Dantalian No Shoka
/ Dantalian no Shoka Vol 2 Chapter 2
It was an old house made from stone.
It was the villa of an owner who was not well off. Although it was a large piece of land, but it wasn’t an extravagant mansion. It was only an old building.
There wasn’t any signs of servants in the villa.
The originally isolated buildings, seemed even more isolated.
The villa had furniture and daily accessories, it could only satisfy the smallest needs. And there were no drawings or statues, in exchange books filled the whole villa.
From old books to new books, cheap to expensive, important academic books to easily disposable novels—books of every age, all these were squeezed into the bookshelves of this villa, and the books that could not fit were scattered on the ground.
This was the villa of the deceased who was a mad lover of books, Wesley Diswald.
At the back of this villa, was a small garden.
The rays of the setting sun gently illuminated this place. Although the season’s flowers were blooming everywhere else but the entire garden was nearly flooded with weeds.
It hadn’t been weeded in many years, instead of saying that this was a garden, it would be more fitting to call it a wilderness.
At this instant, there was a man walking on the stone path of this garden.
It was a youth wearing casual clothes, he seemed to be the owner of this building.
He was younger than twenty years old, and wore a leather jacket that pilots wore, he had a leather glove on his right hand.
The young man had pleasant features, it could be seen with one glance that he had a good education, but he also seemed to subtly give off a bored attitude.
Although it didn’t give a bad impression, but from his movements it gave people the inviolable feeling of a trained soldier.
He stopped by the side of a small building.
It was a greenhouse covered with glass.
“Dalian?”
The youth called.
The interior of the greenhouse was like a jungle. The tree branches and leaves criss-crossed as they extended everywhere, and a few vines were carelessly curled at the top and then they hung in the air.
Weeds flourished on the hard ground without a care, and the flowers of roses and raspberries were spotted among them.
In the deepest place, there was a small figure.
It was a small girl wearing black clothes.
The youth walked towards her quietly.
“So you were here, Dalian.”
Hearing his voice, the girl turned around.
It was a girl who had pretty features that would make people think of an expensive porcelain doll.
Her rich black hair was tied up with lace accessories, reaching her waist.
The girl’s black clothes seemed loose and large because of the layers of lace and frills, and surrounding her body was a thick chest plate and metal gauntlets, making people think that this was a formal attire worn by medieval knights in ceremonies, it was a strange garment that couldn’t be called a gown or armour. What was tied in front of her clothed chest was not a ribbon but an old metal box.
That was a large lock connected with a silver chain—
“What is it, Huey?”
The girl named Dalian replied with an icy tone that did not match her image.
There was a watering can made from tin in her hands.
She seemed to be using this watering can to water the plants in the green house. A rare plant grew in front of the black-clothed girl’s eyes, that was a plant that was much taller than her.
“What is this?”
The youth called Huey asked with a surprised expression.
“You don’t know what this is? This is something called a plant.”
“No, at least I know what it is… it’s a cactus.”
Huey sighed lightly. Although it was very different from the types he had seen in the nearby florist and garden, but just looking at the fat thick leaves that were covered with needles, it could be recognised as the cactus plant.
“Yes, it is a rare species from the Dark ContinentAfrica.”
The girl said a little smugly.
Hugh hummed carelessly with little understanding, at the same time raising his head to look at the plant behind her.
Looking closely, he found that this cactus wasn’t of a normal large size.
Although it was covered with numerous leaves and vines, and its size was unable to be determined accurately, but just its main frame was large enough to hide someone behind it. It was at least twice as tall as Huey. And its roots’ seemed extremely developed, there were some signs of swelling nearby.
“There’s this sort of thing in our family’s greenhouse.”
Hugh excitedly confirmed the cactus illuminated by the setting sun’s rays. Then he unconsciously saw the watering can the girl was holding.
“Dalian. Don’t tell me that this cactus was grown by you?”
“What does this “don’t tell me” mean?”
Dalian immediately pouted.
Hugh smiled as if teasing her and said:
“Oh my, I didn’t think that you would like flowers.”
“I’m not interested in flowers.”
Dalian deliberately answered with a cold voice, making Hugh’s expression even more gleeful.
“This isn’t something to be embarrassed about.”
“Why do I have to be embarrassed by this.”
