SML Ch 29

Chapter 29

A necklace imbued with magic was not something so common that it would be left lying around in the field of a humble farmer. Reynald couldn’t help but be bothered by that fact, but now was not the time to concern himself with the necklace’s origin. What mattered was that removing it might weaken the plants’ strength. However, there was a problem.

“The interference is too much. And once the necklace is gone, these things are bound to go berserk trying to get it back…!”

Even if their power were to diminish, if the plants, having lost an essential source of nourishment, began to resist desperately, there wouldn’t be anything Reynald could do. In fact, even now, he was fending off tentacles that had sensed the threat and were attempting to attack him. Sticky liquid from the tentacles smeared across his face and clothes as he slashed through them, leaving him in a messy state, but he was far too busy to care about such things.

He needed a way to divert the tentacles’ attention somehow. Just as he was thinking this, Reynald suddenly noticed that the young men on the ground had stopped moving and were staring up at him with their mouths agape. Of course, he had been the one to shout at them not to act recklessly, but regardless, he now realized he needed their help.

“Hey, you lot!”

“……!”

“When I give the signal, start hacking away at the tentacles! Once the source of magic disappears, their vitality will weaken—it shouldn’t be too difficult to cut them down!”

The young men, who had been staring blankly upward, finally snapped to their senses. That was actually ideal. If an attack came from below, which had been quiet up to now, these plants wouldn’t be able to focus solely on Reynald.

He sliced off a tentacle head that had torn open the front of his shirt and panted heavily. If he kept holding the sword, his hands would be tied up, so he would have to let go of it to retrieve the necklace. That would, of course, render him defenseless. But, having confirmed the protective spell inscribed on the necklace, Reynald steeled himself and released his sword.

“Now!”

Reynald’s hand reached into the mass of tentacle vines and, with all his strength, yanked the necklace free.

At that exact moment, the plants began writhing violently.

The tentacles changed in an instant. The ones that had been clustered tightly to protect the necklace suddenly scattered in all directions. The towering mass of vines that had moved as a singular entity now resembled nothing more than a wild explosion of hair, and all of them began attacking Reynald.

Even Reynald, who had expected some change, lost his grip momentarily due to the abrupt shift. While they had previously been bunched together like a tower, giving him something to hold on to, now that they had dispersed, he had nothing to rely on for support. Taking advantage of Reynald’s momentary stumble, dozens of tentacles wrapped tightly around his arms and legs.

But the tentacles seemed desperate too. Up until now, they had focused only on slipping inside Reynald’s clothing, but now they were frantically trying to snatch the necklace away. Having lost the source of their nourishment, their desire to reclaim the necklace overpowered even their instinct to reproduce.

Of course, Reynald wasn’t foolish enough to let them take it. More importantly, the tentacles didn’t have the luxury of focusing only on him anymore.

“Cut them—hurry!”

The young men began swinging swords and axes, severing the tentacles at their base. As expected, without the necklace, the tentacles began to lose their agility. Their once-tough, sinewy surfaces became limp and soft, making them easier to cut through. With each swing of a weapon or farming tool, the tentacles burst apart, spraying fragments and fluid in every direction.

That was all Reynald needed. When some of the tentacles wrapped around his right arm weakened and sagged, Reynald pulled with all his might and tore them off. With a sharp crack, the tentacles snapped midway.

Even accounting for the weakened durability of the tentacles, tearing off several of them with just arm strength was nothing short of a superhuman feat. But Reynald didn’t even have time to celebrate his own achievement—he immediately moved on to the next tentacle.

Still, cutting through the tentacles came with its own risk. In this situation, where the previously solid mass of vines had scattered and begun attacking from all directions, severing the ones binding his limbs also meant eliminating the very anchors he had to support himself.

But that didn’t matter. Reynald had intended to jump down from the beginning.

“My lord, it’s dangerous!”

“You’re the ones in danger! Move back unless you want to get hurt!”

The moment the tentacles binding his legs were cut, Reynald leapt from the vine tower toward the ground. The young men panicked, trying to catch him, but Reynald shouted at them to get out of the way.

The reason was simple. Trying to catch a full-grown adult male could injure their backs, whereas Reynald wouldn’t be harmed by the fall.

“This necklace still has magic in it, right? Then the protective spell should activate!”

Even as he fell from such a height, Reynald didn’t close his eyes. Just before his body hit the ground, the magic circle engraved on the necklace glowed brightly once again, forming a translucent barrier around him. The defensive magic, designed to mitigate severe damage, activated in response to the impact.

