Chapter 73

Yumina pointed at the box.

“I thought our young lady and I were going to a gardening shop. What is this?”

It’s a gardening kit.

“I thought the same thing. But then mom said this was appropriate and gave it to me.”

“Hmm…”

Yumina looked around the box. It was a rectangular container with a handle, and its minimalist monochrome design seemed presentable.

“I didn’t have a sense of what to grow, so I asked mom. She said she’d assign a gardening expert, so I refused.”

“That’s excessive.”

“Exactly what I said. I just want to try growing a plant; why go through the trouble of meeting someone?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh, you’re extroverted, so it’s good for you.”

Yumina slightly shook her head.

“Our young lady seems a bit strange.”

“That’s her charm.”

I raised one finger and confidently smiled. She followed with a dazed look, as if at a loss for words. After exchanging glances for a moment, she averted her eyes. It was the reaction I expected, but it’s still a bit embarrassing… Even though it was the right thing to say, I really shouldn’t be embarrassed.

I opened the front box—it was separate from Yumina’s. Mom bought two so we could do it together with a friend.

I don’t know what kind of plant this is. If possible, I’d prefer one with lots of leaves. It would feel good to look at. It’d be nice to have lush greens in the room. Even in my previous life, some coworkers would place small potted plants on their desks at work. Eventually, many would replace them with artificial versions because they were too cumbersome to maintain.

If it doesn’t have many leaves, hopefully it will bloom flowers. Since this is sold as a kit, it’s unlikely the flowers would already be blossomed and boxed.

When I looked inside the box, I saw something that looked like green onions planted in a small pot. Hmm… This is completely different from what I imagined. There are no leaves, no flowers, not even a hint of buds—just something that looks exactly like a green onion. Is this suggesting it should be grown and then sliced up as scallions? Scallions taste good with pork belly.

Yumina leaned closer to peer inside the box and then glanced at my expression.

“Our young lady doesn’t know what kind of plant this is, does she?”

“Do you?”

I haven’t heard of Yumina having a gardening hobby. Still, she’s well-connected, so she might have met someone interested in gardening.

“I do.”

Yumina pointed at the small pot.

“This is green onion!”

Uh…

The silence persisted, but Yumina remained confident.

“Green onion!”

There’s no need to say it twice.

“This isn’t green onion.”

“It is!”

The corners of her mouth trembled as she said it; clearly, she’s teasing.

“Well?”

Even puffing my cheeks won’t make me fall for it. I pinched my cheeks to deflate them and examined the plant again.

It resembled green onion, but it’s definitely not one. It only had the sharp end of a green onion-like shape stuck into the soil. Anyone who has seen real green onions wouldn’t mistake this for one. After being reborn, my sense of money might have dulled, but I’ve suffered before this life. After becoming independent from home, I had nothing but a place to sleep—but I overcame that and became self-reliant. Who treats someone who has never bought green onions? Although, in this current life, I haven’t bought any, but I’ve visited the supermarket often.

I pulled out the instruction manual from the box and checked the plant’s name. Stucki. There we go. This clearly isn’t green onion. Honestly, I was a little uneasy. But it wasn’t due to some guilty conscience—just rational unease about plant diversity. Plants are diverse, so it’s possible there is a green onion-like plant out there. This is Stucki; it’s not green onion. But I wonder, could Stucki be the academic name for green onion? …Probably not.

I touched the Stucki, which looked like green onion, and it felt solid inside, unlike the hollow green onion. Its texture was also rougher, different from green onion. I haven’t touched one recently, but this is definitely not green onion.

Right? Could it have different characteristics but still be categorized as green onion academically? If Stucki is academically termed as green onion, then calling it green onion wouldn’t be wrong.

No, no. This is Yumina’s tactic, exploiting the rational limits of reason. This is Stucki, not green onion.

When I glanced at Yumina, she was calmly taking various materials out of the box. Feeling my gaze, she looked up, tilted her head, and said:

“That’s not green onion.”

“I know, I didn’t ask.”

“Hmm…”

Her subtle gaze made me feel embarrassed. I quickly took the contents out of the box. It included a large empty pot, a small pot with Stucki planted in it, two types of soil, three kinds of small stones, and a bag of things for decorating the pot. Too many things. I expected to transfer it to a larger pot, but this is excessive.

I picked up the manual that I had set aside after only checking the plant name. There was a history of Stucki gardening written there. I enjoy reading, but not when it comes to things I’m not interested in. Still, I do find myself reading the warnings on the back of body wash when I’m bored in the shower.

As I flipped through, I found the method to repot the plant.

“First, it says to place a plastic net over the hole in the large pot.”

“And then?”

“Spread something called ‘masato’ on the bottom of the large pot.”

“This?”

Yumina picked up a bag of stones.

“Yep.”

“Is this for drainage?”

“Yes. It keeps the soil from washing away when watering.”

“But why is ‘earth’ (‘土’) in the name if it’s stones?”

“I don’t know.”

Yumina poured the mysterious ‘masato’, neither clearly soil nor stones, into the pot.

“And then?”

Instead of answering, I passed her my pot with magic. She gave me a curious look.

“I think I have talent for reading. So, wouldn’t it be better to assign tasks based on skill and suitability?”

In other words, I’ll read the instructions while you execute them.