“Indeed, that you who always holes yourself up in that room reading those gloomy books would grow flowers, this makes me feel disbelief. But thinking that you also have such a cute interest makes me feel comforted……Ah!”
Huey who was nodding with a smug expression up till just now gave a low cry, stopping. Because a frowning, angry Dalian had kicked his calf.
“Your cactus mind is annoying. If you have the time to be talking nonsense here, then go do the weeding for me. What a useless man. Even the earthworms are more useful than you.”
“That’s unfair, Dalian.”
Huey moaned as he held his leg that was kicked with teary eyes.
The black clothed girl looked at him coldly:
“This plant was planted by Wesley.”
“Grandfather?”
Huey raised his head in slight surprise.
Now that he thought of it, to grow a cactus of that size, it should probably take a long time, it was hard to imagine Dalian growing it alone. It seems that it really was his deceased grandfather who spent so much time growing it.
“I see, Dalian… you inherited the job of continuing to look after it.”
Hearing Huey’s words, the black clothed girl nodded mildly.
“It’s probably going to bloom tonight… I have waited for this for thirteen years.”
“Thirteen years?”
Huey peeked at Dalian’s expression out of the corner of his eye.
The black clothed girl looked silently at the trunk of the plant. On the trunk of the swollen cactus, was a bud that was starting to bloom. That was a dark brown flower that was the size of a coconut. Although its shape was rarely seen, it was a normal flower bud.
Huey had once heard that some types of cacti would only bloom after decades. According to her, Dalian said that she had waited for thirteen years, it didn’t seem to be something to be surprised about.
“Speaking of which, Huey… an old woman shamelessly came to visit you earlier, right?”
Dalian who had finished watering the plant suddenly spoke with a change in tone.
“Old woman… you mean Camilla?”
Huey frowned as he replied. Camilla Sauer Keynes was Huey’s old friend. She was the daughter of a trader, although she was pretty, but she was an oddball who had returned from the New Continent.
“She brought a present for me. I think she said she went to Lausanne when she accompanied her father to settle some business matters.”
“A present?”
Huey felt that Dalian’s ears hidden under her long hair, had trembled like a puppy’s.
“It’s chocolate, made in Switzerland.”
“Chocolate!”
Dalian’s eyes widened, shining like a child’s. Her pretty lips seemed to tremble because she swallowed her saliva.
“Uh… It looks like that wild yellow brat has her own uses. What are you waiting for, Huey. Prepare the afternoon tea for me!”
“Afternoon tea? The sun is almost setting.”
“Shut up, you idiot. If you don’t want to eat, I don’t mind finishing off all the chocolates.”
“You really are greedy…”
Huey shrugged helplessly as he said with a bitter smile. Then before he began to walk reluctantly to the kitchen, he stopped as if he felt something.
Dalian looked at Huey in surprise.
“What is it, Huey?”
“It’s nothing.”
Huey smiled as if it were nothing and shook his head.
Then, the doorbell to the backdoor of the villa rang.
2
The visitors that came to the villa were two unfamiliar men.
One was around thirty five years old, his red hair was unruly and his beard was carelessly grown as if he was lazy to shave it.
The other person was probably twenty five to thirty years old. He was slightly plump but his muscles were well developed, making people think of a wild boar. The two wore good clothes, but truthfully it didn’t suit them.
“Good evening, are you the owner of this house.”
After the red haired man saw Huey, he greeted him with a solicitous smile.
And the fat man bowed too.
“Who are they? Are they people that you know, Huey?”
Dalian hid behind the pillar Huey, whispering to Huey.
“No, I don’t know them at all.”
Huey shook his head, troubled, and Dalian scoffed lightly.
“Only you would know such people with bad tastes, this is what is known as birds of the same feather flock together. It doesn’t matter if they are ugly, but at least they should wear something that suits them.”
“I already said that they aren’t my acquaintances. You should save that, it’s not good if other people hear you.”
Huey shook his head as if warning Dalian.
He didn’t know if they had heard the girl’s words, the duo’s expressions slowly stiffened. But even so, they still worked hard to squeeze out unnatural smiles and said:
“Our humble selves, we are from Glacks’ Merchant Association.”
“Glacks’ Merchant association?”
Huey tilted his head slightly as if thinking, he had no impression of this name.
The red haired man’s expression was slightly disbelieving.
“Don’t you know? This should be the residence of Baron Wesley Diswald, am I not wrong?”
