SANDRA GOT BIGGER
“Oh, great Witch, you have a package~”
It was another day exchanging the magic stones from slimes when Natalie called out to me.
“A package for me? What could it be? That doesn’t ring any bells.”
“Let’s see, it’s from the Aptoch city office in the province of Norai.”
“Where on earth is that…?”
I’d never heard of that before. What could have come from this mysterious city?
“It’s addressed to The House in the Highlands, or in some cases, the Guild near the village of Flatta in the province of Nanterre. I doubt this is a mistake. Oh, and this is it.”
Natalie produced a box of a rather considerable size.
A weaker girl might have groaned under its weight. Nah, that was more of an old man thing…
“Don’t tell me I’m going to trigger a spell when I open it.”
“I don’t think a spell like that is common. And the city-office seal is on it, so there is no question that’s where it came from, at least.”
“Okay, then I’ll open it here. If there’s been some sort of mistake, I’m going to return to sender.”
“For someone as strong as you are, great Witch, you are incredibly cautious…”
It’s because trouble always comes looking for me. Where’s some wood to knock on?
Just to be doubly sure, I first cast Dispel on it.
It was done with a simple incantation, so it was like insurance.
“Okay, there shouldn’t be any curses on it. No danger here.”
But what if there was still a letter asking me to take care of something troublesome…?
And they’re sending me some local delicacies as “thanks in advance”…
Well, my worry wasn’t going to change what was inside, so I opened it.
There were—
—several bottles filled with liquid.
“What is this?”
“Perhaps you unknowingly ordered some medicine that you need for your work, great Witch?”
“No, Natalie, I don’t have amnesia. I’ve been alive for three hundred years, but I’m still eternally seventeen.”
There was a clue—a letter on top of the bottles.
It’s not going to be a request to exterminate dragons or something, is it…?
“You can donate to your hometown taxes for gifts in this world, too?!”
But there was the name of the person who ordered it on a second sheet of paper—
“Well, that’s one mystery solved.”
That night, I told the person who ordered the package that her thank-you gift had arrived.
“Ah, it’s here! I was just thinking it was about time. Your name is much more recognizable, Madam Teacher, so I put it under yours. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier~”
The culprit was Halkara.
“See, since I run a factory, I have to pay quite a bit in taxes, no? But I don’t get a single word of thanks. But if you donate to the countryside tax, you’ll get both a letter and a gift of thanks. I thought that was nice.”
It was obviously the same system as Japan’s hometown tax…
“And what’s the fertilizer for?”
“I thought Sandra might be happy if I used it on her. If I asked for some good cuts of meat as my thank-you gift, Sandra wouldn’t be able to eat it, you see. Oh, I did order some meat, though, and I think that should be delivered soon. I’ve donated so much to the countryside tax.”
It seemed like she had donated a whole lot to this tax pool while I wasn’t looking.
“I wanted to get something for Miss Rosalie, too, but I couldn’t find any local authorities giving out cursed dolls.”
“I’d want them to go bankrupt anyway.”
And I doubted Rosalie would want a cursed doll. Though she probably would want another ghost friend.
Halkara’s attention and care was commendable, though. Humans weren’t the only ones in this house. She was considerate to all kinds of different people.
Just then, Sandra the mandragora came in from outside.
“The wind is a little strong tonight, so I’m staying inside. My leaves will rip.”
“Sure, of course. It’s your house, too, so you’re free to come in when you want.”
When Sandra saw the bottles of fertilizer, the hue in her eyes changed.
“What is that?! It looks delicious!”
“You know what it is just by looking at the bottles?!”
“Oh, I’m so glad it makes you happy. This fertilizer has been the talk of the gardening world for a while now. I believe it might have great results on you, Sandra.”
“You’re a good person, Halkara! I knew people with more income have more emotional energy to spare, so they can be kinder to others!”
Her choice of compliment was very specific, but at least Sandra had a good opinion of Halkara.
“All right, why don’t we go out to the garden and try it?”
