A boy raised by a demon king and a dragon king seems to be peerless in his school life. - Volume 12 Chapter 1

Volume 12 Chapter 1   The True Identity of the Plants

Having followed the footsteps of the Pirate King and embarked on a great adventure to find the treasure he hid, Ruisha had experienced all that.

However… even after such an experience, his daily life remained unchanged.

‘~~~~♪’

Ruisha hummed cheerfully.

He was watering the plants growing in the garden behind the dormitory. The garden was something Ruisha had created from scratch, planting seeds given by Chrome, a swordsman of the empire he had once fought.

Thanks to his diligent care during summer vacation, the seeds had sprouted and grown vigorously. However…

“Ruisha, isn’t this one growing way too much?”

Ruisha’s classmate Chisha muttered in disbelief.

Clearly, a gigantic plant had grown before him. Though Ruisha had planted several seeds, only one of them had grown to abnormal proportions.

While others had leaves only a few tens of centimeters long above ground, this one had leaves over two meters long. It was clearly abnormal in its growth.

To Chisha’s straightforward criticism, Ruisha responded with a nonchalant “Haha…”

“Yeah, you’re right. Maybe it’s just going through a growth spurt?”

“No way, it shouldn’t grow this much just from that! It’s obviously weird!”

Chisha continued to poke fun, unchanged, but Ruisha kept giving evasive replies.

Though he didn’t say it aloud, Ruisha had an idea about the abnormal growth. When the sprout first emerged, he had dropped a single drop of his own blood onto the poorly growing seed.

Inside Ruisha’s body flowed the blood of both demons and dragons. Naturally, that blood contained immense power, and the seed that had been given a share of that ‘blood’ grew abnormally as a result.

Unable to say it grew because of the blood he had given it, Ruisha could only play dumb.

If he were to say it had grown this much just from that, people would surely be put off.

“By the way, have you figured out what kind of plant this is?”

That question came from Shion, an upperclassman.

Although he didn’t live in the dormitory, he frequently visited and often acted together with Ruisha and the others.

“I still haven’t figured it out. Even after growing this much, I couldn’t find anything that matched it in the plant encyclopedia… So today, I thought I’d try pulling one out.”

“Oh, that sounds exciting. I’d love to see it.”

“Alright then, I’ll try pulling one up…”

Ruisha grasped the base of the plant and yanked it out with a firm pull.

As he did, a thick and impressive root emerged from the ground.

“Huh?”

Yes, it showed its face.

Not metaphorically—there was an actual face on the root of the plant.

Ruisha and the others, completely unprepared for such a situation, were left speechless as they stared at the bizarre plant. Then—

‘Kya.’

“Huh?”

‘KYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!’

“Ugh… so loud!?”

Suddenly, the plant let out a deafening scream.

The piercing noise made Ruisha and the others wince in pain.

At this rate, their eardrums would be shattered. Feeling the urgency, Ruisha extended the fingers of his free hand and—

“Shut up!!”

With full force, he delivered a swift hand chop.

Moving at a speed too fast to follow, his strike sliced clean through the plant’s face.

The plant let out a final “Ughhh…” before falling silent. Seeing this, Ruisha sighed in relief and wiped his forehead.

“Whew, that was shocking.”

“Nice one, Ruisha. But… that was kinda gross. Even for a plant.”

Chisha grimaced at the now lifeless plant, its face frozen in agony.

Meanwhile, Shion observed the strange plant with great interest.

“This shape… and more importantly, that distinctive scream. There’s no doubt about it—this is a Mandragora.”

“You mean the legendary plant, Mandragora?”

In response to Ruisha’s question, Shion nodded.

Mandragora—that was a name even Ruisha had heard before.

“The legendary plant said to have existed in ancient times… I read in a book that medicine made from its root could cure any disease, but humans hunted it to extinction.”

“That’s right, you know your stuff. Mandragora roots have powerful medicinal properties. They’re an excellent ingredient for magical potions, and I’ve heard that in ancient times, rulers gathered them in large quantities in an attempt to create an elixir of immortality.”

“That’s amazing, you know so much. The books I read didn’t go into that much detail. Did you learn all this from books, Shion?”

“Hmm… who knows? Maybe I read it somewhere.”

Shion’s vague answer left Ruisha wondering—he’s a mysterious guy.

“But I never expected the seeds Chrome gave me to be Mandragora… This is an incredibly rare find. What should I use it for?”

“And that giant one you grew? It must be insanely potent. You could probably make some amazing potions with it.”

Chisha’s words made Ruisha murmur, “That’s true.”

It wasn’t just big—it radiated power far greater than a normal Mandragora.

Having mastered the ability to sense energy, Ruisha could feel the strength hidden within it.

“Immortality might be impossible, but we could definitely make something interesting.”

“Oh! What about a potion to make someone taller?”

“I think it’s possible. Some potions can alter the body’s structure, after all.”

“Really!?”

Chisha’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

As a Halfling, a naturally short-statured race, he was even shorter than most girls. It was a major insecurity for him, and he had tried everything—drinking milk, going to bed early, and more—all in the hopes of growing taller.

If a single potion could grant his wish, of course, he’d jump at the chance.

“Yeah… but the effect probably wouldn’t last forever. At most, maybe three days.”

Hearing that, Chisha comically collapsed in disappointment.

It seemed that his dream of being tall wouldn’t come so easily.

“There’s no such thing as an easy solution, huh… Ugh.”

“Ahaha… Sorry for getting your hopes up.”

Ruisha and the others tried to comfort the dejected Chisha.

As they did, a familiar figure came running toward them.

“Hey, Ruisha! There you are!”

“Huh?”

Hearing his name, Ruisha turned around to see his classmate, Ben.

Ben, who had just rushed over, was panting heavily—he must have come in a real hurry.

“What’s wrong? Do you need something from me?”

“Yeah… I finally found someone who knows about the Serpentfolk Lamia!”

“What? Really!?”

Ruisha was stunned by Ben’s words.

Some time ago, he had asked Ben—who was quite knowledgeable—about the Serpentfolk Lamia. But since barely any records existed about them, Ben hadn’t been able to help much.

Feeling frustrated about that, Ben had continued researching on his own, and now, he had finally managed to get in contact with someone who had information.

“That person is in the royal capital right now. They’re planning to stay there for a while, but you should talk to them before they change their mind.”

“Yeah, I will. And… thanks. I really appreciate this.”

The information about the Serpentfolk Lamia was crucial—it could lead to the Hero Orger.

Knowing that Ben had gone out of his way to find this lead for him, Ruisha felt deeply grateful to his classmate.

“I’m glad I could help. I owe you, Ruisha.”

“Oh, come on, you don’t owe me anything. I really didn’t do much.”

Ruisha humbly brushed it off.

But to Ben, his debt to Ruisha was significant. If helping out like this meant repaying even a fraction of it, then the effort was well worth it.

“Alright, let’s go. Honestly, this is someone I’d want everyone to meet, but… they’re famous. It’d be best if you came alone—bringing too many people would be a hassle.”

“Got it. Sorry, everyone, but I’ll be heading out for a bit.”

“Don’t worry about us, just go.”

“Take care. I’m really curious too, so tell us all about it later.”

After saying goodbye to his classmates, Ruisha took off running after Ben.

This unexpected lead on the mysterious Serpentfolk Lamia—

Little did Ruisha know that this information would soon drag him back into another adventure, disrupting the peaceful life he had been enjoying.