Warda Kseph.
It had the ordinary name of “the magician’s flower,” but unlike its name, it was an extraordinary flower.
To think it could allow an ordinary person to use dark energy. If others saw it—especially if it were brought to Earth—it was certain to cause an uproar.
“What exactly is its effect? Does it speed up awakening? Or does it find more people who would awaken? What are the odds of awakening? Can we grow more of this flower? Can it be cultivated on Earth?”
[Calm down. You don’t have to bombard me with questions like that. I’ll tell you everything.]
After my excitement had settled, Soph continued his explanation.
“First of all, both are possible. This flower can make someone destined to awaken do so sooner, and it can also turn an ordinary person into someone capable of using energy.”
If it could do both, there was nothing more I could ask for.
[To put it in Earth’s terms, I suppose you could say it alters the body so it can use dark energy. Unfortunately, the odds are not high. For us as well, it was about one in a hundred. That is why we mainly used it to aid a magician’s awakening.]
As Soph said, the probability was not high.
On this planet, where there were many magicians, it probably had not been of much help.
But Earth was different.
One percent.
That was an incredible probability.
There were only about a hundred Koreans who had come to this planet.
A hundred Koreans out of fifty million.
That was a probability of one in several hundred thousand.
If we could make fifty million doses of medicine from that flower, it meant we could bring five hundred thousand people to this planet.
At my words, Soph laughed.
[It cannot be made so easily. This flower is a magical plant. It is difficult to grow in ordinary places. It must be cultivated in a magically treated greenhouse like the bottle you are holding, or in a controlled area filled with dark energy.]
After hearing the flower’s effects, I had expected it would be difficult to grow.
It was a flower that magicians had cultivated themselves.
There was no way it would be easy to grow.
Moreover, it was a flower that required dark energy, so cultivating it on Earth was impossible.
“Can it be grown at all?”
[I have lost many memories, but I do remember how to grow this flower.]
Well, of course he would not have told me about something that could not be grown.
“A greenhouse full of energy or a controlled environment……”
If that was all it took, I knew two places that fit the description.
“The underground greenhouse in the terraforming ruins, or the underground city, should be able to do it.”
Both places had magically treated greenhouses.
Soph answered my words.
[The underground city would be better. It has a greenhouse, and controlled underground farmland is already prepared.]
It seemed Soph had already thought of a place to grow it.
At this rate, cultivation did not seem like it would be a problem.
That was a relief.
Though there was a planet called Paradise, there was a need to create shelters in multiple places.
If we had an awakening drug made from that flower, then even though the odds were low, there was a possibility I could bring my older brother to this planet as well.
The stubborn old man back home would never budge, but my brother could be persuaded.
I held the glass bottle carefully.
I had thought there was nothing in the magician’s tower, but it seemed I had obtained something truly precious.
“That’s fascinating. How did they find the subjects through blood tests? Can energy users be identified through blood?”
Now that I had obtained the “magician’s flower,” I became curious about how people had been screened on Earth.
I had come to this planet through a blood test, and so had the later party, the main party, and the Americans.
From what I had heard from the Americans, they had undergone blood tests before going to the planet called Paradise.
If so, that meant the blood test method had not been obtained from Paradise.
[It is difficult to find even with magic. To think they found it on Earth—I would like to know what method they used as well.]
“They must have used some amazing scientific technology.”
These were the Americans who had attached electronic equipment to ruins and operated a spatial movement device on Earth, where there was no dark energy.
They might have possessed some advanced science we did not know about.
With those questions stored in my mind, I used spatial movement.
I had intended to go to the terraforming ruins, but my destination had changed for now.
Fwaaah!
The new destination was the Ice Planet.
I planned to plant the flower in the underground city.
***
When I arrived on the Ice Planet, the spirit greeted me.
As soon as she saw me, she led me down to the underground city.
The underground city had changed from before.
Previously, it had looked like a dead city submerged in darkness, but now it was lively, enveloped in bright light.
Golems were moving about the city, and in the central park and the city’s various waterways, water from melted ice flowed refreshingly.
The air had changed as well.
Before, the air had been extracted by magic, so there had been no problem breathing, but it had been colorless and odorless.
Now, however, each breath felt refreshing.
This was definitely air created by plants.
Greenery could be seen around the city.
There were no large trees or anything like that.
There was not much greenery either.
But grass was clearly growing.
“That’s amazing. Grass is growing.”
I praised the spirit after seeing the sight, but she shook her head with a dejected expression.
-It was harder than I expected. I almost killed them all in the middle.
That was not what I had expected to hear.
I had not even brought any particularly amazing plants, yet she had almost killed them?
Perhaps bringing the magician’s flower here had been a mistake.
“Don’t tell me I have to take it back?”
While I was thinking that, the spirit noticed the glass bottle.
-It’s Warda Kseph!
“You know it?”
-Yes. The magicians taught me. I remember how to grow not only that flower, but all the other plants too.
“And yet you almost killed the plants I gave you?”
The question naturally came to mind, but I could not say that to the spirit, who had worked so hard.