“Okay! I’ll absorb it all with my roots!”
I tagged along with them to the garden.
When Sandra found a nice place spot, she would spend her time sprouting and photosynthesizing.
She stuck her feet into the ground. “Halkara, try sprinkling it here!”
“All right. Let’s start with a third, okay?” Halkara opened the bottle and tilted it over.
Wait, a third? That’s kind of a lot… Are you supposed use so much with this kind of fertilizer?
Sure enough, I noticed the instructions on the bottle said, USE TWENTY PARTS WATER TO DILUTE.
“Halkara, I don’t think you’re supposed to pour it right on—”
“Glub, glub~ Bigger and bigger you’ll grow~ ”
Halkara was already pouring the fertilizer on the earth around Sandra’s feet, making it soggy. Geez, and that’s concentrated! Is she gonna be okay?!
“Aaaaaaargh! I’m so itchy! I bet for humans, this is like wolfing down some kind of delicacy!”
Sandra’s voice sounded muffled. I guess a good analogy would be that she was stuffing her face with caviar—but that was still on the scale of “tiny delights,” at least.
Sandra was changing in other ways, though.
“Huh? Sandra, are you getting bigger?” Halkara asked.
“What? Now that you mention it, I did feel itchy… Am I becoming a giant?”
Yes, Sandra was getting bigger!
She wasn’t really becoming a giant—it was more like she was growing up fast.
Her hair was growing out, and her limbs were getting longer, though not to a disproportionate level.
It was still unbelievable, though!
“What is going on…?”
A few moments later, right before our eyes—
There stood adult Sandra, now a voluptuous woman!
“Hey, my clothes are all tight… Am I just really full? But why are my arms and legs tight, too…?”
Both Halkara and I stared openmouthed at her.
She was just a little girl, and she had suddenly transformed into a virtual queen of the plant world.
“Oh, uh… I should apologize first, Sandra… I suppose that’s Miss Sandra now. I got the dose wrong… It was too effective…”
“What? What do you mean, Halkara? You mean I was supposed to take little sips at a time?”
It seemed as though Sandra still hadn’t totally grasped how her body had changed.
“Sandra, let’s head inside for now and take a look in the mirror…”
“What, was the fertilizer too strong? Did it make my face swell up?”
It was a little more than that, Sandra…
When we brought her to a mirror, her screams echoed throughout the house in the highlands.
The family quickly gathered, knowing something was up, and the panic spread.
“Lady Azusa, who is this woman? Is this Sandra?”
“Don’t be stupid, Laika. That can’t be Sandra. She’s obviously a plant spirit.” Flatorte was talking awfully big for being wrong. Too bad, Flatorte.
“Whoa… She’s like a totally different person… Is this a growth spurt? I never experienced that, being a ghost and all.”
Rosalie, it would be impossible to explain this as just a growth spurt. This was definitely because of the fertilizer.
Meanwhile, my daughters went rigid, unsure how to process the situation.
“You’re grown up, Miss Sandra. You’re all grown-up…”
“Our reign has ended. Now Shalsha is the youngest child again.”
At the very least, they weren’t happy about it. Having a younger sister (or something like one) suddenly become an adult would give you mixed feelings.
On the other hand, Sandra was staring hard at her own hands and feet. Of course they would weigh on her.
“This body is so big—I worry about burrowing in the ground… But I think walking is much easier than it was before. And I think I will be able to photosynthesize more effectively now.”
That is definitely the reaction of a plant.
“How are you feeling, Sandra? Any adverse effects to your body?”
“No. Strong fertilizer wouldn’t dry me out. I have lived for a long time, you know. Don’t liken me to those insignificant baby grasses out there, please.”
Don’t diss the baby grasses.
“But my leaves have grown so long. I should cut them back a little to make it easier to move. Would the witches want my leaves? I can give them away.”
The leaves that acted as her hair had also grown out considerably.
“Halkara, do you know how to get her back to normal?”
