“Well, this is only my conjecture, though,” Ryuk said timidly. “Unlike other manabeasts, big hoppers might not have existed long ago...”
“What do you mean?” asked Lord Nazel as he blinked curiously.
“Polpystan is at the forefront of biological research on the continent. Remains and fossils of various species of manabeasts have been discovered in many different locations.”
“Yes, there were some famous discoveries that became known even in Desnim.”
“However, big hoppers first appeared in Polpystan around a century ago, during the events that caused the desert in the southern part of the country. They’re now a common pest—excuse me, manabeast—but there’s no evidence that they’d existed in Polpystan before that.”
The desert in the southern part of Polpystan was barren. According to history books, it had once been full of greenery, but right now, it wasn’t showing any signs of recovery, just like the current Sutrena.
“Perhaps the big hoppers came from outside. They were apparently in Sutrena before that.”
“It’s possible. They hadn’t received much attention until now, but research on them has picked up rapidly since the recent incident. It’s still ongoing.”
“Have results started coming out?”
“Yes. I don’t know how to put it well, but the way big hoppers show up is unnatural, unlike other manabeasts. This is the current hot topic in Polpystani laboratories... There’s also a hypothesis that they’re a mutant species.”
My mind went to the ordinary locusts that ravaged fields.
Hmm... Maybe those locusts suddenly got bigger and turned into big hoppers? No, that sounds like a bit of a stretch... They aren’t Torre.
“Hmm... No, that’s probably wrong...” I muttered.
Hearing me, Lord Nazel turned my way.
“What do you think is ‘wrong,’ Agnes?”
“Eep?! Oh, it isn’t a big deal or anything. I was just imagining that maybe locusts had gotten bigger just like Torre does with his magic...” I wanted to apologize for interrupting the flow of a serious conversation with my weird imaginings. To begin with, even if ordinary locusts had grown bigger, they probably wouldn’t attack people or start leaking hazardous mana.
Ryuk leaned forward as he saw me shrink into myself.
“Excuse me, Lady Agnes. That might actually be a very high possibility.”
“Huh?! But ordinary locusts aren’t manabeasts, so they don’t possess any mana.”
“No, I mean, for example... What if there was someone who could manipulate and selectively breed insects, just like Lord Nazelbart can do with plants?”
“Ah...”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if someone with magic that could transform insects once existed. Though, if that were the case, I have no idea why they would have created those things.”
When big hoppers expressed polyphenism, they became vicious and attacked humans, while also turning the land barren with their mana. In addition, areas devastated by big hoppers had a high probability of being assaulted by manabeasts on the night of a specific new moon once a year.
“If the theory about the magically transformed locusts is true, it would be outrageous. Like, what kind of monstrosity was created here?” Ryuk said.
I was sure that everyone who lived here would think the same. After all, the people of Sutrena had been troubled by poor harvests for years upon years.
“Thank you, Ryuk. This is good to know. I want you to inform me of any new developments.”
“Of course, Lord Nazelbart!” Ryuk flashed us a bright smile, like a flower in full bloom, and his eyes were filled with motivation.
Incidentally, Kelly, who’d brought tea for all of us, also nonchalantly praised him, which made him even livelier. Good for him.
As we were all relaxing, I heard the maids loudly screaming from the garden, along with voices calling Solis’s name in a panic. Hearing our son’s name, Lord Nazel’s expression turned grim. I was also assaulted by anxiety and probably had a similar look on my face.
“Excuse me for a moment,” Lord Nazel told Ryuk before rushing out of the room and hurrying toward the garden; I followed after him.
I hope nothing happened. I ran to the garden, my chest tight with anxiety, splitting up with Lord Nazel as we hurriedly searched for Solis and the maids. Looks like they aren’t this way. They aren’t on the terrace or near the mountbeast stable either. That leaves... I started running toward the field.
“Solis!”
As I made my way to the tuber field, I saw the wet nurse Mrs. Holly and the maids next to it. Mrs. Holly was tightly holding Solis, who looked very much dissatisfied.