“Eh. I guess it’s counted as that.”
Huey nodded. To be accurate, this was once the house that Wesley Diswald lived in—Huey scratched his head helplessly and said:
“But, Grandfather passed away not long ago. So, this is already…”
“He’s dead?”
The men’s expression were obviously shaken.
“Then that is troublesome… We found the item that he ordered, so we hurriedly sent it over. Did you hear him mention our company?”
“Ordered something?”
Huey seemed very reluctant.
“What strange thing did my grandfather order again?”
“That, it’s not anything strange…”
The red haired man said with a helpless expression. That he would have such a reaction was unavoidable.
“Do you know something about this, Dalian?”
Huey seemed to sigh tiredly, turning around to ask the black clothed girl hiding behind him.
Dalian peeked out from behind the pillar, and in that moment, her expression suddenly stiffened.
At the same time, Huey who felt something was off, reflexively knelt down.
And, something swept across swiftly across the space above is head.
It was a metal baton. It was a baton with a handle that people who were guards secretly carried on them. And the one who attacked Huey with it was that muscled fat man. That blow was merciless, if Huey had not knelt down in that instant, he would undoubtedly have collapsed on the ground now.
“What…”
Although Huey was surprised, but before he felt confused, his body was already moving. He kicked the right wrist of the muscled fat man, causing the baton to drop to the ground.
Then Huey prepared to suppress the other party like this, but—
“Bastard… Damn brat!”
The man retaliated with an unimaginable wrist power. He used force to throw aside Huey who was grabbing them, then fought back against Huey.
Although his movements were clumsy, but that power was uncomparable, and at the same time endurable. Huey felt with one hit that it was like hitting a hard rubber eraser and but his tongue. This man who was persistent no matter how he was hit caused a large pressure for Huey, always chasing him to the wall.
The red haired man shouted with a shrill voice.
“Alright, that’s enough, brat. Don’t move.”
He held a large automatic pistolautomatic in his right hand, although it was the newest model from overseas, but it seemed to be used frequently. At the barrel of this gun, was pressed roughly to Dalian’s temple.
The black clothed girl who had her hands behind her back did not struggle, but there was a touch of dissatisfaction on her mouth.
“This person… can really fight.”
Huey who had given up on struggling was pushed forward by the muscled fat man. Because he was too close, the odour from the other person’s body made Huey turn his head away, being unable to tolerate it.
The man took out a hemp rope to tie Huey and the others, as he looked at Dalian’s strange clothes.
“What is it with this brat’s clothes… That kid’s interests?”
Hearing the condescending words of the red haired man, Huey couldn’t help by retaliating unhappily with a glare.
And the red haired man didn’t seem to notice Huey’s speechless protest, he was only interested in exploring the deepest corners of the corridor.
“There’s only the kid and brat in here… And still saying that it was completely deserted. The Association’s news cannot be relied on anymore.”
Dalian looked unhappily at the muttering red haired man.
“What are you with a cleft lip planning to do? Move your dirty hands away from me now.”
“Cleft lip…”
Hearing a beautiful girl say something so piercing, the red haired man was momentarily speechless.
“Robbers? Why did you come to the house of a fallen noble like this?”
Huey who was tied up calmly replied.
“I’ll say this first, there isn’t anything valuable in this house. If you want money, I’ll advise that you go to another house.”
“Hmph.”
The red haired man shook his head forcefully, as if doing that could let him regain his senses, then a cruel smile appeared on his face, turning the gun barrel to point at Huey.
“If you’re thinking of sneaking your way past me, then you’re wrong. Damn kid, we know, this house should have valuable books, eh?”
“Book?”
Huey momentarily narrowed his eyes, the red haired man smiled in satisfaction after seeing his expression:
“If you don’t want to suffer, hand me those valuables. It’s no use hiding it as long as we search this house we can find it.”
So it was like that—Huey finally understood, and couldn’t help but breath a sigh of relief. The previous owner of this house Wesley Diswald was a famous book idiot. In this house that was filled with hidden books, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were a few valuable books lying around.
Huey asked the man with a slightly helpless expression:
“The book’s name?”
“Ah?”
“What is the name of the book you’re looking for?”
“Oh, what was it called, I remember it was a very dramatic name…”
The red haired man’s eyes wandered, as if searching through his foggy memories, then he revealed a vicious smile and said:
“Oh yes……It was called “Queen of the Night”.”
