There's certainly no lack of the most essential component to life. And it would only make sense for the plants to be thicker on the deck that actually receives light, when it isn't storming.

[Sunlight and water are the most essential things to a plant, after all - the things that it requires before sprouting.

The question draws a strange look from Neuvillette from perhaps the first time. He will observe almost any amount of strange behaviour and shrug it off, but this is a thought process that he can't follow. The entire concept of rituals is something he associates with the likes of Narzissenkruez and his followers - something largely unheard of in modern Fontaine. In other lands, perhaps, such a thing might be more typical, but to Neuvillette it comes out of the blue.

And logic he can't follow is far more likely to catch Neuvillette's attention than some unsettling movements.]

I can't say that I saw signs of any, but it's not an area in which I have much expertise. If there were, I imagine it would be buried under a century or two of forest detritus. Why?

[Because asking never hurts, right? Even if what he gets in response is a dodge or a lie, there's a chance that the other man will tell the truth.]