“Is something wrong, Mrs. Holly?” I asked.
Mrs. Holly turned to me in surprise.
“Lady Agnes! I’m so sorry. Lord Solis escaped from his room again. And unfortunately, a door leading to the terrace was open, so then...”
“He crawled outside through there.”
“Yes! He came out into the garden during the brief moment I took my eyes off him to prepare his bath. I ran after him as soon as I noticed, but Lord Solis used his magic to move the ground underneath him and started traveling at incredible speed...”
“Solis used magic?” It seemed that was the moment when I’d heard those earlier screams. Mrs. Holly and the maids looked exhausted, probably because they’d chased after Solis full tilt.
But in any case, this was really surprising. Solis was still a baby, yet he actually used his magic voluntarily.
“The ground surged like a wave and carried Lord Solis here. I was truly startled...”
“I can imagine. I didn’t know he could use that kind of magic either. I’ve only seen him alter the soil a bit.”
“Well, about that...” For some reason, Mrs. Holly looked at the field awkwardly. “It seems that by the time we arrived, Lord Solis had altered the field’s soil with his magic...”
“The tuber field’s soil? From what I can see, nothing seems to be different, but I’m still a little worried. I’ll discuss this with Lord Nazel.” Our garden’s field was also a test site for the new vegetables Lord Nazel created. Any vegetables that grew well here were spread across Sutrena so that the people could also grow them. This led to improving the food problem in this barren land.
While we were talking, Lord Nazel arrived too. He’d been searching for Solis elsewhere, but he returned after he’d finished looking through the backyard.
“There you are, Agnes. I’m glad you found Solis without incident.”
“He apparently escaped from his room again. He traveled by moving the ground with his magic and also altered the field’s soil...”
“He’s quite the rascal.”
“I hope he didn’t affect the tuber field.”
“Let’s speed up their growth to check, Agnes.”
“Sure thing! Get stronger!”
Lord Nazel’s vegetables had been growing well recently. I hadn’t needed to use much magic on them, but activating my absolute reinforcement like this made the vegetables grow faster. The nearby sweet potatoes started growing, their vines coming out.
“Hmm? What’s going on?” Their leaves and vines kept growing thicker and thicker. These sweet potatoes had thick leaves and vines to begin with, but this is a bit much... The leaves and vines kept growing without end, encroaching on neighboring plots and piling up high... They were messy beyond belief.
“Is this excessive vine growth?” Lord Nazel muttered with a distant look in his eyes as he stood before the tangled green mass.
Excessive vine growth referred to a phenomenon where only the vines and leaves grew properly, while the most important part of the plant—the sweet potatoes themselves—remained small. This could be caused by something like an imbalance of nutrients in the soil. Solis’s magic had probably increased the amount of nutrients responsible for the growth of the leaves and vines, while reducing the nutrients responsible for the growth of the roots.
“Oh my.” Mrs. Holly seemed befuddled too.
“I’ll try to do something about it now, but I wonder how far the damage has spread,” Lord Nazel said.
I picked up one of the overgrown vines.
Come to think of it, vines are edible, aren’t they? I’d once read that the soft parts at the end of the branching vines were edible. They were apparently high in nutrition too. But I’d also read that the preparation was difficult since you needed to wash them and peel the skin... I’ll ask Mather if it’s possible to make vine dishes that aren’t too burdensome to prepare. It would be a great shame if the sweet potatoes Lord Nazel had finally planted went to waste.
The remaining mess of leaves and vines would probably be cleaned up into the gluttonous Dunk’s belly within the next few days. She happily ate everything, even weeds or vegetable scraps.
“Mrs. Holly, please take Solis inside for now.”
“All right.” Mrs. Holly hurriedly took Solis back into the manor. He was covered in mud, so she’d probably give him a bath next.
In any case, I can’t believe he can move the ground to transport himself... I pondered while watching Mrs. Holly take Solis away in her arms. It seemed that we needed to establish even stricter measures to prevent his escape.