“You have my deepest apologies. I will implement thorough safety management so a mistake like this will not happen again. I respectfully offer my apologies to those harmed by the incident and all related family members.”
She sounded like a company president apologizing at a press conference.
“So you don’t know.”
“There’s almost no precedent… I have no idea…”
A mandragora who could walk around like a human was super rare, so of course it was hard to know if anyone had ever experienced this problem before.
“Oh well. We’ll have to make some adjustments to make life easier for grown-up Sandra, huh?”
The first thing we needed to do was get her a new outfit.
Right now, her chest area seemed extremely cramped, and I felt somewhat attacked.
“Halkara, let Sandra borrow some of your clothes.”
“Understood. I will offer my greatest support to those harmed by the incident.”
“Can you stop talking like this is a press conference?”
—And so Halkara lent Sandra some of her clothes.
“My chest still feels too tight. I need bigger clothes…”
“Was that a snide remark? What does that mean?!”
“Halkara, why are you getting angry?!”
We borrowed clothes from Momma Yufufu, the droplet spirit, and they turned out to be the perfect size.
With that, Sandra’s life as an adult began.
But she was still the same on the inside, so I didn’t think there was much difference in what she normally did.
The following day, Falfa and Shalsha invited her to study. They were teaching her spelling and grammar.
“You should read this book today, Miss Sandra.”
“Here is a list of all the new vocabulary. Memorize the spelling by writing the words out ten times each.”
The sight of children teaching an apparent adult was a little uncanny—but the scene didn’t proceed as usual.
“Oh, I know how to read and write all those words, so I don’t need to do that. Give me something more difficult. Oh, let me see that history book Shalsha has.”
Did her intelligence grow along with her body?!
“No, you can’t just jump ahead in learning. You have to take one step at a time… Study is not an easy road…”
“I’m not jumping ahead. Here, I’ll read it for you, so bring it to me.”
Shalsha was confused, too. I think any teacher would be. She brought it over, though, and Sandra smoothly read through it.
“Ohhhh, that makes sense. Political corruption used to be touted as the reason for this dynasty’s collapse, but that alone does not make for a very good argument. Back then, the development of agricultural land had reached a saturated state, culturally, and societal inequality was found all over the country. The administration failed to enact sufficient countermeasures, and there was an uprising as a result.”
I sure wasn’t following, but she sounded so smart!
“Miss Sandra, you get it…”
“Shalsha never thought this would happen… I’ve seen the limits of social sciences…”
I thought Falfa and Shalsha’s shock needed attention more than Sandra herself did…
After that, Sandra kept proving her genius everywhere.
“This is about as much as I can do for geometry, and this is what I can solve for algebra.”
“That’s amazing, Miss Sandra… Not even my sister, Shalsha, can solve that…” Falfa was blinking in amazement.
Shalsha wasn’t a STEM specialist or anything, but she loved to study. Sandra had left her in the dust…
If we’d poured an entire undiluted bottle of fertilizer on her, then would she have become the smartest person in history…?
What if she started saying things like Humanity and all the harm they cause plants should be put to an end? Yikes. We definitely were not going to try that out. Plus, we didn’t want her to suffer any adverse effects, either.
“I find the indoors more calming than the ground. Shalsha, do you have any nice poetry collections? I feel like reading some poetry alone on a quiet night like this.”
And now she was going elitist!
All her childishness was completely gone, both from body and mind!
“O-okay… I will go pick out a few from my room…”
Shalsha was overwhelmed, too.
All of us were struggling to deal with her sudden growth. It was like a first grader had suddenly become a grad student.
“Now then, Halkara? Do you have a moment?”
Halkara jumped when Sandra called to her.
“Er… What might you need?”
“You’re an elf, so you know all about fertilizer, don’t you? Can you take me to a city that sells a lot of it?”
Geez, she’s so straightforward now!
“I want liquid fertilizer that smells nice, like perfume. I need to keep appearances in mind, of course.”
She wants to use fertilizer as a perfume?!
I guess now that she’s bigger, she just jumped into sexual maturity, too… What’s a mom supposed to do about this…?