3
The two men tied Huey and Dalian firmly to the pillar in the living room.
They seemed to be unwilling to quickly believe Huey’s words that “I don’t know where the book is”, then thinking since it was an important book, then they should be able to find it quickly. Anyway those two had left Huey and the others, starting to search the house.
“The security is too loose.”
Dalian who was tied beside Huey said with an accusing tone.
“It’s even more loose than the stomach of that middle aged man. Actually easily allowing those kind of brainless bandits in. How stupid do you plan to be, idiot!”
“It’s not like I was not on guard.”
Huey shrugged with a position that wasn’t too liberal.
“Their attire was too weird…… in fact it made me… unconsciously think that they were your acquaintances.”
The black clothed girl was pierced by this sentence, momentarily raising her eyebrow.
“What do you mean. You’re speaking as if I’m dressed weirdly?”
“Don’t you think that outfit is odd?”
Huey said with a surprised voice. Dalian immediately replied angrily:
“Being caught by that kind of side character is an embarrassment. Where is that broken gun that you carry around usually. Why don’t you quickly take it out and deal with them.”
Instead, Huey’s voice sounded very weak.
“Of course I would carry it around in their own house. And if they were really people sent by the store to deliver goods, I couldn’t really just take the gun and kill them.”
“That’s why I said you were too unaware, you voice-deaf idiot.”
“What does that have to do being voice deaf.”
Just as Huey was complaining helplessly, he saw the red haired man walking back from the deepest depths of the corridor. There was a light layer of dust on his face, and his expression was very disappointed.
“Bastard, what is it with this house. Why is it books, books and books everywhere! And some old books even have mold…”
The red haired man stared at Huey and the others and shouted, he even kicked at the books on the living room floor angrily, and the originally stacked books messily fell to the ground.
Dalian’s face twitched slightly when she saw this, then she used her jaw to point at a book on the floor:
“Hey, I haven’t finished reading that, bring it over.”
“Ah?”
The red haired man leaned forward, barking.
But Dalian’s voice was still comparably calm.
“If you place the book down like that without closing it, the pages will not be flat, the book itself will be damaged. You don’t even understand this? Orang-utan. It seems that even though they have a little intelligence, monkeys will be monkeys.”
“You, you damn brat…”
The man’s face flushed with anger in an instant. But although he was so angry that his fists trembled, but met with a girl who was unable to move, he seemed unable to make a move.
The red haired man stepped on the book and grinded the corner with his foot. The papers that were so viciously stepped on fell to the floor, causing Dalian to scream weakly.
This scream seemed to release the man’s anger, he no longer cared about that proud girl and turned to talk to his partner.
“Hey, what about you? Have you found any valuable books?”
The muscled fat man had returned a little breathlessly, he replied as he wiped off the sweat on his forehead:
“No… There are many books, but the book with that title can’t be found anywhere…”
The red haired man’s expression had turned frantic.
He didn’t seem to have expected that a desolate house like this would have so many books stored here. And they could already understand that there wasn’t anything valuable in this house.
Even so, their frantic expressions were not normal. It could be seen that this wasn’t the only threat like earlier, his finger had started to apply force on the trigger. And Huey only looked at him quietly, then—
“Ah!”
Hearing the girl scream suddenly, the red haired man moved the gun away in surprise, then looked at the black clothed girl with an urgent expression.
“What, what is it?”
But the girl didn’t look at the red haired man. Dalian struggled forward furiously, glaring at his partner. That muscled fat man who was wearing a suit that did not match him, was sending a chocolate wrapped in silver paper to his mouth.
“That’s my chocolate! How could you carelessly eat it?!”
Dalian yelled in grievance, and the muscled fat man seemed to be shocked by her energy.
“That… because it was placed on the table.”
The girl gritted her teeth as she shouted:
“You only know how to eat things carelessly placed on the table, is that it. Is there a robber as greedy as you? I thought only a monkey came, but a pig came along, a fat pig! And where is the monster from the eastern river? Something like you deserves to accompany a monk to retrieve the scriptures from the West!”
“A river demon?”
The two robber stared dazedly at the reprimanding Dalian.
Huey looked at them helplessly, then—
“I remember now.”
The red haired man stared at the murmuring youth suspiciously.
“Eh?”
