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The Lavender Flowers of Sympathy and Sleep - Episode 1
Episode 1 | next episode ⭢
[ Long ago… ]
[ Castle of Maiden's Tears - Office ]
Middle-Aged Vassal: What?! We mustn’t kill the Great Raven?!
Elderly Vassal: My lady, you must reconsider! That is no mere raven! That is the new form of the Raven Witch, the very woman who brought the plague to our lands!
Young Vassal: If you refuse to take her life, I beg of you, seal her away instead…
Maiden of Tears: That is quite enough. I have already made my decision clear.
Elderly Vassal: My lady……
Maiden of Tears: Scribe, make sure all my people know. … As the lady of this castle, I now decree:
The Great Raven shall not be slain.
The Great Raven shall not be sealed away.
The Great Raven shall sleep until a ritual of purification is formulated.
I have prescribed a ritual of sleep that shall be cast repeatedly on the Great Raven to ensure its undisturbed slumber.
Those lords and ladies that seek to defy me… They shall be stripped of their land and property, and their names and titles shall be stricken from the records.
Elderly Vassal: … What foolishness…
Young Vassal: Is she being controlled by some kind of curse?
Maiden of Tears: I can hear you.
Young Vassal: …!
Maiden of Tears: There is much to be done to battle the plague that threatens our people. If you have time to criticise me, then I believe you have time to perform your duties.
Now, move along.
Middle-Aged Vassal: ……
… My lady, we shall take our leave…
Maiden of Tears: ……
This… is all my fault.
[ Present day ]
[ Magical Manor - Courtyard ]
Akira: Saccie, look. The stars are out tonight. Aren't they pretty?
I had finished dinner, took a bath, and had nothing left to do besides to tuck myself into bed for the night. Since I had the time to spare, I decided to go on an evening stroll with Saccie.
I scratched Saccie's fluffy ears as I walked, and out the corner of my eye, I spotted a head of hair that reminded me of sunshine. It was a familiar figure crouching by the fountainside.
Rutile: ………
Akira: (Oh, it's Rutile! Is he on an evening stroll too? I suppose I'll take the opportunity and—)
Rutile: Man…
… This is all my fault…
His voice, almost drowned out by the bubbling fountain, stopped me in my tracks.
His hair gently swayed in the warm evening's breeze. I approached Rutile, who was staring at the ripples in the water.
Akira: R-Rutile?
I called out to Rutile in a hushed voice. He turned to look at me.
Instantaneously, his countenance returned to his usual approachable self.
Rutile: Oh… Good evening, Kenja sama! Sorry I didn't see you there.
Akira: Oh, don't worry about it. Um… are you alright?
Rutile: Huh?
Akira: Sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you saying that something’s your ‘fault’...… So if you’re having a hard time, I’d like to help you out in any way I can.
Rutile: Aww, thank you. It’s really nothing. I shouldn’t have made you worry, sorry.
I was just reflecting on what happened earlier this afternoon, that's all. I'm quite alright. I was just thinking that what I’d done back there wasn’t right…
Akira: The afternoon? Oh, right, you mean when we were in the meeting lounge—
[ Flashback ]
[ Magical Manor - Meeting Lounge ]
Akira: Hello, everyone. It looks like you're all having a lot of fun.
Rutile: Kenja sama! Fufufu, have a look at this! Ta-da!
Akira: Ooh~! What a splendid tapestry.
Mitile: It’s really beautiful, isn’t it? An older gentleman that dropped by the Wizards' House gave this to us!
Riquet: He said that this tapestry is a famous type of artisanal handicraft from his homeland. It depicts the legend of a noblewoman.
Akira: Oh, wow…! This is the first time the Wizards’ House has received a present like this.
Under Vincent's authority, the Southern Wizards were permitted to manage the Wizards' House, a place for wizards and humans to mingle and socialise.
It's basically a brand-new establishment, and it wasn’t widely known yet, but the local neighbourhood had gradually accepted it as a part of the community. Bit by bit, it's become something of a place for the locals to rest and relax.
Rutile: That elderly man doted on Mitile and Riquet as if they were his grandchildren.
