I came with His Highness Astina and Mr. Presha to the prisoners being held in the dungeons. Leslie, who is accompanying me, has been giving much less attention than before - I guess that means not to make a claim unless it is necessary.

'We didn't manage to capture any of Zirconia's men in the battle yesterday. I had received a report from Deite that we had captured an enemy soldier the night before last, but I had lost track of it. ...... Thank you for your suggestion, Glass.
'I was ...... no, I had the privilege of treating the prisoners and I was strongly impressed by them. I had some expectation, based on the wounds, that he would have regained consciousness today.
'It's a quandary. But I know you're showing me respect, but it's okay to be 'me'. If it's more natural for you.

　His Highness says so, but I'm not sure if I should take him at his word. I'm not even polite to someone of such a noble status, even though I'm not very polite - and how generous His Highness is to allow me to do so.

　His Highness says that he was unaware of his captive's presence, but she is performing various duties as commander, and yesterday she fainted after going into battle. Still, if she can move with a perfect calculation of everything, then she is truly a being that transcends humans.

　If you look at his strength, magical power, and military strategy, I think he's far from human, too. But it doesn't mean that he's forced to be perfect - if possible, it would be good if His Highness could have time to relax, as constant vigilance can be a source of illness. But that's only after we've gotten through the immediate predicament.

　I take out the flower bulbs and place them on the floor. The Zirconia soldier, who had been lying on his face in silence, looks up, but his interest is pale - we all have no idea what's about to happen.

''O glossy flower blooming in the garden of demon flowers, ...... appear once in this world and show your power.''

　In response to the chanting, the bulb sucks up the magic around it and takes root.

''Gosh, ...... this is ...... glass, I can feel something flowing out of me .......''
''I'm sorry, Your Highness, ...... yet the magic power overflowing from Your Highness' body has not been completely stopped. Your Highness has also shared your magic power, and the flower spirit Alraune has been summoned and is about to appear.

　The stem grew out of the bulb and produced a large bud as we watched. When the bud opened, the girl inside with a flower on her head looked at me and smiled.

'Summoner-sama, you are summoned to ......

　As he was about to greet her, Alraune looked at His Highness as if he noticed something.

'...... your mother ...... I can smell your mother. This person ......
...... am I like your mother?
Excuse me, Your Highness. Alraune, your highness is from the royal family, he's a human being.
'I'm sorry, I'm sorry ...... but I'm a bit like your mother. My magic is on a different wavelength from the rest of you.

　That's how I feel about it too, but when I say Alraune's mother, I mean a plant spirit.

　I've never heard of a human being with magical powers similar to a spirit - no, it's possible, but it's not easy to fit it in there.

　A human child of a spirit-infused human may inherit the nature of a spirit. However, it is so rare that not even a single student of the Academy of Magic can be found, and it's something that is treated as a legend.

(But His Highness has the potential to do so. If she had inherited the blood of a maiden: ......)

'So, then, my summoner. Can I ask this person to do what I say?
"Nah, what's ...... I won't talk about ......, I won't talk about ......, I promise, I won't say anything about .......

　A strong will to resist - if you speak, you won't get away with it, because you know that. But a person with no resistance would never be able to resist Alraune's hypnosis.

　The flowers on Alraune's head shine, and the glowing particles in the area - pollen - dance around. Only when the designated target inhales, a component that acts on the central nervous system changes even the most stubborn of opponents into obedience.

　The light fades from the captive's eyes - and even His Highness looks at it. Mr. Presha saw it once, but he was still too amazed to say a word.

'If you maintain a hypnotic state for too long, it will affect your captive's ego. It will be long enough, but in the meantime you should be able to get the information out of them.
'Okay. Now let's go to ...... and tell us about your affiliation and your name.
...... under General Alejandro's command ...... Zirconia's Third Army Corps ...... Covert Engineer Corps ......

　One by one, the men would tell him who they were. Leslie was responsible for writing them down and recording them.

　Then the man revealed that Zirconia had built two bases on the other side of the canal, east and west, and that they were training to bring warships from there to the canal quickly.

'How was it possible to do that without being visible to us?
...... Mage ...... Noin ...... General Alejandro, brought in ......
Huh. ......!!!

　Noin--When I heard that name, both Leslie and I couldn't help but be surprised.

　A student of the same age as us, who was raised to a court mage soon after completing the Election Ceremony. I couldn't help but think of that person when I mentioned Noin as a water mage.