“I understand. I’ll take the day off from the factory tomorrow and bring you to a store in town… I suppose I am responsible for all this, after all…”
Obviously, Halkara couldn’t say no. Given her track record of bungling things, though, accompanying grown-up Sandra to town seemed like a recipe for disaster. I could easily see this going wrong.
“I’ll come with. I’m Sandra’s mom, you know!”
“Wait, you’re coming, Azusa? Ugh, having my mom tag along is so embarrassing…”
Sandra’s cheeks went red. Was puberty making her act like this?!
After living for over three hundred years, I was now suddenly experiencing life with a teenage daughter.
“I’m not gonna hold your hand or anything. That’s okay, right? Right?”
I didn’t mean to, but I was suddenly acting like she held authority over me. I felt like she would forbid me from going anywhere with her if I made her angry.
“Fine, but don’t treat me like a little kid. I’m all grown-up now.”
“I know. I’ll be sure not to.”
If I’d had my smartphone on me, I’d definitely have been searching how to deal with my teenage daughter.
I’d never really thought about it since all my kids had been so young until now, but girls did get to be that age eventually, didn’t they?
I was going to take on this task seriously and think of it as practice for the future.
The following day, we all hopped on Flatorte in her dragon form and flew to the capital of Nanterre province, Vitamei.
“The gardening stores should have all sorts of fertilizer.”
“Sure, but I want to take a look at some clothes and accessories first.”
Thinking about her appearance—she was acting more and more like a teenager.
“Mistress, look! She’s going to spend money on clothes, of all things. All you need to do with clothes is just throw on whatever your parents buy you.” Flatorte being Flatorte, her philosophy was more like a high school boy’s. The girls were polar opposites. “And you don’t even need to wear any during the summer. What a waste of money.”
“Yes, you do! Keep your wild side under control!”
I had a feeling I was in for a trial.
Laika was pretty, and you might assume she took great care to maintain her appearance. In reality, she was more like a noble young lady and never worried too much about how she looked. I tended to be the one who taught her on that front.
Rosalie had a little rebel in her, but since she trusted me enough to make up for it, I never really worried about handling her.
Point is, I didn’t have any experience interacting with difficult teenage girls…
I thought back—What was I like as a high school girl? I didn’t get out much at all, so I’m no help!
While I worried to myself, Sandra and Halkara walked down the city streets.
The people who passed us kept glancing back at them.
It was obvious to me they were looking at their chests. Big boobs are hard to ignore, huh? Girls who have them might have an advantage if they want to climb the social hierarchy…
Of course, boobs weren’t everything—Sandra was the quintessential gorgeous young woman. After all that time as our sassy little sprout, this really was a huge makeover.
I was no Hikaru Genji, but now that I knew she would grow up to be so beautiful, I wanted to nurture her development as much as I could.
Sandra entered a women’s clothing store, so Flatorte and I followed.
“It’s all so expensive… Why can’t we just save the money for something worthwhile, like meat…?”
Flatorte’s complaint wasn’t very feminine, but I let the statement go and watched Sandra closely.
She had picked out a few things and was trying them on in the fitting room.
The shop staff kept saying, “You look great in everything, Miss!” which made it hard to tell how genuine the claim was.
Still, even an adventurer’s battle gear would look fantastic on a girl as beautiful as her. On the other hand, if an average-looking person wore the exact same clothes as a model, something would definitely look off…
Halkara and I chatted while she was changing.
“She’s more mature now both in her looks and in general, so I find it easier to deal with her than when she was a child. I can manage her on my own. I’m sure we will be just fine.”
“You might be right, but I’m still the closest thing she has to a mother. I have an obligation to look out for her.”
A little while later, Sandra emerged from the fitting room.
“Well? I liked this one the best.”
She looked great. Stunning. She could join the entertainment industry. But—
“Your skirt is too short! Try again!”
Those miniskirts would not do at all. Anyone could peek under when she walked up the stairs!
