Chapter 338: Chapter 46 - Finding Hidden Magical Plants
"W-What should I do with these eggs?"
After I received some offerings in the form of eggs from a pair of wild animals that had mutated into wild monsters, I was faced with great confusion after getting an offering egg.
I, who didn’t understand the wild monster’s mindset at all, took some of the eggs that had been offered to me and gave them to Ellen to cook immediately.
"Can you cook these eggs, Ellen?"
"You can boil or fry it using the scout troop’s cooking equipment that is already installed in the kitchen tent."
While giving Ellen some orders, I returned to the central command tent to continue the exploration that Aiko was conducting.
"Oh, Sirius, continue your work."
Before I entered the central command tent, I gave Sirius a further order to return to work.
"I am ready to carry out your orders, Supreme Commander!" Without complaining or feeling tired, Sirius immediately left to continue her work of exploring this dense forest.
After ensuring that this wild monster had been tamed, I returned to my work by entering the central command tent and giving Momo a light order to keep an eye on the wild monster that Sirius had brought over.
"Ah, Momo, please keep an eye on the pair of wild monsters we’re keeping as live samples," I said, turning to Momo before walking into the central command tent.
"Eh? Now I have a duty to look after wild monsters like this?"
"Yes, do you mind this task?"
"N-No, I can’t guarantee their safety if they do something that disturbs my peace."
"As much as possible, don’t kill them," I said with a flat smile that threatened Momo.
"Ugh, okay, my Monarch. I will do my best not to kill them if they do something that disturbs my peace," while enjoying the remains of her breakfast, Momo agreed to carry out this light order.
Tap...
Tap...
I walked into the central command tent to continue my pending work after Sirius brought a pair of wild monsters as live samples.
My magic circle formation still showed Aiko, standing somewhere. Without my guidance, speaking through the Soul Tame communication channel, Aiko would have looked like a lost, directionless, stealth slime.
"What about your next plans, Alyssa? Have you decided which new magical plant to take sample?" I asked Alyssa as I walked to my seat next to her.
As I walked towards Alyssa, who was at the end of the large round table, I noticed several sample jars that had been neatly arranged on the table.
"Lily-nee, there are several routes I’ve planned for Aiko. However, without knowing the terrain, these are just routes based on the shortest distance. After seeing some new magical plants growing in unusual places, should we postpone the ongoing bet?" said Alyssa, suddenly planning to postpone the ongoing bet.
"Hmm, what’s going on? Why are you postponing a bet that’s already in progress?" I asked teasingly, after several previous bets had gone vague.
"In short... we are not sure we will lose with this kind of uncertainty, Onee-sama," said Alice, who entered into this betting conversation.
"You girls did lose on purpose to get the punishment for losing the bet, right?" I replied, making Alice and Alyssa smile mischievously.
"At first, that was the case, but nature and these new magical plants said otherwise. They grew in abnormal places, making it difficult for us to defeat them, Onee-sama."
"Yes, that’s nature... full of surprises, isn’t it?"
I immediately sat down in my chair after looking at the sample jars and chatting with my twin sisters.
I paused for a moment to think about what I had said earlier.
A new magical plant that grows in unusual places, such as above water or at the bottom of deep puddles. With the uniqueness of this new magical plant, placing uncertain bets will bore them with the prospect of uncertain losses.
The loss... they expected has been completely changed by the mother of nature, which has grown a new magic plant full of surprises.
Thuudd...
As I sat down in my chair, Mio suddenly placed a cup of hot tea with a fresh mint aroma. The cool morning air and the sheltered interior of the central command tent from the warm sunlight were perfect for enjoying a warm cup of mint tea.
Slurp...
While sipping a cup of tea slowly and paying attention to the decorum of a noblewoman, I felt like I had gained additional energy to continue my pending work.
"Show me the route you’ve designed for Aiko, Alyssa," I said after enjoying the refreshing mint tea in my throat.
"Here, Lily-nee..." Alyssa immediately held out her copy of the map and showed a route that Aiko could take based on the shortest distance.
Sllaass...
The copy of the map drawn by Earl Timoti was full of Alyssa’s pencil marks, from her pencil marks, a perfect route from the location of the new magic plant was ready for Aiko to follow.
"Let’s do this in one go trip, we also have to hurry into the forest after breakfast break is over."
"Yes, Lily-nee."
Nod...
