Episode 5: Mandragora Capture Plan

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After class, Yuuki and the others gathered in the classroom at Aoi's request.

Aoi
S-Sorry for calling, everyone.

Chloe
It's all right. I mean, I'm used to it.

Chelle
This group of five already feels like "the usual" by now. The usual suspects, a.k.a. the rejects.

Yuni
I think there is no shame in being a member of Yunichan's. In truth, I think it is something to be proud of.

Aoi
So... Um, the truth is, something awful has happened.

Chloe
You mean like someone arbitrarily changing our guild name?

Chelle
You mean like someone stealing the good sense from our guild name?

Yuni
Endure it, I must endure it. All visionaries were once treated this way...!

Aoi
Um... After the special course ended, the teacher told me about a... certain plant.

Yuuki
1. "A giant, person-shaped plant?"

Aoi
Yes. The truth is... It's difficult to admit, but...

Aoi
It might be the mandragora that I brought with me.

Later.

Yuni
Hm. I understand clearly. So the draining of the lake on campus was the work of that mandragora.

Chelle
Ah, now that you mention it, I heard from my other friends that something weird was walking around the school grounds.

Chloe
A mandragora from the Elven Forest... huh.

Yuni
Erom Aoi's testimony, we can infer that this must be one of the species known as the poison mandragora.

Yuni
Perhaps you misidentified it as a normal mandragora and brought it into the school thusly? Well, it's quite understandable. This species is exceptionally rare in the Elven Forest, I believe.

Aoi
Yuni, you're amazing! Almost nobody knows about the flora of the Elven Forest...!

Yuni
Oh, no, this is simply common knowledge. Ho ho ho!

Chelle
Yuni sure looks proud. That face is practically begging for more praise.

Chloe
Poison mandragora...

Yuuki
1. "What's the matter?"

Chloe
Huh? Ah, I was just thinking... Or I guess, remembering something. Don't worry about it.

Chloe
Anyway, let's catch it.

Chelle & Yuni
Huh!?

Aoi
Y-You'll help me...!?

Chloe
I mean, that's why you called us here, right? So yeah, let's catch it.

Aoi
Chloe... I'm so happy...!

Chelle
Wait, wait, wait, what's gotten into you, Chloe!? Aren't you always the one saying, this is a pain, that's a pain, everything's a pain!?

Chloe
I don't say it that much. Don't put words in my mouth.

Yuni
There must be some conditions, right? There must be some hefty strings attached...

Chloe
You really think it's that unbelievable for me to be willing to do something? That's cold. Pfft...

Chelle
Well? What were you thinking about a moment ago?

Chloe
... Fine, I'll say it. In this one place where I worked... er, visited, a while ago, I heard something.

Chloe
About the poison mandragora. Its price on the black market...

Chelle & Yuni
Huh!?

Aoi
E-Everyone... What are you whispering about?

Yuni
Aoi, you have nothing to worry about.

Aoi
Huh!?

Chelle
We'll wrap this whole thing up in a chelly.

Aoi
R-Really...?

Chloe
Leave it to us. We'll catch that mandragora no problem.

Chelle & Yuni & Chloe
We swear on the name of the BFFs Club!

Aoi
Everyone, thank you for doing this for me...! I'll also do my best, as a member of the BB Team...!

Later.

Chelle
Well, we've looked through the entire interior of the school. That means it must be outside somewhere. Yuni, do you have any more pearls of wisdom for us?

Yuni
My wisdom is not merely pearl-sized, Chelle.

Yuni
Hm, but indeed... The poison mandragora feeds off of the latent magical energy in the open air, and in its adult form, not only its roots, but its flowers and fruit are also poisonous.

Yuuki
1. "Sounds dangerous."

Yuni
Indeed. However, that poison is useful in a variety of applications. One could say that the bitterest medicine is the most effective.

Chloe
It grows insanely fast when it's outside of the Elven Forest. If we don't find it soon, it could become a serious pain... And like an annoying bug or fish, it should know to find places to hide itself.

Yuni
Huh? That wasn't written in the textbooks. Fascinating... Was this knowledge passed down through elves via oral tradition?

Chloe
No, I feel like it was something else. I can't quite remember, but it was through one job or another...

Chelle
... Chloe, isn't taking outside jobs forbidden by the school? I mean, I'll pretend I didn't hear it. I'm a lovable girl who knows how to read the room, after all.

Yuni
Still, to think that this plants has the disposition to hide itself... That seems like it may complicate our search. If only we had some plan...

Yuuki
1. "Let's try asking the plants."
2. "Let's try asking the animals."

Option 1.

Chelle
Huh? What are you talking about, Yuuki? Can you talk to flowers? Are you a fairy tale princess? I'm not so sure about that.

Option 2.

Yuni
Hm. Suddenly, my underclassman is speaking of things straight from fairy tales. Perhaps he means to play the role of an innocent child... Very well, then, leap here into my bosom. Allow me to pat your head.

End of branches.

Aoi
That's right! That just might work, Yuuki!

Chloe
Ah... Of course.

Yuni
I see, now that you mention it, the elves who protect the forest...

Chelle
Huh? What is it, everyone? You've got guts to leave me out like this. You wanna make me cry? Because there's no way you can win against a young woman's tears!

Aoi
I can talk to plants and animals!

Chelle
Huh? Seriously?

Aoi
Yes! Wait just a moment! I'll go ask!

Later.

Aoi
... I never thought there was a place at St. Theresa's like this...

Chelle
Ooooh, what's with this atmosphere... This place is like a haunted house, or a dungeon. Aoi? Did the mandragora really run away to here?

Aoi
Y-Yes. The flowers growing beneath the schoolhouse said that they saw it in the old school building...

Chloe
Even if that's so... Searching this gigantic place without any clues would be way too much of a pain. Yuni, you live here at the old schoolhouse. You should know something that might help.

Yuni
No, while it's true that my place of residence, the Ivory Tower, is beside the old schoolhouse, I've unfortunately never set foot inside the other buildings.

Chelle
Yeah, Yuni is basically a shut-in. As much as she says she wants to experience her youth, she definitely wouldn't go outside unless she had to, so she can't help in a moment like this when it matters most. It's fine, though!

Yuni
......

Chloe
Chelle. Those words cut way too deep. It's like the light has faded from Yuni's eyes.

Yuni
... N-No, wait. Do not underestimate the volume of my knowledge.

Yuni
Memo-writing machine that I am, I've recorded every trifling utterance that the faculty have made about this. There may yet be some clues in there, so wait just a moment.

???
......

Aoi
...! Everyone, did you hear that!?

Chelle
No, I didn't hear anything. Aoi, are you trying to test our courage?

Chelle
You sure about that? You wanna do a test of courage? I might not be much good against ghosts, being the adorable girl that I am, but as long as I stick close to Chloe...

Aoi
N-No... Um, there was a voice from behind that door...

Chelle
That's the... main auditorium? That's what it says on the sign.

Yuni
The main auditorium of the old schoolhouse? I've heard something about this from the mother... This section of the building is highly deteriorated, so access was closed off indefinitely.

Yuni
Nevertheless, there was a voice from within, which means...

Chloe
We've found it?

Chelle
Let's chell this thing out! Yuuki!

Yuuki
1. "Let's take a look."

Mandragora
Roaaaar!

Yuni
Hm... Look alive, ladies and gentleman -- we've found our target.

Chelle
Looks like it... But still...

Chloe
Pff... What now?

Aoi
W-Why...

Aoi
Why did it get so big!?

Seeing the size of the mandragora they found, the group couldn't conceal their shock.