Chapter 25: Eruydice’s Garden

There were familiar flowers, but most of them were ones I had never seen before.

Large and small flower blossoms with a dark reddish color, sparkling with a purplish light.

The petals shimmered subtly whenever the sunlight hit them.

and when the wind brushed, they swayed subtly as if they were alive.

Some of them even had eyes and mouths.

‘…Is this their original shape?’

As I carefully approached, the eyes on the flower moved towards me.

“…Huh?”

I stopped and blinked.

This time, the shape of the mouth twitched and changed as if it were smiling slightly.

“…Um, hello?”

I carefully waved my hand.

and the flower opened its wide, torn mouth.

Body fluids….

No, dark sap flowed down at a rapid pace.

“Eh…”

I just blinked blankly.

At that moment—.

The flower rushed towards me at a rapid pace.

In an instant, my vision went dark.

“Ebub.”

“You! You can’t play around!”

I heard Eurydice’s voice and my vision cleared.

I opened my eyes wide in a daze.

In front of me, Eurydice was lightly pulling on the vine of the flower and scolding it.

The flower that had just covered me.

was now drooping like a scolded child.

“Even if it’s a guest, how can you greet them like that?”

“…That, was a greeting?”

Eurydice nodded with a smile.

“I’m sorry. Sachan. Your clothes are all dirty. This is their way of greeting.”

“…Ugh. I see.”

I lowered my head and looked down at my clothes.

My clothes were soaked in sap and stained black.

‘……What do I do? This is the only outfit I have.’

While I was thinking whether I could draw a pretty outfit with my skills—.

Another flower that had come close to me in the meantime darkened my vision.

“Eubeub…….”

“Sachan!”

It became so dark that I felt like my body was floating up.

At that moment—.

Ria’s cold voice came from behind.

“…Stop it. You damn weeds.”

A short and firm threat was heard, and I immediately felt my feet touch the ground.

My vision instantly brightened.

I raised my head and saw Ria pulling on the vine with a ferocious look.

“Ria—! Stop—!”

“Senior—!”

Ria threw down the vine she was holding and grabbed my shoulders.

“Are you okay? Scared…not really, hurt…not likely, were you uncomfortable?!”

“Huh? I’m fine. I’m not bothered at all—!”

…Except for the clothes.

I lifted my clothes slightly and sniffed them.

It smells good because it’s flower sap…. No, sap.

‘…I can just think of it as fabric softener or perfume.’

I raised my head and saw Ria’s distorted expression.

She was glaring at the flower so ferociously.

it seemed like she was about to burn the whole garden down.

I hurriedly grabbed Ria.

“I’m fine! Don’t bully the flowers!”

“…Senior.”

“I’m really fine.”

I purposely smiled brightly and brushed off my clothes.

“It even smells really good? Do you want to smell it?”

“…You want me to smell it?”

Ria’s gaze changed instantly.

Only then did I realize what mistake I had made.

But I was already lifted up by Ria.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaa!”

“……Ah, a legal sniff-sniff that Senior allowed.”

“Noooooo—!”

I felt a ticklish breath on my neck.

The moment my body trembled from the ticklishness, I heard a low voice in my ear.

“……Senior’s scent has decreased. Should I kill them.”

“No—! You can’t ruin someone else’s hard work—!”

“…Yes.”

Then, Eurydice, who was next to us, approached with an apologetic look.

“Sachan, I’m really sorry. Their greetings are a bit aggressive, but they’re kind-hearted.”

“Yes, I know. The flower friends greeted me because they like me!”

I patted the flower and said.

Then, the flower started rubbing against my hand like a puppy.

Black pollen scattered around.

“Cu, cuteeeee!”

“Right? They’re really cute, right? They’re all lovely.”

“Yes! They’re so pretty!”

I thought they were cute from the beginning, but they even move like animals.

Moreover, other flowers seemed to have their own egos.

One by one, they approached me and lightly wrapped my hand with their vines or tickled my cheek with their petals.

“Kyaa! It tickles!”

I twisted my body slightly, laughing.

The more I did, the more excited the flowers became, wrapping around me as if competing.

‘…This world is the best.’

Even the flowers are so lovely.

Of course, flowers are originally pretty and lovely, but I guess you could say……

it feels like cuteness has been added by ten spoonfuls.

The flowers wagging their tails like puppies.

No, I smiled contentedly at the flowers wagging their vines.

