456 - The Enomena Pot
It seems I can go out to the back garden, so I decided to try going out there every day. Even once I'm in the back garden, about all I can do is play with Kokumaro, the black Shiba, but going out every day lets me clearly see the changing of the seasons. Little by little, the snow melts and the ground becomes visible.
As I was playing with Kokumaro using a wooden plate as a frisbee, the way I used to play in the capital, Bart came over carrying two empty pots. The pots in Bart's hands looked familiar.
...Aren't those my pots?
I waited for Bart to approach while taking the wooden plate from Kokumaro, wondering what he was going to do with my pots. Noticing my gaze fixed on the pots, Bart raised them up, one in each hand.
"There were Enomena bulbs among the luggage you brought back, Tina-sama."
Apparently, thinking I might say I wanted to grow them, he'd brought out the pots I'd brought back from the capital two years ago. Come to think of it, before I was kidnapped, I think I'd planned to try growing Enomena in these pots.
"You remembered them. ...But did I really bring back Enomena bulbs?"
I thought I'd only brought back the pots from the capital, but then I considered it and remembered. For the two years I was kidnapped, most of what I know about that time is only as stories I've heard from others. So there isn't much I can recall naturally, but if I supposedly brought something back from somewhere, it could have been from the neighboring country where I'd been kidnapped.
"You said you'd take care of them yourself, Tina-sama..."
"Hmm? Ah, I remember now. I think they were in my bag."
My memory of other things is fuzzy after being startled by that jar of instant cocoa that appeared regardless of capacity and volume, but that mysterious spirit bag did have a few other items inside. One of them was a small, unadorned pouch, and inside it were some kind of bulbs. I couldn't tell what flowers would bloom just from looking at the bulbs, but Bart apparently knew what they were. It seemed he thought they were bulbs I'd prepared for the purpose of growing Enomena, as I'd said I would.
"...But weren't Enomena bulbs supposed to be planted in autumn?"
It was already early spring. Wouldn't it be too late to plant Enomena?
"Enomena planted in autumn grow strong over the winter, but they'll bloom even if you plant them in spring, you know."
Hearing from Bart that it was fine to plant them in spring, I cut my playtime with Kokumaro short and went back inside the residence. Kokumaro looked a little dissatisfied, but I wanted to plant the bulbs while I still remembered. Even a bulb, having been born a bulb, should want to be planted in soil and bloom.
I had one of the two pots filled with soil, and following Bart's example, I planted the Enomena bulb. Bart said it would bloom even planted in spring, but it was still cold outside. Since I'd planted it in a pot that was even small enough for me to carry, I decided to grow the Enomena pot inside a warm room.
"...So anyway, today I planted an Enomena bulb."
Greeting Leonardo when he came home at night, I reported on the day's progress. I could now do step-ups for three minutes at a time with breaks in between, and I'd played a lot with Kokumaro in the back garden too. I'd decided to grow the Enomena bulb I'd just planted in my room, but for tonight I'd left it in the living room to show Leonardo. It was just a bulb I'd planted in a pot I'd had prepared, but I puffed out my chest and pulled Leonardo's arm. It was like submitting proof that I'd gone outside to the back garden today too.
"I was just thinking of a name for it right now."
Flowers bloom beautifully when you pour love into them. I don't know if it's superstition or if there's a scientific basis, but it's something I often heard in my previous life. Since I was growing a flower myself, I thought I'd give the bulb a name to get motivated, but for some reason Leonardo made a sour face. I can't imagine he'd be fed up with me now for doing something childish like naming a bulb, so it felt strange.
"...Is something wrong?"
"No, I'm just a little worried about what Camille said he'd improved."
"Can Camille do things like breed flowers? I heard he's a reincarnator who studies magic, though...?"
When it comes to flower breeding, I figured he'd probably improved the appearance or ease of growing, like increasing the number of petals or making them more resistant to heat and cold. Since he gave it to me when I looked about eleven or twelve, maybe it was a strong bulb that could grow even if a child forgot to water it a little. That was about the extent of what I was thinking, but Leonardo seemed to be growing troubled. The words he muttered along with a sigh, saying it was typical of Camille, carried a somewhat gloomy air.
"...With Camille, I wouldn't be surprised if a spirit came out of it."
"I would be surprised by that."
I rolled my eyes at him saying that with a straight face, but then replied that if a spirit really did come out, it might be cute, at which point Leonardo warned me not to name the bulb. If it's just his imagination that's fine, but if a spirit really did come out of it, it could cause problems, he said.
"The Divine King told us not to name spirits carelessly. Apparently it's one of the proper ways to interact with spirits."
Leonardo, who apparently encountered the Divine King during a period I don't remember, said the Divine King had told him all sorts of things about how to deal with spirits. I'd understand if he told me, but I wondered why he'd tell Leonardo instead. That part bothers me, but I had no idea where the person I wanted to throw my questions at was, nor when I'd next be able to meet him, so I set aside the questions that arose. Actually, forget about when I'd meet him, under normal circumstances you wouldn't encounter such a being at all. Dwelling on questions about the Divine King is probably a waste of energy.
According to the Divine King, if you name a spirit, a contract is formed between that spirit and the person who named it. As compensation for the spirit granting the human's wishes, apparently the human also has to fulfill the spirit's wishes. If it's a promise between people, we can understand and predict what the other person will demand to some extent, and if something's impossible, we can negotiate a compromise.
But when it comes to spirits, the concept of negotiation doesn't exist.
Since humans and spirits think and feel completely differently, retaliation begins the moment you break a promise. Even negotiations to lower demands to an achievable level are judged as a breach of promise by spirits.
Since we can't know in advance what kind of demands a spirit will make, it's better not to enter into any contracts with them at all. If you want to borrow the power of spirits, the safest method is to guide them into acting on their own initiative.
"So that's why I don't want you to name the bulb."
"It's just an ordinary flower bulb, right? Just one that's been slightly improved?"
I felt like he might be worrying a bit too much. I thought so, but Leonardo had such a serious look on his face that I swallowed my objection. I'd already caused him so much worry after being kidnapped for two years. I didn't want to add any more worry, no matter how small, so if it would put Leonardo's mind at ease, I decided not to name the bulb.
...I wouldn't want Leonardo-san to go bald from worrying too much, either.
The bulb, now destined to be grown indoors, sprouted in about ten days. I don't know if it's because the room is warm, or if Enomena normally sprouts in about that time, but either way, it made me happy. Bart told me to be careful not to overwater it, so I checked if the soil seemed dry and gave it a little water now and then. Apparently plants can die from too much care too.
"...It's not growing very fast, is it?"
I was thrilled when it sprouted, but even after two days passed, and then three, the size of the sprout didn't change. Wondering if that was normal, I peeked at the Enomena Bart was growing in the back garden, and that one was growing steadily. It seemed to have been sleeping underground during the winter, but its growth was really rapid since spring came.
...Was it because I planted it too late?
The timing of sprouting was almost the same, but the growth rate of the Enomena I was growing in my room and the Enomena growing in the back garden was clearly different. You'd think the Enomena growing in the warm indoors would grow faster, but after seven days passed since I started noticing the difference in growth between inside and outside, my Enomena remained a sprout.
...If it's just growing slowly, that's fine.
But when it's this slow to grow, what Leonardo said starts to bother me. This Enomena bulb was an improved variety made by a reincarnator who studies magic. Just as Leonardo feared, maybe there really is something to it.
It's short, but it feels like a good stopping point, so I'll end here.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.