This Love is Futile

Chapter 089 – Successful Extraction of Panacea

Content Warning: Tentacles

“I heard this thing moves around when it gets big…”

“Well, of course it does. It does look like that kind of species.”

Was it normal to believe that thing can move? If there really was a species like that, all those involved in farming would need to be strong enough to handle that. Wouldn’t this kind of thing normally not move at all?

I could still keep my cool because it was very small now, but… 

“Anyway, I’ll try to grow that Taruar grass. I want to try and see if it is possible to propagate them.” 

“You’re going to make more of them…?”

That wiggling thing? I shuddered a bit thinking about it, but Monto-san made a face as if asking why was I asking something this obvious.

“It’s a plant, right? A plant is a plant. Even if it grows in a strange way, that doesn’t mean we can’t grow it. Anyway, I’m gonna see if I can grow more of them. That’s the basics.”

“What a scary basic…”

“Hahaha, what are you so scared of? Now, let’s make it grow big!”

Crossing his thick arms, Monto-san looked at the Taruar grass excitedly. 

But I was the one who was going to make it grow, right? …I was a bit hesitant, but I was willing to try. 

“I have to give it my magic, and yesterday, I felt it absorb my magic when I touched it, so I guess I just have to touch it and it’s gonna suck my magic on its own…”

I cautiously approached the Taruar grass. 

“I-If something happens, help me please…”

I stretched my hand while looking back at Monto-san. 

“Okay, okay.” Monto-san laughed and lightly brushed it off.

Now, I was really concerned if he truly understood or not. 

When I lightly touched it, I felt the heat begin to escape from my fingertips. It was the same feeling as yesterday. I displayed my MP bar in my vision and continued touching it while watching the bar.

Wow, it went down quite a bit. It was like a heartbeat, and with each beat, my MP was reduced by 1 along with the warmth in my fingertips. 

I listened to the sound of my MP bar reducing. When it was reduced by around 10, the Taruar grass grew one size bigger, and the leaves grew too. 

“Ohh, it’s growing.”

Monto-san’s face was glowing. 

Please don’t say it so happily. That tentacle-like leaf was coiling around my finger now. 

The speed at which my MP was decreasing became a little faster.  And when it decreased by 20, that wriggling tentacle grew again…

This time it coiled around my wrist. 

My MP was decreasing even faster now, and the bar went down more visibly. 

“Ah, I’m gonna run out of MP soon at this rate.”

My MP was still decreasing with every heartbeat. 

I quickly took out a High-Grade MP potion with my free hand and gulped it down. 

By the time my MP bar had reduced again after filling it, the Taruar grass had grown to my height. 

“M-Monto-san?! T-This, is this really okay?! My arm’s already entangled!”

“No worries, no worries. This grass doesn’t look like it would strangle its feeder. The fluid produced from its pistil in the middle after it grows up can be a little dangerous, but the plant doesn’t have the ability to kill.”

Who wrote this!? Was it even credible?

My arms were already caught up and I couldn’t get out of it now. 

I had already drunk two of my High-Grade MP potions, and it didn’t look like it was enough. 

“Gyaaaa, that tentacle is coiling around my waist!!”

“Your magic might run out, but after it grows up, it might release you,” he said.

“Does that mean, if I hadn’t used that potion, it would have let me go easily?! Hey, stop it! I mean it! At this rate, I’m gonna get hung upside down. Are you sure this is harmless?! Am I gonna get eaten?!”

“Don’t worry, that plant’s food is magic.”

I was almost afloat! And what was worse was that my MP was getting devoured!

When my MP was about to run out, those tentacles crawled to my waist bag! This guy definitely had a brain or something! It was also written in the description that ‘the ivy can move on its own volition’. Did it have an intellect?!

So that’s why it left my hand free to restore MP! It’s so painful to see it grow up in front of my eyes and what’s more painful is that I was the one who raised it…

This is also a quest, just a quest. At one point I told myself to do my best but on the other hand, I was so about to give up. Those tentacles were so disgusting.

Monto-san’s head was already below my feet. It had grown so big now, and I wasn’t happy at all. 

How much MP did this tentacle plan to suck out of me? Just hurry up and be done with the growth already…! 

After being forced to drink 7 of those potions, something light pink finally began to emerge from the middle of the stem that could be seen at the foot of the plant. 

It looked like a bud. Wait, was it about to be done?

I nervously stared at the bud that grew larger and larger with each passing second.

While still complying with the tentacles’ demands for more potions, I looked down at the bud, as it finally bloomed into a large pink-colored flower. 

“Eh, what the? It’s beautiful.”

The flower was so beautiful that I couldn’t help but take a screenshot of it with my free hand. 

The shape was like a bigger version of a double-flowered cherry blossom, with a pale pink center and petals that darkened toward the outside. There were a few thin stamens in the center and one slightly thicker pistil sprouted, hidden between the petals. 

My entangled body was slowly lowered to the ground.

As soon as my feet touched the ground, the tentacles finally released me. 

“I never expected such a beautiful flower would bloom from this.”

I’m sorry that I thought you were disgusting. It was truly beautiful except for those tentacles. Those wiggling tentacles, as soon as they were away from me, stopped moving after they sprawled out on the ground. Now I could clearly see the flower.

“Wow! It’s even more beautiful than it looks in pictures! Mac, good job.”