“The Glacks’ Merchant Association… I remember there was a store selling dirty things in the capital that went by this name.”
Huey’s tone was as if he were chatting casually. The two robbers did not reply, but their expressions were as if they had eaten coptis chinensis.
“I once heard my acquaintance who likes to gossip mention it. They even give robber and thieves information about rich people, then they purchase filthy items and charge commissions. If it’s someone like that, then it wouldn’t be strange for them to know about grandfather.”
The red haired man looked at Huey who was calmly stating it, sighing.
“Eh… You’re right. We are something like bodyguards in the association.”
“Bodyguards? Then why did you become robbers?”
“That’s simple, because the Association has collapsed.”
The red haired man curled his lip as if mocking himself.
“Collapsed?”
“The chairman of the Association was killed, because of a conflict with another organisation. Just relying on selling illegal items is completely dependent on information and relations. Coming to this stage was equal to being goners.”
As the man spoke, he laughed with a dry voice.
“If we stayed in the capital, Heavens knows we’d be done off like the chairman. But even if we hid, we would need enough money.”
“So you planned to take Grandfather’s book?”
The man acknowledged Huey’s question.
“This world always has book addicts, when they see valuable books they would uncaringly spend a large amount of money to buy it. Your grandfather was someone like that too?”
Huey laughed bitterly. And the man seemed to have remembered something, his whole expression twisting,
“Something like gems and artefacts, can be controlled rapidly by the people we are going against through the selling channels, so although it is troublesome, we can only come to find books… and—”
He pointed the gun at Huey.
“Tell me honestly. Where is the book “Queen of the Night”?”
Huey shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“It’s useless even if you pretend. The information network of the Association recorded it clearly, when your grandfather was living he did spend a large amount of money to buy that book.”
His words made Huey laugh.
“Information network? Who was the one who said earlier that the information from the Association was unreliable…”
At the moment when the mocking words were about to be completed.
“Ah!”
He was struck violently by the butt of the hand gun, letting out a short groan.
“Huey!”
Dalian screamed. Huey shook his head gently, blood trickled down to his jaw from his temple.
“I forgot to mention, kid… When we were the Association’s bodyguards, we killed many people. So we are being chased persistently by people.”
The red haired man laughed with a hoarse voice.
“So, it’s not a big deal to kill two more people. If you don’t want to die, tell us the location of the book. Regrettably, we don’t have much time left.”
“He’s saying that… Have you thought of anything, Dalian?”
Huey asked Dalian with a painfully squeezed out smile.
“There is no Phantom Book called “Queen of the Night”. To non-existent books, I am helpless too.”
Dalian announced with an emotionless face.
“So stubborn.”
The red haired man said heatedly, hitting the wall with the gun.
“Hmph, indeed, such an important book wouldn’t be carelessly placed in a place where these damn kids can take it. Hey, how long are you going to eat, search the house one more time!”
“Alright…”
The muscled fat man munched on the chocolate as his heavy body stood up slowly. Looking at the chocolate wrapper strewn carelessly, Dalian bowed her head in disappointment.
“You can check the east side of the house, there should be a few rooms at the backyard.”
“Backyard?”
Hearing the red haired man’s words, Dalian raised her head in an instant, it could be seen from her side profile that she was shaken. The red haired man had a victorious smile when he saw this, ordering his companion with a look in his eyes.
The muscled fat man nodded, then walked towards the garden with a large gait.
This couldn’t help but make Dalian panic, unheeding that she was tied to the pillar, the slender body thrashed as she shouted.
“St-stop right there! You can’t go there!”
Huey looked at the sudden panicked appearance of the black clothed girl in disbelief. There was only a neglected garden at the back of the villa, there was nowhere to hide a book.
And the red haired man who had been led around by the nose earlier enjoyed the panicked look of Dalian in satisfaction.
Then his expression tensed in an instant.
From the direction of the backyard, there was suddenly a piercing scream. It was the rough voice of a man, it was clearly a sound made by the other man, that is the muscled fat man.
“What, what is it?”
The red haired man moaned as he gripped his gun again.
Of course Huey didn’t know what had happened. Although it wasn’t cleared before, but the backyard shouldn’t have any dangerous places. He didn’t think it was done by Dalian, the lock in front of her chest was still tied tightly by that silver chain, the key to that seal had not unlocked it either. But…
“Ah… ah ah…”
Dalian bowed her head as if in despair, weak moans spilling from her mouth now and then.
