[V1C1] A Witch Devoured by Peas

Cyril Ashley, the heir of House Highown, along with the Silent Witch Monica Everett and the Thorn Witch Raul Roseberg, stood before a towering mass of pea pods.

The green mass had intertwined vines as thick as human arms, resembling a tree that had grown for several centuries. While the trio stood in astonishment, the plants continued to rapidly extend their vines, growing both in thickness and height.

To reiterate, these were supposed to be pea plants.

Gazing at the wriggling mass in front of them, Cyril spoke in a stern voice.

“…Lord Roseberg, there’s something I’d like to inquire about.”

“Come on, don’t be so formal. Just call me Raul.”

Even in this situation, Raul laughed cheerfully. Cyril gave him a sharp glare and sarcastically corrected himself.

“Very well, Thorn Witch-dono. When imbuing mana into plants, weren’t there supposed to be prescribed limits that you should not exceed?”

The pea plants in front of them had rapidly grown from just a few seeds a short while ago.

Originally, they were ordinary pea seeds, nothing special at all.

However, as soon as they were planted in the soil mixed with the Thorn Witch’s homemade growth-promoting fertilizer, the seeds sprouted instantly. They had grown into the size they were now, practically in the blink of eye.

Beside Raul, the pale, trembling Monica offered her opinion.

“P-Perhaps, there was a mistake in the amount of mana applied to the fertilizer…”

The creator of the fertilizer, Raul, remained carefree in stark contrast to the dumbfounded Cyril and pale Monica.

“Man, they grew splendidly.”

“What’s splendid about it? There’s hardly a trace of the peas left!”

As Cyril retorted, Raul pointed to the pods hanging from the vines.

“Looks like peas to me. See, there are even proper peas hanging here.”

Indeed, there were plump peas tightly packed into the pods hanging from the vines. While the shape undoubtedly resembled pea pods, the uncanny size made them unrecognizable.

Peas as large as a human head on pods the size of humans. Cyril, with his delicate sensibilities, couldn’t fathom calling those peas.

Before Cyril could retort to Raul, Monica spoke with teary eyes.

“I-I-I’m so sorry! Surely, I made some mistake…!”

“Wait a minute,” Raul interrupted Monica, taking out a bundle of papers from his pocket.

Written on them was the recipe for the fertilizer concocted for these pea pods. There were no mistakes in the numbers, as Monica had recalculated them several times.

Indeed, there were no mistakes in the numbers written here… However, the man who concocted the fertilizer based on these values tapped his own forehead and explained.

“Oops, I misread the decimal point.”

“So this is all your fault!!?”

Cyril’s angry shout echoed under the clear autumn sky.

＊　＊　＊

House Highown was sponsoring the magical imbuement research of the Thorn Witch and the Silent Witch, specifically, a study in enchanting crops with mana. This groundbreaking study aimed to create varieties that could thrive in cold climates and infertile soils.

Broadly speaking, there were two main methods to imbue plants with mana.

One method involved directly infusing mana into fully grown plants, while the other entailed imbuing mana into the fertilizers instead.

Given their goal of widespread adoption, it’s far less labor-intensive to mix mana into fertilizers than infusing each individual plant with mana. Therefore, they focused their research on the method of enchanting fertilizers.

However, imbuing mana into fertilizers would likely affect the original soil too. One misstep could lead to turning an entire field barren and infertile.

Hence, they set up a field deep in the mountains for conducting research on magically enhanced fertilizers. This location was a great distance away from the other settlements of the Highown Territory.

Improving plant varieties required vast amounts of time, money, and patience. Even the collaboration of two of the Seven Sages, who stand at the pinnacle of the country’s magicians, wouldn’t change this fact.

Moreover, magical empowerment of plants and fertilizers was heavily regulated in the Ridill Kingdom, necessitating that they proceed with utmost care.

Infusing plants with more mana than a specified limit was especially forbidden.

In other words…

“We can’t let this be discovered. Gotta do something about it before anyone finds out!”

