How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 106

Chapter 106: Aerial Garden (2)

Fenstera. The flower that reads memories.

All kinds of plants have their own protective measures to protect themselves.

Sharp thorns, or foul odors and sticky mucus, etc.

The thorns of this seemingly ordinary, rose-like plant were meant to read the past of its opponent.

Exactly how this mystery manifests itself is still unknown, but what is certain is that this plant can pick out visitors with malicious intent to the garden.

By using hundreds of small air pockets attached to the center of the flower to make a very sharp sound at once.

Predators or insects that lack higher-order thinking run away in surprise at the sharp cry, but in fact, it doesn’t have much effect on humans other than a muffled feeling.

However, it was perfect for the purpose of apprehending suspicious visitors, and for a long time, it served as a basic filter.

So, until now.

Bang!

A look of dismay appeared on the faces of those watching the Fenstera, which had been trembling and suddenly burst.

“……!”

“Th, this is what……?”

“Uh……”

Judging from their reaction, it seemed like this had never happened before.

“Hmm.”

I was lost in thought for a moment with an indifferent expression. Wait a minute. The last time I visited this place, about 600 years ago, what was it like?

I rummaged through the thickly piled bookshelves in my head and barely pulled out a past memory.

Ah, at that time, I didn’t visit the front door so politely, so I didn’t have to go through a separate inspection.

I scratched my chin lightly and looked at the soldiers. It wasn’t really anything to worry about.

Because the status of Inquisitor was a more reliable guarantee than anything else.

Sure enough, the one who seemed to be the leader of the guards said with a perplexed expression.

“I apologize. This has never happened before……”

“Is there something wrong with the flower? I watered it sufficiently……”

They seemed to think the problem was with the flower, not me.

“Then wouldn’t it be alright to ask them to bring down a few more?”

Herdin’s question. But the soldiers looked at him, who was wearing a blindfold, with a somewhat troubled face.

“It’s just that it’s difficult to request it right now……”

The guards looked at us with a puzzled expression for a moment, as if there was something wrong with the higher-ups.

But their hesitation didn’t last long.

“Hmm. Well, we can’t be more rude to those who came from the church to deliver the Holy Wood. You may enter.”

The guard captain’s cheerful words put an end to the situation.

Herdin looked somewhat relieved at his words, but Lephra and Jerit were looking at me with somewhat suspicious faces.

“……Did the Inquisitor-nim do something again?”

“It’s not an absurd guess, Jelly.”

“I don’t know how you see me.”

I shrugged, looking at the two whispering with meaningful eyes, and then followed the soldier.

“This way.”

The place the guard captain guided us to was where the elevator was located.

We were greeted by a large device made of wood, iron, and steel pulleys. It was the only means of transportation connecting the ground checkpoint and the Aerial Garden.

“The atmosphere above is quite harsh these days, but……”

The guard captain, after confirming that the four of us had boarded, released the mechanism that was fixing the pulley and said.

“Well, the flower keepers will explain the details when you go up.”

Clank.

As soon as he finished speaking, the large elevator slowly began to rise.

The creaking elevator was quite fast, but it felt like a reasonable speed to us standing inside.

“Oh……!”

An exclamation flowed from Jerit’s mouth as he looked at the open view with his hand on the railing.

It was quite a wonderful experience to ride a large wooden elevator suspended by several reinforced ropes, feel the cool breeze, and soar into the air.

Of course, Lephra, who was standing in an awkward position in the center of the elevator with her eyes tightly closed, didn’t seem to be enjoying the wonderful experience very much.

“……”

Does she have acrophobia or something? I lightly kicked the floor of the elevator.

“……!”

Then, Lephra, with a face several times more surprised than when she faced the evil black mage, turned to me with a pale face.

“……Don’t do that.”

Hmm.

I stroked my chin at her somewhat impolite request.

Dozens of meters above the ground. Holding tightly onto the railing of the creaking elevator, she closed her eyes tightly, trying not to look down at the dizzying height, and continued.

“……Please.”

I turned my gaze away from Lephra, who was in a similar situation to Herdin, and looked up.

Wide open sky. A huge shadow gradually casting over my head.

I raised my head and looked at the destination that was almost reached.

The wide open sky.

And a huge rock floating in the sky.

One of the seven wonders of the continent. Cadalan’s Aerial Garden.

🔹🔹🔹

“Welcome.”

We were greeted by flower keepers dressed in neat yet practical uniforms.

The faces of those who stayed in this Aerial Garden for their entire lives, not belonging to a separate force, were somewhat dark.

Of course, it wasn’t a problem related to us.

The flower keepers politely received the Holy Wood that Jerit had taken out of his backpack, which he had received directly from the Great Forest.

The specially processed bundle of branches was quite thick, but not much. Enough for an adult male to hold in both hands.