The red haired man kicked the wall a few times in frustration.
“Bastards… Stay here and don’t move! If you dare to move, I’ll kill you!”
Leaving that, he left the room.
Only Dalian and Huey who were tied tightly were left in the living room.
The man’s screams couldn’t be heard anymore, but the feeling that something abnormal had happened did not disappear.
And Dalian looked at the moon outside the window with a sad expression.
“I already warned him, that damned animal that should be kicked!”
At some point in time it was already night time, the silver rays of the full moon suspended in the air illuminated the side profile of the girl.
4
Reaching into his pocket to find his lighter wasn’t difficult, the difficult part was burning the ropes that bound him without burning himself.
“Move faster, you dimwit. If we don’t chase after him quickly it will be too late.”
“Too late? Hot! What is too late, Dalian?”
“Huey used his hands tied behind his back to hold the lighter, as he gritted his teeth and asked Dalian. And the black clothed girl didn’t bother hiding her annoyance.
“Do I still need to say it? Idiot. Of course it’s the “Queen of the Night”.”
“What is going on? Didn’t you say the Phantom Book “Queen of the Night” did not exist?”
“I’m not talking about Phantom Books.”
Dalian sighed deeply.
At this moment, there was a scream in the distance again, this time it was also from the direction of the backyard. But the person who had screamed had changed. This time it was the red haired man screaming, and after that there was the sound of a gunshot.
“What is it?”
Huey finally burned through the rope, asking as he rubbed his freed wrists.
“It’s from the direction of the greenhouse? Is there anyone else besides us?”
Dalian did not answer his question, after Huey untied her, she bowed her head down dispiritedly…
“The two of them were… How can this be. This way…”
“What on earth happened, Dalian? What is it that you’re saying is too late?”
“We’ll talk about it later, Huey. Let’s chase after them first.”
“Oh, alright.”
Huey gently breathed in deeply, and chased after Dalian who had made a move first.
The red haired man’s screams were held longer than expected, but now it was quiet. Losing the disturbance of the two robbers, the villa returned to its usual silence. Although the room was still messy, but it was already messy enough in the first place, so no one was too particular about this.
The door to the corridor leading to the backyard was open.
There were signs of people making their way through the extension of weeds, it could be confirmed that it was left by the duo, reaching the greenhouse.
The slightly dirty glass of the greenhouse had a mild glow because of the reflected moon rays.
There was nothing moving seen in the backyard.
Dalian headed towards the greenhouse unhesitatingly. Huey followed her quietly. After opening the door to the greenhouse, moist air came into contact with their skin in an instant.
After entering the greenhouse, Dalian suddenly stopped. Huey bent and reached out to pick a piece of metal shining dully at her feet.
“A gun?”
The piece of metal was an automatic made overseas, it was the same model as the one the red haired man had been holding. It seemed that it hadn’t been long since it was fired, there was a strong smell of gunpowder left on it.
But, the man who should have been holding this gun was nowhere in sight.
Not only the red haired man, even if companion too.
“What on earth happened?”
Huey felt an evil feeling from behind him, he started to examine his surroundings.
Although he couldn’t tell what had changed, but the scene in the greenhouse now gave a strong disjointed feeling, it was a completely different feeling than when he had come in the evening. It was as if the tree branches had changed its shape, and the flowers had moved.
Perhaps it was because those two had messed up the greenhouse.
Speaking of which, the floor of the greenhouse seemed to have signs of a violent struggle. But, who were those two struggling with?
“Dalian, wait here.”
Seeing Dalian was about to walk into the depths of the greenhouse, Huey quickly stopped her. Perhaps there were other invaders hidden nearby, he had to be more cautious.
“There’s no need.”
Dalian replied mildly, walking forward again.
She was heading to the depths of the greenhouse, where the cactus that she had watered in the evening was. After seeing what was in the depths of the dark greenhouse, Huey’s voice was stuck in his throat.
“That is?!”
A book appeared in front of them, an old book with a faded-coloured cover.
Its cover was of a colour that resembled leather, and it had pale white pages. There were words never seen before neatly printed on the pages, the book was as large as an encyclopaedia.
In the deepest corner of the greenhouse, in the light green darkness caused by the leaves of the plants, a book was suspended there.