Mitile: Riquet and I hung out with him a lot, and we asked him to have tea with us. I think we got along well! Don't you think so, Riquet?
Riquet:: Yes! He even reassured me that it was no problem that I could not read all the words woven into the tapestry, because I could still understand the story just by looking at the illustrations. He was somewhat frightening at first, but he's actually a kind person.
Akira: We're one step closer to befriending the townspeople, and it's all thanks to the both of you! Thank you, Mitile and Riquet.
Mitile & Riquet: Ehehe…
[ Crash! ]
Everyone: …!?
Akira: W-What was that? The door just got blasted op—
Owen: I’ll kill you. This time, I’m really going to kill you.
Mithra: How interesting. Please do. If you can, that is.
Riquet:: Owen, Mithra! Not you two fighting again…!
Rutile: Owen san, Mithra san, I don’t know what happened between you two, but please calm down.
Or, please, take it outside…
Mithra: « arsim »
Owen: « cur memini »
[ Bang! Smash! ]
Mitile & Riquet: Nooo…!
The force of Mithra's magic tossed the tapestry high up into the air.
Mitile and Riquet panicked. They stretched their arms out and tried to catch the falling tapestry.
However, Owen's magic became blades of wind that struck the tapestry head-on and sliced it apart right in front of them.
Mitile & Riquet: Whaaat—!?
Akira: N-No way… The tapestry's torn to shreds… Ahhh!
[ No BGM ]
To add insult to injury, Mithra's muddied shoe stepped right onto the fallen, shredded remains of the tapestry.
And then, Owen kicked the tatters away.
I could see Mitile and Riquet's shocked faces. Their eyes started to well up with tears. My heart reached out to them, but right then…
A deafening bang shook the lounge.
I thought it was Mithra and Owen. But I was wrong.
[ BGM starts ]
It was Rutile. He had slammed his hands onto the table with all his might, and he was now glaring at Mithra and Owen with burning anger in his eyes.
Rutile: … You two!
THAT'S ENOUGH!!
Mithra & Owen: ……!?
[ Present time ]
—— After that, Mithra and Owen ceased their arguing, and they slunk away like cats that had been sprayed with water.
Perhaps the shock of having been scolded by Rutile, who was typically warm and kind, had made them lose their appetite for battle.
As for the rest of us in the meeting lounge…
Stunned into silence, all we could do was stare at the shredded remains of what had just been a whole tapestry.
Akira: I don’t know about yelling at people like that, but in this case, I wouldn’t worry about it. Watching that happen really made me feel sad and angry…
Rutile: Thank you, Kenja sama.
I feel sad and angry too, and I don’t regret feeling that way at all. In fact, I was really, really angry.
Akira: (He said ‘really’ twice…)
Rutile: But the two of them couldn't have known that the tapestry was so important to Mitile and Riquet, right?
Akira: … Oh…
Rutile: When I was a child, I accidentally spilled an entire jar of jam onto a neighbour’s tablecloth — it had been part of her wedding trousseau.
I had damaged an incredibly important keepsake of hers, but I didn’t do it on purpose.
Akira: … You have a point. Now that you mention it, neither of them intentionally damaged the tapestry.
Rutile: Yeah. Things could’ve gone differently if I had had a proper conversation with them, even though I was angry, to explain that the tapestry was an important gift…
They might still decide to not apologise, but at the very least, they might’ve understood what was going on if I had been better at communicating despite my emotions. They might even behave more carefully in the future.
Akira: (W-Will those two be more careful though…? They are northern wizards, and fundamentally, wizards of the North don't pay anyone much heed…)
I found myself turning to look at Rutile to see if he had serious expectations, but I was met with Rutile's sincere and serious gaze.
He had been hurt by an act that was both ruthless and inconsiderate, but he was still capable of understanding why he should improve his ability to communicate for sake of future interactions with his eccentric friends.
Rutile: Unfortunately… I'd lost my temper this afternoon and ended up shouting… The two of them looked so bewildered.
I didn't mean to take the easy way out in trying to communicate my thoughts and feelings… It just didn't go well at all, I think.
