Chapter 241 - Playing Gardener

* * *

After staring down at his hands for a long while, Hermann, a sturdily built middle-aged man with graying hair, let out a heavy sigh.

'Human greed truly knows no bounds.'

Only a few days ago, he had been unable to hold even a cup properly. Back then, he had thought he would wish for nothing more if only his illness could be cured. And indeed, when Maia's treatment allowed him to sculpt again, he had felt tremendous joy.

Yet now, what filled his heart was not happiness or satisfaction, but gloom and helplessness. The challenge he had faced as soon as his hands recovered—his failure to sculpt a perfect Venus de Milo—had left him deeply disappointed.

'If my hands had held out just a little longer, I wouldn't have made that mistake...'

At first, he had thought he was fully healed. But that had been an illusion. As time passed and his stamina waned, his symptoms returned, and his hands began to tremble again. Had his own lack of skill been to blame, that would have been one thing. Knowing that illness had once again kept him from creating that perfect sculpture filled him with regret.

'... Then again, even if my hands had held out, there's no guarantee I would have succeeded.'

Hermann smiled bitterly. In truth, even in his prime, he had never produced a sculpture of that caliber. Even works that came anywhere close had taken him weeks at the very least, and sometimes years, to complete. To attempt something so perfect on the spot had truly been asking too much.

'More importantly, I don't know how I'm going to face Lee now.'

His embarrassment brought Limon to mind once more. Limon had sought him out after he had given up on everything, even selling himself to secure his treatment. Hermann felt guilty that he had failed to give Limon what he wanted in return.

Of course, once his treatment progressed further, he might be able to complete that sculpture. But if the second stage was already this difficult, could he manage the third? No—even if he completed the third stage, would that alone be enough to repay what had been done to secure his treatment?

'I have to find some way to repay this kindness...'

As Hermann pondered how to repay this debt, something unusual caught his eye. He was sitting on a rooftop bench, looking out over the sky garden.

"Lee?"

"Hey, sculptor. What are you doing here? Done with today's treatment?"

"My morning treatment is finished, and I was told to rest, so I came out for a short walk... But what are you doing here?"

"Me? Doing slave work."

With a ladder tucked under his arm, hedge shears slung over his shoulder, and drab work clothes to complete the picture, Limon looked every inch a gardener. He shrugged as he spoke.

"My mistress seems to be a curious sort. Apparently, she wants to test every last thing her new slave can do."

"So this time, you've come to play gardener?"

"More or less."

"... You certainly have your work cut out for you."

Hermann let out an involuntary, incredulous chuckle. He knew Limon had been busy lately. Besides cleaning, Maia had been making him do all manner of things, from fetching food from a restaurant fifty kilometers away within ten minutes to moving mountains of luggage. She was like a scout observing an athlete... No, more like a researcher placing a lab animal in every imaginable environment and watching what happened.

'Well, perhaps that's understandable?'

Ordinarily, Hermann would have considered those orders harassment. Yet he could not help understanding her, because Limon actually carried out most of them with ease. He struggled a little with tasks that required brainwork, but anything physical he handled nonchalantly, as though he had done it all before.

Of course, he was still human, and he did show some clumsiness at tasks he had never attempted. But only at first. Whatever the job, after trying it for a little while, he quickly got the hang of it and performed it expertly. As a result, Maia's orders grew more difficult by the day. Still, Hermann had not expected her to make him work as a gardener.

'It seems Chairwoman Maia has gotten stubborn about this too...'

Hermann smiled wryly at her behavior. Rather than observing what Limon could do, she now seemed intent on finding out what he could not. Just then, Maia appeared on the rooftop.

"What are you discussing?"

"Oh, nothing important. I happened to run into the sculptor."

"Finish the work I assigned you before you indulge in idle chatter."

"You'll give me time to chat once my work is finished! I can only ever be grateful for your mercy, mistress."

Was he sly, or simply shameless? Watching Limon seize on her wording to secure himself a break, Maia wore a cold, mocking smile.

"Very well. If you finish the job properly, I will give you ample time to rest."

"Thank—"

"But if the garden you arrange displeases me in the slightest, you can forget not only resting today, but sleeping as well."

"Mistress, on second thought, I don't believe I need a break."

Still smiling cheerfully, Limon immediately changed his tune—a swift retreat befitting an old hand. But rather than allow him to escape, Maia's mocking smile deepened.

"Would you like to work without a wink of sleep until the day after tomorrow?"

"... I'll get started right away."

Grumbling openly that his mistress knew far too well how to handle a slave, Limon finally took his pruning shears and approached a nearby ornamental tree. Hermann shook his head as he watched.

'To behave like that with Chairwoman Maia of all people... Whatever else you say about Lee, you have to admire his nerve.'

Hermann found Maia intimidating. He bore her no ill will. Quite the contrary—she was his benefactor, treating his illness, so he felt favorably toward her. Even so, meeting her made him tense. It was not merely her peculiar air of pessimism, her cynical manner of speaking, or her sharp eyes.

Like a mouse encountering a snake, or a goat catching sight of a spider, he inexplicably broke out in goose bumps and grew uneasy whenever he met Maia. It was as though the survival instinct inherent in every living creature were warning him of danger.