Though he rolled across the ground, Reynald quickly stood up, virtually unscathed. With his limbs now free, the first thing he did was yank out the tentacles still stuck inside his underwear. They were grotesque things no matter how many times he looked at them. He tossed them aside in disgust just as a horrified Volant began running toward him.

“A-Are you alright?!”

“Back off—it’s still dangerous! And I’m fine. Go destroy the core!”

Volant snapped back to his senses at Reynald’s shout and immediately paled at the sight of the tentacles. Despite the other young men cutting at their bases, a swarm of them continued crawling toward Reynald.

But thanks to that, the core of the tentacles was now clearly exposed. From Volant’s safe vantage point, he would easily be able to hit it.

As Reynald hastily adjusted his pants and dashed away from the tentacles’ attacks, Volant hurriedly loaded his crossbow. Since he hadn’t fired in a while, it took him a bit longer to load, but eventually, he managed to aim.

And then—

“Bullseye…!”

The moment the bolt struck the core, all the tentacles chasing Reynald trembled violently and then went limp. As the young men erupted into cheers and ran toward him, Reynald caught his breath and yanked up his sagging trousers. His belt had apparently snapped.

“That was… one hell of a cleanup.”

Reynald let out a long sigh as he wiped his face with a towel. The ooze that had burst from the tentacles as they were destroyed had splattered all over his clothes and face, leaving him a complete mess. The young men averted their eyes and awkwardly cleared their throats, seemingly too embarrassed to look at him. Reynald didn’t scold them, knowing full well why they acted that way.

“My lord, there’s a hole in your pants.”

“You didn’t need to tell me. For everyone’s mental health, let’s just pretend we didn’t notice.”

Alex cleared his throat and turned his head. Still, after wiping off most of the slime, Reynald began to look somewhat human again. Though his hair was still sticky with goo and his clothes had several holes, at least he was no longer in a humiliating state. One of the young men finally raised his head and spoke hesitantly.

“By the way, my lord… are you really human?”

“Hm?”

“I mean… how did you climb that high? Just touching the tentacles sent them into a frenzy, and yet you were flying around up there like it was nothing. And how did you survive that fall? Are you using some kind of magic?”

“Magic? I guess the climbing part was just me, but surviving the fall wasn’t due to my ability.”

“Then what was it?”

“This necklace. I found it on top of the vines.”

Reynald held up the necklace as he answered. The young men crowded around, their jaws dropping in amazement. Some exclaimed that it must be incredibly valuable, while others joked about how unlucky they were not to have anything like that in their fields.

However, one thing concerned Reynald. Volant, the owner of the field, had a distinctly sour look on his face. Reynald observed him carefully but spoke in a calm, unaffected tone.

“By the way, Volant—do you know anything about this necklace? It came from your field, after all. I thought maybe you’d know where it came from.”

Reynald didn’t miss the way Volant’s expression darkened momentarily. It seemed clear to him that Volant had some idea but was reluctant to speak.

Perhaps due to his innocent nature, Volant’s thoughts were written all over his face. Still, Reynald maintained a composed expression, as if he hadn’t noticed a thing.

After a long silence, Volant finally opened his mouth—but even then, the story he gave was rather vague.

“A guest… a guest left it.”

“Hm?”

“Last year, we had a visitor at our house. I think that guest may have dropped it.”

“A guest dropped something like this in your field? It seems quite valuable.”

“Does it? I wouldn’t know. Anyway, my lord… are you planning to keep it? Since it came from my field, if possible, I’d like to hold on to it.”

“Go ahead. It wasn’t mine to begin with.”

Reynald suspected there was more to the story, but Volant’s expression was so somber that he couldn’t bring himself to press further. Judging from the ambiguous looks on the other young men’s faces, it seemed they had an inkling of the situation too.

Still, Reynald decided there was no need to ask more right now. He could wait until Volant felt more comfortable. Most importantly, he didn’t get the sense that Volant had done anything wrong and was trying to hide it.

If he had stolen someone else’s necklace and buried it in the field, he wouldn’t have asked others for help cleaning it in the first place. There was probably some unavoidable reason.

“Anyway, my lord, you should head back and wash up. You must feel awful.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”

When Lyndon awkwardly changed the subject with a forced smile, Reynald nodded, pretending not to notice Volant’s darkened expression as he stared at the necklace. At any rate, with Volant’s field now clean, all the spring cleaning was finally complete. Reynald decided he could enjoy that small satisfaction for now and leave the unsettling matters for another time.