Akira: Rutile…
Akira: (Rutile's right. Even though Northern Wizards are self-centred and prone to picking fights, they've recently started listening to others when they feel like it.)
(Like he said, if only he'd worded things in a better way, the two of them might not have stepped on or kicked away the bits and pieces of tapestry…)
Rutile: … Phew…
Rutile took a deep breath and exhaled.
Then, a decisive expression took over his face.
Rutile: ALRIGHT!!
[ Slap! ]
[ No BGM ]
Akira: (He slapped both his cheeks!? That sounded so painful!)
Rutile: Alright! Thanks for listening, Kenja sama. I'm going to go look for them.
Akira: Why?
Rutile: I’ve decided to go apologise to them for my outburst this afternoon, and then I'm going to properly tell them I was mad at them because the tapestry’s really important to us.
Akira: Oh… If that's the case, I’ll go with you!
[ Magical Manor - Mithra's Room ]
And so, we decided to drop by Mithra's room first…
[ BGM starts ]
Owen: (muffled) What? What do you want?
Akira: Owen, you’re here too!?
I had no idea why, but there Owen was in the room, looking perfectly at home while lounging around and eating sweets.
Rutile: And to think that you two had that big row in the afternoon… Did the two of you already make up?
Owen: (muffled) No way. … (swallows)
Mithra dragged me here against my will. He said he wanted to show me something weird.
Rutile & Akira: Something… weird…?
Mithra: It's not 'something weird'. Here, look.
Mithra held a teacup out to us. There were some tea leaves at its bottom.
He puffed his chest out in pride.
Mithra: Aren't I marvellous? It's the shining shield.
Akira: A shining… what?
Rutile: … Oh, umm… That’s great!
Mithra: ……… What? That's all you have to say?
The shining shield is the best divination result you can get, because it means you can make the strongest protective cursed tool. And your thoughts on it is a mere 'that’s great'?
Rutile: I-I'm sorry. I had no clue what the tea leaves meant…
Mithra: (sigh) Wizards these days…
Akira: (He sounds just like an old man lamenting the youth of today…)
next episode ⭢
[ Long ago… ]
[ Castle of Maiden's Tears - Office ]
Middle-Aged Vassal: What?! We mustn’t kill the Great Raven?!
Elderly Vassal: My lady, you must reconsider! That is no mere raven! That is the new form of the Raven Witch, the very woman who brought the plague to our lands!
Young Vassal: If you refuse to take her life, I beg of you, seal her away instead…
Maiden of Tears: That is quite enough. I have already made my decision clear.
Elderly Vassal: My lady……
Maiden of Tears: Scribe, make sure all my people know. … As the lady of this castle, I now decree:
The Great Raven shall not be slain.
The Great Raven shall not be sealed away.
The Great Raven shall sleep until a ritual of purification is formulated.
I have prescribed a ritual of sleep that shall be cast repeatedly on the Great Raven to ensure its undisturbed slumber.
Those lords and ladies that seek to defy me… They shall be stripped of their land and property, and their names and titles shall be stricken from the records.
Elderly Vassal: … What foolishness…
Young Vassal: Is she being controlled by some kind of curse?
Maiden of Tears: I can hear you.
Young Vassal: …!
Maiden of Tears: There is much to be done to battle the plague that threatens our people. If you have time to criticise me, then I believe you have time to perform your duties.
Now, move along.
Middle-Aged Vassal: ……
… My lady, we shall take our leave…
Maiden of Tears: ……
This… is all my fault.
[ Present day ]
[ Magical Manor - Courtyard ]
Akira: Saccie, look. The stars are out tonight. Aren't they pretty?
I had finished dinner, took a bath, and had nothing left to do besides to tuck myself into bed for the night. Since I had the time to spare, I decided to go on an evening stroll with Saccie.
I scratched Saccie's fluffy ears as I walked, and out the corner of my eye, I spotted a head of hair that reminded me of sunshine. It was a familiar figure crouching by the fountainside.
