Episode 667: Almond Blossoms
Incidents #2 through #7 were the work of Spirit’s Mischief, so I wrapped them up with a warning. For the spirits I could warn, and for the ones causing trouble that didn’t understand words, I made the people around them aware it was the spirits’ doing and warned them.
Spirits mostly lose interest when specific conditions change, and if you prepare something else that seems more interesting to them based on their nature, they easily move on to that.
Incident #8.
Even though they should still be in full bloom, I noticed that the flowers blooming in the ‘Spirit’s Branch’ garden were falling off, calyx and all. There were no signs of anyone entering or leaving.
This country also has a ‘Spirit’s Branch’, or rather, I made one.
Before it was buried in sand, ‘King’s Branch (Shahira)’ was in the Royal Palace, so there was no ‘Spirit’s Branch (structure)’ to house the ‘Spirit’s Branch’.
Deep within the Royal Palace, the carefully stored ‘King’s Branch’ can only be seen during special ceremonies.
Well, there are plenty of opportunities to see ‘King’s Branch (Karn)’ though!
Anyway, recently—more people are traveling for sightseeing than in Karn’s era, so more countries are building ‘Spirit’s Branches’ in the Royal Capital as tourist attractions. You can’t just let an unspecified number of people into the Royal Palace, after all.
There’s also a Temple. Normally, residents can come and go freely, but due to various circumstances, such as the Gods of Es actually being there, it’s not easy to let people in and out casually.
That’s why, since there was land available, I built a ‘Spirit’s Branch’ as a place where people could easily come and go and relax. Before people moved in, I had Wanwan create a small storm to blow away the sand and plunked it down on the unweathered earth.
Since it’s hot here, I’ve built thick, high stone walls around it to create shade. It’s like a roofless version of a two-story, open-plan building.
Haulon was kneeling for some reason, but Karn just averted his gaze. Karn seems to understand the movements of the surrounding spirits, so he probably knew I was up to something?
I started investigating at that ‘Spirit’s Branch’, starting with identifying the flower in question. According to the documents, it’s the tree on the far right.
The plants here are ones I brought from my mountain and the blue Roses that Charles cultivated with care on ‘Blue Spirit Island’.
When Shahira touched the rare blue Roses, they turned into black Roses and white Roses. Black Roses are also rare… but they’re a common color in this world.
What’s noteworthy is their size and the number of petals. To me, they’re just ordinary Roses, but here, most of them are like wild Roses before they were improved.
The difference in values, huh! I’m getting used to it, though.
Anyway, could the flower in question be an Almond? It looks very similar to a cherry blossom. When you look closely, the flower stalk, the stem-like part from the branch to the flower, is different.
Since trees are planted to block the sunlight, the view is somewhat obstructed, so I can’t tell if it’s as described without getting closer, but the flower’s characteristics are those of an Almond.
Shady trees, flowing water, and a cool breeze free of sand. The ‘Spirit’s Branch’ is usually popular, but it’s closed to everyone except those involved until the culprit dropping the flowers is identified.
I walk through the ‘Spirit’s Branch’ in its貸切 state.
“Ex-Staff, can I ask you something?”
“What is it, Master?”
My partner in the investigation is Ex-Staff.
“Speaking of which, how far does the ‘King’s Branch’ effect reach?”
“If you don’t count the spirits it commands, it’s not that wide. That’s why you branch it out to increase the effective range.”
“I see.”
So that’s why there’s a ‘Spirit’s Branch’ in every city?
The ‘King’s Branch’ is with the King, and the ‘Spirit’s Branch’ extended by the ‘King’s Branch’ is with the people of the region.
“Oh, there it is.”
It seems I was right about the Almond, and there are many flowers fallen under the tree, calyx and all. Almonds also have their petals scatter and become flower snow, but they’re falling off in clumps.
“Well, let’s start questioning.”
“Aye aye, sir!”
So, I questioned the two spirits playing among the flowers.
“Hello, do you know who’s dropping these flowers?”
“Eurasian tree sparrow~”
“Yes, sparrow~”
“The flower nectar is delicious, they say.”
“The flower nectar is delicious, they say.”
Culprit identified immediately! It’s not related to spirits at all!!!!!! Now that I think about it, I’ve seen news in Japan about sparrows dropping cherry blossoms to suck up the nectar!!!
I was expecting spirits since that’s what it’s been, so this was unexpected. I’ll explain this to Haulon and wrap it up.
Well, I’ll leave it at this and prepare for Haulon’s vacation. Should I set up a Hammock near the Es River after all?