In a tone resembling that of a mischievous boy trying to cover up his prank, Raul prompted Cyril, who fixed him with an icy stare.

“…You’ll take responsibility for this, won’t you, Lord Roseberg?”

“Hmm. I didn’t bring any herbicide today. How about burning it all at once with Monica’s magic?”

As Raul suggested this, Monica shook her head vigorously.

“Using fire magic here could lead to a forest fire, so… I think it’s better to sever it with wind or ice magic. After that, use earth magic to check the magical contamination level in the soil…”

Before Monica finished speaking, her figure vanished from Cyril’s sight.

“Kyaaaaahhhhh!?”

Monica’s scream echoed from high above. When Cyril looked up in shock, he saw Monica entangled in the vines of the peas, swinging back and forth.

Thinking quickly, Cyril chanted and conjured an ice spear at his fingertips. His intention was to cut the vines restraining Monica. However, the vines binding Monica swayed unpredictably, making it challenging to aim. There was a risk of the ice spear accidentally hitting Monica.

Frustrated at his inability to aim, Cyril clicked his tongue. In response, Raul covered his mouth with both hands and called out to Monica.

“Hey, Monica! You can easily handle it with chantless magic, right? I’ll catch you down here, so come on down!”

Raul’s suggestion made sense. Monica was the only user of chantless magic in the country. It should be a piece of cake for her to cut through the vines restraining her.

…However, Monica simply kept swinging back and forth, crying out in a voice that sounded on the verge of tears.

“…F-For some reason, my magic won’t activate…! Eek, nooo! Let me gooo!”

Monica screamed as she was dragged towards the mass of pea pods. She flailed her limbs, but such meager resistance proved futile. Her small body was dragged right into the middle of it all.

Her outstretched hand, reaching out for help, was covered by the green vines and disappeared from sight.

Simultaneously with Monica’s complete absorption into the pea plants, the pods swelled rapidly, and peas burst out from within.

Each pea was each about the size of a human head, and they flew with great force. A direct hit would not end well.

Cyril instinctively erected a defensive barrier, blocking the direct assault of the peas. However, his relief at repelling the attack was short-lived. Now, the peas that had fallen to the ground were shaking and beginning to sprout.

As the vines energetically extended with a squirming motion, Cyril grimaced.

“…What kind of spell did you put on those peas? Was it not a simple growth enchantment?”

“Yeah, actually, I added a mana absorption effect too. When you mix mana-infused fertilizer into the soil, the land becomes contaminated with mana, right? So, I thought it would be revolutionary to incorporate a formula for absorbing the surrounding mana into those seeds.”

Cyril knew that Raul could make plants capable of absorbing mana.

During their operation to immobilize the Barrier Mage, Raul had prepared flowers to absorb his mana.

Those flowers depleted the mana of the Barrier Mage in about thirty minutes, but these out-of-control peas, enhanced by the fertilizer, seemed to be on a different scale.

Perhaps Monica failed to use magic because the vines absorbed a large amount of her mana when they caught her.

(She had only been caught for a few seconds though…! We’ll have no way to resist once we’re captured!!)

The plants were attempting further growth after absorbing Monica’s mana. Vines extended from the burst peas, entwining around the original vines and making the mass even more dense.

“Just one decimal point mistake in the fertilizer, and this happens…”

This was a reminder of how dangerous magical imbuement research could be.

However, as Cyril stood dumbfounded in despair, Raul shook his head and said, “That’s not it.”

Putting a majestic expression on the beautiful face said to have been inherited from his predecessors, the Thorn Witch powerfully declared.

“I misread the decimal point by two places!”

These were the words of one of the Seven Sages, the pinnacle of the country’s magicians.

Cyril thought to himself, in all seriousness, that Monica had every right to be angry after immersing herself in fertilizer calculations for days.

Q: Wasn’t Raul studying abroad in the Empire?

A: “In a bit! I’m still in the preparation phase!”

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