you can place the Tamer’s Stone. Put the stone in, and there’s a high chance a fairy will be born!”
“But you said it’s something used when a tamer first awakens. How were you planning to bloom the Fairy Bloom without a tamer?”
“Ugh.”
Sierra averted her eyes, as if I’d hit the nail on the head.
“You’re right. Even with good soil and a seed, it’s useless without someone to ‘plant’ it.”
“And that ‘planter’ is the tamer?”
“Yes. Only someone beloved by nature can become the true master of a Fairy Bloom. Sigh, Glaster and I were so devastated when we found out later. We’re looking for a workaround, but…”
“You must have thought you’d been tricked again?”
“Yeah. In the end, whether it’s magic plants or animals, only the vanished tamers can directly summon or bloom them.”
Sierra wore a genuinely heartbroken expression.
As if lamenting why she’d been born a mage, unable to raise magic flora and fauna.
“I almost want to tell the Magic Tower to just buy the seedlings? Once they’re already bloomed, anyone can raise magic plants—even without being a tamer.”
“Then why not sell them?”
“It’s not that easy. Magic plants are rare species, so only people who’ve passed the Magic Tower’s approved tests can raise them. I was confident about the test, but it’s way harder than I thought—I’ve failed every time.”
Huh. Eden said he’d just give them to me?
More precisely, if I turned out to be a tamer.
‘Well, if I’m a tamer, the Magic Tower’s permit probably wouldn’t matter anyway.’
A walking tamer—they’d probably beg me to come to the Tower and bloom the remaining seeds and hatch the eggs.