“Aw, come on. Everyone wears them this short nowadays…”
Who’s everyone? You don’t have friends who wear miniskirts!
“Nope! We don’t dress like that in the house in the highlands! No clothes that’ll show your panties!”
“Ugh, fine. Sigh… You’re so mean, Azusa…”
Sandra looked like she had more she wanted to say, but she listened to my opinion and changed her skirt to something a little longer. It was still a little short for my liking, but I could compromise.
When she went out into town wearing her new clothes, she garnered more attention from the people passing by than she had earlier.
I could hear the comments:
“Hey, did you see her?!”
“She was gorgeous!”
“This isn’t good… I hope she doesn’t get swarmed.”
“Ooh, like bugs? ’Cause she’s a plant? Ha! Good one, Mistress!”
“Flatorte, that wasn’t supposed to be a joke…”
Afterward, Sandra got herself some liquid fertilizer to use as perfume, and she even bought shoes and accessories. That was a lot of money. But did it have to be fertilizer? Could she not just use regular perfume?
Sandra’s sense of style had risen by bounds in just an hour. I never thought she would be so fashion-conscious when she grew up.
“Little Sandra is getting too into this. You just need one sturdy pair of shoes. Isn’t that right, Mistress?”
“We should take a couple of leaves from Sandra’s hair and make a tea out of it to drink…”
The life of a mediator was so hard sometimes.
Sandra and Halkara walked together in front, while Flatorte and I followed behind to keep an eye on them.
Halkara was also Sandra’s chaperone, so you could say she had another set of eyes on her.
Then, my greatest fear became reality.
“Hey, ladies, wanna grab some tea with us?”
“Might not believe it, but we are nobles, y’know!”
Some bald-faced playboys came and hit on them!
*Literally bald-faced. They’d probably shaved that morning.
“You’re an elf, aren’t you? What about you? Never seen a human girl with hair like yours.”
“Doesn’t matter what she is, does it? Why don’cha come spend some time with us?”
They were so obvious that I couldn’t believe people actually did this. Maybe it should be considered something like a traditional art form.
I couldn’t just stand there staring, though. I was the mom, and it was my job to intervene.
On the other hand, I look seventeen, so won’t they just hit on me instead…? I guess they might, huh? Maybe I should go easy on them? But if that means they won’t take me seriously, I’ll just get angry…
Still, I didn’t really know how to deal with being picked up like this… In a way, it was more difficult than fighting monsters…
Then, I felt rage and deadly fury radiating from beside me.
“I’ll freeze them, Mistress! They’ll learn not to take us for fools!”
Oh no, Flatorte was being too aggressive!
“Please don’t. Settle down…”
I ended up having to stop Flatorte to save those boys from being beaten to a pulp…
“Why are you stopping me? They’ve got nothing on the inside; they could stand to cool down a notch or two. I’ll ice ’em!”
“No, wait! If you freeze them, you might actually—y’know, ice them! They’ll die!”
I couldn’t leave Sandra (and Halkara) alone, but I had to stop Flatorte. I was so busy for such stupid reasons!
Halkara looks ready to follow right after them… I should stop them…
However, my worries turned out to be groundless.
“Sorry. You aren’t my type.”
Wham. Sandra dumped the pickup artists and walked off, leaving them and her chaperone, Halkara.
“H-hey!”
“We’re not gonna do anything to you! No need to be so skittish!”
The boys held their ground. You most definitely were. What, were you planning to sit down for a deep religious discussion?
Sandra whirled around and looked at them.
She was clearly displeased, and she jabbed a finger in their direction.
“Look, your trunks are much too wiry. They’re weak! Your insides are hollow! If a man wants to win a woman’s heart, he needs a sturdier core! Make more use of your trunks! Come to me again once you’ve improved yourselves!”
At Sandra’s dramatic and vaguely threatening lecture, the two playboys complied. “O-okay…” “Sure…”
Wow, Sandra sure laid it on them. What a relief. I was so glad she wasn’t the type to hang out with boys like that… She was never much of a delinquent anyway…
There was no problem letting her and Halkara walk around by themselves in that case. If they weren’t interested in boys, the risk of trouble went way down.
