The Bartels flower was a very common cash crop in the Asura Kingdom. Shaped like lavender with pale purple blossoms, it could be eaten directly and required only minimal management to grow, not needing much effort. Thanks to its fragrance, it was generally processed into spices and sent to the capital, where it was made into various perfumes in workshops and distributed throughout the country.
Buena Village was one such village that primarily subsisted on wheat and Bartels flowers.
At the edge of the forest, three figures, one large and two small, moved through a dense field of Bartels flowers.
"How much longer, Sylph?"
Sylphie pushed aside a purple cluster of flowers and glanced at Rudeus beside her.
"The tower is quite far from the village... It'll take another hour..."
Rudeus looked at her in surprise.
"It's that far? Why does your father still have you bring him food? Couldn't he just make something himself in the morning and take it with him?"
Sylphie answered in a low voice.
"The rotation at the tower... because there aren't enough people, my father usually stays there for five whole days at a time. He can't prepare that much food..."
"Ah, I see. No wonder you brought a basket of bread. Is this for the whole day?"
Sylphie nodded.
Behind them, Allen was plucking clusters of flowers from the swaying purple sea, crushing them in his palm, and clutching the seeds in his hand. Without looking up, he asked.
"But the bread in the basket can't be eaten anymore, right? Is it okay for us to go empty-handed?"
Rudeus paused at his words and turned to look at Sylphie, his face showing some uncertainty. She tilted her head back to look at Allen, her eyelashes fluttering in the wind.
"Father can go hunting. Before, when the food got dirty and there was no time to make more, he would do that... But if he's unlucky and there are no rabbits or anything nearby... he might still go hungry."
"I see..."
Allen fiddled with the seeds in his hand and glanced at the nearby forest.
"An hour's journey is enough time. By the way, is the tower tall? Is it easy to spot?"
Rudeus blinked, not knowing why Allen was asking this, but he answered honestly.
"I heard my father say it's three meters high, with a net around it to protect against monsters. It should be very recognizable," Rudeus said.
Allen smiled. He stopped walking and looked at the two small, confused figures in front of him. "Then you two go on ahead. There's still time. I'll go get some food."
An hour later, at the edge of the forest.
Who is this handsome guy?
Rudeus stared at the handsome, golden-haired elf with pointed ears on the tower. He was stunned for a moment, then proceeded with his prepared apology. "Hello, I've come to apologize. We accidentally got your lunch dirty. Please don't blame Sylph."
On the tower, Sylphie's father, Rolls, looked at Rudeus, then at the silent, head-down Sylphie, not paying any mind to whether Rudeus had mispronounced her name. "Luffy, did you get bullied again today?"
Sylphie's body stiffened. She stammered, "No, Father. Someone helped me today. It's just... I accidentally got the lunch dirty again... I'm sorry, Father."
Rolls sighed, a hint of helplessness in his serious expression. "...It's like that again, isn't it... It must be hard on you, Luffy. Maybe it would be better to have your mother bring it from now on?"
"No, I can do it..."
"Then if you get bullied again, you have to tell me, okay? I'll get justice for you. Don't make up lies about getting it dirty yourself anymore, alright?"
"Okay."
Rudeus watched their interaction and blinked. 'Luffy'... I wonder if Sylphie's arms and legs can stretch? Uh... getting off topic. So Luffy is his nickname for her. It sounds quite affectionate.
Rolls turned to look at Rudeus. The latter gave a standard ninety-degree bow. "Actually, it wasn't Luffy who got the lunch dirty. It was... I accidentally dirtied it while trying to help him. I'm sorry."
'Allen isn't back yet... damn it, that guy must have predicted this situation. And he said he was going to find some food... what a sly old fox. Eh, since I'm his friend, I'll take responsibility for him! Uh... speaking of which, now this family has another child besides Paul...'
"You children are all so sensible," Rolls said. "You don't have to keep taking the blame. I know it was those kids from the village who threw the mud. The fact that you helped her already shows your kindness. As for the lunch, it's not important. What's your name?"
"Nice to meet you, my name is Ru—"
Just as Rudeus was about to introduce himself, Rolls's expression darkened. He then stiffened as if electrocuted, drew his bow, and fired an arrow.
The arrow shot out like a meteor, whistling through the air towards the nearby forest!
But the next moment, the whistling sound of the arrow stopped abruptly. The gloomy forest, like a lurking beast in the shadows, silently swallowed the arrow.