Rutile: ………
Akira: (Oh, it's Rutile! Is he on an evening stroll too? I suppose I'll take the opportunity and—)
Rutile: Man…
… This is all my fault…
His voice, almost drowned out by the bubbling fountain, stopped me in my tracks.
His hair gently swayed in the warm evening's breeze. I approached Rutile, who was staring at the ripples in the water.
Akira: R-Rutile?
I called out to Rutile in a hushed voice. He turned to look at me.
Instantaneously, his countenance returned to his usual approachable self.
Rutile: Oh… Good evening, Kenja sama! Sorry I didn't see you there.
Akira: Oh, don't worry about it. Um… are you alright?
Rutile: Huh?
Akira: Sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you saying that something’s your ‘fault’...… So if you’re having a hard time, I’d like to help you out in any way I can.
Rutile: Aww, thank you. It’s really nothing. I shouldn’t have made you worry, sorry.
I was just reflecting on what happened earlier this afternoon, that's all. I'm quite alright. I was just thinking that what I’d done back there wasn’t right…
Akira: The afternoon? Oh, right, you mean when we were in the meeting lounge—
[ Flashback ]
[ Magical Manor - Meeting Lounge ]
Akira: Hello, everyone. It looks like you're all having a lot of fun.
Rutile: Kenja sama! Fufufu, have a look at this! Ta-da!
Akira: Ooh~! What a splendid tapestry.
Mitile: It’s really beautiful, isn’t it? An older gentleman that dropped by the Wizards' House gave this to us!
Riquet: He said that this tapestry is a famous type of artisanal handicraft from his homeland. It depicts the legend of a noblewoman.
Akira: Oh, wow…! This is the first time the Wizards’ House has received a present like this.
Under Vincent's authority, the Southern Wizards were permitted to manage the Wizards' House, a place for wizards and humans to mingle and socialise.
It's basically a brand-new establishment, and it wasn’t widely known yet, but the local neighbourhood had gradually accepted it as a part of the community. Bit by bit, it's become something of a place for the locals to rest and relax.
Rutile: That elderly man doted on Mitile and Riquet as if they were his grandchildren.
Mitile: Riquet and I hung out with him a lot, and we asked him to have tea with us. I think we got along well! Don't you think so, Riquet?
Riquet:: Yes! He even reassured me that it was no problem that I could not read all the words woven into the tapestry, because I could still understand the story just by looking at the illustrations. He was somewhat frightening at first, but he's actually a kind person.
Akira: We're one step closer to befriending the townspeople, and it's all thanks to the both of you! Thank you, Mitile and Riquet.
Mitile & Riquet: Ehehe…
[ Crash! ]
Everyone: …!?
Akira: W-What was that? The door just got blasted op—
Owen: I’ll kill you. This time, I’m really going to kill you.
Mithra: How interesting. Please do. If you can, that is.
Riquet:: Owen, Mithra! Not you two fighting again…!
Rutile: Owen san, Mithra san, I don’t know what happened between you two, but please calm down.
Or, please, take it outside…
Mithra: « arsim »
Owen: « cur memini »
[ Bang! Smash! ]
Mitile & Riquet: Nooo…!
The force of Mithra's magic tossed the tapestry high up into the air.
Mitile and Riquet panicked. They stretched their arms out and tried to catch the falling tapestry.
However, Owen's magic became blades of wind that struck the tapestry head-on and sliced it apart right in front of them.
Mitile & Riquet: Whaaat—!?
Akira: N-No way… The tapestry's torn to shreds… Ahhh!
[ No BGM ]
To add insult to injury, Mithra's muddied shoe stepped right onto the fallen, shredded remains of the tapestry.
And then, Owen kicked the tatters away.
I could see Mitile and Riquet's shocked faces. Their eyes started to well up with tears. My heart reached out to them, but right then…
A deafening bang shook the lounge.
I thought it was Mithra and Owen. But I was wrong.
[ BGM starts ]
It was Rutile. He had slammed his hands onto the table with all his might, and he was now glaring at Mithra and Owen with burning anger in his eyes.
Rutile: … You two!
THAT'S ENOUGH!!
Mithra & Owen: ……!?