Eurydice burst out laughing as she watched.

“These children really like Sachan.”

“Really?”

“Yes. They usually welcome people, but not to this extent.”

“Ehe—. I see. Thank you for liking me—!”

I opened my arms wide to the flowers and greeted them.

Then, the flowers waved their vines like arms and wrapped their leaves around me.

“Kyaaa—! These guys hugging me is really cute!”

I stroked the vine next to me.

The flowers seemed to be in a good mood. The flower scent felt even stronger.

“Aren’t you afraid of these flowers, Sachan?”

“Huh? Not at all?”

“Hehe, really? Actually, these are flowers of hell, so their appearance is a bit unusual. That’s why people are often scared of them.”

“…Eh? They’re just pretty.”

I tilted my head and looked at the flowers.

‘Flowers of hell?’

Where? These cute and lovely kids?

They are dark red, a very faint eerie energy.

and they have eyes and mouths, dripping black sap.

They don’t seem like kids with the ominous title of flowers of hell.

“Eru Auntie, are these flowers really from hell?”

“Yes. They are flowers that bloom in the depths of hell. They are friends I made when I lived in hell.”

“Ehhhh?!”

I looked at Eurydice with a surprised expression.

No matter how I look at her.

she was not a bad person, no, a nymph, who deserved to go to hell.

“…Wh, how did it happen?”

“Well, how did it happen? But it wasn’t bad. It was half an accident, so I didn’t receive any particular punishment.”

Eurydice smiled and looked back and forth between Ria and me.

“Besides, a cold and taciturn, but subtly kind person took care of me while I was in hell, so I didn’t have any problems.”

“Really? That’s a relief. They must be a really good person!”

“Hehe, you think so too, Sachan?”

“Yes! Right, Ria!”

For some reason, Ria didn’t respond and turned her head.

Somehow, Ria’s cheeks seemed a little red.

ᆞDid she get stained by the flower?’

I stared at Ria’s face.

“Ria, what’s wrong?”

“Ah, it’s nothing, Senior.”

“But your face is red.”

“…That’s.”

Ria hesitated for a moment and then picked me up.

“Fueee?”

“Because Senior is so lovely♡”

“Eh? Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!”

I wasn’t worried! I wasn’t worried—!

I struggled desperately against Ria’s indiscriminate sniff-sniff attack.

Then, Eurydice, who was watching from the side, said with a smile.

“You two are really close.”

“Ah, yes! Ria is my precious junior!”

“…Yes. Senior is the most precious person to me. More than my life♡”

Ria said that and hugged me tightly.

Eurydice burst out laughing again as she watched.

You’re both a mess because of the sap. Would you like to borrow the bathroom?”

“No, it’s fin….”

“Please.”

Eurydice nodded with a smile.

“And…. if Sachan is okay with it, Auntie will make you new clothes.”

“Really—?!”

“Yes. Your clothes got dirty because of Auntie’s flowers.”

“Then please—.”

“Hehe, leave it to Auntie. Come on, let’s go back to the house.”

I held Ria’s hand tightly and followed Eurydice.

After finishing urgent work, the Goddess collapsed, exhausted.

“…Ahh, it’s broken again. It’s broken again—!”

I don’t know how many times the barrier with hell has been broken this month.

It was certain that they had invaded so often that I had forgotten to count the number of times.

“Really, I wish they would stop invading!”

I have filed numerous complaints to various regions of hell.

but the responses were ‘I don’t know’, ‘Processing’, ‘Looking into it’, ‘No response’.

The Goddess rolled on the floor and pulled her hair.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaa—! It’s so annoying—!”

Holiness? Dignity?

Such things had long been thrown away.

“Ugh—! I have to clean up the sanctuary that was messed up because of that woman, Belia—!”

At that moment—.

The things Belia said, half as a request, half as a command, came to mind.

“First, make sure Senior doesn’t have anything to be sad about. Manage it properly. Got it?”

“Ye, yes!”

“And…. I want a lot of visitors.”

I put up a barrier to prevent Belia from invading again.

but given that woman’s personality, she could break through with force.

To protect the sanctuary.

And to survive—.

I had to fulfill those requests somehow.

‘……Visitors? What is she doing that she needs visitors?’

The Goddess tapped her stiff shoulders and looked through the records of the past.

“…Th, this.”

And then—.

She covered her mouth at the sight of what had happened in her sanctuary.