Rolls's face turned grim. He said quickly, "You two, hurry back to the village and notify the knight to come—"
But halfway through his sentence, his eyes widened in shock, staring at where the arrow had disappeared. Rudeus and Sylphie followed his gaze.
A huge, boar-shaped shadow was slowly approaching the tower where the three of them were. Sylphie instinctively covered her mouth and was about to turn and run back to the village as her father had said, but she was pulled back by Rudeus. She turned around in a panic and saw Rudeus looking somewhat impressed, gesturing with his chin for her to look again.
Sylphie blinked and looked towards where the monster had come from.
It wasn't a monster. No, wait, it was a monster. But not a living one.
A human figure was faintly visible in front of the monster, breaking through the gloomy forest. The light and shadow from the forest canopy flowed around him. He was dragging the Finisher Boar by its massive tusk with one hand and holding an arrow in the other. Under Sylphie's cute, wide-eyed, hand-covered-mouth gaze, he walked to the base of the tower.
"Since there's no bread, let's have pork for lunch."
Allen tossed the Finisher Boar's corpse in front of the three of them like a piece of trash and casually handed the arrow back to the stunned Rolls, who had jumped down from the tower.
Then he clapped his hands.
"Time to taste my cooking."
After his grand entrance, Allen still had to sincerely ask Rudeus to use his magic to start a fire and create water. By the time the aroma of grilled meat filled the air, another hour had passed.
Rudeus had used his magic—Water Cannon—to wash away all the blood from the slaughtered monster. A shallow, clear stream still flowed on the ground. The four of them were gathered around a platform made of earth magic, with simple tables and chairs also made from earth magic. There was also a simple grill.
However, strictly speaking, it seemed like Rudeus was the one doing the cooking. Allen was only responsible for cutting, skewering, and turning the meat.
But Rudeus was enjoying himself.
This felt like a picnic BBQ on a river, reminding him of his past life. Back then, he had no friends to go on picnics with, but now, in another world, he was realizing it in a slightly strange way.
Although his friends now were just two children, it still felt good.
"I didn't know Bartels flower seeds could be used as a seasoning like this. It's delicious~"
Rudeus let out a content groan. Rolls, on the other hand, wasn't very interested in the food. He was just looking at Allen with an appreciative gaze.
"I didn't expect you to be the swordsmanship teacher for Rudy that Paul mentioned. You're so young... It's great that you two could become friends with Luffy. I hope you'll look out for Luffy in the future... Also, this child's hair color is just a bit of an ancestral throwback. Please don't look at her with strange eyes..."
"Don't worry, Uncle. Sylphie is our friend. Of course."
As he spoke, Sylphie's cute, pointed ears twitched. She looked up silently at Allen. On the leaf in front of her was a small mountain of perfectly grilled meat slices.
Allen turned to look at Rudeus.
The latter had his mouth stuffed full of grilled meat, with no time to spare for his future first wife.
Allen sighed silently. In front of Sylphie's flustered expression, he added another piece of meat to the top of the mountain on her leaf.
Looking at Rudy, even though Sylphie hasn't cut her hair short at this point, he still doesn't think she's a girl. Otherwise, he wouldn't be reacting like this... On second thought, maybe there's no need to deliberately set them up. Letting things develop naturally is fine. A slow, innocent childhood romance is also nice.
Sylphie's main role in the story... is to introduce a new character, Ariel, to prepare for the subsequent Asura Kingdom succession war plotline. Although White Mama is cute and likable, overall, she's just a plot device. Her other roles seem to be just... just...
Uh... curing Rudy's erectile dysfunction, ensuring the hardware for his harem is complete? And silently maintaining harmony in the harem?? Her child has nothing to do with the savior, either. Has a world where the childhood friend loses been born?
At this thought, Allen looked pitifully at the young version of the losing childhood friend and added another piece of grilled meat to her plate.
The latter's eyes widened.
"A-Allen... I... I really can't eat anymore."
"You can."
Allen raised an eyebrow at Sylphie. She trembled, then stuffed the grilled meat into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out like a small animal's. She blinked at him.
"I... I ate it."
"Good girl~"
Rolls just quietly watched the children's reactions, a smile on his lips.
Though, strictly speaking, there was only one child among the four of them...
After the meal, Allen took a piece of hide from the Finisher Boar and gave the rest to Rolls.
The three of them returned to the hill from before. In that short time, many children had gathered on the hill to play. Upon seeing Allen from a distance, a small boy let out a terrified scream, and the crowd scattered as if fleeing the plague. Allen slowly walked to the tree and, with his sword, casually carved a few words into it.