And that was truly the right choice.
-But the plants you gave me last time were all things I had never seen before. They were different from what the magicians taught me, so they were really hard to grow.
Now that I thought about it, the trees and plants I had brought were all from Earth.
The plants she knew would all have been ones that grew on this side, so of course the cultivation methods would be different.
I praised her sincerely.
“You really worked hard.”
-Right? I really had a hard time.
I handed the glass bottle to her as she bragged like a child.
She was a spirit who had managed to raise even Earth plants she had encountered for the first time so well.
I could entrust the “magician’s flower,” whose cultivation method she knew, to her without worry.
Perhaps delighted that I had given her the flower, she ran toward the greenhouse with the glass bottle floating above her head.
Before entering the greenhouse, she turned her head and asked me.
-But how many should I plant? They grow more slowly than other plants and take a lot of work. Besides, I have to grow the other plants too, so I don’t think I can plant that many……
I answered the spirit with complete sincerity.
“As many as possible. You can cover the entire underground plaza with this flower.”
I needed a lot of flowers.
If necessary, I would not mind flattening the city and planting flowers there.
“Then we should decorate the flower beds of our city with this flower. I’ll grow them beautifully, so don’t worry.”
The answer I heard was different from what I had in mind, but as someone who did not know how to grow them, I could not criticize her.
In any case, I could leave the flowers to her without worry.
Since Soph knew how to make the medicine, the next time I came, we would likely be able to try making an awakening drug from this flower.
After promising the spirit that I would bring animals to release on the farm the next time I came, I left the Ice Planet.
This time, my original destination was the terraforming ruins.
Fwaaah.
After the light vanished, the terraforming ruins I arrived at were full of life.
It was not only the interior of the ruins that was lively.
The area around the ruins, where the sandstorm had stopped, was like an oasis in the desert.
There were even people splashing around in the small lake where water had gathered.
Several tents had been pitched around the lake and streams, and many people were living outside.
Now, there seemed to be more people outside than inside the ruins.
The expressions on people’s faces were bright as well.
The hunting teams returned after catching native monsters, and the people in the ruins chatted as they cooked the meat they had brought back.
It felt like when the advance party and later party who had come to this planet had pitched tents outside the base—no, it seemed even livelier than then.
After checking on the people, I went straight to meet Catherine.
“You returned safely. How was the reconnaissance?”
When I met her in her office, she asked directly, as always.
This time, I could not tell her everything like before.
“I saw the controlled objects and the monsters. Fortunately, the monsters were heading west. It doesn’t look like they’ll cross the mountain range anytime soon.”
I also knew why the monsters were heading west, but the moment I said that, there would be far too much I would have to explain.
After hearing my words, Catherine nodded.
“So we have time. Then there should be enough time to go to Earth and return.”
“We’re going before clearing out the city ruins?”
The monsters had gathered in the city ruins, but it was not completely safe.
I was a little worried, but Catherine seemed to have already made her decision.
“Yes. There is much to report, and there are many black stones to hand over. The sooner we deliver the black stones, the more helpful it will be to Earth.”
It would be helpful not to Earth, but to America, but I did not quibble with her words.
She looked at me, who was listening, and continued.
“I asked the technicians, and they said up to three people can be transported. They said that is because of you too, but I won’t ask how you did it.”
This would also be complicated to explain.
I simply shrugged.
“The people going to Earth will be you, me, and one member of the Korean later party. We forcibly turned the mood around by saying we would let them go to Earth, so we should keep that promise.”
I understood why the atmosphere in the ruins was so good.
It was because, even if it took time, they had hope that they could return.
Catherine was a frightening person in both personality and the way she handled matters, but she seemed to be good at the work itself.
For that reason, I told her one fact.
“I confirmed it on the way back. If I operate it, four people should be able to go, not three.”
It was not me who operated the spatial movement device, but Soph, yet it was true that the number had increased.
Thanks to Soph gaining some understanding of gravity, the number of people who could go to Earth had increased.
Catherine stared at me intently.
After staring for quite some time, she asked.
“……Is there anything else you’re not telling me?”
I shrugged.
“Not at the moment.”
Catherine let out a sigh.
“I wondered why David kept sighing. Now I know why.”
I thought that was because of Catherine, but this was not the time to say so.
“Then we should add one more from the later party, or add a Chinese person. It seems we’ll have to send a Chinese person back as well.”
Judging by her mention of the Chinese, it seemed something had happened on China’s side.
But this time, I could not go along with her wishes.
“I would like Margreta to go with us.”
“Why?”
“I have something to negotiate with America. I need Margreta’s help.”
“I believe I promised that I would let you view the relics in exchange for black stones. You don’t need Margreta for that.”
“It’s not that. It’s a more important negotiation. I may have to negotiate with someone very high-ranking.”
This was not a matter on the level of black stones.
It was about turning ordinary people into energy users.
For this, I might have to speak with America’s ultimate decision-maker.
This time, I truly needed an American who would stand on my side.
The Fourth Return (1)