NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29
“Four-leaf clover, huh.”
A reward of 100 Heaven Coins was rather modest. However, the fact that it was a repeatable quest and that all it required was to collect four-leaf clovers and give them to someone else intrigued me.
Moreover…
[Fortune’s Blessing: None]
I vividly remembered seeing the phrase “Fortune’s Blessing” when drawing a reward after donating coins.
“If Fortune’s Blessing can be earned by gaining Platous’ favor…?”
If that blessing could help me draw better rewards from donations…!
I had already drawn a legendary-grade intuition card with nothing but my luck, so I was excited at the thought of what kind of amazing rewards I could get with Fortune’s Blessing added to the mix.
“Maybe I could even draw the highest-tier mythic card reward.”
Grinning, I closed the ‘Quest Log.’
I had a strong feeling that if I put in effort on this quest, I could hit the jackpot once again.
“And I…”
I already knew that this intuition would lead me to something good!
“Alright.”
I settled into my seat and started brainstorming.
The usual thought would be to head to a grassy garden to search for four-leaf clovers.
But my plan was completely different.
“How long would it take to search that vast garden and find a four-leaf clover?”
It would be lucky to find even one like that.
Normally, you’d just waste your time discovering loads of three-leaf clovers.
“Wasting time on something uncertain is what I hate the most.”
What is the motto of a dark mage?
Efficiency, of course.
Even though the title of “former” had been added before “dark mage,” I still kept that motto close to my heart.
“They said to collect four-leaf clovers, not that I had to find them myself, right?”
In other words, as long as I got my hands on four-leaf clovers by any means, it was fine.
Then…
“Let’s cultivate four-leaf clovers!”
* * *
In a previous life, I was a dark mage.
After defeating the Mad Dragon, I spent my time leisurely researching magic in the quiet North.
People were immensely curious about what kind of magic I was studying while holed up in that small mansion.
They asked if I was researching some terrifying curse or an offensive spell powerful enough to take on foes even greater than the Mad Dragon.
But in that quiet, small mansion in the North…
<…Master, is this really the result of the month-long research I helped with? Just this?>
I can still vividly remember Hazen shaking his head in exasperation and letting out a deep sigh. He had lamented that his life was ruined, thinking he’d learn some great magic as the apprentice of an Archmage, only to end up helping with research on knot-untying spells.
Yet, he always helped me with my research, diligently. Whether it was a spell to pick out beans from a dish, a spell to clean clothes, or a spell to wash hair.
“And then there was…”
There was also a spell to turn weeds into flowers!
“I was dreaming of a life where I’d tend my own garden in my old age.”
But landscaping is hard work, and isn’t it a hassle?
Especially removing weeds—it’s the worst. You have to squat all day, agonizing over whether something is a weed or a budding flower, and then only remove the unwanted ones.
So I ended up researching a spell to “turn weeds into flowers”…
And with a little modification, I could definitely create a spell to “turn weeds into four-leaf clovers.”
“Looks like this is going to be useful here.”
I never imagined I wouldn’t get to enjoy that retirement and would instead be using this spell as a four-year-old child.
The problem was that I couldn’t really use magic myself right now…
But that wasn’t much of a problem—I could just ask Axel to do it for me.
“Hehe.”
I stood up with a grin.
“Time to ask Axel to make me some four-leaf clovers!”
* * *
“Four-leaf clovers?”
“Yep.”
“All of a sudden… four-leaf clovers?”
“Yep.”
As I nodded firmly and handed Axel a piece of paper with the spell formula written on it, his eyes narrowed.
“Is this for a quest too?”
“Yep. There’s a romantic god who loves luck.”
“Unbelievable.”
Axel let out a deep sigh but still took the paper from my hand to check its contents.
“So, you were researching this kind of magic out there in the countryside?”
His reaction was one of disbelief, but I proudly shrugged my shoulders.
“And now I’m putting it to use.”
“You just got lucky, stumbling onto a solution.”
“Well, what were you researching at the magic tower?”
“…A spell to make cold food taste as if it were freshly made.”
“What?”
So, in the end, we’re on the same level? I glared at Axel with a look that asked, “And you criticized me?” He seemed embarrassed and quickly averted his gaze.
“I just wanted to eat warm food wherever I was. When we were out hunting the Mad Dragon, we usually had to eat cold meals.”
Being from the slums, I was used to eating cold and dried-out food, but the other members of our group weren’t.
“They always picked at their food like it didn’t suit their taste.”
Maybe that had left a deep impression on him?
As I chuckled, Axel cleared his throat and placed the paper with the spell formula on the table.
“The spell itself is simple.”
“Yep. Originally, it was to turn weeds into flowers, so I just tweaked the spell formula a bit.”
The core of the spell was changing weeds into something else, so modifying it to turn them into four-leaf clovers wasn’t difficult at all.
‘See how skilled I am!’
I lifted my chin towards Axel, showing off a bit.
“So, all you need to do is find a place with lots of weeds and cast the spell!”
As I confidently made my statement, Axel’s expression became somewhat peculiar.
“A place with lots of weeds. And where exactly is that?”
“Huh?”
It was a very basic question. I blinked and tilted my head in confusion.
“Aren’t weeds everywhere? Even if you just step outside to the garden here…”
Weeds grow relentlessly wherever there’s soil, hence the phrase “as resilient as weeds.”
But Axel tilted his head as if I was talking nonsense.
“This is the Elpinard Duchy. Five gardeners and countless servants tend the gardens 365 days a year without a break. Do you think there’s any time for weeds to grow?”
“…No.”
No weeds?
There could be a place with no weeds?
This was something that had never even crossed my mind—a concept totally alien to someone with my humble background!
“So, do I need to… grow weeds first…?”
As I began to sweat nervously, faced with this unexpected obstacle, Axel crossed his arms and looked down at me.
“No. I don’t understand why you’re even trying to solve this with magic in the first place. Is there really a need to grow weeds?”
“And if not…?”
Axel shrugged, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Just order the gardeners to create a four-leaf clover bed.”