Rudy, Sylphie, and Allen's Territory.Condition for entry:Kowtow to Sylphie three times.- Allen
Allen, suddenly feeling playful, nodded with satisfaction. He then turned to look at Rudeus, but found that his expression was a bit off.
Rudeus was clutching his stomach, his face a bit pale.
He looked at Sylphie in surprise. Her forehead was covered in sweat, but when she realized Allen was looking at her, she still looked up and managed a smile.
Then she collapsed neatly onto the ground.
"Sylph!"
Rudeus reached out to help Sylphie, but as he took a step, his legs gave out, and he also fell to the ground. As he fell, he seemed to remember something. He looked with disbelief at Allen, who was scrambling to help Sylphie instead of him. His mind flashed back to their conversation while eating the grilled meat.
"...Bartels flower seeds have a faint toxicity, which stimulates the tongue to produce a tingling sensation. It's a perfect natural spicy seasoning... You ask about detoxification? Uh, no need to detoxify. It's not a big problem. I eat it often. It can be metabolized harmlessly by the body."'Not a... big problem...' Rudeus's eyes rolled back, and he passed out.
The conclusion was that, under Allen's careful feeding, the two had ingested too many Bartels flower seed powders, leading to acute poisoning.
Allen had used his own physical tolerance as a benchmark for these two five-year-olds. Of course, it was a big problem.
He looked very awkwardly at Zenith, who had received the news and rushed to the clinic, her face livid.
I'm sorry, Zenith. I'm sorry, Roxy... please forgive me, I really didn't mean it... Wait, if Roxy realizes that an overdose of this flower seed powder can cause fainting, will she misunderstand and think I use it for strange purposes? Hiss, good thing I won't see her for a few years.
Zenith, her face flushed, was wearing a white clinic uniform top. She gave the stiff-faced Allen an annoyed glance, but didn't scold him as he had imagined. Instead, she raised her hand and rapped her knuckles on his head.
"Don't eat food with unknown effects. If Bartels flower seeds were really fine to eat, they would have been popularized as a kitchen spice long ago. You too, you look mature, but you're still a child inside. So clumsy."
'Who's clumsy? Paul?'
The 34-year-old-in-a-child's-body's lip twitched. He looked at Zenith's newly changed skirt and pants. Even her shoes weren't the knee-high boots from this morning, but a pair of easy-to-wear short boots. He was speechless.
Zenith placed her hands on the foreheads of the two children.
"May the breath of the Goddess be a source of nourishment! Grant those in sickness the power to awaken and recover! Detoxification!"
As soon as she finished, Rudeus and Sylphie's complexions improved. Their eyelashes, both long for children, fluttered as they slept soundly.
Allen looked at their eyelashes and couldn't help but reach out...
...and grab Zenith's hand.
Under her surprised expression, Allen said with utmost sincerity.
"Please don't tell Master Paul."
Zenith blinked and looked at the tall figure that had suddenly appeared behind Allen.
"But he's right behind you—"
Of course I know that. This is just to get a magic sigil...
As he was thinking, a heavy blow suddenly landed on the back of his head. Allen's vision went black, and he fell to the ground. He struggled to look at the back of Paul, who had just appeared.
Seriously, Brother Paul, you don't have to hit a kid that hard to teach him a lesson...
As if in response to his thoughts, Zenith's panicked voice rang out in a timely manner.
"Darling! What are you doing!"
In his gradually dimming vision, Paul's hand reached out and squeezed his wife's waist hard.
"Don't worry, Allen's physique is exceptionally good. I know how to hold back. This time he made a mistake, so I'll just knock him out as a small punishment... Speaking of which, wife, I wasn't finished earlier..."
"You! Don't move... Mrs. Sorin is still outside. She's on duty at the clinic today, you—"
"I already sent her home."
'Paul, you're not human... Playing a clinic uniform fantasy and not even letting your brother watch... Is this right...?'
Darkness swallowed the entangled figures of Paul and Zenith. Allen's head slumped to the side, and he passed out.
Unlike the time he faked fainting when he first met Roxy in the forest, this time, under the tender care of Brother Paul, he was thoroughly knocked out.
A smoke-like system panel slowly materialized in the air and then dissipated.
[Detecting physical contact with Zenith. Searching for Detoxification Magic cast by Zenith within the last minute.]
[Search successful. Sigil inscribed: Intermediate Detoxification.]
[...Up until now, you've done very well~]
[Good night, Allen.]
[:)]
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