769 Flower Garden (1/2)

There was an endless flower garden underneath the bright sun. However, unlike a natural flower garden, the flowers here were incredibly varied to the point of being uncountable. The most common types of flowers here were thorny flowers.

LIvely red roses, elegant white lilies, mysterious purple tulips, and all sorts of other flowers with different blossoming seasons were all simultaneously blooming here despite that being quite unreasonable.

Hundreds of different flowers' fragrances all mixed together. However, this didn't smell bad at all. Instead, just like in a cocktail, all the scents helped each other out. Just by standing at the edge of the flower garden, you would feel really refreshed and energized by the wonderful flower aromas washing over you.

A green-haired woman wearing a straw hat was currently busy working under the scorching sun. She was carefully watering and trimming the flowers while also chatting with them. The flowers also shook in the wind as if they wer using their own method to respond to the love and care they received.

A breeze blew past the flowers. The rustling plant sounds seemed just like a song of thanks.

The gardener saw that I had arrived, so she put down her watering can and happily waved at me.

Another breeze blew past like a prankster and sent the gardener girl's straw hat whirling into the sky. Her silky smooth long green hair flowed in the wind. She had a gentle smile filled with delight from her work. It seemed as if time had stopped at this instant.

”...Isn't there something wrong with this style? Shouldn't Amelia be planting Piranha Flowers and cursed mandragoras in a really strange garden? With such a nice appearing scene, is this the wrong story?”

”No, but there's something wrong with your head. It's rare to see this side of Mother. Don't you know what you should be saying here?”

Behind me, little Rosa suddenly used her head to press against my back. It seemed like she felt I was treating Amelia quite unfairly. But, since she wasn't tall enough, she would have pressed up against a rather awkward location if it weren't for the fact that she was on her tiptoes with an expression like she wanted to hit me.

”A lady shouldn't use high heels to kick someone else in the butt... You really are kicking me!”

I embraced little Rosa who was beginning to kick me and messed around with her hair. It was probably difficult for anyone to truly get angry with someone so cute.

Meanwhile, Amelia was already beginning to walk over. She was also holding on to a flower basket that seemed to contain fresh fruits.

This scene was completely different from what I had expected.

Wasn't Amelia injured? Wasn't she just ambushed by that bastard, Karwenz? Why did it seem like she was someone enjoying the start of a vacation?

”You're here now. Don't listen to how the young ones made it sound so serious. I merely died once.”

Died once? Merely? I was originally quite calm, but I was no longer as calm after hearing these words.

This flower garden was truly large as it was the royal garden of the Forest of Dreams. I never expected that I would even see a mansion and swimming pool within a flower garden. Judging from the weathering on the wooden mansion, this place was at least seven or eight years old... And there was even a kindergarten with all sorts of toys and playgrounds. I doubted that Amelia had such a secret interest, so this meant...

”...What are you thinking? All of this is for our newly born younger sisters. Rosa definitely doesn't need a swing or a slide! Rosa hates sand pits the most! They always get my clothes dirty,” Rosa exclaimed from my side.

Alright then, Rosa truly needed to learn more from her older sisters. She basically told me what this was without me needing to ask. It seemed like this was similar to a daycare for the newborn wood spirits. Perhaps this place could also be called the home of Amelia and the Seven Virtues.

”The royal palaces outside? Those are just to show outsiders. Of course we'd invite Father into our own home.”

Little Rosa proudly explained things to me because she could tell what I was wondering about.

Indeed, this seemed more like Amelia's style.

”Where are the other Virtues? Don't tell me that they're all busy. Apart from Samantha, your oldest sister, the other brats don't have permanent jobs, right?”

Outsiders would never be able to understand wood spirit society. The first three Virtues had been born before receiving my ”blessings”, so they were relatively more normal, especially ”Temperance” Samantha, who was ridiculously disciplined and hardworking.

The latter four Virtues had probably received too many blessings from me, making them slightly more individualistic... Fine, I admit that they had slightly strong personalities, but at the very least, they were all good children... Fine, I was lying as it would be quite difficult by any standard for them to be good children, but at the very least, they were all really cute!

Yep, that's right, cuteness was justice! A cute child being naughty would be only a slight headache, while an uncute child being naughty would be tied to a rocket.

What? Were there no children who weren't naughty? Um, I felt like there would be no meaning in having a cute child who wasn't naughty.

Indeed, the wood spirits were all really cute. If I really did see a wood spirit being all proper, I would try to think of ways to liven the atmosphere and get her to smile. For instance, I recently purchased a potion from Olivia which was capable of corroding fiber-based clothing. This potion was truly effective at causing clothing to instantly evaporate. Unfortunately, the wood spirits were all really flat-chested, so there wasn't much to look at.

Still, the wood spirits were becoming more and more on guard against me, maybe because I was in a good mood recently with lots of free time, which meant ample opportunities to play jokes on them. Apart from Rosa, who was stupider than her other sisters, most of the other Virtues had hardly appeared in front of me at all.

The only other exception amongst the Virtues who often appeared in front of me was Samantha, who was also the current leader of the wood spirits. However, she was far too much of the serious type who also constantly lectured me. I felt like there would be no point in even trying to joke around with her.

I once again messed up Rosa's braids that she just fixed, teasing her to the point where she used her tiny fists and feet against me. I then really enjoyed myself as I looked down on her with the advantage of my height. I laughed out loud in delight at seeing how she was becoming sadder and sadder.

”It's fine as long as I'm taller than you. It really was a wise decision to eat Dusk Fruits so that I could grow taller.”

Rosa instantly burst into tears and kept hitting me with her tiny fists, yet I kept laughing even louder in delight, treating her hits as nothing more than a massage.

”...You really are just like a child who never grows up.”

Meanwhile, Amelia had finished making me a fruit salad and brought it to me.

The fruit salad was made from fresh fruits which seemed quite normal. Apples, oranges, bananas... and Harloys' favorite eggplants.

Since I mentioned Harloys, I now found it rather strange that I couldn't see any of her clones anywhere in this flower garden. I actually felt unaccustomed to not having my personal professional commentator with me.

”My clones were all killed by this woman in front of you! Aaah! Another Piranha Flower! Can't she at least change it up? This clone is about to die as well… Amelia! Changing things up doesn't mean to change to tentacles! Let go of me! You're not Beifeng, so why would you be interested in cats…”

Oh, so that was what was going on. Let us thank Harloys for always providing us with her professional commentating, and mourn her sacrificed clone #107 for one second. Now then, let us once again focus on what was important in front of us.

”…How did Karwenz come for you? Weren't you with the humans?”

Amelia was a high-ranking member of the human allied army. She was both Bardi royalty and a member of the Truth Symposium, which allowed her to act like a lubricant between Bardi and the Mage Country, making her naturally indispensable to the human alliance.

Even if I shirked my responsibilities with the human alliance and ran off, she shouldn't have been able to leave. Amelia should have been currently working hard on the northern battlefront, so why had she appeared in front of me? Also, what did she mean by saying that she had ”died once”?