“How should I say, I feel like I’ve been exploited…”

The MP restored from the last potion I took was almost gone. I was truly exploited. 

I didn’t feel any particular physical tiredness, but I was mentally tired. But, well, I got to see this beautiful flower, so I guess it’s okay. 

“Now go and squeeze the panacea into those empty bottles as much as you like.”

“Ah, yes. Is it really okay for me to take it?”

“Of course it is, since you raised it.”

I wondered if Monto-san let me raise it so that I could take those ingredients. Such a thought came to me. 

That’s very likely. If this panacea were sold on the market, it would have a ridiculously high price. 

Grateful to Monto-san, I quietly approached the petals and took a peek into the flower. 

It was as tall as my waist. Huge. If I were to crouch down in the center of this flower, I was sure no one would be able to see me from outside.

I bent down and reached out for the pistil in the center, and suddenly I realized something.

“How am I gonna extract it?”

“If you stimulate the pistil, it might come out. I only read about it so I’m not sure, but you should give it a try.”

I lost my strength hearing his explanation. 

Stimulation?

The pistil, which could be squeezed between the fingers, was standing tall. 

Even if I poked it, there was no reaction. 

When I pinched it, the tentacles showed a response and started writhing around on the ground. 

When I let it go, those tentacles rose up all at once, forming a wall that enveloped me. 

“What?! What is this?!”

A wall was formed and I could no longer see Monto-san. I panicked and tried to hit the wall. 

Then, one tentacle came toward me and grabbed my right hand. What the?! My MP is all gone! I’ve already been sucked dry! While I was panicking, my hand was guided to the pistil. The tentacle coiled around the pistil and showed me how to squeeze it from below.1

Was it showing me how to squeeze it out? What kind of intelligent plant was this?

Did it want me to imitate its actions?

I did as it had shown. I grabbed the pistil and squeezed it from below.

Then, a clear liquid spilled out from the tip of the pistil. So this was the panacea.2

I placed a bottle at the tip and tried to squeeze more. The not-so-large bottle soon filled up. 

“Mac, you okay~?”

I heard Monto-san’s voice from outside.

“I’m okay. This guy is teaching me how to squeeze it out, so I’m doing it now!”

There was still a wall around me, so this meant I still needed to squeeze out more. 

I put the lid back on the full bottle and repeated the process again with a new one. 

I wondered about the smell of this liquid, it had a bit of a sweet scent.

I repeated these actions for a while, and after about 10 bottles, the walls finally started to unravel. 

It was coming out less and less, so I guessed that was it then. 

I squeezed it one final time, and I wonder if it was because I was a bit forceful, the liquid that had been dripping out shot into the air.

“Uwa!”

And splashed on my face.3 I was hit by a strong sweet smell. 

The smell alone made me dizzy. 

Next, I heard a slithering sound and my surroundings began to change. 

The tentacles stopped forming a wall, crawled back to the ground, and stopped moving, just like when the flower bloomed.

I thought, indeed, an overdose of this could be a little dangerous. 

I didn’t lick it but from the smell alone, my head was spinning. 

I left the petals and came back to Monto-san.

Somehow, I felt like my feet were floating.

“What’s wrong, Mac? You look unsteady?”

“My face got covered with the liquid and I feel dizzy.”

“Ah, that’s tough. If it’s undiluted, it’s gonna be strong.”

Monto-san wiped off the liquid that was dripping down my chin with the towel around his neck. 

“Want to take a break? I’ll make you a cup of herbal tea.”

“Thank you…”

I slowly bowed my head. I felt fuzzy and couldn’t think straight at all. 

I turned around and said ‘thank you’ to that beautifully blooming Taruar grass and followed behind Monto-san.

As I approached the entrance, the bell on the gate rang loudly. 

“Did someone come? Is it Vidello-san coming to pick me up…?”

“It seems so. Mac, go inside and wait for him there.”

“Yes.”

I did as I was told, walked through the door, and waited there. 

Somehow, strangely enough, I was in a good mood. I felt like I was in a lukewarm bath, saying, ‘This is heaven, heaven.’

Soon after, Monto-san came into the house together with Vidello-san. 

“Ah, Vidello-san… Thanks for… picking me up…”

I was able to see the most wonderful face while I was in this heavenly mood. 

I unsteadily walked over to Vidello-san like an insect attracted to light. He looked surprised but welcomed me with open arms. I love you

“Mac… what happened?”

I explained to the worried-looking Vidello-san, to reassure him.

“Ehhh, well, I got entangled, got squeezed out a lot, but it became big so, I grabbed and squeezed it and got some fluid, but it got on my face and it felt kind of nice…”4

“!” he gasped.

I chuckled and said, “Don’t worry about it.”

“With whom?”

“Ehhh, that beautiful flower, outside—. I raised it. I raised it well, so like this with my hand—”

The moment I showed him how I squeezed it out, he groaned. 

“…Monto-san. You’ve already burnt that obscene plant, haven’t you…?”5

Vidello-san was saying something strange. I wondered what that obscene plant was. If you burned it, the farm would be ruined.

When I chuckled and said that I was happy to be close to him, he paused for a moment and then let out a sigh as if he had given up. 

Monto-san had started laughing when Vidello-san talked about burning the plant, and he wasn’t planning to stop laughing anytime soon.