Nor was he alone in this. The other Green Dragon Clan members he had seen here often held their breath and swallowed nervously in Maia's presence. That made Limon's ability to joke with her so casually all the more extraordinary. Hermann merely marveled at his courage, but Arbella and the others looked at him as though he were a madman.

'Fortunately, Chairwoman Maia doesn't seem particularly offended.'

Maia's behavior was curious as well. Given her merciless nature, one would expect her to punish a slave for being as insolent as Limon. Yet although she snapped at him or mocked him with cutting words, as she had just done, she did not specifically reprimand his attitude or issue cruel orders. Arbella had accepted this with a snort, saying that researchers did not get angry at their lab animals, but...

'... At any rate, even Lee is going to have a hard time with this one.'

After watching Maia with a curious look for a moment, Hermann turned back to Limon, who had finished preparing to trim the ornamental trees, and smiled wryly.

He knew Limon had a natural gift for physical work, but being a gardener was not simply a matter of cutting trees well. The profession had originally arisen to beautify the gardens of the powerful. It required knowledge, experience, and artistic sensibility more than stamina. Thus, a first-rate gardener needed to be well versed in floriculture, horticulture, and landscaping at the very least, and often possessed architectural knowledge as well.

And to do all that to Maia's satisfaction? Unless they brought in a royal gardener from somewhere, it would be impossible. That was what Hermann thought—until Limon began cutting.

SNIP

"...?"

For the first few moments, he did not understand. Why had he straightened his back the instant Limon cut a branch from the tree? And why could he do nothing but watch the shears at work, as though entranced?

SNIP, SNIP

As the cutting continued and branches fell away, Hermann's eyes grew wider and wider.

A considerable time passed. When Limon finally finished tending all the ornamental trees and set down his shears, Hermann looked as though his eyes might pop out of his head.

'That's...!'

What the Venus de Milo had possessed. The goal the platinum-colored carving knife had demanded of him. Faced with that "perfect sculpture," which embodied the most ideal garden in the world, Hermann could only let his jaw drop.

* * *

"Welcome, Your Highness."

"It's been a while, Zixuan."

Li Qingyu smiled at Zixuan, the neatly dressed middle-aged woman who had greeted her so respectfully.

"I hope I haven't inconvenienced you by dropping in unannounced."

"Please don't say such a thing, even in jest. With Your Highness granting us the honor of a personal visit, we ought to suspend business if necessary."

"That pleases me as the clan's princess, but as Leviathan's chairwoman, I can't welcome the idea."

"Oh dear. I was so delighted by Your Highness's visit that I foolishly misspoke. Please spare me dismissal, at least."

"Rest assured. I have no intention of dismissing someone as capable as you, Zixuan."

"I'm most grateful to hear it."

Although the exchange was plainly a joke, Zixuan smiled as though genuinely relieved. That was only natural. Whatever anyone might say, Li Qingyu was both the princess and Leviathan's chairwoman. Black Dragon Clan membership aside, as the general manager of Leviathan Hotel's São Paulo branch, Zixuan could hardly help watching her mood—especially when their princess had settled into a hotel prepared by the Green Dragon Clan.

And so, with a hint of hope, Zixuan asked, "I've prepared the penthouse. Shall I show you there now?"

"No, I have no plans to change accommodations for the time being."

Li Qingyu shook her head. She was already under surveillance; staying at Leviathan as well could easily invite needless misunderstandings. Barbara, who had escorted her here, had shown suspicion the moment she learned their destination was Leviathan.

"That is truly unfortunate."

Although, as Leviathan's general manager, Zixuan understood that obvious consideration, she could not hide her disappointment. Li Qingyu addressed her calmly.

"Instead, I have a few questions."

"Please ask anything you like. I'll do my utmost to answer."

Zixuan answered confidently. As the general manager of Leviathan Hotel, she was confident that she had a grasp of most information of consequence in Brazil.

"Have you ever heard the word 'ambrosia'?"

But the moment she heard Li Qingyu's question, that confidence vanished. With a mixture of bewilderment and unease on her face, she asked in return, "... Where did you hear about that?"

"I happened to come across it by chance."

"To obtain information only two days after arriving that even I, who oversee our intelligence network in Brazil, have yet to properly ascertain... Your Highness puts me to shame."

"If you haven't properly ascertained it, that means you do have some information?"

"I wouldn't go so far as to call it information. I've merely heard a few rumors."

Zixuan felt embarrassed. Of course, she had an excuse. With Li Qingyu having sold nearly half of Leviathan's shares to the other clans, the Black Dragon Clan had not merely declined; it had all but been cut in half. Under those circumstances, pursuing every minor rumor was difficult in more ways than one.

Understanding those circumstances, Li Qingyu did not blame Zixuan. She merely asked calmly, "It doesn't have to be verified information. Please tell me what you know about ambrosia."

"If rumors will suffice, then certainly."

As Leviathan's general manager, reporting unverified rumors was embarrassing, but the princess's wishes took precedence over everything else. And so, in a composed voice, Zixuan began relating the rumors she had heard about ambrosia.

"Ambrosia is..."