Chapter 59
“Huh? You want this?”
Sierra tilted her head, clearly puzzled.
But from the moment she had mentioned summoning magic, I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off the rosary.
“That thing would be useless to you, Rodelia. Unless… do you actually believe in God?”
“You said you got tricked into buying it, right? I’ll give you back exactly what you paid.”
“Well, I don’t really mind, but…”
She gave me a skeptical look, her eyes scanning me up and down.
“You’d better not change your mind later.”
“Of course not.”
Right then and there, the deal was done. I clutched the box with the rosary inside as if it were a treasure.
Sierra, meanwhile, looked convinced I was some kind of devout believer.
“But wait—are there really still items for Summoners floating around?”
“Sometimes you see them at auctions or in odd shops. But hardly anyone knows how to use them anymore, so even recognizing their value is rare.”
“And that Fairy Bloom you mentioned earlier—was that also a Summoner’s item?”
“Oh, yes. It’s a flower said to give birth to fairies. I actually moved our hideout out to the outskirts just to win the bid on it. Glaster and I have been raising it like crazy, and we managed to get it to bud… but since then, no progress at all.”
“So the secret meetings you and Glaster were having lately—were they about the Fairy Bloom?”
“Exactly. But honestly, it’s nothing more than false hope. We forced it to sprout using mana, but that’s the end of it.”
“Hmm.”
“I wanted to make it bloom so badly… just so I could show it off to you.”
Sierra pounded her chest with her fist in frustration.
“To think we call ourselves the Magic Creatures and Plants Club, when we don’t even have a single real one! It’s shameful toward our sponsor.”
She looked truly dejected. Clearly, my earlier jab about them having nothing but Wind had hit harder than I realized.
‘So I was the one who made them insecure in the first place.’
No wonder Sierra and Glaster had looked so exhausted lately—they’d been pouring all their mana into that stubborn plant.
What was I going to do with these clever fools who acted so recklessly?
“I wasn’t expecting much to begin with. Hoping magical plants would thrive in that old hideout was asking too much.”
“Urgh.”
“Now that we’ve got a new hideout, and since we can even ask the Tower for advice, let’s just take it step by step.”
I patted her shoulder and gave her a grin. Sierra’s eyes welled up.
“Rodeliaaa!”
The tall woman grabbed my hands and shook them wildly.
For someone who looked so composed, she had a paper-thin heart.
Apparently, she had been tricked into buying quite a few fake items already.
‘That face looks intimidating, but she gives off the scent of an easy mark.’
At first, her height and fierce expression had scared me. But once we talked, she turned out to be someone harmless—someone who knew nothing outside of magical plants and animals.
Which, of course, made her an easy target for swindlers.
But now that I was part of Magia, I wasn’t going to let anyone scam her again!
If I could solve Magia’s problems, maybe Edwin’s spiral into darkness would be prevented too.
“So where are you keeping this Fairy Bloom?”
“At my house for now. Want me to bring it?”
“What, were you planning to keep it all to yourself? I was going to fill that empty mini greenhouse over there with magical plants.”
I pointed at the glass house along one wall.
Eden had already promised to give me some seedlings if things worked out.
Of course, I hadn’t told Sierra that yet—I didn’t want to raise her hopes only to disappoint her if I wasn’t really a Summoner.
“And besides, what if it’s a fake? It’s weird for a plant to guzzle so much mana without growing.”
“But it came with a certificate of authenticity…”
“This rosary came with one too, didn’t it?”
“W-well, yes, but… this time it’s definitely real! I even looked into it. To fully bloom a Fairy Bloom, you need something called a Summoner’s Stone.”
“…Excuse me? What did you say?”
My sudden interest made Sierra beam and declare confidently,
“A Summoner’s Stone! With that, it might even be possible to give birth to a fairy!”
But her bold tone quickly fizzled, and her expression faltered. Clearly, she wasn’t entirely sure.
And she had no idea why I was so shocked.
‘Wait—why is that coming up here?’
An unexpected lead.
But it was something I absolutely couldn’t ignore. I grabbed Sierra’s shoulders firmly.
“Where is the Fairy Bloom right now?”
Hand it over, now!
My fierce stare made her flinch in alarm.
“Uh, I can’t take it out right now. I fed it a mana orb this morning. If I pull it out halfway, it might wilt.”
“Mana orb?”
“It’s a mana-charging sphere. I tweaked the spell to feed it to the plant. We have to wait until it’s completely absorbed—at least ten days.”
Beads of sweat ran down her forehead. Clearly, my intensity had scared her.
I pressed her again, slow and deliberate.
“So… you’re saying I can see it in ten days?”
“Y-yes! Why would I lie? I promise I’ll bring it then!”
She held out her pinky finger nervously.
She must have been afraid I’d storm out otherwise.
I relaxed my expression and leaned back against the sofa.
‘Fine. Ten days is manageable.’
Honestly, I was just grateful to have found even the faintest lead.
If the Summoner’s Stone really bloomed, maybe I could do something—
Something to help Lord Daven, who still lay in that endless sleep.
And then Alperen wouldn’t have to keep suffering alone.
That thought alone gave me strength.
“Alright then. Tell me everything you know about this Summoner’s Stone.”
Excited by my enthusiasm, Sierra’s face lit up as she explained.
“Well, I don’t know much for sure. But I found out while researching the Fairy Bloom. Apparently, Fairy Bloom is like the flowerpot used when a Summoner first awakens and makes their first contract. Basically, it’s the fertile ground where fairies can be born.”
“So if the Fairy Bloom is the ground, then the Summoner’s Stone is the seed?”
“Exactly! Once enough mana builds up and the bud fully opens, it creates a space inside to place the stone. Put it in, and there’s a high chance a fairy will be born!”
“But wait—you said it’s used when Summoners first awaken. If you don’t even have a Summoner, how did you plan to make it bloom?”
“Ugh.”
She looked away, caught red-handed.
“You’re right. Even with good soil and a seed, if there’s no one to ‘plant’ it, it’s meaningless.”
“And that ‘planter’ would be… a Summoner?”
“Yes. Only someone loved by nature can truly be the master of a Fairy Bloom. Glaster and I were crushed when we found out. We’ve been searching for a solution ever since…”
“I bet you felt like you’d been scammed again.”
“Exactly. In the end, whether it’s magical animals or magical plants, the only ones who can directly summon or awaken them are Summoners—and they’ve long since vanished.”
Her expression was filled with genuine sadness.
It was as if she was thinking, Why was I born a magician, if it means I’ll never get to raise a magical creature?
“I’ve half a mind to just sell the seedlings to the Tower. After all, anyone can raise a magical plant once it’s already bloomed.”
“Then why not?”
“It’s not that simple. Magical plants are rare species. Only people who pass the Tower’s official test are allowed to raise them. I was confident at first… but the test is harder than I expected, so I’ve failed every time.”
Wait a second. Eden had already promised to give them to me.
Well—only if I really turned out to be a Summoner.
‘If I am a Summoner, the Tower’s license wouldn’t matter at all, would it?’
I’d be a walking tamer. The Tower would probably beg me to hatch their eggs and bloom their seeds.
