<88 - April's Investigation 3>
Instead of leaving the garden with the vial of solution, Oknodie ventured deeper inside.
‘Does she still have business here?’
A leaf brushed lightly against the collar of April’s coat as she hurriedly followed behind.
Rustle.
Even though it was a small sound, Oknodie jerked her head around and stared intently in April’s direction.
“Hmm? Is someone there?”
“!!”
Busted.
Just a bit of movement or a single misaligned breath, and it would all be over.
Oknodie could navigate around the mana traps installed on the academy’s dormitory walls because she had directly observed and answered the questionnaires about them.
Mana should not leak out.
Just like holding one’s breath, mana must be contained and should not be released.
“Hmm?”
10 seconds.
“Hmmm??”
20 seconds.
“Am I just imagining things?”
Hurry up and go, you little brat.
Even as she cursed inwardly, the sound of footsteps receded.
In fact, they were getting closer.
Crafty thing.
No wonder she was a special scholarship student from the foundation—her antics were anything but ordinary.
“Found you~!”
Grab.
Just as Oknodie reached for the bushes, April thought she was caught.
Rustle rustle!
Padda padda padda.
At that moment, a squirrel darted out from the bushes.
Oknodie was aiming for the squirrel.
“Hey there~!”
The squirrel appeared holding a large piece of turnip grown in the garden.
As Oknodie tapped a branch, the squirrel glared at her.
“Oh right. This isn’t the time for that.”
With that, Oknodie abandoned her playtime and dashed deeper into the garden.
[No Entry Beyond This Point]
[Entering Without Permission May Be Life-Threatening]
April flinched in front of the sign Oknodie disregarded.
Woof woof! I once chased a butterfly into the garden, and it almost got me into serious trouble!
That silly dog-suited Happy.
The experience she had heard directly from her flashed in her mind.
Woof woof! The clubs in the student council have security measures to prevent intrusions from competing clubs!
Woof woof! I got caught in some weird powder from a plant and slept for a month!
She could end up sleeping like a princess in the woods for an entire month!
It was dangerous for her as a spy, but it was even more perilous for new student Oknodie!
‘I must help, depending on the situation.’
Inside the glass greenhouse, which Oknodie secretly entered.
At the entrance, which meticulously controlled temperature, humidity, wind direction, dust particles, ozone, and harmful gases, a giant flower the size of a person was dozing off.
It was the Nodflower, a plant that would spray sleeping gas if it felt threatened or found prey, putting predators or prey to sleep.
Bob… Snoooore.
Bob… Snoooore.
Oknodie sneakily passed by the dozing flower, which even created snot bubbles at its nose.
“???”
How is she not getting caught?
April tiptoed closer, just in case.
…How on earth was she caught?
The Nodflower seemed to be sleeping very deeply.
Happy must have been running around making a ruckus, shouting, “Woof woof! Come here, butterfly!” or “Woof woof! Look, it’s a sleeping flower!” and woke it up.
With a brain like that, she should be thankful to just be caught and sleeping for a month!
‘That thing is clearly a vine trap that captures anyone who steps on it and makes them hang in the air.’
‘There’s also the vampiric parasitic thread that clings to you all day if you get caught in the fibrous thread from the main body.’
‘…Is that a plant I’ve never even heard of at the academy? Did Jonnas tell Oknodie about this?’
It was information beyond mere hints.
While pondering that Oknodie and Jonnas didn’t have a typical butler-student relationship, Oknodie reached the innermost part of the glass greenhouse.
One must be careful, as getting careless around the seemingly harmless Nodflower could lead to a painful situation with vine traps or parasitic threads.
At the core, there was a mana board lock that would recognize your identity and open a door if you placed your hand on it.
“Eh……?”
From her flustered expression, Oknodie seemed caught off guard by this security procedure.
Peeking.
Oknodie pressed her cheeks against the glass pane and struggled to peek inside.
“Ugh.”
She sounded disappointed that what she was searching for wasn’t there.
Right, she should give up and go back.
The pursuer was starting to feel anxious.
“I wanted that perfect crime bonus.”
“???”
Did she just say, perfect crime bonus?