[ Present time ]
—— After that, Mithra and Owen ceased their arguing, and they slunk away like cats that had been sprayed with water.
Perhaps the shock of having been scolded by Rutile, who was typically warm and kind, had made them lose their appetite for battle.
As for the rest of us in the meeting lounge…
Stunned into silence, all we could do was stare at the shredded remains of what had just been a whole tapestry.
Akira: I don’t know about yelling at people like that, but in this case, I wouldn’t worry about it. Watching that happen really made me feel sad and angry…
Rutile: Thank you, Kenja sama.
I feel sad and angry too, and I don’t regret feeling that way at all. In fact, I was really, really angry.
Akira: (He said ‘really’ twice…)
Rutile: But the two of them couldn't have known that the tapestry was so important to Mitile and Riquet, right?
Akira: … Oh…
Rutile: When I was a child, I accidentally spilled an entire jar of jam onto a neighbour’s tablecloth — it had been part of her wedding trousseau.
I had damaged an incredibly important keepsake of hers, but I didn’t do it on purpose.
Akira: … You have a point. Now that you mention it, neither of them intentionally damaged the tapestry.
Rutile: Yeah. Things could’ve gone differently if I had had a proper conversation with them, even though I was angry, to explain that the tapestry was an important gift…
They might still decide to not apologise, but at the very least, they might’ve understood what was going on if I had been better at communicating despite my emotions. They might even behave more carefully in the future.
Akira: (W-Will those two be more careful though…? They are northern wizards, and fundamentally, wizards of the North don't pay anyone much heed…)
I found myself turning to look at Rutile to see if he had serious expectations, but I was met with Rutile's sincere and serious gaze.
He had been hurt by an act that was both ruthless and inconsiderate, but he was still capable of understanding why he should improve his ability to communicate for sake of future interactions with his eccentric friends.
Rutile: Unfortunately… I'd lost my temper this afternoon and ended up shouting… The two of them looked so bewildered.
I didn't mean to take the easy way out in trying to communicate my thoughts and feelings… It just didn't go well at all, I think.
Akira: Rutile…
Akira: (Rutile's right. Even though Northern Wizards are self-centred and prone to picking fights, they've recently started listening to others when they feel like it.)
(Like he said, if only he'd worded things in a better way, the two of them might not have stepped on or kicked away the bits and pieces of tapestry…)
Rutile: … Phew…
Rutile took a deep breath and exhaled.
Then, a decisive expression took over his face.
Rutile: ALRIGHT!!
[ Slap! ]
[ No BGM ]
Akira: (He slapped both his cheeks!? That sounded so painful!)
Rutile: Alright! Thanks for listening, Kenja sama. I'm going to go look for them.
Akira: Why?
Rutile: I’ve decided to go apologise to them for my outburst this afternoon, and then I'm going to properly tell them I was mad at them because the tapestry’s really important to us.
Akira: Oh… If that's the case, I’ll go with you!
[ Magical Manor - Mithra's Room ]
And so, we decided to drop by Mithra's room first…
[ BGM starts ]
Owen: (muffled) What? What do you want?
Akira: Owen, you’re here too!?
I had no idea why, but there Owen was in the room, looking perfectly at home while lounging around and eating sweets.
Rutile: And to think that you two had that big row in the afternoon… Did the two of you already make up?
Owen: (muffled) No way. … (swallows)
Mithra dragged me here against my will. He said he wanted to show me something weird.
Rutile & Akira: Something… weird…?
Mithra: It's not 'something weird'. Here, look.
Mithra held a teacup out to us. There were some tea leaves at its bottom.
He puffed his chest out in pride.
Mithra: Aren't I marvellous? It's the shining shield.
Akira: A shining… what?
Rutile: … Oh, umm… That’s great!
Mithra: ……… What? That's all you have to say?
The shining shield is the best divination result you can get, because it means you can make the strongest protective cursed tool. And your thoughts on it is a mere 'that’s great'?
Rutile: I-I'm sorry. I had no clue what the tea leaves meant…
Mithra: (sigh) Wizards these days…
Akira: (He sounds just like an old man lamenting the youth of today…)
next episode ⭢