The Baby Sprout Who Bloomed in the Villain Duke’s Family - Chapter 112

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 112
“The whale says he wants to meet a fish.”
As Clover relayed the Summoned Creature’s message, Jiteia looked up at Neptunus.
She’d been puzzled by the continuous stream of reassuring thoughts coming from her Summoned Creature—’it should be fine,’ ‘it will work out’—and now she held the child close and asked.
“Did you find out why?”
“He says he has something he wants to tell.”
“Something he wants to tell…….”
“He says if the fish gets scary and turns into a Demonic Beast, the whale will protect Clover.”
“I’m the one protecting her, not him. Such bluster.”
Even as she spoke, Jiteia seemed to respect her Summoned Creature’s concern.
While the two exchanged words, the school of fish had already drawn almost within arm’s reach.
Nenia, bristling like a wary cat with her guard raised, stood in an aggressive stance as if ready to drive them off the moment one transformed into a Demonic Beast.
In a flash, the small school of fish swarmed around Clover’s feet, circling again and again.
They tickled the child’s small feet with quick pecks, and their long, sleek bodies brushed against her plump legs.
“Fish…….”
When Clover dipped her hand into the water, the fish gathered in her palm, then soon resumed their circling dance around it.
“What are they doing?”
Pluto murmured in a puzzled voice.
Then, in that moment.
The fish gathered to collect the body of their dead companion. Several of them transformed into Demonic Beasts along their backs and carried the dead fish away with rippling motion.
And the remaining fish continued circling around Clover’s feet for a long while, then.
They spat out sand, handful by handful, at her feet. It seemed to be sand they had carried from far away.
As hundreds, thousands of fish each spat out a handful, white sand quickly piled up on the child’s instep.
What could this be? Just as Clover was wiggling her toes.
<Thank you…… ……. You are our king……>
<This is…… ……our repayment>
Among the fish, a faint voice murmured and swelled. It was not as clear or distinct as a Summoned Creature’s voice, but it was unmistakably a voice.
The fish were speaking to Clover!
‘They’re speaking to me?’
Startled, Clover was about to attempt some kind of response.
Flash!
From the sand covering the child’s small foot, a blue light burst forth, then slowly absorbed into Clover’s body.
Clover blinked, unsure what was happening. Blue light reflected off the Rainbow-colored Scale in her grip.
And not long after.
Clover sensed that the Authority flowing through her body had grown stronger.
Now she felt she could create ten, even twenty Seeds.
What on earth was that sand?
Before Clover could even ask the fish about the sand’s origin, they departed leisurely, carrying their companion’s remains with them.
“……Clover?”
Kalid, who had noticed the child’s Authority grow stronger along with the light, looked down at Clover.
Clover looked up at Kalid with her face still dripping wet.
Both Kalid and Clover wore expressions of utter bewilderment.
Why had that fish approached them only to transform into a Demonic Beast? And what was this sand the other fish had left for Clover?
Clover murmured quietly to herself.
“The fish called him a king, so maybe the fish that died here was their king.”
And they said “repayment.” Clover understood what repayment meant.
It meant giving something out of gratitude. The other fish had brought sand as thanks because Clover had saved their king when he took that terrible form, hadn’t they?
While Clover stood in stunned silence, Lucky flew around her and spoke.
[Wait, Clover! This sand has the power of the World Tree embedded in it!]
“What?”
[The power of that World Tree branch that vanished long ago is embedded in it—I mean the one that was in the Demper House!]
Lucky cried out in high excitement.
Elicia had entrusted Clover to the Demper House with a specific purpose. The others vaguely understood it was because the World Tree branch was absorbed into the land there.
But Lucky alone knew Elicia’s true reason for leaving her daughter in that place.
It was not simply that she believed the World Tree branch would protect the child.
She had asked to leave the child there so that the power of the World Tree branch absorbed into the earth would not merely guard her, but would transfer back into Clover.
That World Tree branch’s power was felt even in this sand. Somewhere in the vast sea, a branch of the World Tree surely remained.
The power of that branch had been absorbed into the grains of sand. And sensing that Clover’s power was similar to the power absorbed in those grains, the fish had naturally been drawn to her.
Of course, Lucky still could not explain why that fish had transformed into a Demonic Beast before Clover, but now she understood why the fish kept circling the child.
[Either way, it’s good for you, Clover. Next time, ask Jiteia to search for where the World Tree branch was absorbed. It will surely help your growth.]
Clover nodded and shuffled her feet restlessly.
Indeed, she felt a power similar to what she’d sensed long ago at the Demper House.
‘So this is the World Tree…….’
The World Tree, dead and gone long ago.
That even the faint power lingering in a few of its branches could make her this much stronger was astounding.
Did Clover’s Authority and the World Tree’s Authority share something in common?
Clover, who had come to play by the sea and acquired something precious, gently lifted some seawater and kissed it.
“Thank you, Sea.”
The seawater rippled happily around Clover. The child wiped her salt-crusted lips on Kalid’s sleeve.
The small Demonic Beast disturbance passed. Clover was carried in Kalid’s arms and returned to the Duke’s Mansion under the escort of the Aive Knights.
***
“Clover, can you use your Authority?”
“Yes.”
As Clover used her Authority, Seeds tumbled from her hand.
Sprouts, then Seeds again.
That she could create multiple Seeds imbued with the power of sprouts all at once was a clear sign her Authority had grown.
“Lucky says the sand the water creatures brought to Clover has the power of the World Tree.”
“Sand with the World Tree’s power……? Then there’s a World Tree branch in the sea?”
[By now it would all be absorbed and exist as sand grains or pebbles, little one.]
“It’s gone now, she says.”
[You shouldn’t say it like that…….]
“It’s absorbed…… absorption? So it’s gone now, she says.”
Clover, freshly washed and fluffy, swung her legs as she spoke. At her words, Kalid and Jiteia exchanged glances.
They had thought the World Tree branch was only the one Elicia had buried on the Demper House grounds long ago—but there were more?
Moreover, judging by how Clover’s Authority had grown stronger because of that sand, the power still seemed to be preserved somewhere in the sea.
‘That means if we could only find where that branch was absorbed, we could make the child healthier.’
Clover was smaller than her peers and her body was delicate. That was unavoidable.
Authority Bearers usually had their physical condition change according to the magnitude of their Authority. Because Clover possessed weak Authority, she had no choice but to have a weak body.
But if they could find where the World Tree branch was absorbed and help the child absorb more of that power?
‘She would become healthier than she is now.’
Kalid had just reached this conclusion and was about to say something to Jiteia.
“Nia can find it.”
Nenia, understanding what Kalid was about to say, suddenly inserted herself between Jiteia and Kalid.
“That sand from earlier—you want to find it, right?”
“Nenia.”
“Nia can find it.”
Nenia looked up at Kalid. His face reflected in the five-year-old girl’s eyes.
“How can you find it?”
“Nia, it’s simple.”
Nenia looked at Kalid once, then at Jiteia once.
And after looking at Clover once, she opened her mouth.
“Just threaten the fish.”
“……?”
“Then they’ll find it.”
When Nenia finished speaking, silence fell over the room for a moment.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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