Just as April doubted her ears, a sight that made her doubt her eyes unfolded.
Grab.
Oknodie casually picked up a large rock high enough to hit her head.
Surely not, right?
If she had seen the trembling eyes of April, she would have answered, “You’re right!” as the rock mightily slammed down on the mana board security booth.
Smash!
Whaaaaaam──!!
With a devastating crash, the security booth shattered.
‘She broke it!!’
Having given up on the perfect crime, Oknodie kicked off her urgent operation.
She stomped on the booth pieces, rummaging through the dirt and stuffing her hands deep into the ground.
Her gloved hands rummaged through the dirt until her face lit up as if she’d found ginseng.
“Found it!”
The rare plant Mandragora, resembling a person and rated over five stars, was held high by Oknodie.
April’s brain quickly recalled information related to Mandragora.
Mandragora.
A flower that screams when uprooted.
You faint upon hearing it.
Here, a crime scene.
If caught, an academy thorough investigation.
If cut off from the cleaning maid, it’s the foundation’s gag order.
A death sentence!
‘Eek!’
Terrified, April raised her hands to cover her ears, but in the process, she instinctively realized.
The Mandragora would scream faster than her hands could cover her ears.
This is bad.
Goodbye, my life.
To die dumber than Happy is a shame.
With two cleaning maids already having met their fate, this garden might as well be called the cleaning maids’ cemetery.
As she braced for the end of her life, the loud scream of the Mandragora pierced into her ears.
Waaaahhhhhh-!
Yet accompanied by a crying baby sound.
“Huh?”
“Ah, someone was here after all!”
“Ahh!!”
In surprise at the baby Mandragora, she unintentionally let out a sigh of relief upon realizing she was still alive.
Once she realized she had been spotted by Oknodie, she immediately took off running.
April, who had been by the entrance, was able to exit the garden before Oknodie.
‘Why would someone steal a baby Mandragora? Who ordered such a thing in the first place?’
The mention of a perfect crime bonus implied someone would reward her for her criminal act.
Who could it be?
Someone willing to reward Oknodie for her crimes.
A higher-up from the foundation?
Oknodie’s exclusive butler, Jonnas Wahyhiemhai?
No, not someone from the foundation.
There were also other candidates fitting that description.
A professor who was all too familiar with ‘thieving.’
One who existed among the lectures Oknodie was attending.
‘That rogue, Professor Bronze de Estrada!’
Oknodie had received a secret personal assignment from the rogue professor.
If she thought about it this way, everything made sense.
“An intruder!”
“A thief has entered the garden!”
“It must be the work of those from the Alchemy Club.”
“How dare they try to steal rare medicinal herbs without payment!”
“I can’t forgive them!”
“Let’s bury their corpses in the garden for fertilizer!”
“Don’t let them go until we’ve multiplied the stolen herbs by two!”
As Oknodie climbed the trees, ripping the plastic covering of the greenhouse and escaping through the second-floor window, the students from the plant club, fueled by madness and fury, rushed inside the greenhouse, and Oknodie completely vanished from sight.
Watching that scene, April thought the students looked strangely familiar.
‘The crazy Professor Weird!’
Right, they were students attending the lecture given by the dryad professor known for putting flowers in her hair.
She once caused a commotion when she suddenly fed stones to fourth-year students, leading to a mess when they vomited stone-covered floors.
Thanks to that, she remembered cleaning up the stones during extra hours outside of regular duties.
‘The advisor of the plant club was Professor Weird too.’
And Professor Weird also taught one of the first-semester lectures that Oknodie had signed up for.
Moreover, the Bronze professor’s second-period lecture was followed by the Weird professor’s third-period lecture.
‘From day one, she must have set her sights on Oknodie, giving her an assignment to steal one of her precious items.’
If Oknodie managed to successfully steal the baby Mandragora while bypassing such rigorous security, then she indeed deserved to be called a proper thief.
April diligently moved the magic pen and filled out the questionnaire.
Q10: Oknodie’s Career Aspirations
A: To become a rogue like Professor Bronze de Estrada.
Especially when filling out the tenth question, she wrote with 100% certainty, without a twinge of hesitation.