Alyssa nodded her head and moved to get her copy of the map to give Aiko a clue. With Alyssa’s instructions, I gave Aiko an order to move.
"Aiko, please move at a slow running speed, so we know where you’re running," I said, giving orders to Aiko through the Soul Tame communication channel.
[ Yes, Supreme Commander! ]
The tiny dots in my magic circle moved straight ahead.
At a constant speed, Alyssa managed to pinpoint Aiko’s position and provide directional guidance to guide her movements.
"Aiko, keep running straight ahead and turn to the right in two seconds."
I also seeing what Aiko was looking at, and noticed a big change from the dense forest filled with plants growing around the river waters.
Some puddles were also visible and looked shallow, but I didn’t believe the shallow puddles after Aiko dive in deep puddles.
The view that Aiko was looking at was filled with water and plants growing around it. My eyes glanced at the copy of the map drawn by Earl Timoti and saw a large river that separated the dense forest from other noble areas.
"Aiko is at the border of the dense forest area, huh?" I muttered after finding out Aiko’s exact position.
"Lily-nee, please tell Aiko that there’s a possibility that the plant is growing in the river that separates the dense forest from the territory of our opposing neighboring noble," Alyssa said with her head tilted up to see the magic circle formation that was mapping the surrounding area.
Without me realizing it, my magic circle formation that was mapping the surrounding area looked very wide with various small dots that showed the movements of wild animals, wild monsters, magical plants, and a herd of stealth slimes that were standing still waiting for further orders.
If only they could see the magic circle formation that had mapped out the surrounding area, perhaps I could have them find the remains of new magic plants at the same time.
"At a time like this, I just want to share what I’m seeing with the rest of the stealth slime herd," I muttered as I looked at the magic circle formation that mapped out the surrounding area.
"That’s a great idea, Lily-nee. Want to try making another magic circle formation?" Alyssa said, her eyes sparkling with joy.
"A new magic circle formation again?" said Alice, who seemed to have heard my muttering and was looking at me with sparkling eyes.
Kirraaa...
Kiirraaa...
"Ugh, another new magic circle formation?"
"I have to endure this terrible suffering again?"
"Please don’t be too sadistic with me, Lily-sama."
As I muttered something like that, my twin sisters felt happy, while Mio looked anxious.
The two different expressions made me feel awkward, and I almost forgot the command I was going to give to Aiko, who was running straight ahead.
"Ah! Aiko, stop!" I suddenly said to make Aiko stop running, and she almost passed the location of the new magic plant.
"Judging by the situation you’re seeing, it seems like this magical plant is in the river, just like before. Can you check it in the river?" I asked, almost ruining Aiko’s work with her previous pointless mutterings.
[ I-Inside the river flow? ]
[ I think that’s possible, I don’t feel any signs of large magical energy around here either. ]
[ I will check it into the river flow immediately, Supreme Commander! ]
Without hesitation, Aiko immediately dived into the river to see the conditions inside.
My gaze was fixed on what Aiko was looking at, and I ignored the sparkling eyes of my twin sister.
"Alyssa... Alice... please focus on your task first," I said in a gentle tone to make them focus on their work again.
"Y-Yes, Onee-sama."
"U-Unn! Lily-nee!"
My gentle words make Alice and Alyssa to return to their current tasks.
Unlike Alyssa, who was preoccupied with the emergence of a new magical plant, Alice was simply confirming that the samples from animals or monsters, who matched Earl Timoti’s report. This gave Alice some free time to relax and enjoy some snacks provided by her military aide.
What Aiko was seeing was a fairly fast-flowing river; even with her vision within the river, she did not find any new magic plants that had been detected by Alyssa’s magic circle formation.
[ Supreme Commander, I feel some magical energy coming from the ground and the river water flowing into a place like a cave in the river. ]
[ Is it okay for me to explore such a suspicious place? ]
I received a report from Aiko, who seemed suspicious of a place in the fast-flowing river.
"I entrust this to you, Aiko," I told Aiko to leave this to her.
[ Yes, Supreme Commander! ]
Without any change in what Aiko was looking at, she seemed to be relying on her instincts as a stealth slime to dive deeper to enter the river flow that led somewhere.
Small dots from Aiko’s location were seen moving as if entering a dense forest area through an underground river flow.
Aiko immediately activated her night vision ability, and I saw a secret cave located within a wide river, overgrown with new magical plants.