"We've got carrot seeds, chrysanthemum, lily, rose, and carnation. Which would you like?"

In the little garden pavilion, the old gardener opened a wooden cabinet in front of Mizuno, pulling out a massive drawer—three meters long, two meters wide, thirty centimeters deep.

Inside the huge drawer were neatly divided square compartments, each storing seeds of different plants.

Because Mizuno hadn't prepared cereus (night-blooming flower) seeds in advance, and the ones he ordered online wouldn't arrive for several days, he had no choice but to ask the gardener for something to use in the meantime.

Who knew the gardener would go this far—presenting a whole drawer with hundreds of kinds of flower seeds, letting Mizuno take his pick.

But with no real planting experience, even though Mizuno had done some light reading beforehand, faced with this dazzling array of seeds he couldn't tell one from another. Certainly not which, if any, was cereus.

So Mizuno had to ask:

"Excuse me, sir, but... which of these are cereus seeds?"

"Cereus?" The gardener blinked, then shook his head.

"No such thing here..."

"Their growth cycle is too long, flowering's difficult. From seed to bloom takes two to three years at least, and even then, they only bloom twice a year, at night, and wither within hours. Not suitable for a garden meant for visitors to enjoy."

"Most students plant carrots. So carrot seeds I've got in bulk. But cereus... no one's ever grown it, so I don't keep it stocked."

"I see..." Mizuno bowed his head in thought.

He'd hoped to use cereus seeds straight for testing. But even the gardener didn't have any...

So until his online order arrived, he could only use some other seeds to test the growth potion's effect.

"..." As Mizuno mulled over which to use, his eyes suddenly caught something that should not have been in that seed drawer.

"Wait a second... this counts as flower seeds too?" He crouched down, pointing at one of the compartments.

Inside that square cell were long, teardrop-shaped snacks—black shells with stripes of white.

Sunflower seeds.

The kind that should've been sitting in a tin at New Year's, not in a drawer for flowers. It was baffling.

Had the gardener accidentally stashed his snacks here?

"You mean that one?" The gardener looked, then said matter-of-factly:

"Those are sunflower seeds."

"Sunflowers?" Mizuno blinked, then suddenly slapped his forehead. Realization dawned.

Raw sunflower seeds—weren't they literally just unroasted flower seeds?

"Sunflowers, huh..." Mizuno scooped a handful, staring at them closely.

That striped color. That sleek shape. That roasted, salty taste in memory...

The more he looked, the more pleasing they seemed.

And in the end, Mizuno decided: sunflowers would be his temporary test subjects.

For one main reason—sunflowers held a special place in a certain classic game: Plants vs. Zombies. Not only did they produce the sunlight to buy other plants, they could even stand at the front and be chewed as cannon fodder. Useful and virtuous. To Mizuno, sunflowers had a high favorability rating.

And they were hardy, quick to grow in just three months, and cheap. The "lab rats" of the plant world. Perfect test material.

So that settled it. Sunflower Corporal, I choose you!

"Gardener-san, I'd like to plant sunflowers!" Mizuno declared firmly.

"Sunflowers, eh? How much do you need?" the gardener asked.

"Mm... I don't need too many..." Mizuno thought for a moment, then raised two fingers.

The gardener asked: "Two small bags?"

Mizuno shook his head. "About 100 kilograms will do."

"Oh, 100 kilograms, sure—wait, WHAT?!" The gardener nearly dropped his jaw.

100 kilograms?! Did this kid even know how much that was?!

One kilo of seeds held about 2,000+ kernels. One square meter of soil could host maybe 5–6 sunflowers. 100 kilograms... would be enough to cover the entire academy with sunflowers, with leftovers!

This guy... was he pretending to plant flowers, but really planning to smuggle sunflower seeds out to sell?

But he was a Trainer of the academy, and the application bore the official seal. His character had been vouched for. Surely he wouldn't stoop to such shady tricks...

Maybe he was joking?

But after waiting and waiting, the gardener never heard "just kidding." The boy was dead serious.

"...Alright. 100 kilograms it is. Give me a moment..." The gardener wiped sweat from his forehead.

He did have that much, but nowhere near enough in the drawer. He'd have to tap into deeper storage.

He shut the drawer, then stepped to a corner of the floor and pressed down hard with his foot.

Creak, creak...

With a sour grinding, a mechanism shifted. A staircase yawned open, leading downward.

"What's this?" Mizuno asked.

"Ah, that's the basement where we keep large reserves of seeds," the gardener replied.

"Basement?!"

Mizuno froze as if a switch had been thrown. Instinct sent him skittering back ten paces, until he was braced at the doorway, eyes fixed warily on the stairs.

"What's wrong?" The gardener was baffled. Why was this Trainer acting like he'd seen a ghost?

"N-no, nothing! Just... just need to g-g-get some fresh air!" Mizuno stammered from behind the wooden door, thigh trembling uncontrollably.

"Want to come take a look?" the gardener asked.

"N-no-no!" Mizuno shook his head furiously, hands gripping the doorframe tight, refusing to step an inch closer to that basement.

"Well, fine then..." The gardener didn't press, and headed down alone.

Before long, he hauled up several heavy sacks, thumping them onto the floor.

"Here's your 100 kilograms of sunflower seeds."

"Th-thank you..."

Mizuno offered sincere thanks, but he still hid behind the door, glaring at the basement entrance, unwilling to move closer.

Only once the gardener pressed the switch, sealing the stairs shut, did Mizuno finally relax, step inside, and thank him again:

"Thank you!"