“A book? Is that the “Queen of the Night”… But, why is it here?”
A strong fragrance like ripe fruits drifted over. As if attracted by this smell, Huey stepped forward shakily, reaching to the book floating in the darkness. Dalian stopped him there.
“Wait, Huey.”
Feeling a tug on the bottom of his shirt, Huey turned around in surprise.
Dalian looked at the book floating in the darkness, saying mildly.
“It’s too late.”
“Late?”
As Huey started to frown, something flapped past him.
Huey involuntarily looked over, then made a low sound.
It was a page of the book, a white page had been blown away by the wind, dancing in the air.
Then another page, another page… No one was touching it, but the book itself was coming apart, the pages dancing like petals in the air.
“This isn’t a book, Huey.”
Finally, Dalian spoke expressionlessly.
And Huey still frowned.
“Not a book? But, what is…”
“The “Queen of the Night”, is this plant’s name.”
As Dalian spoke, she caught a page fluttering in the wind.
“The “Queen of the Night” blooms every thirteen years, and the flower withers in one night.”
“A flower… with the appearance of a book? Then the lines on the petals are words?”
Looking at the page Dalian handed over, Huey couldn’t help but feel surprised. There were beautiful words neatly arranged on this page, and this thin material looked exactly like paper, did feel like a plant.
“So Grandfather brought it back for this…”
Huey shook his head a little disappointedly. At last he knew why his book-crazy grandfather would specially get this plant, and he knew why Dalian would water it for no reason.
If this was a rarely seen, plant that was able to bloom a book, then that would be understood. If he kept a momento of a plant that could bloom books, then it was another remarkable collection item. But—
“I can understand this, but where are the two robbers? What was it with those screams?”
“The “Queen of the Night” is a plant that lives in the desolate land of the Dark Continent Africa.”
Dalian ignored Huey’s question, continuing to speak mildly.
“There isn’t a good environment for it to survive in, the land is poor, and water and nutrients aren’t sufficient… So the plants that grow there, many of them can move to replenish its insufficient nutrients.”
“Replenish their nutrients?”
“Do you know of carnivorous plants, Huey?”
Hearing Dalian’s words, Huey’s expression tensed in an instant.
Carnivorous plants were a term for special plants that had changes to its leaves and cillia, evoluting to be able to catch insects. It was said that most plants living on infertile land with insufficient nutrients were of this category.
But, to maintain the large body of the “Queen of the Night”, even if small organisms like insects were devoured, it was still unable to satisfy its demand for nutrients. So it had to evolve to attract larger, more intelligent beings—
“Dalian… Don’t tell me they…”
“A flower that has the appearance of a book, exists to attract humans as prey. Only to effectively catch the humans who come to the Dark Continent Africa due to curiousity and reputation…”
As Dalian spoke, she reached out her right hand.
Huey followed the direction of her finger, and was completely speechless. He finally knew why he felt that disjointed feeling in the greenhouse.
The bottom of the trunk had swelled greatly, becoming an unrestricted bulb. And the interior of the translucent truck was filled with digestive fluids, the prey that were nutrients were in there.
The two men originally robbers, but as of now they had been strangled by the vines of the carnivorous plant—
“The “Queen of the Night” blooms every thirteen years. And after it catches its food, it will wither because its purpose has been achieved…”
Dalian said with a slightly regretful voice.
“According to a theory, the words written on the petals are the memories of humans who had been devoured. I originally thought that I could finally read it this time…”
“There’s thirteen years to the next flowering of the book…”
Huey looked into the distance and sighed.
“I feel sorry for the two robbers, although they deserved it…”
“I wouldn’t sympathise them…”
Dalian said determinedly with an intolerant tone. Then her following words didn’t seem to be addressed to anyone, only simply muttering to herself:
“This is what they deserve. Who told them to damage the things I like.”
Huey looked at Dalian in slight surprise, then understood.
“The thing that you like is referring to that book you hadn’t finished reading? You actually liked it so much…”
The black clothed girl silently raised her head to look at Huey—
“Hmph…”
Then after she for huffed angrily for some reason, then she quickly left the greenhouse without looking back. Faced with this girl whose moods changed easily like flipping the pages of a book, Huey sighed helplessly.
He who chased after the girl, still had a patch of blood on his temple that wasn’t completely dried yet.
Chapter end
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