Track 3
As flowers fluttered in the gentle wind, a faint melody played—
There, the eternal spring…
Was in full bloom.
Beautiful flowers blessed by God bloomed in abundance, and everyone offered praise.
There was not a trace of suffering or resentment within the whispering.
It was a boundless paradise, where the fragrance of flowers filled the air and celebratory bells marked the passage of time.
—But the path leading there was unjustly taken from me.
I can no longer return, I was no longer permitted to return.
Oh, how I long for it, my beloved garden of joy and tranquility—
(...An old memory, huh.)
(I must have dreamt of a time long gone, because of this place filled with the suffocating scent of flowers and—)
(Because it’s been so long since I have touched that kind of flower.)
A holy and fragrant flower of blessing…
The door opens.
I’m back. You’re awake, Toi.
You’re not used to making potpurri, so it must’ve been tiring.
…So you’re the one who put this blanket on me…
Yup, I did. If you don’t need it, feel free to put it away there. Do you want anything to drink?
(How can a mere blanket be so soft…)
The laundry services, hm? Not only do you work as a florist, but you also do the laundry. There is no rest for the poor.
(Huh, this hurtful way of talking…)
Ummm… The devil… Astaroth… san? Thanks for your help as well.
The one who did this was Toi. Do not think that I’ll lend you any help.
Oh, okay. I deeply apologize for being so presumptuous.
…...
(They’re playing with the blanket. It doesn’t seem like they’re annoyed today…? Maybe they’ve gotten over the game’s end of service.)
Astaroth, do you have a favourite drink?
I am not obliged to tell you.
Then, I’ll make my latest hit creation. Hot honey with lemon.
Huh, there’s not much honey left...
Wait, if I just gather up what’s left at the bottom, I still have some.
.........
Hnnghn, mm… Mm, that’s about enough.
(What a poor, ordinary person. I can hardly believe that he is the one who made that flower.)
Haa… Ha, there we go.
(However if my assumption is correct then… perhaps—)
Here. Oh, the one on the left is for me because there’s not much honey in it—
Oi. Bring appropriate flowers and head to this ‘Kimura’ or whoever’s place with haste.
Huh? Kimura-san? Did we get a commission?
Nagi receives a notification.
Oh.
…We did get a commission. This must be the rumoured foresight…
(But there are still 4 hours left until the designated delivery time. Kimura-san is nearby, so even if something goes wrong, I think I could get there in an hour…)
What are you dawdling for? Go. Right this instant.
O-okay. I’ll head off.
Nagi leaves.
Hahaha… What a foolish worker bee.
Go collect some nectar of misfortune. For my sake.
BEEEP. BEEEP.
Hm?
An error has occurred. The procedure will stop.
.........
(...Shall I drink this as I wait?)
BEEEP. BEEEP.
How noisy.
High-Efficiency Washing Machine “HyperWash-kun β" stops beeping and returns to normal.
*sip* ...Phew.
I’m... back…
Oh, you look quite miserable.
…It was the unluckiest I have been in the last few years…
The route I usually go through had closed due to construction so I tried to go on a detour but a family of raccoons were trying to cross the road single file. Further down, frozen tuna had fallen out of a delivery truck and
blocked the road, and just like that created a frozen tuna circuit course. As I tried to swim along with the tuna, there was a circus troupe that happened to be carrying their equipment, and I dodged the falling clubs from above while jumping through hoops and
finally, my bike landed on a giant trampoline, and after a leap into the night sky, it glided through the air and landed a hole-in-one in an open manhole.
…I see.
Maybe the damage was worse this time because I didn’t have Sonia’s safety and emergency backpack with me.
I can’t forget the stares of the people around me as I was saved from the manhole… I’m so embarrassed… I’m sure gonna think about this for the next two weeks.
Hehehe, seems like you’ve gathered enough agony.
Then… hold this.
Cast a spell onto this flower.
A spell?
You did it before in front of the hospital with Shunin there.
…..!
Flashback Start
Oh, I forgot to imbue it with good luck. Wait a moment.
Hmmmmm…
Flashback End
(They saw that… I-I’m a little embarrassed.)
Get on with it.
G-got it.
Hmmmmmmmm…
(Hm. This feeling… it has to be an incantation.)
I-I did it.
Now give me the flower.
………
(They’re sniffing it…)
(The scent is fainter compared to the flower from that time, but I can still smell it.)
What did you wish for?
Huh? Wait, that’s… Well, it’s just a little good luck charm… Sorry for doing such a weird thing, even though I’m an adult…
Enough with the excuses. Just spit it out already.
Yessir.
Well… I do it by imagining sharing the good luck I’ve received, so the person I’m thinking of can become happy.
Good luck? What a fool you are. I’ve bestowed agony upon you, so use that misfortune. Impose your misfortune upon them.
M-my misfortune…?
Try it with this one.
I went through the trouble of teaching you this. Now bring me the results.
Huuu…
(Misfortune… misfortune… Something like this?)
…mhmmmmmmm…
…! Ah…!
Okay, how is it…
Give it to me.
…Nom. *munch, munch*
Huh? No, no, you can’t eat that—
Hehehe…
Fu, hehehehe…
AHAHAHAHAHA…!
This is good...! Quite delicious even! Compared to the last one, this is drastically different...!
L-looks like you’re okay? Carnations aren’t poisonous, but…
(If the flower from earlier was a “Flower of Blessings”, then this one could be called a “Flower of Agony”.)
Hachinoya Nagi, in consideration of this Flower of Agony, I shall retract my previous statement. I might even cooperate just a little. As a special favour.
T-thank you…?
However, as an equivalent exchange, you must continue to present me with flowers imbued with misfortune. Lemon honey and such–
Ah, it’s ‘honey lemon’.
Honey lemon and such are unnecessary. If you’re a worker bee, then get moving.
(Um, so does that mean my flowers were acknowledged by Astaroth…?)
Okay. I don’t know what just happened, but I’ll do my best.
Oh, but it’s not good to eat certain flowers. There are edible flowers, but they’re expensive, and we don’t carry them here…
(However…)
(The fact that the Flower of Agony tasted far better than the previous flower, does that mean I have completely turned into a devil…)
U-um… They’re probably not listening. I’m right in front of them, but they’re not listening.
(Hm… how far I’ve fallen.)