“That was so impressive of you, Miss Sandra. I was thinking about having one cup of tea with them at least~”
Halkara really had no sense of danger! Protect yourself more, please!
“Their trunks were nothing special. Well, now that we’ve finished shopping—”
It was just about time to go home. It felt like we’d spent way too much money, but there was no harm in splurging now and then.
“—since we’re in the city anyway, perhaps we should find some good guys.”
Wait. Is she looking for boys?!
Not happening! Not on my watch!
“Er, Miss Sandra…? Aren’t you still a little young for that…?”
Halkara, of course, finally did her job and intervened.
“Being with other women puts my mind at ease, actually.”
What kind of invitation was that?!
I still had to keep an eye on her. Was she really declaring she was going to look for boys, even though she flew all this way with me…? I’m watching you! I mean, I was walking right behind her. She didn’t have to make her intentions so obvious.
“Why are you responding to everything I say, Halkara? It’s fiiine. I’m just looking. Just looking.”
Just looking, huh? What, were you expecting a hot actor to show up like in some random play? No, that wasn’t going to happen.
Anyway, I couldn’t leave her.
Sandra kept moving forward, and I followed.
Moms with teenagers sure had their hands full…
We went along briskly.
There was an extra spring in big Sandra’s step. Maybe now that she could walk quickly, moving forward had just become that much more enjoyable.
Halkara was sticking right beside her.
“Er, Miss Sandra, where are we going? We shouldn’t just roam around looking for men… See, if Madam Teacher found out, she’d start to worry. Although”—Halkara glanced back at us—“Madam Teacher and Miss Flatorte are right behind us, so we can’t step too far out of line anyway…which means there’s almost no point in me being here.”
Halkara was blunt about it, but she wasn’t wrong.
“I see. The four of us can walk around together. Azusa, Flatorte, we should all search.”
Sandra stopped and waited for us.
“‘We’…? Look, I’m not going to let you wander around picking up guys. Mom is putting her foot down here.”
“Didn’t I just say I’m only going to look? I have some sense of restraint, you know. I’m not going to do anything bad. I know how to take care of myself.”
I could relax when she said it so cut-and-dried like that.
Sandra touched her hair—or her leaves, rather.
“I have to. The witches will dish out so much money if I sell myself. I’m valuable merchandise.”
“Hey! Girls should not talk about selling themselves!”
“Madam Teacher, I think she means her leaves! It’s not anything lewd!”
“I know that, Halkara! I get it, but I am not fond of that word choice!”
I raised Sandra to be a bad girl… I mean, I didn’t expect such a big growth spurt… It seemed like all her knowledge had reached adult levels when she grew up.
“Ugh, you’re so dramatic about this, Azusa. Everyone grows up. And grown-ups wear makeup and find new interests. They’re like buds that finally bloom.”
Sandra was quite the realist; she was eyeing me with exasperation.
Dammit, she was the age where she wanted to act like an adult…
“So just let me enjoy myself a little more, okay? I swear I’ll keep my boundaries!”
With that, Sandra strode off again.
“Ooh, I want to believe her, but girls her age can get so easily duped… Men are wolves…”
“Yep, and wolves are awful, Mistress. They always taste a little gamey, so venison is much better.”
“Why are we talking about food, Flatorte…?”
“By the way, Mistress, did a guy almost dupe you when you were young?” Flatorte asked me innocently.
I wanted to say How rude, I’m still young! but I was technically over three hundred years old. I recalled my previous life and thought.
“…Not really. Nobody ever really hit on me, either.”
My life was very peaceful, but it was also a little sad and depressing… I think I would’ve liked to have been hit on at least once…
Ever since becoming a witch, I’ve been generally revered, and I couldn’t remember ever being the subject of someone’s fancy.
Wait, am I not a hot character? I mean, I have daughters, so I don’t care, though!