Perhaps the amount needed to grow the special flowers in the garden is not that much.

Well, if the amount to be delivered was more than this, we wouldn’t have stopped by ourselves in the first place.

“Thank you for the delivery. The payment has already been sent to the Inquisition in Hesterica, so you don’t have to worry.”

Well, I’m not particularly worried.

A seemingly old man walked forward and carefully opened his mouth to me, who nodded nonchalantly.

“I apologize. We should have gone down and greeted the distinguished guests in advance……”

The elderly flower keeper bowed his head to us, who had visited this place ourselves to deliver the Holy Wood, whose trade had been suspended, and trailed off.

It certainly seemed like something had happened.

As if recalling the story the guard captain below had told, Jerit asked cautiously.

“Did something happen to the garden, by any chance……?”

“……Hmm.”

The old man paused for a moment, as if choosing his words, and then guided us inside.

“It would be faster to see for yourself. Come in.”

🔹🔹🔹

The size of the rock floating in the air was quite large, so unlike the creaking wooden elevator, there was no noticeable difference from standing on the ground.

Inside the garden, we walked in under the guidance of the flower keepers.

The appearance of the garden, which should have been full of flowers emitting mysterious light here and there on the sunken rock, was somewhat desolate.

Traces of damage everywhere. The scale was different, but it looked as if harmful pests had ruined the field.

“……!”

“……Huh.”

A sigh of regret escaped from the mouths of the party who saw it.

Cadalan’s Aerial Garden, although not possessing any special power or symbolism, was in itself one of the beautiful things that was more than enough to be preserved, cultivated, and passed down.

“Oh dear.”

Therefore, I also uttered a word that stemmed from pure regret that this beautiful celestial flower garden was ruined.

“Who on earth did this?”

Lephra, with a rare angry expression, asked the elderly flower keeper.

This place, which has a somewhat absurd but old tradition that dragons lifted this huge rock, was an independent space that did not belong to any particular force.

They didn’t have the strong military power or strength to form a separate force, but there was no force that would risk criticism and target those who managed these beautiful aerial flowers.

It was a pointless act in the first place.

Due to its geographical characteristics, with the Great Forest to the west and the Inquisition and the Holy See above, it was almost unaffected by the monsters of the Catacombs.

So, the culprit didn’t immediately come to mind, but the flower keepers here seemed to already know their identity.

“There are those who have been coveting this place.”

“Who is that?”

Jerit, looking at the messed-up flower garden that was slowly recovering, frowned and asked.

The answer to that was simple.

“There is only one tribe that flies in the sky and targets flowers and seeds.”

At the flower keeper’s words, Jerit tilted his head with an ambiguous expression and answered.

“Uh…… Are you talking about birds?”

Simple reasoning. But the flower garden was clearly dug up and broken by human hands.

“Yes, winged tribes.”

The flower keeper’s answer. Of course, it wasn’t blasphemy to refer to angels.

“Ah.”

I immediately realized who he was talking about.

He pointed to the winged race. It was the Birdmen.

🔹🔹🔹

Well, who else would have the ability to attack this garden floating high in the air?

So, it was not a thief, but a flying enemy.

Winged beastmen.

The culprits pointed out by the flower keepers were them. It seems they had been coveting this place for a long time.

Until now, they had been content with the small amount of flowers and seeds given through legitimate exchanges, but the explanation was that things had changed recently with a violent Birdman becoming their leader.

“We have requested help from a nearby kingdom, but……”

The flower keeper trailed off with a somewhat dark expression.

Not belonging to any place also meant that there was no one to help when such an incident occurred.

Of course, they would pretend to, but the place where their nest was located was a cliff in the highlands. It was an inaccessible place by land.

Therefore, it seemed virtually impossible to retrieve the seeds they had taken. Unless they called in a horde of mages from the Magic Tower.

“I’m sorry to have bothered you with unnecessary stories.”

The party made gloomy expressions at the old flower keeper’s words.

And as they did when they faced a difficult problem, the two believers turned their heads towards me.

“……Isn’t there any way?”

Jerit’s question.

“Hmm.”

I was lost in thought for a moment.

It’s not that difficult for me to access that place alone using magic. But it wasn’t wise to fight in the air with countless Birdmen while floating in the air.

At least if I was riding something that could fly without consuming magical power.

“……”

Something flashed through my mind at that moment.

“There is a way.”

“……!”

Jerit and Lephra’s expressions brightened at my words. But a bit of awkwardness settled on their faces after hearing the following explanation.

Especially for Lephra, who has acrophobia.

The method was simple.

If the problem was how to access the place where the winged people lived, we just had to ride something with wings.

Of course, it wasn’t riding a dragon, like the legend passed down here in Cadalan.

To be precise, should I call it a subspecies?

“……A wild griffin?”

Herdin’s face was filled with bewilderment after hearing my explanation.

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