“Our young lady should learn the joy of the process.”

“I already know the joy of capital gains, so I’m fine.”

“That’s totally not okay.”

Still, since she’s filling my pot while saying this, she is quite considerate, isn’t she? I worry about her being taken advantage of elsewhere.

I leaned against the sofa’s footrest and continued flipping through the manual.

“Next, it says to fill half a bag of the first type of soil in and gently pack it.”

“This one?”

“No, the other one.”

Yumina filled the other type of soil halfway into my pot.

“Then, it says to pull the Stucki out of the small pot and place it where you want.”

“How do we pull it?”

Yumina inspected the small pot. There isn’t a button where you can press and it magically detaches, it’s just a normal pot.

“Just grab the stem and pull.”

“Do we need a dibber?”

“Green onions are pulled by grabbing the stem, right?”

“This isn’t green onion.”

“I know.”

“Maybe a dibber is hidden somewhere we haven’t found yet.”

Yumina started looking for a dibber potentially hidden in the gardening kit. While she did, I carefully read the manual again and found it indicated that since the paper is strong, it can be pulled boldly. Is that so?

Putting down the manual, I grabbed Yumina’s Stucki with my hand. Using one hand to hold the pot and the other to firmly pull, I applied some force.

“Hold on…”

There was a pock sound of the soil breaking as the Stucki was pulled out. Judging by the soil clinging to the roots in the pot shape, it certainly is as strong as stated in the manual.

“What if it gets damaged!”

“What do I care, it’s not mine.”

I was just respecting the expert’s opinion. Hmm? My inner thoughts and words seem to have switched. But it’s probably fine.

“I’ve already named it!”

“What did you name it?”

“Daerugi.”

Daerugi? Oh, now that I recall, the manual mentioned Stucki is a succulent.

Creative naming sense… lacking.

“What name will our young lady choose?”

Hmm…

Shroedinger… is taken. Laplace… is also occupied. Other famous thought experiments? Maxwell? Descartes? Rawls? Smith? Personally, Adam Smith feels more familiar as a character.

“If you’re struggling, I can name it for you. How does that sound?”

“Go ahead.”

“Green onion!”

I don’t like that.

“Isn’t it good?”

“No.”

“But it’s such a striking name.”

“It’s striking alright.”

“Got a better name then?”

Hmm…

Uumm…

Ah…

I don’t have the confidence to name a pet plant after Adam Smith.

“…I don’t.”

And so, Stucki became green onion.

I looked at the finished pot. A green onion-like plant was planted in the center, surrounded by densely packed red stones. Not a speck of soil was visible; it was filled with red. The red resembled boiling lava, making it pretty. I initially wondered about red stones in the pot, but after pouring them all, it turned out beautifully.

“Now it’s time to tell me.”

“Tell what?”

“What are you going to teach this green onion?”

Oh, I said something like that earlier, didn’t I? You have a sharp memory.

“I was a little nervous when I came today. I wondered if there were spirits residing in the plants I could talk to.”

“Wow, great imagination. If there were spirits, I’d have thrown out all the plants at home.”

“But if they really existed, you shouldn’t throw them out.”

So fussy.

“That’s my prerogative.”

“That judgment slightly conflicts with the law.”

Who says she isn’t the daughter of a judge? Instant rebuttal.

“In any case, green onion isn’t an animal, so I’m not teaching it to walk or anything.”

That’s obvious on her face.

There’s nothing stopping it from being impossible, but no need to say that aloud.

“Let me show you, it’ll make sense.”

I pointed at the green onion with my finger and commanded.

“Stay still.”

Time passed, but the green onion remained still. Very patient.

“See? It’s listening well, right?”

Yumina alternated her gaze between the green onion and me, blinking.

“Even though it’s cute, I think our young lady is already sufficiently pathetic.”

That’s harsh. I crossed my arms.

“What’s your problem? The green onion followed its orders perfectly here. What’s more do you expect?”

“But the green onion ultimately did nothing.”

“Nothing? Do you think staying still is easy?”

“If it moves now, I’ll believe you.”

Hmm. Command it to move? Looking at the green onion, of course, it just stayed still. It won’t move forward anytime soon. It’s a plant.

Yumina tilted her head, urging me to tell the green onion to move. She’s asking for the impossible.

“Don’t push the green onion too much. I haven’t given it a single drop of water, yet why do you expect so much?”

“But I’m the one who repotted it!”

Her tone subtly rose, hinting she was somewhat dissatisfied with repotting it alone. The effort was undervalued, leaving her slightly hurt. Even so, I did read the manual for her.

“If this is your wish, the green onion dislikes you. Isn’t that right?”

Of course, there’s no response when asking the green onion. I shook the pot with magic. The clinking sound echoed.

“See, the green onion is giving a positive signal.”

“No! That’s magic!”

She’s a magical girl herself, so it’s quite reasonable of her to conclude the pot moved due to magic.

“Right. The signal from the green onion is very much like magic.”

“That’s not what I mean. That’s magic!”

“Are you now planning to dismiss the green onion’s opinion? How can you be so cruel?”

Yumina looked at her Stucki, named Daerugi.

“Daerugi! Give me some comfort! I’m feeling disillusioned about my relationship with our young lady.”

Yumina tightly hugged her pot.

Plants aren’t intelligent beings…

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