—Then I heard Sandra’s voice coming from the corner she had turned ahead of us.
“Wow, there’s a good one! He has such a sturdy trunk!”
“Hey, wow, she’s actually going for it. Reminds me of when I was young!” Flatorte followed me as I hurried ahead.
“So you chatted up guys when you were young, too, huh?”
“Mm-hmm. Whenever I saw a strong-looking guy dragon, I’d ask him for a fight.”
You’re a warring people, huh?
“Man, I feel like other dragons always keep their distance, so blue dragons don’t really get married~”
“I can easily see that, but first, we need to protect Sandra!”
Sandra wasn’t super-duper strong like Laika and Flatorte, so it would be bad if she got into trouble with an adventurer.
We also turned the corner and made our way toward her.
There towered a large, magnificent oak tree.
Sandra was looking up at it in high spirits.
“Oh my gosh! He’s so hot! His roots are so firmly in the ground, even here in the middle of the city! I love the silent type!”
Sandra was just like a girl squealing over a male pop star.
“You meant trees?!”
I mean, she was a plant! I guess it wasn’t weird for plants to be interested in others of their kind! All my worries had been for nothing. This wouldn’t cause any trouble at all. She was keeping her boundaries!
“He’s great. Men need a good trunk. How can you have any dignity without a substantial trunk?”
Guess trunk wasn’t a metaphor.
Before I knew it, Halkara was also looking up gleefully at the grand tree.
“Wow~! You do such great work~! This oak is four hundred years old. I somehow feel like it could grow even more.”
“You get it, Halkara. His branches are graceful as well.”
“They are~ I suppose this is a more mature kind of allure~”
“I think this excitement is still too much for me. I am satisfied simply looking at him.”
I’m just going to say this outright—I did not understand these two at all.
There wouldn’t be any trouble with Sandra picking guys up, it seemed, so I was relieved.
Afterward, Sandra found several nice, big trees and got all excited about them.
Halkara was having just as good a time as Sandra, which meant half of our quartet was gushing over trees. Flatorte and I were just bored.
“Oh gosh! This is just too much!”
“His pheromones are everywhere~!”
I guess so. It just looked like a plain ol’ tree to me.
“Wow. That is a lovely lady over there. She really exudes feminine charm.”
“Middle-aged women can shine, too. I suppose she’s an older woman who looks very young and attractive for her age.”
So this new tree was female… Since I looked extremely young for my actual age, I found myself confused by that observation.
“Mistress, I, Flatorte, could use a snack, so I want to go somewhere that sells grilled meat.”
“You are such a college guy.”
But Sandra seemed to be enjoying herself the entire time, and watching her brought a warm and fuzzy feeling to my chest.
She was my daughter, such as it was, and I was seeing her mature with my own eyes.
Sandra then spun around to look at me.
“Well, I got to look at a lot of guys, so why don’t we check out things that you all want?”
“What we want?”
“Yes. Clothes, medicines, food—there must be something you’ve been thinking about, right?”
Oh, I guess this is what enjoying shopping with your daughter is supposed to be like.
I still considered myself young, and physically, I was. It would be fun, though, to really make the most of being a mom with an adult daughter.
“Sure. Okay then, you’re coming with me!”
“In that case”—Sandra grabbed my hand and tugged—“let’s get going! There’s a store I’ve been wanting to look at over there!”
“Sandra, you sure have a lot more energy now!”
“It’s because I can move around! I am not tired at all!”
Sandra had found happiness all because Halkara accidentally poured fertilizer over her. You never know what little blessings life might throw your way.
We went around and looked at all sorts of shops and stalls that girls might like. I was just enjoying myself shopping.
“Ooh, I can smell the aroma of lamb skewers!”
Flatorte quickly picked up some meat skewers in both hands and started scarfing them down.
Her dual blessings in this case were her lamb skewers.
Girls like her who ate anything were charming in their own ways. We were often pressured into a certain mold in the name of “femininity,” but there was far more than one way to be charming. Still, Flatorte might have been going overboard.
