"Dear Mr. Glass, .......
Mr. Rendle, you'll be fine.

　Mr. Lendl tries to step forward - he's trying to protect me. I won him over, and I spoke to Mr. Presha, cautiously.

'If you don't have to use any means, I can make them talk.
'Do you have any drugs that can be used for that ......?　It's like being a black market doctor.
'You can say that if you like. I've found my own method ...... that can't be propagated too widely, because that's the 'dark method'.

　I tried to speak calmly, but my heart was pulsing like it was about to burst - the killing spirit of Presha-san with her spear was such that if I made one mistake, I could be killed in an instant.

　However, after she looked at me as if trying to figure out my true intentions - she lowered the spear she was holding up. Mr. Rendle, who was about to step in front of me, lets out a shaky breath. I almost made him move.

'I can always kill you. All you need is the information ...... glass, and if you think you can do something, I'll be right here watching you. If you make any suspicious moves, I'm going to kill you.

　Killing is not so easy to say. I think so, but to say it now would be suicidal. My emotions are so high that Mr. Presha has lost his ability to make a calm decision now.

　She didn't trust me to do it. Ms. Presha is testing me. If he decides that my word is a lie, neither my captors nor I will have any guarantee of life.

　I now understand why Mr. Raquel had told Mr. Presha to bring me back safely. Raquel-san had foreseen the possibility of this happening.

　In this way, Presha-san's age doesn't look much different from mine. The first impression of aloofness was not felt now, and yet his spirit still seemed to have some immaturity left in it.

'Mages contract with spirits to borrow their powers and exercise magic. The spirit can also summon the spirit itself from the spirit world by using the spirit guide markings that the mage possesses and preparing the ...... necessary mediums to influence this world.
...... What does that mean?　They say you're a failed mage. It's not like you can call up any useful spirits: ......
No, it's useful in situations like this. I'm only able to contribute in limited circumstances.

　I take out a small leather bag from the bag that Rendle-san was holding for me.

　What was in it was - a bulb.

　A medium used to summon plant spirits. There's only one kind of spirit I can call, but I can make it manifest for sure - because this bulb is a genus of a certain spirit.

　I place the bulb on the floor. Then I stand up and hold up my hands - Presha-san looks at my actions with a questioning look on her face.

'...... What is that?　The root of something ...... so what can you do ......?
''Watch. 'O glossy flower blooming in the garden of demon flowers, ...... show yourself once again in this world and show your power.' ......!

　Two years ago, when I first tried summoning magic for the first time, I didn't know what would appear - it was a low-grade spirit that I successfully summoned and could always call out, but its power would surely help me in this place.

''Huh...... what......?　This ...... grass ......?

　In response to the chanting, blue grass grows around the bulb - and the one drawn is a magic circle.

　The moment the figure made of grass is completed, the bulb germinates, rapidly taking root and growing.

(ugh, ...... different than usual. It's bigger than usual ...... this, because it's inside the fort ......!

　Inside the fort, a human with a powerful magic power - His Highness Astina, just like that, the plant that manifested was bigger than the one that was supposed to be summoned in the magical academy, which was supposed to be rich in magic power.

　The stems intertwined, the leaves spread out, large buds began to appear and swell - and then bloom.

''Is this ......ma, demon ......?''
''No, it's not. It's a plant spirit with the power to influence the minds of people, the Spectral Flower Alraune .......

　The flower has bloomed - the only being I can call from the spirit world.

　At the center of the open flower is a girl the size of a doll. She is the incarnation of the demon flower - when I called her before, she was much smaller and didn't even have a distinctly human shape, but now she's different.

　The girl, an unworldly being with a small flower on her head, looked up at me, bowed and said.

''Summoner-sama, it has been a long time. I have come here from the Garden of Pandera, Arraune the Demon Flower.

　From there to here. That chanting phrase when you make a contract with a spirit refers to the spirit world (yonder) and this world (kata).

　I put her on my shoulder as Alraune asks me to. As I touch her, I feel my magic power being sucked out of me - Alraune is responding to my will and trying to use her inherent power.

'Can you get these three to change their minds? To cooperate with us and tell us everything.
'Yes, sir. Here we go: ...... my children ......!

　With Alraune's words, the flower she had been born into shone pale and bright - and the rising pollen of the demonic flower shimmered in the air, enveloping the captives.