“That’s supposed to smell ‘good,’ I see. I understand it better now that I’m grown, but I still don’t think it smells that delicious.”
“That’s because you’re a plant. It’s fine. All right, let’s check out those accessories there.”
“I am not interested—well, no, wait. Looking at them now, they are a little interesting.”
I had a feeling that Sandra was generally more honest with herself. I guess I could say she’d matured in this way, too.
“If there’s anything you want, go ahead and get it. We have plenty of money.”
“Yes, Halkara makes a lot of money at her factory.”
Halkara puffed out her chest with pride behind us. Well, that money was in a separate account. I wasn’t using Halkara’s profits for my private use.
At the accessory shop, Sandra bought a hairpin with a red jewel on it.
“You like that one, huh?”
“To be honest, I’m not really sure if this will look good on me. But I thought it might be good to learn how to dress nicely. I’m not living mostly in the earth like I was when I was alone.” Sandra then shyly scratched her face. “And I know my clothes will get soiled from the dirt…but I still don’t want to be the only one in the family with nothing but the clothes I already have…”
It was natural to worry about one’s appearance. The effects of that fertilizer were genuine.
“True. If you ever want anything more stylish, just let me know. I’ll give you some money.” I placed my hand on Sandra’s head.
“Okay, I’ll ask you if that happens.”
It seemed like she was still a little embarrassed, but Sandra smiled, a hint of red on her cheeks.
Shopping with my teenage daughter was a great thing.
“Madam Teacher, the sun is starting to set,” Halkara said, and I noticed the sky was turning orange.
“You’re right. I guess we’d better head home.”
Falfa, Shalsha, and the others would be waiting for food. I was in charge of dinner today.
“Azusa, wait just a second!” Sandra said hurriedly, then ran off toward the street.
I wondered if there was still another shop she wanted to check out. We didn’t usually get this opportunity, so we could stick around a bit longer.
The three of us waited for about ten minutes before Sandra returned. Her hands were behind her back, as though she was holding something.
“What did you get, Sandra?”
“Azusa………this is for you!”
Sandra thrust out a bouquet of red flowers.
“Oh, th…thank you… But why…?”
I was caught a little off guard, then looked back and forth between the flowers and Sandra, who was looking down with her arms outstretched.
“I-it’s my thanks! …You’ve been taking good care of me so far, so fair’s fair! Argh, don’t make me say any more! Just take it! Don’t waste the flowers’ lives!”
It felt as if a dart had flown right into my heart. Sandra holding out flowers, though, made it seem like she was offering the lives of her kin…
Let’s put that aside for now.
“Thank you, Sandra, thank you!” I embraced my girl and her flowers. “I really raised a good kid! I’m so happy! I thought you were turning into a delinquent, but that wasn’t it at all!”
“You’re going to crush the flowers I just bought you… Geez…”
Even though Sandra complained, she didn’t look upset at all.
I wondered if this was how a relationship between a mom and a teenage daughter was supposed to be.
Sandra reverted to her original, little self a few days later.
“I guess the effects of the fertilizer wore off…”
We were all sitting around chatting in the dining room when the shortest member of the family, Sandra, entered the room.
Falfa and Shalsha seemed super relieved.
“I like it better when you’re small, Sandra.”
“I am relieved to talk with you like this. Sudden reform is not a good thing.”
Their line of thought was probably that big sisters shouldn’t get shaken up by things like this, so I had to take their remarks with a grain of salt.
“What are you going to do, Sandra? Are you going to use the fertilizer again?”
Sandra thought for a moment, touching the hairpin on her head, then replied with a smile, “I’ll stay this way for now. I’ll use the fertilizer only for special occasions.”
From then on, Sandra’s scholastic ability went back to normal, contrary to the leaps and bounds she’d made when she was bigger. The twins were relieved about that, too.
On the table, by the way, was a vase filled with flowers that were still brightly colored.
They were my gift from Sandra.
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